Most supplements are unnecessary, potentially dangerous and driven by Big Business.

Except in specific situations where supplementation is recommended, these products do not provide anything that cannot be obtained from food.

When SuperMouse looked up, he couldn't have been more proud to see the success of his recommendation after eighty years.His words: "...and don't forget about supervitaminization and mineralization" resonate today as we enjoy unprecedented food availability.

But we act as if this amount of accommodation is not enough. Many people turn to supplements, and many health professionals follow the advice of Super Mouse.

The science is clear: the use of supplements is often unnecessary, expensive and not without danger.In addition, the ambassadors who promote them often engage in various illegal activities.

There are various specific situations in which supplementation would be indicated in a protocol manner, such as secondary deficiencies (when, despite adequate intake and due to underlying conditions, proper digestion, absorption, transport or utilization of a nutrient does not occur), vegetarianism or pregnancy, which are not questioned here.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the foundations of physiology were laid and the functions of various substances were explained.Around 1910, the first vitamin, thiamine, and in 1948, the last, cobalamin, were identified.It was a difficult time of war, economic decline and depression caused hunger and malnutrition.This justified the increase in medicine: in the absence of adequate food, supplements are good.

Today should be different: Supplements do not provide anything that we cannot get from food, and there are plenty of them.But marketing has sold us a false illusion: For seventy years, we've been riding the wave of nutrition science, convinced that it's nutrients other than food that matter.

legal framework

So-called "supplements" and by law "dietary supplements" are subject to food regulation.Contrary to the opinion of many people and health professionals, nothing can be said about them other than what can be associated with food.Apart from the famous but erroneous doctrine of Hippocrates, food is not legally a medicine and therefore not a supplement.

But the latter has the ability to win: they are sold in the form of capsules, tablets, powders, ampoules, drops, etc., reminiscent of drugs.Its presentation, along with some advertising information, encourages us to believe that we are receiving a cure for stomach, appetite, weakness, impotence, obesity, arthritis, menopause.

In addition, unlike drugs, they do not have to demonstrate clinical effectiveness to be on the market.It is enough to comply with the requirements of the food law, the same for apricot jam.This is what the RD 1487/2009 says: "Companies responsible for the production, transformation, packaging, storage, distribution, import and sale of food supplements will be subject to the provisions of the General Sanitary Register of Food Products".

A recent study of over 20,000 supplement users found no objective data to justify their use.Although users reported that they felt better after taking them, none of the analysis parameters confirmed this.But there is something worse than powerlessness.

Because some supplements are not controlled for their composition (unlike drugs), it is not uncommon for some supplements to contain undeclared ingredients, incorrect dosages, or even medications, making the products counterfeit.This is just the tip of the iceberg: some publications have estimated adulteration with phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors in "natural" sexual performance supplements at over 80%;or more than 20% in weight loss supplements (again "natural") with sibutramine.

Furthermore, in the case of sports performance-enhancing products, investigations have shown that doping substances are present in 14 to 50% of samples. These examples indicate the public health risks of a lack of control over supplements in general.

There is an extensive ecosystem of manufacturers and laboratories that offer a wide variety of ready-to-use dietary supplements.This is not a traditional system for labs to market their products. Rather, it is a company that sells formulas so that others can project their image.These intermediaries offer a catalog of unlimited number of pre-designed formulas. This includes the ability to modify the packaging, labeling and commercial messages. The focus of the business is on identifying the person providing the face.

Journalism Fund Europe, a Belgian non-profit organization for investigative reporting, highlighted this pattern and revealed how easy it is to create your own supplement in a matter of days.Their study was titled ``Influencers'' as Pill Salesmen.

The process is simple: choose product categories, such as sports supplements (creatine and whey protein are classics), energy-enhancing products (such as magnesium bisglycinate) or anti-inflammatory preparations or women's health.From there, the manufacturing company takes care of the technical and regulatory part, while the visible brand (influencer) focuses on its promotion, usually on social networks.

The main point of the matter is,Officially,These products are restricted to being foods and not medicines.There is no question to show their effectiveness.yesRegistration is required when becoming a legal food operator and taking on tax obligations.But you don't need a specific health qualification or anything of the sort to add your next brand to your product.

The intrinsic value of the supplement is concentrated in the story: promises of "high quality", "proprietary formulation" or "premium ingredients" that try to distinguish almost identical products.In this market, the opportunity to create a compelling conversation about dietary supplements goes beyond the dedication of their effectiveness.

90% of influencers promoting supplement health claims on Instagram are unacceptable.This is one of the conclusions of an evaluation conducted by Germany's official food control center.Furthermore, they are illegal within the EU as of Regulation 1924/2006.The regulations specifically prohibit (section 12) any health professional from giving commercial advice.

In Spain, about half of the decisions and opinions of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Authority last year were related to influencer-related crimes.In the latest case, a pharmaceutical company was accused of advertising a food supplement “for defense purposes”, thereby violating three regulations: Regulation 1924/2006, Royal Decree 1907/1996 on advertising with alleged health purposes and Law 17/2011 on food safety and nutrition

The problem is that today's actual surveillance capabilities lag behind online and media reporting, so most of these illegal activities will never be covered and almost none of them will be investigated.