These days, it seems like everyone is taking a supplement—to look better, think better, sleep better, relax better, poop better, or work out better. And you’re not imagining things: Half of adults and one-third of children in the United States take supplements regularly, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements.
Supplements may be ubiquitous, but many experts have serious reservations about their rise. First, most physicians recommend obtaining nutrients directly from food rather than a pill or capsule. Second, supplements aren’t reviewed for safety and effectiveness by the FDA before they hit shelves. Because of all the concerns surrounding supplements, Jeffrey Linder, MD, MPH, a general internist and professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, takes a dim view of the category overall: In fact, “a vast majority of supplements are probably worthless,” he tells SELF.