A world where everyone can get & stay healthy.

It’s here.

Our Team

You can think of The Nessie’s writers and editors as your well-informed wellness hype squad. Our crew has worked with some of the biggest brands in the product testing and health and wellness space, including Greatist, Prevention, Self, The Wirecutter, National Geographic, Health, Runner’s World, and more.
In addition to our writers’ and editors’ experience, every piece of content on The Nessie is reviewed and fact-checked by at least two people from our panel of expert reviewers.
What does this mean for you? We’ve put in the work, and we’re able to give you recommendations you can trust.
Meet the whole team below.

Our Editorial Team

Jenni Gritters is a journalist with 10 years of experience covering science, health, and psychology. Jenni has written…

Our Writers

Jenni Gritters is a journalist with 10 years of experience covering science, health, and psychology. Jenni has written…

Our Experts

Jenni Gritters is a journalist with 10 years of experience covering science, health, and psychology. Jenni has written…

Wellness at Ness

The Nessie is part of the Ness Card ecosystem¹. Our vision is a world where everyone can get and stay healthy—and a big part of that means meeting you wherever you are on your journey. We’ve designed our framework to address your needs in a holistic, accessible way.

Move More

A rolling stone… well, you know. It’s no shocker that exercise is good for us, but it’s also no surprise that it can be tough to find a method of movement that makes you feel excited enough to do it consistently.

A rolling stone… well, you know. It’s no shocker that exercise is good for us, but it’s also no surprise that it can be tough to find a method of movement that makes you feel excited—or at least motivated—enough to do it consistently.

Here at Ness, we know there’s no one right answer. One person’s Pilates obsession is another person’s occasional HIIT class is another person’s walk-around-the-block-when-you-remember-to-do-it. We’re dedicated to exploring as many exercise varieties as we can so you have the tools to move more in a way that works for you.

Eat Well

Fruits and veggies, yes. But to us, eating well is more than just packing in the highest possible quantity of nutrients per calorie amount or jumping from one trendy diet to the next.

Fruits and veggies, yes. But to us, eating well is more than just packing in the highest possible quantity of nutrients per calorie amount or jumping from one trendy diet to the next. It’s finding food and daily supplements (we’re not above the gummy variety) that make you feel nourished, energized, and satisfied enough to keep eating that way. Often, that means things like spinach, chia seeds, whole grains, and vitamin C tablets. Sometimes, it just means a cookie (or several). We also think everyone deserves advice from experts, which is why we work with registered dietitians on all nutrition-related content—and advocate for visiting one yourself if you can.
No matter what you’re looking for, we’re here to help you eat your greens and feel excited about your meals.

Sleep Deep

We think everyone deserves the luxury of sound, restful slumber. Every single night.

We think everyone deserves the luxury of sound, restful slumber. Every single night. But as anyone who has ever lived with noisy roommates, or worked wonky hours, or found themselves bound by the shackles of needing a fan turned on full blast to fall asleep will agree, it’s easier said than done.
Still, we’re up to the challenge of helping you figure it out. Whether you’re in search of a soothing white noise machine, cooling sheets, or just a way to chill out, we’re here to find the best way of catching those ZZZs.

Be Healthy

Wellness isn’t achieved by checking off boxes. Wellness isn’t achieved by checking off boxes. But if you’re a box-checking person, signing up for your workout class and an annual physical aren’t bad things to put on your to-do list. Why not start now?

Wellness isn’t achieved by checking off boxes. Drinking smoothies, jogging regularly, and keeping a consistent sleep schedule is a great start, but that’s not all you can (or should) do to make living in your personal skin sack (that is, your body) the best possible experience it can be. We believe in looking at the whole self to figure out those little things that help you tick, or, ahem, not tick so well. Often, that requires some professional help from doctors, dentists, optometrists and ophthalmologists. We also look into alternative, non-Western forms of care to complement conventional medicine, like acupuncture, ayurveda, and more.
The key to health is different for everyone (noticing a theme?) and may require some deep introspection to figure out what “healthy” means for you. Yes, it’s a process. But that’s also what makes it fun.

Take Care

This is our call for you to indulge on things that make you feel good. Sometimes it might be a massage or a facial, sometimes it might be a scented candle to light for your next cozy night in.

The meaning of “self care” depends on who you ask. To some, it’s pedicures, face masks, and shopping sprees. To others, it’s choosing to spend the night in instead of meeting up with friends or taking the odd day off work.
For us, it’s allowing space to figure out what it is you really need. Sometimes, yeah, it’s a face mask. Other times, it’s more about giving yourself the break you need. It’s nebulous and it changes, but at the end of the day, it should always benefit you.

Be Mindful

Working on your mental health can be, well, work. But it’s worthy labor, the kind of effort that helps you achieve a better relationship with yourself and those around you.

Working on your mental health can be, well, work. But it’s worthy labor, the kind of effort that helps you achieve a better relationship with yourself and those around you. We champion a wide range of methods for improving mental health, from journaling or meditating to improve mindfulness to working on coping skills for anxiety or depression to signing up for therapy or other forms of professional care for an external lens on what you’re dealing with.

Our Review Process

We know it’s a big deal—and a huge honor!—if you choose to buy anything that we recommend. Because of this, we only recommend products and services we stand by. Products must live up to both our medical and quality standards to earn our badge of approval. If we feature any Ness Card brand partners², they undergo the same stringent testing process as any other brand. (Some brands become Ness Card partners after we feature them on The Nessie.) No matter what we test, we apply different methods to different product categories.

