Healthcanal
Editorial Process
Our Expert Writers
Our writers adhere to the standards and provide us with content that is well-researched and informative. We always try to train writers to write a wide range of articles, understand the content structure, follow the guideline very well, and create their content that ranks on the top page. We let them have space to create their own content based on a given topic; however, we train them with standard guidelines and provide feedback to enhance the quality.
Our Editorial Team
Health Canal’s contents are made up of licensed professionals with long experience in healthcare topics. Each piece of information is reviewed and fact-checked to ensure the exact information and accuracy.
Medical Disclaimer
All of our content on Healthcanal.com is made and published online merely for informational purposes – not advice. The content cannot replace any professional medical advice. There are no warranties applied with any medical information published on this website. In case that users suffer from risks due to the reliance upon the information, the website owner will not accept liability for any damage.
We are not responsible for any claims of external academic citation you see on this website.
Style & Voice
We strictly follow Associated Press style to provide consistent guidelines for many types of publications.
We also create a writing style that is friendly and simple yet guiding, keeping the content accurate, current and comprehensive. We use the right word choice that matches healthcare topics, turning complex health definitions into easy-to-follow concepts.
Our Process
Every piece of information will be from deep research and created by our health professional team.
Primary resources are always a priority, from studies, academic research institutions, government organizations to clinical associations. Health Canal always tries its best to provide high-quality and accurate information to the audience.
After taking a deep insight into the topic, our expert writers will create the content based on academic research and personal knowledge. We have strict standards applied to the writing process.
Health Canal’s content is then thoroughly reviewed and fact-checked by a team of medical professionals to guarantee all facts and useful information. Accuracy, comprehensiveness, and information are always priorities.
General Content Assessment Standards
Writers can have different tastes for writing but always meet the same standard. Our editorial team works hard to enhance quality content little by little.
We build up the quality of the content depending on three key features that can be used in medical assessment, which are:
- Be Readable & Comprehensive
- Be Accurate
- Be Informative
Readable & Comprehensive Rating
When content is readable , it is easy for the audience to consume and skim through. When content is comprehensive, it helps answer the audience’s query and leaves them feeling well-educated on the topic. We always make sure to take a deep insight into the complexities of a topic to guarantee comprehensiveness.
All the content is written at an appropriate reading level, using succinct sentence structures and suitable word choices. Our content is accessible and interactive.
We try to assess the quality of Readability & Comprehensiveness, based on these requirements:
- Focus on the short and precise ideas;
- Should answer the target question of the topic;
- Focus on how the article is present, avoiding a wall of text;
- Convey clear meaning to the audience; cover essential and useful information; showing deep research and personal perspectives of writers.
Informative Rating
Audiences can relate to the topics and trust your content. Also, the content is given more personality when written with the writer’s knowledge and personal experience.
Writers must show in-depth knowledge, as well as personal perspective on the provided topic.
- The content must answer the audience’s question. Usually, we always seek what the audience is wondering about, and then try to solve the problems. We go straight to the topic by giving you the short and precise answer right on the first or second paragraphs, then explain further the idea with follow-up headings.
- Narrow the content focus – That way you can go in-depth and get useful information, and have a deep insight into various aspects of the topic.
- Provide experts’ perspectives. This critical consideration shows that writers have a high academic level, but it automatically adds more interest and originality to the writing.
Accurate Rating
Diligent verification is critical. We take great care to ensure that statements of fact in our content are both correct and in context, including:
- The content will provide honest and true information
- The content will not misinform the audience
- The content will not affect the credibility
- The content will not cause the audience to make wrong decisions based on the information given in the content
Editorial Evaluation Standards
As choosing the most suitable health product is essential, we decided to build an Editorial Methodology to rank product usage. The Editorial Evaluation Methodology is also published in Health Canal’s editorial policy.
We take great care to ensure that statements of fact in the rating methodology are both accurate and easy to follow. Here is how we assess a product:
- The Evaluation Methodology is divided into two features: Health Supplement Brand Assessment & CBD Product Brand Assessment
- Each category can be divided into several features to evaluate.
