How To Choose The Best Supplements For You

Supplements are a convoluted facet of wellness. Any scroll through Instagram or TikTok will persuade you into adding a slew of them to your daily regimen. It doesn’t hurt that many supplements are pretty pills in attractive packaging presented to us by captivating people. 

With so many brands and supplement types on the market, it can be difficult to discern which ones, if any, would work best for you. To be honest with y’all, most supplements are unnecessary and overpriced. And there isn’t enough research available to definitively say that any supplement is worth purchasing. 

The best way to obtain the nutrients you require is by making sure your diet consists of a variety of nutritious foods. That’s much easier said than done. One reason is that we’re human, and we want to participate in certain trends and industries. Supplements are used mainly by families with high incomes to “maintain health” instead of addressing any nutritional deficiencies. And according to the most recent nutrition report available from the CDC, only 10 percent of the U.S. population has a nutritional deficiency.

The other, more pressing, reason is food apartheid, which works alongside other structural inequalities to create the disparate health outcomes we see in poor neighborhoods and communities of color. More than 54 million Americans live in an area with limited to no access to nutritious foods. And a study from 2017 found that 31 percent of the country’s population is at risk of vitamin deficiency. That possibility scaled upward to 55 percent for Black folks and 40 percent for low-income households.

Considering this, I think it makes sense to provide an overview of supplements and explain how to choose one of quality. But let’s be clear: Our priority should be ensuring access to nutritious foods as well as clean water, healthcare, and healthcare providers who give a shit about them. 

Alright. Let’s get into some science, y’all. 

(The information in this post will not necessarily apply to herbal supplements—such as passionflower, ginkgo extract, etc.—but I would advise being equally cautious about which ones you choose to incorporate into your regimen and the companies you buy from as well. The information in this post is not medical advice, and I am not a healthcare provider.) 

So, what is a supplement? 

It’s an addition to your regimen that aims to increase the nutritional value of your diet. As Healthline put it: “Supplements are products that are taken by mouth and contain a “dietary ingredient,” such as vitamins, minerals, herbs and botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants, or other nutrients.” 

Adding supplements into your routine can be great if your diet lacks certain nutrients. And while it’s not as good of a source for that nutrient as food would be, it can be more cost-effective. Typically, you can get a month’s supply of most supplements for under $20 in-store or online—depending on the quantity and the brand. 

What’s the difference between a mineral, a fat-soluble vitamin, and a water-soluble vitamin? 

Great question! A mineral is an inorganic ingredient, like zinc or magnesium, necessary to facilitate certain functions in the body. Minerals help our bones stay strong (calcium), support muscle and nerve function (magnesium), bolster the immune system (zinc), aid red blood cell function (iron), and much more. 

Vitamins are similar in their essentialness. There are two types: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins —A, D, E, and K—are absorbed and transported through the body like fats. That also means they’re stored in your body’s tissues pretty easily.

Water-soluble vitamins, including vitamin C and eight B vitamins, dissolve in water and aren’t stored by the body. Or, as someone told me years ago, “You just pee them out every day.”

And multivitamins are a combination of water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and minerals. You’re going to get the most bang for your buck here.

You can find more nuanced breakdowns of each vitamin, the effects of a deficiency, and who is more likely to experience one within the National Institute of Health’s dietary supplement fact sheet database. (What a mouthful.) 

How our bodies get rid of vitamins is equally essential. Since fat-soluble vitamins are stored in our body tissues, it’s easier to have too much of them lingering around, increasing the risk for vitamin toxicity. And that can be a big concern! 

Long-term overuse of vitamin A, for instance, can cause headaches, hair loss, liver damage, and other biological problems. And even though water-soluble vitamins are flushed from our systems every day, consuming high levels of them unnecessarily can lead to adverse outcomes over time. Too much vitamin B6, for instance, can cause nerve damage, while large amounts of vitamin B3 can hurt liver function. 

Don’t freak out. Toxicity is rare. But it’s worth considering when jumping into the world of vitamins—especially since our current culture encourages supplement use as a vehicle for achieving or maintaining “health” versus understanding them as well-fitted compliments to a diet. 

What are some common supplements that people take that aren’t vitamins or minerals? And what are those good for?

The most common would be Omega-3s (fish oil) and probiotics. 

Fish oil is usually recommended to improve cardiovascular health in people who already have heart disease, helping with arthritis, ADHD, and increasing “good cholesterol.” But conflicting studies have rendered the cardiovascular benefits murky. (The best food source of fish oil are oily fishes like tuna, sardines, or salmon.) 

Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that help our bodies digest food properly and aid our immune system. The best food sources are yogurt, kefir, and fermented foods. Some probiotics require refrigeration, and others are shelf-stable. If you pick up a probiotic on the shelf and the packaging says it should be refrigerated, put it back. Expeditiously. 

Should I even take a supplement? 

It depends! Supplements might be helpful for people who are:

• Having trouble accessing nutritious foods

• Pregnant or trying to get pregnant

• Aged 50 or older 

• Subscribing to diets that eliminate entire food groups (vegans or vegetarians, for example)

• Dealing with medical conditions or have had certain surgeries that affect how their bodies break down nutrients

And, if you fall into one of these groups, you should be extra cautious when choosing to take a supplement: 

• If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding

• If you take certain heart medications, diuretics, blood thinners, aspirin, immunosuppressants, or steroids. 

• If you’re about to have surgery

• If you’re undergoing cancer treatment 

• If you suffer from alcoholism

• If you’re taking a lot of supplements already

I don’t fit into any of those groups. What should I be cautious about? 

Be mindful of combining too many supplements, some of which contain potent actives that can have biological effects that risk harming you. But that’s a bit less likely than falling victim to a brand’s false promises. Supplements can’t “cure” an ailment. Some supplements can provide relief, but that’s about it. The purpose of a supplement is to enhance health in a way similar to food. So if a product claims it can, I don’t know, cure a terminal illness, put it back. 

The next thing to be mindful of is a dosage that significantly exceeds the recommended daily value for that vitamin or mineral. You don’t need 1000% of anything. (Many supplements on the market don’t have an RDV listed on the label, and I couldn’t find an answer as to why. I have a hunch, but my hypothesis isn’t science, so I’ll be keeping it to myself for now.) 

Bet. I still want to dabble in supplements, though. How do I go about choosing one? 

1 - Research the vitamins or supplements you’re considering to see if those options will cover any actual gaps in your diet or if they’ll help with a specific medical issue.

If they won’t or don’t, you shouldn’t spend money on them. 

For example, I take magnesium and zinc at the request of my neurologist and dermatologist, respectively. Magnesium is believed to help prevent migraines. But if you don’t have chronic migraines and eat plenty of magnesium-rich foods, this supplement isn’t necessary for you. Zinc, very likely, plays a role in skin health. And my dermatologist advised me to take it since she’d seen it help other patients who deal with the same skin conditions as me. (For what it’s worth, the only supplements I take are magnesium, zinc, and a probiotic.) 

2 - Before you start taking anything, have a conversation with your primary care physician—if you have one. This is the best way to avoid any supplements interacting with other medications you might be taking. You can also ask them if they have any supplement suggestions for you. 

If you don’t have a primary care physician, but you take an over-the-counter medication like Claritin, or you get a Spironolactone prescription through a service like Nurx, where the responses from doctors are limited (in my experience), you can check interactions using a DNI checker. I like this one from Drugs.com. It’s straightforward and comprehensive.

3 - Pick a trustworthy brand. The Food and Drug Administration regulates supplements as food products, not drugs or biologics (a drug derived from a natural source). This is a less rigorous process that isn’t standardized and doesn’t require the agency to verify what’s in the supplement. 

But several third-party groups—ConsumerLab.com, NSF International, and U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP)—regulate dietary supplements. The latter two list products confirmed to have what they say they have in them on their websites for free. Consumer Lab requires a subscription.

If a brand isn’t willing to acquire one of those certifications, I would think twice about choosing it. (I like Nature Made, tbh. Not all of their products are certified, but the fact that they allow regulators into their factories enables me to trust the brand’s overall manufacturing process.) 

4 - Buy from a trusted source. Don’t get them pills off Amazon!

5 - Know that you don’t need a vitamin subscription service.

Several NSF or USP-certified brands are sold in-store and online for much cheaper. But if you are interested in some bougie Instagram-worthy brands that are certified—hey, we’re human— those would be: Ritual, Vital Proteins, Dream Water, and Athletic Greens. (AG is pricey and unnecessary, but I get the appeal. The onslaught of advertisements don’t help.)

6 - Realize that you’re not really going to know if you have any deficiencies without complete blood work.

This includes the following: a complete blood panel, a basic metabolic panel, a comprehensive metabolic panel, a lipid panel, a thyroid panel, cardiac biomarkers, a coagulation panel, etc. I get complete blood work once a year during my annual physical because my doctor and I like to make sure everything is good.

7 - Donate resources to local organizations fighting food apartheid and insecurity in your area.

If you have the money or the time, put it back into your community instead of buying a supplement you probably don’t need ♥️.