Jim Gaffigan says he takes vitamins. “I take them out of the cupboard and put them in the drawer.” He also notes, “Vitamins….they may be expensive but at least there’s no proof they work. There’s vitamins and then there’s herbal supplements which are not FDA approved and to put that in perspective…the Twinkie is. I don’t even know who herbal supplements are for…it’s like ‘Hey…if you’re not wasting enough money on vitamins that don’t work you should check out this stuff that’s kind of the horoscope of vitamins.'”
I confess in my time as a fitness person I have bought, tried, and peed away all sorts of vitamins and supplements. Logically, I know most of the ads are fake – that supermodel, bodybuilder, actor didn’t get that way taking the product they are selling you. Besides being based on shoddy science, or no science at all, I also know that many supplements don’t even contain the product they are promoting. And yet, there is that part of my brain that says, “Yeah, but maybe this one is different; maybe this one will really work.” It’s like hoping a spider bite will give you super powers… probably note but just maybe.
If you are counting on that product you spent a lot of money having some affect, even if it’s just a placebo, do not, I repeat click on the link below. It’s a weird, interactive, display of what things actually do what they claim to do. (SPOILER ALERT: Most stuff does not do what it claims to do.) On the other hand, if you want to have data so you can save your friend who wastes money on vitamins and supplements, this is a great site to check out.
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/
cultural atheist 
I found you through another blogger that recently liked one of my posts — Beauty Beyond Bones. I think this is the first post I’ve ever commented on. I thought it was funny when you mentioned herbal supplements as they have been used worldwide in traditional folk medicine for millennia. And the cultures which used them didn’t need research or the FDA to validate the benefits their communities received generationally. Plants have powerful chemical constituents that corporations try to recapture in laboratories because you can’t patent anything nature-made. Just some food for thought. But if it is research you require, type in some of the constituents found in lemon essential oil, for example — like limonene, nerol or myrcene — on pubmed.gov. You’ll also find some of the highest ORAC values in wolfberries and essential oils. There have just been so many companies that create cynics due to their lack of business ethics orquality standards… but that doesn’t make herbalism bunk science. Thanks for reading my comment.
I really appreciate that you looked me up and shared your thoughts. I didn’t mean to suggest there is no value in so called natural remedies. And I’m all for a whole food, plant based, lifestyle which seems to consistently be the most healthy. My main complaints are:
1. Many claims are made about things that are false, misleading, or even dangerous. If someone says Product X produces Result Y then it should do so under most circumstances.
2. There is a a lot of data that many of the products being sold doesn’t contain the supposedly beneficial substance. That’s a double rip off.
I hope that helps the point I was making more clear.
And what about the products that do live up to their claims? When you say “If you are counting on that product you spent a lot of money having some affect, even if it’s just a placebo, do not, I repeat click on the link below.” it seem as if you’re throwing the baby out with the bath water. Although I do concede many brands sadly fail to deliver what they market, there are still good guys out there. 😉
If a product actually works I don’t have a problem with that. The link is supposed to show various things that have been claimed to do x, y, or z and some do actually show promise. But many don’t.
What I’m saying is, if one just wants to believe the marketing don’t look.
Don’t the good companies use marketing too though?
Perhaps I am missing your main point. I thought I got it but now I’m not sure. Maybe back up and try to help me understand. In the meantime, let me try again.
I believe marketing should not be the basis of a purchase. I can’t say that I have always been true to that as I have gotten sucked in like most everyone does at some point. Ideally marketing informs but we need to look at the facts because, generally speaking, companies are not on our sides as consumers. I’m not just talking about supplements but everything that’s sold.
I look at it this way: if Supplement Company markets Miracle Cure then Miracle Cure should contain Miracle Cure as stated and it should do what Supplement Company says Miracle Cure does.
Am I saying that ALL companies misrepresent what their products can do and/or sell bogus products? No. What I am saying is, as a consumer with limited cash, I want to make sure that the product is what it is and provides the stated benefit.
What if there isn’t any data – no solid, accurate, study has been done? I guess it’s buyer beware. I’ve tried a few things but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the results claimed. In these cases, we have to engage our brains and look very critically at the claims and the ingredients on the nutrition facts label.