- We set the maximum overall score at 10. The score can be different among products, depending on particular evaluated features.
- The score is given by our team of expert health writers and is double-checked by professional medical experts.
Health Supplement Brand Assessment
Ironically, most people take vitamins because they want to be healthier. The most crucial part when assessing a product is to read all ingredients on the label. Here is the summary of how we evaluate the quality of vitamins/supplements:
Quality
We assess the supplement if it is qualified enough to use, free of potentially harmful and unnecessary ingredients, and does not have any or only 1-2 side effects.
Here is how we classify a high-quality bottle of vitamin/supplement
**Notes
- Safe ingredients may be in use in case a consumer is allergic to one of the ingredients. Read the label and do your research carefully when looking for new products. For example, a product may say it is gluten-free, but one of its ingredients may contain gluten in small amounts (less than 20 ppm). An example is maltodextrin. The FDA has claimed that this level will not cause an autoimmune reaction, but sensitive individuals may still react. Or, the product may be processed in a plant that handles other allergy-provoking foods allowing for cross-contamination. So just because a product is safe does not mean it is allergy-free. Allergy-provoking ingredients include soy, tree nuts, dairy products, gluten, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, and wheat. Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, manufacturers are required to list these allergenic foods on the label.
- Natural ingredients include plant, animal, mineral, or microbial ingredients present in (or produced by) nature. Manufacturers may use chemical reactions or biological processes to extract natural ingredients from their source.
- Controversial substances are on the FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list. Still, scientific studies support the potential for or actual harm the ingredient may cause to an individual making the public wary of the ingredient and hesitant to use it. Examples include High Fructose Corn Syrup, artificial colors, artificial flavors, maltodextrin, MSG, carrageenan, sodium benzoate, BHA, BHT, and artificial sweeteners. Note that Stevia is not considered an artificial sweetener.
- Reformulated ingredients are when the product has been recalled for quality control problems related to one or more of its ingredients, and the ingredients need to be altered to comply with GMP.
- Customer Feedback is an important part of overall quality control feedback. You can learn a lot about a product’s quality from its consumers—review customer feedback for reports of adverse events.
Support Research
Checking the evidence behind each claim is extremely important. Clarifying the support data helps customers to guarantee the belief for the brand when using products.
The criteria below are to check medical support claims, whether all ingredients have backup science research, or whether the product contains any controversial ingredients.
**Notes
The choice of study type would mainly rely on the number and content of research questions.
There are 3 main types of research:
- Randomized controlled trials (RCTs),
- Observational Studies (Cohort studies, Case-control studies, Cross-sectional studies)
- Qualitative studies.
- Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are used to test the efficacy of medical interventions and may additionally provide information about adverse effects, such as drug reactions. A randomized controlled trial can provide compelling evidence that the study treatment causes an impact on human health. RCTs may achieve sufficient control over these confounding factors to deliver a useful comparison of the treatments studied.
- Observational Studies: are used to assess the connection between diseases and exposures. It has been shown to perform similar results to Randomized controlled trials and is used when RCTs are not ethical or possible. Cohort studies and Case-control studies are mainly applied in Observational Studies, evaluating the association between disease and exposure by offering a temporal dimension. Cross-sectional studies measure those elements at one selected time.
- Qualitative studies: are used to evaluate how a person lives with a certain disease. Qualitative studies are conducted by informational surveys with people living with the disease and the ones close to them. It doesn’t count much on numbers & data.
- Studies on humans: Although the randomized controlled trial (RCT) remains the gold standard of research, it is not the only way to get your research questions answered. There are also cohort studies, case-control studies, and qualitative studies to be considered as well.
- Unpublished studies on humans: These studies are generally conducted by the manufacturer of the product and include polling, surveys, and post-marketing research.
One way to check evidence of ingredients is to look for credible scientific studies. We use study sources from the National Institute of Health; or the National Library of Medicine.
