There was a time, not so long ago, when the word “supplement” really did mean something supplemental. A multi-vitamin here, a mineral there, maybe creatine if you were looking for a bit of an edge. These were additions to a solid diet, not replacements for one.
Today, things look very different. The supplement marketplace has exploded into an almost overwhelming array of options—from magnesium and melatonin for sleep to branched-chain amino acids, probiotics, mushroom extracts, ketones, recovery blends, and products promising everything from weight loss to improved gut health. Walk into your local health food store and head toward the supplement aisle, and you’ll quickly realize it’s no longer just an aisle; it now takes up a substantial share of the store. Sites like TheFeed.com, a popular site for athletes, list hundreds of brands, reflecting how large—and profitable—this space has become. It is a powerful convergence of hope, marketing, and commerce.
The real question, though, isn’t how many options we have. It’s how many we actually need.
Supplements do play a useful role. They can help correct nutrient deficiencies that are difficult to address with food alone—vitamin D being a common example. In some cases, they can be used strategically to optimize levels of specific nutrients or compounds, such as creatine, for performance.
But many products fall into a grey area, where the science is still emerging, or where the perceived benefits may be influenced as much by expectation as by physiology. The placebo effect is not trivial and is a testament to the power of belief. [1,2]
Still, belief is not a substitute for evidence, and supplements come at a cost—both financially and, at times, physiologically.
Before diving into specific products, it’s worth keeping four concerns in mind:
- Concentration – Supplements often deliver nutrients in amounts far beyond what we’d get from food. More is not always better; indeed, for many nutrients, intake beyond physiological requirements does not confer additional functional benefit and may increase the risk of adverse effects. [7]
- Isolation – Nutrients don’t act alone in real foods. Isolating a single nutrient and expecting the same effect is, at best, optimistic and, at worst, misguided. Plant foods deliver nutrients in a complex, interactive way—fiber, phytochemicals, and countless compounds that work together in ways we still don’t fully understand. [3]
- Limited Oversight – Unlike medications, supplements are not required to show efficacy or safety, and marketed health claims often outrun the evidence. Additionally, supplements can contain widely differing amounts from what is listed on the label. [4]
- Contamination and Banned Substances – Worse, some contain ingredients not listed on the label, including substances banned in sport and dangerous to health. This isn’t just theoretical. Analyses have repeatedly identified undeclared anabolic agents, stimulants, and other contaminants, sometimes in products that are marketed as benign. [5,6] Even trace contamination can result in a positive doping test, making this a significant concern for competitive athletes.
At the end of the day, fundamentals still matter. A diet centered on whole, minimally processed plant foods, paired with regular exercise, quality sleep, stress management, and social support, will take you much further than any collection of pills or powders.
In future posts, I’ll take a closer look at some of the most commonly marketed supplements to athletes (and others)—collagen, AG1, EPA/DHA, Ketones—digging into where the evidence is strong, where it’s still emerging, and where the hype may be outpacing the science.
References
- Beedie CJ, Stuart EM, Coleman DA, Foad AJ. Placebo effects of caffeine on cycling performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Dec 2006;38(12):2159-2164.
- Beedie CJ, Foad AJ. The placebo effect in sports performance: a brief review. Sports Med. 2009;39(4):313-329.
- Fardet A, Rock E. Toward a new philosophy of preventive nutrition: from a reductionist to a holistic paradigm to improve nutritional recommendations. Adv Nutr. Jul 2014;5(4):430-446.
- Cohen PA, Avula B, Wang Y-H, Katragunta K, Khan I. Quantity of melatonin and CBD in melatonin gummies sold in the US. JAMA. 2023;329(16):1401-1402.
- Kozhuharov VR, Ivanov K, Ivanova S. Dietary supplements as a source of unintentional doping. Biomed Res Int. 2022;2022:8387271.
- Wei M, Wang J. Potential health risks of foodborne performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports. Heliyon. Oct 2023;9(10):e21104.
- Shin CS, Kim KM. The risks and benefits of calcium supplementation. Endocrinol Metab (Seoul). 2015;30(1):27-34.