Building Your First Protocol with Stack Almanac

A supplement protocol isn't just a list of pills. It's a structured approach to supplementation — what you take, when you take it, and how you evaluate whether it's working. Stack Almanac gives you the tools to build that structure without the overhead of spreadsheets or complicated journaling.

Here's how to get started.

Set up your stack

When you first open Stack Almanac, you'll add the supplements you're currently taking. For each one, you'll specify:

• The supplement and form (e.g., Magnesium Glycinate, not just "magnesium")
• Your dose (e.g., 400mg)
• The time block you take it in

Time blocks are how Stack Almanac organises your day. Rather than logging exact timestamps, you assign supplements to blocks like Morning, Afternoon, Evening, or Before Bed. This mirrors how most people actually take supplements — not at 7:43am precisely, but roughly with breakfast.

The benefit of this approach is that it's low-friction to maintain. You're not clock-watching. You're confirming that your morning block happened, your evening block happened, and noting any exceptions.

If you're not sure how to organise your timing, a few general principles:

• Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) absorb better with a meal containing fat
• Magnesium glycinate before bed supports sleep onset
• B vitamins are best taken earlier in the day, as they can be mildly stimulating
• Iron and calcium compete for absorption — separate them by at least a few hours

Log outcomes, not just intake

Tracking what you take is only half the picture. The other half is tracking how you feel. Stack Almanac lets you log daily ratings for key outcomes:

• Sleep quality
• Energy levels
• Mood
• Recovery (if you exercise regularly)

These don't need to be precise. A quick 1-5 rating each day is enough. Consistency matters more than granularity — a rough score logged daily for 60 days is far more useful than a detailed journal kept for a week.

Over time, this outcome data becomes the foundation for understanding which parts of your protocol are contributing to the results you care about.

Consult your Almanac Advisor

Once you have a few weeks of data, the Almanac Advisor begins surfacing observations. These aren't generic supplement tips — they're based on your data, your patterns, and your protocol.

The Advisor might notice that your sleep quality is consistently higher on days you take magnesium, or that your energy ratings don't correlate with the pre-workout supplement you've been buying. It might suggest timing adjustments based on known nutrient interactions, or flag that two supplements in your stack are redundant.

Think of it less as an algorithm telling you what to do, and more as a knowledgeable reference helping you interpret your own data. You make the decisions. The Advisor surfaces what's worth considering.

Refine over time

The best protocols aren't built in a day. They evolve. You add something, track it for a month, evaluate, and adjust. Stack Almanac is designed for this iterative process:

• Start with your current stack, even if you suspect some of it isn't doing much
• Track consistently for 30 days before making changes
• Make one change at a time so you can attribute any difference
• Review your correlations regularly to separate signal from noise

The goal isn't to optimise endlessly. It's to reach a point where you have genuine confidence in what you're taking — where your protocol is informed by your own data rather than by marketing claims or secondhand recommendations.

Start where you are

You don't need a perfect stack to begin. You don't need bloodwork or genetic testing. You just need what you're currently taking and a willingness to pay attention to the results.

[Build your first protocol at Stack Almanac.](https://stackalmanac.com)