Walk into almost any grocery store or pharmacy and you’ll see supplements on the shelves. Pills, gummies, capsules, powders, wellness shots, and more that claim to calm your mind and make you look sharper, happier, thinner, and younger. BetterOn social media, it’s the same story: Ads target your deepest insecurities (how do you know I’ve been bloated lately?!) and promise a quick fix to your lost libido (well, kind of presumptuous), while influencers with huge followings offer glowing testimonials about colloidal silver for sinusitis, collagen pills for wrinkles, and NAD+ (whatever that may be) for healthy aging.
It can be hard to resist the temptation of a product that promises amazing health benefits with minimal effort. I know that feeling. I’ve bought vitamin C gummies when I felt the onset of a cold, tried melatonin when I wasn’t getting enough sleep, tried magnesium powder once (not sure what for), and decided, for no particular medical reason, that a daily women’s multivitamin (strawberry-flavored gummies, of course) would be best.
Did they work? The truth is, I don’t know. But according to the experts I spoke to for this article, probably not. The general consensus is that the benefits of supplements are largely unproven and most people don’t need them. Many of these products make false claims at best, are a waste of money, and in some cases, may even have negative health effects. “Best case scenario: You just have to pee,” Amy Bernard, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, tells SELF. So before you pop a pill based on a promise that sounds too good to be true, here’s what the science says about taking supplements.
First, it’s important to know that most people are not malnourished.
If you eat a balanced diet, you’re likely getting all the vitamins and minerals you need from the food you eat. (If you’re interested, here are the government’s recommended daily nutritional intakes.) You don’t have to eat organic brown rice, wild-caught salmon, or fresh broccoli 24 hours a day to avoid nutritional deficiencies, for example. In general, if you eat moderate amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein, you don’t need supplements, says the Academy of Nutrition. “Every time you eat, you’re getting some nutrients,” Dr. Christopher Gardner, director of nutrition research at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, tells SELF.
Plus, many foods in the U.S. are fortified, or intentionally enriched, with important nutrients to prevent deficiencies, so even if your regular cereal is pretty high in sugar, it’s likely to be rich in folate, iron, and vitamin B12.
If you are vegan or vegetarian, it may be a bit Although it can be difficult to get all the vitamins and minerals you need, especially vitamin D, iron, and vitamin B12, it’s still very possible with a little research and careful planning, Dr. Barnard says.Too Although some people (many people!) believe that it’s important to take a multivitamin every day, experts largely agree, and most people don’t need to take one.
