I was debating whether to post this in the "Supplements database/wiki" thread but I'm not sure how many folks are subscribing to that one so I'm starting this here.
We all know that keeping up with research, even when somewhat filtered and distilled in this forum, is a bit like drinking from the proverbial fire hose. Heck, even getting a thorough understanding of what any single supplement does is no small feat. What I often see happen is that compound XYZ gets mentioned as a mechanism for doing something to some gene expression / disease / biomarker, etc. One of four things happens in response:
- No meaningful reply.
- A suggestion to "search the forum, this has already been discussed."
- An actual link to a thread.
- A regurgitation of previously discussed research with perhaps something new thrown in. Quality of said regurgitation varies widely from a sentence or two to thoughtfully written paragraphs.
As perhaps an intermediary step to the aforementioned supplements database / wiki, would it not be helpful for moderators to promote certain threads to a side forum? The overhead here should be minimal.. as new discussions develop and are recognized for their quality they get dropped into this read-only forum on the side. The structure might look like the following:
As it stands now if I search for "carnosine" I get over 4,000 hits. That's intimidating.
A "best of" forum would accomplish three things:
- Be an initial stab at collecting research and discussions which would eventually be curated for the supplements wiki.
- Give newcomers and visitors a better starting point for reviewing specific supplements than the search box.
- Save the rest of us some effort as far as bookmarks, notes, etc.
