Ask HN: What supplements do you take that have good scientific backing? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What supplements do you take that have good scientific backing?

47 pointsjesuscript78 comments

Apparently Multi Collagen Protein is a thing now, but I can't tell if it's bullshit or not.

Have you seen the "Supplement scorecard" here:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/supplement...

I take D and fish oil, and from my reading the science on both is strong. I also take 4-in-1 Fiber but people who have a better diet likely don't need it, but I find it beneficial (and, no, "number two" isn't the exclusive reason to make sure you're getting enough, fiber has numerous health benefits with "regularity" just being what is famous for).

Creatine also has surprisingly strong scientific evidence with few side effects and has been heavily studied in sports medicine. It is niche though, primarily used by people doing regular resistance exercises or pro athletes to help expedite recovery and repair.

PS - Creatine does cause water weight gain by design (it causes your muscles to hold more water) which can result in 8-16 lbs of additional body weight after two weeks~ and then for two weeks~ after you stop taking it (this isn't a problem nor body-fat gain, but people trying to lose body-fat need to expect this; it is largely a flaw in using scales to track body fat which ignores water weight/inflammation).

PPS - Creatine's COVID and post-COVID price increase has made it more niche than it perhaps once was. It used to be near $10 per 30-day from a reputable brand, now it can be $20-30 depending on brand (e.g. Creapure is $32/30 day right now).

During my life I've probably taken every sports supplement under the sun, and the two things from an athletic perspective I can say definitely have given me consisten results is creatine and whey protein. I regulary interchange other things and take them out of habbit and for the lolz I guess, but I can't say I've noticed positive effects from anything else.

The last 6 months I've routinely taken vitamin D because I had read the literature and have noticed that all the illness that swpet through my family this year seemed mild as well. Might be that I've also been more diligent with hand sanitizer as well though. But yeah, creatine is amazing.

What are the facts on the hair loss concerns with Creatine?

I thought that was disproven. There was a single study that mentioned hair loss in the 1000's for creatine.

It's often held up as one of the most studied supplements around and again, only a single study reported it as a possible side effect.

if hair loss is a side effect then there should be some proof of that somewhere.

> PPS - Creatine's COVID and post-COVID price increase has made it more niche than it perhaps once was. It used to be near $10 per 30-day from a reputable brand, not it can be $20-30 depending on brand (e.g. Creapure is $32/30 day right now).

There's no reason to be using anything but generic creatine monohydrate - studies show no difference in efficacy between different formulations. BulkSupplements current price is ~$56/kg at ~28 cents per dose per day. No reason to let price scare you away from one of the few supplements with a real body of evidence.

I think the biggest concern people have with cheap supplements is not so much efficacy as contamination with heavy metals and other nastiness. Especially with the vast majority of the raw ingredients being sourced from China. People are counting on the domestic distributer's testing to catch quality control issues before the product reaches consumers.

As you said, you need to look at individual resellers/distributors and see what kind of QC/testing is being done on a company by company basis. Raw ingredients are sourced from China regardless of if they're expensive "designer" supplements or cheap generics. My comment was more along the lines of different formulations don't seem to have any difference wise, meaning that you can buy high quality generic creatine monohydrate at fraction of the price of something like Creapure(which is just monohydrate), creatine HCL, ethyl ester etc. Again, you need to audit who you're getting your supplements from - cheap doesnt always = poor quality and expensive doesn't always = high quality

what about contaminants? are they more or less prevalent in generic formulations?

I haven't looked into that wrt creatine broadly - you can get generic creatine monohydrate across the spectrum from cheap to expensive. In the case I gave, bulk supplements does heavy mineral and contaminant testing on their supplements but it's going to vary depending on where you buy the generic from.

I am sharing these two links on the danger of supplements. I am inclined to believe they are at best useless and probably harmful.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161208-why-vitamin-supp...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2022/08/01/stop-...

I am willing to entertain the possibility that specific supplements don't work, but saying that all supplements don't work for all people _must_ be an exaggeration.

Obviously, some things work for at least a subset of people. I admit it is hard to distinguish real effects from placebo, but stuff like... creatine, which someone mentioned earlier do work.

Supplements can "work" - but the quality of the supplement can be very low and filled with lots of bad stuff.

Since supplements aren't made like pharmaceuticals, this can be a pretty big problem.

