House rules, as plain as a label.
At a glance
We pick, no one pays
No brand buys a story, and none reads one before it's published.
Paid means labeled
Sponsored pages, affiliate links and free samples are always disclosed.
Doses from the label
Times and amounts come from the label, never from guesswork.
Fixes, in the open
Errors are corrected with a dated note.
- Editorial independence
- Reporting with care
- Access, gifts and samples
- Partner and sponsored content
- Reviews and recommendations
- Corrections and updates
- Conflicts of interest
- Tools and transparency
Editorial independence
Our editors pick every story in The Daily Capsule for one reason: it helps you build a routine that holds. A brand can't buy a story, a spot in a routine guide or a mention in The Morning Stack, and it can't pay to stay out of one either. Brands and founders don't see a story, its questions or its headline before it runs.
Partnerships are handled separately from editorial. The partnerships side can walk a brand through what we offer; it can't promise coverage, and it has no say in what our editors write.
- Coverage is never part of a deal.
- Brands don't get a preview, a veto or a say on headlines.
- Advertisers get the same treatment as everyone else.
Reporting with care
A routine is only as good as the information in it, so we keep ours exact. Times and amounts appear as the label gives them, never invented and never rounded up. We use careful verbs for effects, such as "may support" or "is studied for," and we never say a product boosts, cures, treats or detoxes. A founder's routine is reported as their routine, not as a plan for yours.
Nothing here is medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Check with a doctor or pharmacist before you add anything to a medication, a pregnancy or a health condition.
- We never suggest swapping a prescribed medicine for a supplement.
- Known clashes with common medicines are flagged where they matter.
- A founder's results are their own, not a forecast of yours.
Access, gifts and samples
Brands send free bottles, starter kits and event invitations. We accept product samples and nothing that comes with strings. A sample doesn't earn a place in a routine, and no story depends on one.
If a sample, an event or a trip played a part in a story, the story tells you. We don't swap favorable coverage for access, an exclusive or an early look at a launch.
- Free product comes with no promise of coverage.
- Gifts beyond the product are turned down or sent back.
- Brand-paid travel and events are disclosed in the stories they shape.
Partner and sponsored content
The Daily Capsule runs sponsored features, sponsored routine guides and paid spots in The Morning Stack. You'll know one when you see it: the top of the page says "Sponsored" or "In partnership with" plus the brand's name. They're made separately from our editorial stories and are never passed off as our reporting.
Sponsored pages play by our rules: every dose they quote matches the product label, the same careful verbs apply, and the same corrections policy covers them. If a sponsor wants a claim our editors wouldn't print, it doesn't run.
- Sponsored work is labeled at the top, not tucked away at the bottom.
- Routine guides we write ourselves are never for sale.
- Sponsored copy follows the same claims rules as our stories.
Reviews and recommendations
The products in Shop this routine and on the daily shelf are picked by editors because they belong to the story: the product a founder takes every morning, the powder a routine is built around. Prices and serving sizes match the brand's site on the day we publish, so double-check them before you order. Some of those links may be affiliate links: buy through one and we may earn a small cut, and your price stays the same. That never gets a vote on what we recommend.
Our routines are examples to adapt, not prescriptions. We describe what a product contains and how the label says to take it, and we say who is making each claim. When an editor has followed a routine or taken a product, the story says so; when it doesn't, read it as a description, not a test run.
- Brands can't pay for a spot in Shop this routine.
- You pay the same price whether or not a link is an affiliate link.
- Product write-ups aren't test results unless the story says so.
Corrections and updates
When we get something wrong, we fix it where you can see it. The fix goes right into the story, plus a note at the bottom with the date and what changed. We don't quietly rewrite a story to make a mistake disappear.
Prices, links and stock change all the time, and we update those without a note. A new formula, a changed dose or new timing on the label gets a note. If you're a founder or a brand we've written about and something attributed to you is wrong or out of date, let us know. We'll correct it, update it or, where that's the fair thing to do, take the story down.
- Each correction gets a date and a one-line reason.
- Typos and broken links are fixed quietly.
- Anyone we've written about gets a reply from an editor.
Conflicts of interest
No one at The Daily Capsule writes about, edits or picks a brand they own part of, advise, work for or are close to. If there's a conflict, that person steps away from the story. If one can't be avoided, the story says so.
The Daily Capsule is published by VOL Collective, which publishes other magazines too. A founder may show up in more than one of them, each time from that title's angle. If VOL Collective has a business relationship with a brand we cover, the story discloses it.
- Editors flag any financial tie to a brand before working on its story.
- Contributors disclose paid work for supplement brands.
- An editor never covers a brand run by a friend or relative.
Tools and transparency
You can see how every story was put together. Each one has a byline and a date, figures are credited in the text, a note from the editors adds context where a claim needs it, and routine guides end with their sources. Every photo has a credit.
The tools we use are public, so you can check a routine the same way: the Supplement Facts panel and the directions on the label; the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheets; the tolerable upper intake levels set by the National Academies; and your pharmacist, the best interaction checker most people have.
- Routine guides end with every source they used.
- Timings and doses always match the label they came from.
- We update this page when our practices change.
Tell us what doesn't match the label.
Found an error, a dose that doesn't line up with its label or a conflict we didn't mention? Email the editors. We read every message, and we'll tell you what we changed.
