Health journalism with the working shown
We are a small, independent team writing about nutrition, movement, sleep and stress. Our only product is your trust, which is why the process is public.
A small publication with an unfashionable premise
Health Digest exists because most health writing is optimised for the click rather than the reader. We wanted a place where the answer comes first, the caveats stay in, and the sources are one tap away.
We publish two or three guides a month, which is slower than a content farm and roughly the pace at which we can read the literature properly. Every article begins with a search of the primary research, not with a keyword. Every article is signed, dated, and reviewed by a practising clinician before it goes live.
We are not trying to be your doctor. We are trying to be the well-read friend who happens to have library access — the one who tells you that the study everyone is quoting had forty participants and no control group.
260+
Guides published since 2022
14
Clinicians on the review board
41
Primary studies cited this month
0
Sponsored articles, ever
Five steps between a claim and publication
This is not a marketing page. It is the actual sequence every article passes through, and the reason some pieces take three weeks to publish.
Commission with a question
We start from a question a reader has actually asked, not from a keyword with search volume. If we cannot state the question in one sentence, the article is not ready to be written.
Search the primary literature first
Systematic reviews and randomised trials take precedence over cohort studies, which take precedence over mechanistic speculation. We read the abstract, then the methods, then the limitations. Press releases are not sources.
Write for a specific person
Every guide is written for someone with a job, a family and thirty minutes to spare. If a recommendation cannot survive a busy Tuesday, we say so rather than pretending otherwise.
Clinical review before publication
A physician or registered dietitian checks the claims, the doses, the contraindications and the tone. Reviewers have the authority to block publication, and they use it.
Publish, then revisit
Every article is scheduled for a twelve-month review, sooner if guidance changes. Corrections appear at the foot of the page with a date, and we do not quietly delete the previous version.
Corrections
If we got something wrong, tell us and we will fix it in public. Substantive corrections are logged with a date and a description.
Send a correctionFunding
We are funded by reader donations and a paid membership. We take no supplement, pharmaceutical or device advertising, and no sponsored articles.
Ask about our fundingUse of AI
We use software for transcription and reference formatting. We do not use language models to draft articles or to generate clinical claims, and a human writes every sentence that carries our byline.
Read our policyWho writes it, and who checks it
A small editorial team supported by a review board of clinicians who are paid for their time, not for their approval.
Rowan Ellis
Editor-in-chief
Founded Health Digest after a decade editing science coverage. Responsible for the standards nobody sees until they are broken.
Priya Raman, RD
Nutrition editor
Registered dietitian with clinical experience in metabolic health. Writes and edits everything involving food, labels or supplements.
Nathan Cole, MD
Medical reviewer
Internal medicine physician. Reviews every guide for accuracy, contraindications and the difference between a risk factor and a cause.
Clara Bowen, PhD
Sleep science
Behavioural neuroscientist specialising in circadian rhythms and the effects of chronic sleep restriction.
Tell us what we got wrong.
Corrections, complaints and story ideas all go to the same inbox, and a human reads every one.