Kind of scaremongering. Yes, quality varies, but if you really want to be diligent it's easy to find what the good brands are, that are getting tests, have certifications, etc.

Most of the vitamin supplements are cheap to make, there's really no reason for the manufacturer to risk it with adulterated product.

Any supplements that are NSF Certified for Sport are safe and highly unlikely to contain "bad stuff".

https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/how-to-reduce-your-ris...

Nothing on this page sounds like a resounding endorsement:

> An athlete should never consider any dietary supplement to be 100% safe. No third-party testing company can test for every possible prohibited substance. The NSF Certified for Sport program reduces, but does not eliminate, risk for athletes. It is still up to each athlete to determine whether they want to take the risk of using dietary supplements and USADA does not approve or evaluate dietary supplement products.

It also seems focused on illegal substances, not the purity of the product.

They are extrapolating that some supplements are bad to say that all are bad. I can find just as many studies that say some are good.

How do we know the truth/"best advice" for ones self?

Sorry but this Forbes article is simply frustratingly wrong. So many people are deficient in Vitamin D. Of course it's preferable to take in 15 minutes of sunlight with exposed skin every day but that's not an option for most people. I can share 2 scientific studies (not Forbes) showing how there was an inverse relationship between covid mortality and vitamin-d levels.

Inverse link to covid mortality: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33260798/ Inverse link to covid mortality: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34684596/ Inverse link to depression in adults: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30470577/

and the best YouTube source of information during this weird pandemia discussing Vitamin D safety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbUm5FyrHRk

I understand that something being "linked" to something is not a concrete recommendation to take a supplement, but the risks are very low, and the benefit is very high in my opinion, based on this research.

Top comment: take D and fish oil

2nd top comment: don't take anything

Wish I knew the right answer

Vitamin D. I live fairly far north and several months of the year it is simply impossible to get any D vitamin from sun exposure - even when it is actually shining - because the sun is too low.

- vitamin D (at least 20-30K IU in the cold months)

- magnesium chloride (5-10g/day, 625-1250mg elemental magnesium), great on its own, indispensable with vitamin D which uses it up as co-factor

- omega-3s (in high doses), probably better a high EPA/DHA ratio as you don't need that much DHA and EPA is more anti-inflammatory

- astaxanthin (great for sun protection, antioxidant)

I've heard of these high dose Vitamin D regiments, and I have to ask, how and where are you getting such high doses?

I take 2 tablets of 1000 IU per day, alongside a magnesium citrate tablet. What am I missing? You're not taking 30 tablets a day are you?

I don't take such a high dose (I was on 2000IU a day and got the point where it was causing my heart to race and I had to back off), but I take a vitamin D supplement where a 1000IU dose is 3 drops of liquid from a dropper. It would be easy (although very expensive, and IMO not advisable) to take a large dose via this method.

I have a suspicion most people taking such a high dose (over an extended period of time) must be using a poor quality of vitamin D that means they're not actually absorbing that much. But that's just speculation.

There are plenty of brands dosing at 5K, 10K, and even 50K IU.

That 1000IU is common but very underdosed. IIRC the 400IU RDA came out of some error, it's 4000IU now, but I think even that is underdosed, with many people recommending 20K as the benchmark from what the body with sufficient exposed skin produces in 20mins in the midday sun.

Isn’t your body producing it in a different form though?

I don't think so, D3 is the animal form, which I didn't mention but it is, of course, the one you want and not D2, which does have some issues. Otherwise, I think it's more a matter of vitamin D biosynthesis also having other effects that are not resulting in just the synthesis of vitamin D.

30k does sound a bit crazy but maybe it works for parent. I was taking 4k IU during colder months of WFH and after a few months had to reduce it because I was getting close to the upper acceptable limit (starting from low levels). It's important to calibrate with regular tests.

If you are in Canada, the government only allows 1000 IU maximum sold over the counter. :-(

In Turkey you can buy a 300k IU dose for, what used to be, around $1-2. It is called Devit-3 and is sold over the counter.

5000 IU drops based on vegetable oil.

X drops for X * 5000 IU.

> - vitamin D (at least 20-30K IU in the cold months)

I hope you're getting blood tests, as this is enough to put most people into Hypervitaminosis D range if continued for long enough.

More is not always better when it comes to supplements.