How The Evidence Test Works

When we write about a product category that requires evaluation about health claims, we use The Evidence Test.

The Evidence Test is an evidence-based decision making framework that helps us determine what’s healthy, what’s not, and everything in between.

All our writers and editors are trained to use The Evidence Test to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of products and services. Members of our expert review panel regularly audit our application of The Evidence Test to ensure compliance.

Our research and review process is intended for informational purposes only—never as a substitute for medical treatment, diagnosis, or advice. Always consult a healthcare provider if you have questions about how a product, service, or intervention may impact your individual physical or mental health.

Here’s how the scoring system works:

Healthy

A product or service must have at least two pieces of evidence, scientific evaluation, or peer-reviewed research to earn the highest score on The Evidence Test, Healthy.

This means there’s good to strong data to suggest that this product or service is a healthy addition to your wellness routine.

Healthy-ish

If data suggests a product or service has a health benefit for some people but not for others, it’ll score a Healthy-ish. This score will also be given if there’s some research that indicates a benefit, but not enough to come to a consensus.

A Healthy-ish score means that it may be helpful to certain individuals on their wellness journey based on their individual circumstances, and it’s unlikely to be harmful to anyone. However, it isn’t definitively healthy for all.

Helpful

Products or services with limited or conflicting evidence that tends toward the positive receive the Helpful score. This means we’re unable to determine its exact health benefits, but we don’t believe it’ll cause harm, either. In short, the product or service could be helpful to your overall wellbeing, but it’s not likely to do much more than that.

Unhealthy

If the available scientific information suggests that the product or service is harmful to human health, it’ll score an Unhealthy.

In this scenario, Ness does not recommend the use of the product or service.

Undecided/Unknown

When there isn’t enough credible scientific information to suggest a product or service is healthy or unhealthy, it will be scored as Undecided/Unknown. In these scenarios, we cannot say definitively that the product will be helpful or harmful in one’s wellness journey.

The Evidence We Use

We believe in bringing scientific rigor to wellness. To do that, we steer clear of pseudoscience and trust the experts—the ones on our team, and the ones out in the world.

Ness relies on high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific research and publications from the global medical community. This includes systematic reviews, meta-analysis, randomized control trials, cohort studies, case control studies, case series, and case reports.

We also leverage information and recommendations from identified authorities in the field of medicine, health, and wellness like the CDC, WHO, USPSTF, SAMHSA, Examine, and NCCIH. Any exceptions to this are rare but justified, and we’ll let you know if a source isn’t coming from a peer-reviewed journal or an identified authority in the given field.

When using this evidence for The Evidence Test, we strive to use a minimum of two resources to support our recommendations.

How We Test Products & Services

For fitness gear, self-care tools, or healthy and wellness wearables and apps, we get the products in our writers’ hands for rigorous testing.

Our writers carve out time to physically test and use products to determine what’s best on the market. They develop a testing rubric with a variety of factors to consider when buying a product, like usability, durability, comfort, accessibility, and price. Each product gets a score for every factor, and we use that as a guide to determine what’s great (and what’s not).

But we don’t just add up the scores, rank the products, and call it a day. We believe in taking a more holistic view, allowing you to shop based on your needs. For instance, if something is expensive but really effective, we’ll tell you if it’s worth shelling out some cash to invest in something that works—but we’ll also make sure to feature items that don’t cost as much, too.

After our writers have tested each product, they’ll either keep the product to regularly re-test, or they’ll donate to charities and nonprofit organizations in their area.

Our Editorial Independence

We maintain strict independence and freedom to cover any product or service at our discretion. We do not accept any form of compensation in exchange for coverage or favorable reviews, nor do we give preferential treatment to our partners.

How We Make Money

We’ll occasionally partner with the brands we review and include in The Nessie. In those instances, we’re sometimes compensated when you click on a link on The Nessie and purchase a product or service. This in no way affects our reviews of brands or the recommendations we give our readers. That’s grounded in hours and hours of research and hands on testing.

If you have any questions about who we’re working with or how we make money, don’t hesitate to ask us at [email protected]

Contact Us

If you have questions about our process, feedback to share with our editorial team, or an idea you want to run by us, we’re all ears. The Nessie is no one-way publication, and we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch with us at [email protected].

1. The Ness Card is issued by The Bank of Missouri, pursuant to a license from Mastercard, and serviced by Ness Well Financial, LLC.

2. See our Rewards Program Terms. Rewards terms and partners are subject to change.

A world where everyone can get & stay healthy.

Our Team

Our Editorial Team

Melanie Ehrenkranz

Sara Hendricks

Leslie An

Our Writers

Ashley Lauretta

Amanda Tarlton

Brooklee Han

Colleen Stinchcombe

Ebony Roberts

Jenni Gritters

Jessica Bernhard

Joni Sweet

Marissa Miller

Pam Moore

Our Experts

Allison Larraga, RDN

Brenda N. Umana, MPH, 500-RYT

Krista Linares, MPH, RDN

Kimberly Shao, MD

Naika Apeakorang, ND, LAc.

Rebecca Valdez, MS, RDN

Raj Dasgupta, MD

Sequoia Ridley, RDN

Taylor Thomas

Victoria Sekely

Wellness at Ness

Move More

Eat Well

Sleep Deep

Be Healthy

Take Care

Be Mindful

Our Review Process

How The Evidence Test Works

Healthy

Healthy-ish

Helpful

Unhealthy

Undecided/Unknown

The Evidence We Use

How We Test Products & Services

Our Editorial Independence

How We Make Money

Contact Us

Research Based