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Our Methodology

Staying healthy is important to many consumers, but there’s plenty of competition in the health and wellness products space. Whether you’re in the market for a new piece of exercise equipment or a heating pad, it can be tough to choose between all the options.

At Don’t Waste Your Money, we aim to make those choices much easier by reviewing each of the products for you. By narrowing it down to the top four products in each subcategory, we can help you choose from the best of the best. We also provide details on why we chose those items so that you can get an overview of what to expect when you purchase them.

Our team of more than 20 researchers do a deep dive into each product we’re handed. At heart, we’re investigative reporters with a passion for getting all the information on whatever we’re covering. That means not only testing the products ourselves, but also researching what others are saying about each product. That means studying what other professional reviewers have said, as well as what customers think about it.

When it comes to health and wellness products, it’s especially important to have experts who can spend time on research. Products can make promises, but whether they live up to those promises is a different matter. With protein bars, for instance, our reviewers can take an in-depth look at the nutritional values to determine if it indeed will give you energy and sustain you between meals. This is in addition to testing for taste and looking at the dollar value for the portion size you get.

In addition to reviewing each item, our team also studies the products themselves. We research the use for various items, digging up any safety precautions you may need to consider. We issue tips on things to look for, such as safety switch-offs for products powered by electricity or ankle straps for inversion tables. Sometimes product pages don’t mention these details if they don’t offer them, so it’s helpful to know to look for them, regardless of the product you end up buying.

Those who are purchasing products to stay healthy are often interested in avoiding chemicals and toxins in the items they buy. Something as seemingly harmless as a yoga mat or oil diffuser can become dangerous if not manufactured properly. Still other issues, such as odor when you initially unpack your new product from the box, will resolve with a simple wash or by airing it out on your back deck.

Although some health and wellness products can come down to personal preference, we do our best to review each product objectively. This helps you pick an item that is truly good for you rather than the one with the best packaging or the biggest marketing budget. When we read customer reviews, we pay close attention to the consumers who have used the products long-term and therefore have had ample opportunity to see the benefits and side effects of them. This could help you avoid purchasing a product based on initial reviews, only to be disappointed months later, when you’ve used the product for a while.

Our Trusted Process

Promises are an important part of products in the health and wellness industry. Companies will tell you a product will make your hair shinier, your body leaner and your life painfree. In some instances, those products follow through on those promises, but there are other times you’ll be disappointed.

Don’t Waste Your Money wants to make sure you aren’t disappointed, especially when it comes to your health. We test each product to make sure it delivers on what it should, which means looking at what the label says in addition to what a product in that subcategory should do. If you’re buying a blood pressure monitor, for example, there are a variety of things that are worth noting but probably most important is how accurate its readings will be.

Our team of reviewers starts with a large group of products in each subcategory, with the goal of narrowing it down to the top four. This means extensive research, combining our own observations with what customers and reviewers are saying online. Each product is given a score based on a scale of 1 to 10, with information across all websites considered in the ratings we give.

Once our team has completed the ratings process, we’re able to identify the top four in each subcategory. In addition to showcasing those products on our site, we also give two important distinctions in each category. One item is rated The Best Overall, which tells you that, all things considered, it’s the product we feel is best. The other award goes to The Best Bang for Your Buck, an award that relates specifically to the value you’ll get for your dollar.

In an effort to ensure our reviews help you find only the best products, we also consider the type of websites when we’re gathering information. Some sites are well-known or trusted for a variety of reasons, so we’ll weigh those heavily. At the same time, there are plenty of smaller, niche websites that may have more validity when they’re recommending a specific type of product. If a niche health and wellness website likes a product, it’s definitely worth considering, especially if that niche gives it an expertise in that product’s benefits and features.

When it comes to health and wellness products, scams are always on our mind. Some types of products are subject to government regulations on the claims they make, so we study those and make sure our top products meet all requirements for those statements. Although helping you save money is important, it’s more important to make sure the products you buy will help you in the way they say they’re going to help.

If you’re shopping for a health and wellness product, you probably try to live a fairly healthy lifestyle. Our team of reviewers keeps this in mind while they’re searching, looking for anything that might be of concern. When you come to Don’t Waste Your Money for advice on health and wellness products, you’ll know you’re getting the best items for your household.