By far, one of the best resources I know for looking at the science behind supplements is Examine.com. If you want an evidence-based overview without too much marketing nonsense, it is usually a very good place to start. Supplements are one of those areas where people can make something fairly simple incredibly complicated. There is always a new powder, capsule, herb, vitamin or performance blend being marketed as the missing piece, and while some of these things are genuinely useful, plenty are not. The most important question is simply: why are you taking it?
This sounds obvious, but quite a few people can’t really answer it. Over the years my own thinking around supplements has changed quite a bit. I used to have a fairly standard health stack that I recommended to lots of clients: a multivitamin, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin C, probiotics, fish oils and sometimes caffeine with L-theanine. I wouldn’t give everybody that same stack now. Not because all of those supplements are useless — they aren’t — but because people are annoyingly individual. Whether something is useful depends on diet, lifestyle, health, bloodwork, medication, age, sex, training, sunlight exposure and all sorts of other things.
A multivitamin might make sense if someone’s diet is restricted or obviously missing things. Vitamin D may be useful if somebody is deficient or gets very little sunlight. Magnesium can be useful in certain situations. Fish oils may be more relevant if you rarely eat oily fish. Probiotics are more complicated than simply buying whichever bottle has the biggest number of bacteria written on the front. In other words, context matters. I am much less interested now in giving someone a generic bag of pills and much more interested in understanding whether there is actually a reason for taking one particular thing.
There are, however, a few supplements I still find genuinely useful. Protein powder is convenient, which is really its main superpower. If you already eat enough protein, you don’t need it, but if a shake makes it easier to get enough then great. Creatine is probably the sports supplement I am most comfortable recommending to suitable healthy adults. It is very well researched, inexpensive and useful for strength and high-intensity performance. Caffeine works too, which should not be particularly shocking to anyone who drinks coffee. A cup before training is enough for most people, which is one reason I rarely get particularly excited about pre-workout mixes. Vitamin D also comes up fairly often, particularly when somebody gets little sunlight or is actually deficient.
Beyond that, I become much more individual. Iron, magnesium, B vitamins, omega-3s and other nutrients can all be useful when there is a genuine reason to use them. Years ago I sometimes added iron, B-complex vitamins and evening primrose oil to the programmes of some female clients, but I would be much more cautious and individual about that now, particularly with iron. Some women are more vulnerable to iron deficiency, especially with heavy menstrual losses or restrictive diets, but this is exactly the sort of situation where testing is more useful than guessing. If you are deficient, supplementation can make a substantial difference. If you are not, there is no particular virtue in taking it anyway.
I have never recommended anabolic steroids, HGH or fat-burning pills to clients, and I still don’t. Not because I am pretending some of these substances cannot alter the body — obviously they can — but because there is a philosophical line for me. My job has always been to help somebody become healthier, more capable and better functioning, rather than simply chase a visual or performance outcome regardless of cost. How you achieve something matters. That doesn’t make me anti-supplement at all. Protein powder, creatine, caffeine and specific vitamins or minerals when there is a reason can all be useful. Most of the rest comes down to whether the evidence, the person and the goal actually line up.
Another reason not to throw a dozen supplements into your system at once is that they can interact with medications, health conditions and sometimes with other nutrients. Some work better with food, some without, and some can interfere with the absorption of other things. If you take prescription medication, have a medical condition, are pregnant or are considering unusually high doses of anything, get proper advice rather than guessing. And don’t assume that because something is labelled “natural” it is automatically harmless.
There is also a strange argument you sometimes hear that supplements are pointless because “you just pee them out”. This is far too simplistic. Some nutrients are absorbed very well, some less so, and absorption can be influenced by the form, the dose, what else you have eaten and your own physiology. Again, context matters.
So my supplement philosophy now is actually pretty simple. Eat properly first. Sleep properly. Train. Get outside. Have bloodwork when there is a sensible reason. Then ask whether there is something specific a supplement can genuinely help with. I am far less interested in giving somebody a standard stack than I am in understanding why they might need one particular thing.
If your supplement routine is more organised than your diet, sleep and training, you may be concentrating on the wrong end of the problem.
Supplements can help. They are not the foundation. They are, quite literally, supplementary.