I know where you heard that, but it's really not. Well, not if you don't already have some issue that would lead you there. Plus the symptoms of hypervitaminosis D are obvious (constipation, thirst...). There's stories of people getting hypervitaminosis D after, like 2-3 weeks on 1 MILLION units per day. Probably still a good idea to add vitamin K2 to that, but I already get a lot of it in my diet.

And you can also easily more than 20KIU vitamin D by sunbathing.

Not really [1]:

> The evidence is clear that vitamin D toxicity is one of the rarest medical conditions and is typically due to intentional or inadvertent intake of extremely high doses of vitamin D (usually in the range of 50,000-100,000 IU/d for months to years)

[1] https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(15)...

I take the following:

- Vitamin D (mostly during winter times)

- L-Theanin ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03010... )

- Vitamine B12 (I am a vegetarian)

- Omega 3

- Vitamin C + Zinc (especially when I feel like there is a cold incoming due to the shortening effect of zinc see: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21328251/ )

Vast majority of population is vitamin D deficient all year round, even spending at least 4 hours a day half naked outdoors in Hawaii would not provide you enough vitamin D [1] and I doubt you spend that much time half naked in sunlight in other seasons, even 80-90% of Indian population living close to equator with much more sunlight is vitamin D deficient [2]. At very least I'd recommend following Finnish guidelines. [3]

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17426097/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6060930/

[3] https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/2/268/2670162

On a daily basis I take Vitamin D, garlic, curcumin (turmeric), and glucosamine/chondroitin. Why? I live north of the 45th parallel and many around me suffer from colds and flus this time of year. Since I started taking Vitamin D and Garlic the effects of getting a cold or flu is much less severe as a rule and I have back problems so I want to make every attempt to reduce inflammation without pounding the Ibuprofen.

When I do get sick. I have taken a range of things and have had noticeable results with Wellness Formula from Source Naturals.

> glucosamine/chondroitin

Since I started msm/glucosamine/chondroitin on and off, I think I've only experienced no or very mild muscle soreness after activity. It also seems to kick in very quickly.

I also like boswellia serrata extracts for their anti-inflammatory properties, since they are potent and don't give me any unwanted side-effects.

I would recommend examine.com as a research tool. One of the few sites not trying to sell you supplements.

They recently(?) locked everything useful behind a paywall, unfortunately

Vitamin D 5000IU daily, when I have respiratory disease I increase my daily dose to at least 15-20K IU

Vitamin C and multivitamin with various vitamins, both these in drinks

Vast majority of population is vitamin D deficient all year round, even spending at least 4 hours a day half naked outdoors in Hawaii would not provide you enough vitamin D [1], even 80-90% of Indian population living close to equator with much more sunlight is vitamin D deficient [2]. At very least I'd recommend following Finnish guidelines. [3]

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17426097/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6060930/

[3] https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/2/268/2670162

Collagen supplementation has shown to be really effective in various meta analyses. Helps with joint degradation, tendon repair if you do sports, skin elasticity, etc.

This is a representative one focused on joints, but other studies look at appearance of aging etc:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-021-03072-x

Collagen supplements are fairly cheap, biggest downside is to get 5g per day you need to take like 5 pills. It's not a small amount (which kinda makes sense, it's structural)

I would be very concerned about contaminants in collagen supplements.

If you look at studies of, for example, bone broths cooked with 1) only meat, 2) meat and bones, or 3) meat, bones, and skin, the amount of lead rises significantly with the additions of skin and cartilage included with the bones [1].

Another study[2] indicates that in the form of bone broth, the levels of lead and cadmium are acceptable because they're only a few μg, but my concern rises when you'd be potentially reducing a fluid like bone broth into a powder and consuming quite a bit of it at a time.

The supplement industry is notorious for substandard or absent testing, so it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if some bottles of collagen pills may contain several μg. If you take 5, then eat other foods with relatively high contamination, over time this habit seems like it has potential to significantly increase the heavy metal content in your body.

I don't mean to be a scare-monger at all, and if someone knows more about this then please feel free to let me know I'm crazy.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23375414/ [2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28804437/

Luckily, California has very stringent standards around heavy metals. There are lots of brands of collagen that don't require prop65 warnings on the bottle (and that are legally sold in California).

California's standards are stricter than industry and national standards, to the point where you're probably fine even if a product does require a prop65 warning

Information is Beautiful did a visualization a couple years ago that attempted to answer this exact question. It hasn't been updated since end of 2020 but perhaps this will still be useful to some readers here:

https://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-...

