I started working at Thrifty Drugs in 1972 and vitamins weren’t the giant business they are today. As I remember it, we had maybe three feet of shelf space devoted to them.
I didn’t know much about vitamins. Honestly, I barely knew they existed. So one day I asked our pharmacist about them.
Were they actually useful?
He told me they certainly could be.
“Take a fistful and do bicep curls. That’s probably the best use for them.”
I never forgot that.
Fifty-four years later, I’m not sure I’d go quite that far. But some mornings, looking at the number of pills, powders, gummies and capsules we’re being told we need, I wonder if that old pharmacist wasn’t onto something.
When Did We Become So Deficient?
Walk through the supplement section today and it’s hard not to come away thinking the human body is missing half its parts.
Something for your heart. Something for your brain. Something for your joints. Something for sleep. Something for energy. Something for digestion.
Something to help you relax after taking all the stuff that’s supposed to give you energy.
We’ve come a long way from those three feet of shelves at Thrifty Drugs.
And I’m skeptical.
Not because I think every supplement is worthless. I don’t. Sometimes there’s a real deficiency. Sometimes there’s a specific reason for taking something. Sometimes your diet or circumstances make it difficult to get enough of a particular nutrient.
Great.
Know why you’re taking it.
What bothers me is the idea that a cabinet full of supplements has somehow become part of the price of admission for being healthy.
I don’t think it is.
Food Got Boring
Here’s the problem with telling people to eat real food.
There’s not much of a sales pitch.
Eat some eggs. Have some fish. Eat meat if you like meat. Vegetables if you like vegetables. Stay away from the highly processed junk.
Move your body. Get outside. Sleep.
Repeat tomorrow.
Where’s the exciting new discovery in that? Where’s the bottle? Where’s the subscription? Where’s the influencer holding up this month’s miracle ingredient?
Good health can be surprisingly boring.
That’s one of the things I like about it.
There Is Another Reason I’m Cautious
Supplements aren’t regulated the same way prescription drugs are. Generally, the FDA doesn’t approve dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness before they reach the shelf. The responsibility starts largely with the companies selling them.
That doesn’t mean everything in the supplement aisle is dangerous. It does mean I think you should know what you’re buying.
The original research that got me thinking about this included a 2023 study of 57 sports supplements. According to the research summarized in my notes, 89% had inaccurate labels, 40% didn’t contain a detectable amount of the ingredient listed, and some contained prohibited ingredients.
That’s enough to get my attention.
Not enough to make me throw every vitamin bottle in America into the trash. But certainly enough to make me ask questions.
Maybe Open the Cabinet
That’s really all I’m suggesting.
Take a look at whatever you’re swallowing every morning. Pick up each bottle and ask:
Why am I taking this?
Not, What does the label say it does?
Why are you taking it?
Did testing show that you needed it? Did a doctor or another qualified professional recommend it for a specific reason? Did you research it yourself and find good evidence?
Or did somebody mention it on a podcast three years ago, you ordered a bottle, and you’ve been taking it ever since?
And here’s another good question:
Is it doing anything?
I think those are fair questions. Especially when something has quietly become part of your daily routine for years.
I’m Still With the Pharmacist... Mostly
My own health changed dramatically beginning in 2007. I lost 98 pounds. Movement became part of my daily life. The way I ate changed. Eventually the way I thought about health changed too.
It wasn’t one magic thing.
And it certainly wasn’t a magic capsule.
That’s probably why I’ve remained such a skeptic. I don’t want to replace one kind of dependency with another. I don’t want to spend my life believing health lives in a medicine cabinet, whether the bottle says prescription on it or has a picture of a green leaf.
I want to give my body good raw materials. I want to use it. I want to pay attention to what happens.
And if someday there’s a good reason for me to take something?
Fine.
Just give me the reason.
So no, I wouldn’t completely endorse my Thrifty Drugs pharmacist’s supplement advice today.
But if you’ve got a fistful of pills you’re taking every morning and you aren’t quite sure why... maybe put them down for a minute.
Don’t stop something medically necessary or prescribed without talking to the appropriate professional.
Just ask the question.
Do I actually need this?
Then, while you’re figuring that out, you can always do the bicep curls. 😁
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