Reputation
Brand transparency is another factor that clarifies the quality of the product. A transparent brand indicates that it has been tested by the independent party, is clear about agencies it is registered with, and its customer services show performance indicators as it hits the market.
Here are some of the features you can check when looking for a brand’s transparency
**Notes
- Third-party testing includes an audit of the manufacturing process, an evaluation of the product’s quality, and labeling to ensure it is accurate and compliant with regulations.
- Example of a Disclaimer Statement: “The statements made within this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements and the products of this company are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease”. Structure-function claims must be accompanied by the FDA disclaimer statement.
- A transparent brand usually has a seal with the NSF International, US Pharmacopeia, Underwriters Laboratory, the USP Dietary Verification Program or Consumer Lab. These verify that the product actually contains the ingredients that the label says it does and that the product doesn’t have any potentially harmful ingredients.
- Brands may make structure-function claims but must have a disclaimer present with the claim. No claims to treat, prevent or cure diseases are legal, according to the FDA. A structure-function claim is a physiological fact related to the effect supplements have on the body such as “calcium builds strong bones.”
- Proven Compliance: Take note of warning letters sent to supplement companies in violation of Good Manufacturing Practices. These are usually found in google searches or in customer reviews. It should be considered in a final score of brand transparency since they are an indication of compliance with the GMP. The same is true if there is evidence of lab violations of the GMP.
Price
The price may almost always be the most crucial consideration when we make a purchase. Here, we compare the cost that may be associated with the value and the quality of the supplements to see if the product is worth buying or not.
CBD Brand Assessment
Here we use the same scale with the Health Supplement Assessment. A high-qualified CBD brand is evaluated by 3 features: Quality, Reputation, and Price. We use the same rating scale and features to assess the Price and value of the product.
Quality
Detecting a qualified cannabis source is essential, as cannabis plants can absorb harmful chemicals, heavy metals, and pesticides in soil or water, resulting in a contaminated CBD extract.
The extraction technology is also a vital criterion, which provides the customers with the cleanest, safest, and purest oil. Hence, we evaluate CBD quality by three factors: cannabis source, extraction method, and product purity.
**Notes
- Modern Techniques: A hydrodynamic extraction technique uses ultra-sonication to break the cannabis into a nano-emulsion and releases it into an aqueous phase. It is a newer, more modern extraction technology that is right up there with CO2 extraction as far as quality. Ultrasound-assisted with microwave extraction is another modern extraction method.
- Traditional extraction methods can include Solvent extraction, Olive Oil Extraction, Steam Distillation. The drawbacks are that the extract may be contaminated or impurified from the cannabis plant, giving the extract an unpleasant taste
Reputation
A transparent CBD manufacturer always provides a certificate of Analysis (COA) to back up claims about ingredient contents and potential contaminants. Transparency also means backing up claims and practices the manufacturer has made about customer support policy. We take the hemp source, the COA result, customer support, and the presence of CBD and THC levels into consideration.
Here is how we detect a brand’s clarity:
**Notes
- Third-party lab tests may use methods validated by one of three national standard-setting organizations: the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC), the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), or the US Pharmacopeia (USP).
- A Certificate of Analysis (COA) is a document provided by a third party (generally a lab) that analyzes some of the various compounds found in your cannabis. This testing can include outlining a strain’s cannabinoid and terpene profile as well as testing for other crucial factors like pesticide residues, microbial growth or heavy metals. Note that the safe level for various heavy metals may vary from state to state. Example: lead.
- Hemp source is mostly from USA growth that meets the requirements of the Farm Bill Act 2018.
Hemp plants outside of the USA could be dangerous due to a lack of regulations and varying safety standards.
Price
To make sure you spend the right amount of money on high-quality and worthy products, we would compare the cost, the value, and the quality provided in the product.
We Welcome Your Feedback
Healthcanal always welcomes your precious contribution. Don’t hesitate to contact us about your concerns to improve the content quality.
