Supplements & Vitamins
Multivitamins, collagen, biotin, gummies, powders.
Antioxidant High Dose
High-dose antioxidant supplements like vitamins A, C and E reliably slow ageing and prevent chronic diseases.
Some antioxidant supplements have shown neutral or even harmful effects in large trials, and they have not consistently reduced deaths or major diseases.
B12 Energy
Vitamin B12 shots or tablets give extra energy to everyone, even with normal B12 levels.
Vitamin B12 helps energy metabolism, but extra B12 does not act like an energy drink in people who already have normal levels.
Biotin Hair Nails
Biotin supplements make hair and nails grow faster for nearly everyone, even without a deficiency.
Reviews find that biotin helps mainly when there is a true deficiency or rare hair disorders; there is no strong evidence it thickens hair in otherwise healthy people.
Calcium Bones
Calcium supplements alone can fully protect your bones and are safe for everyone to take long term.
Calcium can help reach recommended intake when diet is low, but bone strength also depends on vitamin D, exercise, hormones and other factors, and excess calcium may raise kidney stone or heart risks in some people.
Collagen Skin
Collagen supplements erase wrinkles and make the skin look decades younger on their own.
Systematic reviews show that oral collagen can modestly improve skin hydration and elasticity, but the effects are moderate, not a dramatic anti-ageing cure.
Fat Burner Pills
"Fat burner" and pre-workout pills sold online are safe and effective because they are legally available.
Regulation of supplements is less strict than for medicines, and many fat-burner products have been linked to side-effects or recalled for hidden stimulant or drug ingredients.
Fish Oil Heart
Fish oil or omega-3 capsules guarantee that you will not have a heart attack or stroke.
Large randomized trials show mixed results: omega-3 supplements can modestly reduce some cardiovascular events in selected high-risk patients but do not give a guaranteed protection for everyone.
Folic Acid Pregnancy
Folic acid before and during early pregnancy helps reduce the risk of serious birth defects.
Strong evidence shows that folic acid taken around conception and in early pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects in babies.
Greens Powders
Greens powders and supplement drinks can fully replace eating fruits and vegetables.
Most experts agree that powders may help fill small gaps but cannot match the fiber, texture and nutrient variety of whole fruits and vegetables.
Herbal Testosterone Boosters
Herbal "testosterone booster" or muscle-gain supplements are always safe because they are natural.
Many bodybuilding and performance supplements have been found to contain hidden hormones, stimulants or contaminants, and "natural" does not guarantee safety.
Iron Just In Case
Iron tablets are safe for anyone to take "just in case" they feel tired, even without a blood test.
Iron supplements are essential for proven iron-deficiency anemia, but unnecessary iron can build up in the body and cause serious problems for some people.
Melatonin Sleep
Melatonin is a completely harmless sleeping pill that anyone can take every night long term.
Melatonin can help some people with sleep timing when used short term, but long-term safety data are limited and new research suggests possible cardiovascular risks in some groups.
Multivitamins General
A daily multivitamin prevents heart disease and cancer in otherwise healthy adults.
Large randomized trials show little or no effect of routine multivitamin use on heart disease or overall cancer risk in generally healthy adults.
Multivitamins Nutrition Gap
Most healthy adults absolutely need a daily multivitamin to avoid vitamin deficiency.
For many people who eat a varied diet, routine multivitamin use is not necessary and blood levels of most vitamins remain normal without it.
Natural Equals Safe
If a supplement is labeled "natural" or "herbal", it must be safe and free from side-effects.
Many natural substances can still cause side-effects, interact with medicines or be harmful in high doses, and supplement labels are not always accurately regulated.
Probiotics Weight
Probiotic capsules on their own cause large, effortless weight loss.
Recent meta-analyses show probiotics can give small, statistically significant improvements in weight and metabolic markers, but the effect size is modest, not dramatic.
Vitamin C Colds
Mega doses of vitamin C completely prevent common colds in healthy people.
Meta-analyses show that regular vitamin C may slightly shorten cold duration, but it does not reliably prevent colds and very high doses add little extra benefit.
Vitamin C Treatment
Starting very high-dose vitamin C only after a cold begins will dramatically shorten the illness.
Trials where vitamin C is started after symptoms appear usually find little or no effect on how long the cold lasts compared with placebo.
Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D supplements can be useful for people who are deficient or have limited sun exposure, especially for bone health.
Guidelines support vitamin D supplementation for people at risk of deficiency to maintain bone health and possibly reduce fracture risk when combined with calcium as needed.
Vitamin D Weight Loss
High-dose vitamin D supplements on their own cause major weight loss without diet or exercise changes.
Reviews of randomized trials show that vitamin D can improve vitamin D levels but has little or no direct effect on body weight when lifestyle is unchanged.
