Dietitian Says 10 Popular Supplements Mostly Fail, With Vitamin D 10 Micrograms a Day an Exception
Updated
Updated · Boing Boing · Aug 5
Dietitian Says 10 Popular Supplements Mostly Fail, With Vitamin D 10 Micrograms a Day an Exception
2 articles · Updated · Boing Boing · Aug 5
Summary
Josie Porter’s review of 10 popular supplements found most multivitamins and wellness powders offer little measurable benefit, with only a handful showing narrow, modest gains.
One large multivitamin trial improved memory in older adults by only about a quarter of a word on a 20-word recall test, while magnesium’s benefits appeared mainly in people with low intake despite broad marketing claims.
Electrolyte powders also came under scrutiny: heavy sweating typically loses just 1 to 3 grams of salt an hour, far less than daily-essential branding suggests.
Porter highlighted a few exceptions worth considering—Psyllium husk for constipation and diarrhea, collagen peptides for small skin-elasticity gains, and Creatine, which can be hard to get in sufficient amounts from food.
In the UK, she recommends vitamin D at 10 micrograms a day from early October to late March, when sunlight is too weak for the body to make enough.