Are you taking too many supplements?
The industry is booming and likely capitalizing off your imagined deficiency.
Somewhere in your health and wellness routine, you probably have a gap that needs filling.
It could be adding more movement. It could be sleeping better. It could be as simple as relaxing more.
For many, nutrient deficiencies stem from our current diet and require better, more strategic eating, even if it means sacrificing taste for those nutrients.
Enter supplements.
As most of you who’ve been subscribed for some time know, I’ve written about supplements more than once:
Here are a few that fall into the “peptide” category that I’m still skeptical about for the general population
A bit of a gut check (no pun intended) for verifying ingredients in supplements
My stance on supplements throughout most of my newsletter has remained the same — take them only if your blood work shows deficiencies or your doctor has given the recommendation or thumbs up, or if you’ve done enough research and self-testing to justify the recurring costs of them.
The industry of supplements, though, has grown massively since all of those posts.
Supplements are no longer just for making up nutrients missing from food.
Nootropics are gaining popularity in the age of low focus (just quit the doomscrolling, guys).
Fertility supplement lines seek to bolster reproductive health in an age where birth rates are declining, and people are nervous about having children (and where a simpler solution might be just ditching the polyester clothing).
People are even taking supplements to aid in sleep, which again, I find a bit excessive. (Have a nighttime routine, turn off the phone notifications, cool your room down, drink some chamomile tea).
Whatever the need is, there seems to be a supplement for it.
I’m here to challenge you whether or not you need all of them if you’re taking a bunch so that you’re not spending money unnecessarily.
And if you’ve stayed away from Big Supp up until this point, this may comfort you.
Are you taking too many supplements?
One thing that we can still be certain about regardless of where your supplement routine is — Americans are not that healthy.
It’s interesting that while we’re still one of the most obese and unhealthy developed countries, supplement use in the U.S. has gone up over the last quarter century by a non-trivial amount in men and women, with a large portion of those users being older adults.
The JAMA study cited above tracking 100k participants says that only 1 in 4 supplement users started because they were advised to by a physician.
Which means 75% of supplement protocols are most likely word-of-mouth, hearsay, and marketing-driven.
This should come as no surprise. If you’ve browsed a CVS, Duane Reade/Walgreens, or other pharmacy, the aisles have grown. The influencer marketing around supplements borders on toxic. And the $250 billion industry seeks only to make them easier to consume by turning them into gummies, chews, and textures that are easier to blend into our day.
But do we need to be adding all these pills and potions to our routine?
The most recent research says maybe NOT.
I’m going to guess it’s been a little while since any readers have had their blood drawn, and even longer since any of you got flagged for nutrient deficiencies.
So, without telling you “go to your doctor,” here are a few quick ways to check yourself before you wreck yourself (and your wallet) with supplements.
There might be a simple way: just eating better food, if you’re willing to expand your palate.
The CDC tracks a list of biomarkers it deems necessary for “healthy growth and development,” and measure in a yearly nutrition report that is tracked in blood and urine samples instead of self-reported dietary intake.
