Methodology

Editorial methodology

Every glossary entry follows the same five-step process. We publish this page so readers can audit our work against the result.

1. Term selection

Candidate terms are drawn from: primary nutrition-science literature, registered-dietitian practice materials, FDA and USDA public-facing resources, and reader requests. Priority is given to terms with clinical or practical importance that are either inadequately defined elsewhere or defined in ways that scatter authority across many low-quality sources.

2. Primary-source citation

Each entry cites 3–5 primary sources: peer-reviewed journal articles (PubMed), government nutrition authorities (USDA FoodData Central, FDA, NIH), and major academic or medical institutions (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position papers). We do not cite commercial blog posts as authority.

3. Peer review

Every entry is reviewed by the editor-in-chief before publication. Where a term spans clinical territory, we seek an additional review from a specialist in that area (endocrinology for GLP-1 terms, sports nutrition for performance terms, etc.). Reviewer names are disclosed on the term page when external review is used.

4. Commercial disclosure

Where a term has commercial adjacency — for example, a dietary concept that specific consumer apps implement — we mention apps only when editorially relevant, always alongside alternatives, never as the only option, and always with a plain statement of the relationship (if any) between Nutrition Reference and the vendor. We publish this disclosure on every page that mentions a commercial product.

5. Update cadence

Terms are reviewed quarterly for definitional accuracy against the current literature. Terms with active research activity (e.g., GLP-1 related, microbiome-related) are reviewed more frequently. We publish the review date on every page.

What changes a definition

• New peer-reviewed consensus (position paper, systematic review, meta-analysis) that materially changes the definition.
• Regulatory or authoritative guidance updates (FDA, USDA, WHO, major medical associations).
• Reader-submitted corrections we can verify.

Corrections are made in place and noted at the bottom of the entry with a dated corrigendum line. We do not silently edit published entries.

Funding

Nutrition Reference is funded by reader donations and, in the future, by a paid subscription tier for institutional users (nutrition programs, clinical teams). We do not accept advertising, sponsored content, or paid placement.