General: vitamin D, epa/dha (AKA vegan fish oil), and b12 (I'm vegan btw)

Workouts: creatine, pea protein isolate, and amino acids (leucine, etc.)

Vitamin D, K, Fish Oil, Magnesium, Creatine, and Theanine all have lots of research on being effective, with very low risk.

Next up, Curcumin (active Turmeric) and Ashwagandha also have significant research concluding their benefits, but I'd say their risk is one level higher, still small.

examine.com

I've been taking Ashwaghanda, it has been proven to slightly increase testosterone. It appears to do this by lowering cortisol levels, I have felt very relaxed and things rarely make me feel stressed.

I started taking it to increase my strength in the gym.

I was taking that to help with poor sleep but was getting crazy bad dry mouth throughout the night which would wake me up it was so painful. So it didn’t help my sleep. What dosage are you using?

I’ve been taking it too. How quickly did you start seeing that effect? I guess I have felt better but also coincides with taking time off at the end of the year etc.

Creatine. Definitely noticed a HUGE difference when I ran out a few months ago.

As someone who has experimented a bit with creatine on two separate occasions without noticing much effect, what difference did you notice exactly?

And what type of exercise do you do?

I notice it most for big compound movements. I cycle on and off of it. And when I go back on I can tell the difference and all the scientific studies back up that it works.

I run a push pull legs program. Biggest thing I notice is the "pump". It's far easier to get a nice pump going when I have creatine in my system vs not. This definitely aids in forming a mind-muscle connection, and at least in my personal experience a good pump is an indicator you're training properly. Around this time last year I was having trouble finding any, and the difference in my performance was night and day as far as being able to reach progressive overload.

I take some whey protein supplement most days. It's difficult for me to consume an optimal amount of protein every day (based on the latest scientific research) without also consuming too many calories. I could get the same or better results without the supplements if I was willing to spend more time on meal planning, but I'm lazy.

https://peterattiamd.com/donlayman/

- Caffeine

- Some local "Probiotic" pills, but they seem to be from a culture which actually has some scientific testing. They made my belly a lot happier. Seems to help after alcohol too. Not sure how international this is. A lot of science is pointing to the fact that many things can support the microbiome. I take irregular for a few days in a row.

- Electrolytes on demand

- I plan to take very low doses of Aspirin as I get older as it seems to be helpful in preventing heart attacks.

  Aspirin use can result in serious side effects, such as stomach bleeding, bleeding in the brain, and kidney failure.[1]

I was reading something I recall trusting talking about how taking the probabilities of the side effects occurring from taking aspirin regularly were higher than the potential heart attack if you didn't have heart related conditions.

[1] https://www.fda.gov/drugs/safe-daily-use-aspirin/aspirin-red...

I used to have frequent headaches. Now I take magnesium and potassium and almost never get them. I think many people could benefit from more minerals/electrolytes (but depends on diet of course).

I also take Vitamin D (not a huge amount) in winter and Omega 3s daily but I haven’t noticed any effects. The oils seems fairly harmless though and the research is compelling.

I also found probiotics and fiber helpful depending on if I didn’t get enough in my diet.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17426097/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6060930/

[3] https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/2/268/2670162

Came here for advice but gotta say I'm disappointed so few comments mention any scientific sources. Something I would expect on HN.

Not only that, but a lot of the suggestions seem to ignore the "good scientific backing" part of OP's question. For example, omega-3 has been mentioned several times, but if you look at any of the sources that more responsible commenters have linked to it's clearly on the "slight" to "none" side evidence-wise. I have no opinion on omega-3 personally. It's fine if people take it. It's just not an answer to the question that was posed.

Checkout Labdoor[1], an independent company that tests supplements. They find out whether products have what they claim and if they have any harmful ingredients or contaminants.

[1] https://labdoor.com/review

Exercice

Lactobacillus. Which someone on here recommended, and seems to really help with my IBS. I have to be careful because some versions come packaged with maltitol as a bulking agent and that makes my IBS worse.

Athletic Greens, however I can't speak to specific scientific backing.

Sometimes melatonin.

But I’ve found out that a single pill won’t get me sleepy enough to stop scrolling or closing my laptop, so I don’t bother much.

Daily I take:

Omega-3s

Vitamin D (essential in places with long cold winters)

Creatine (basically the most studied and effective supplement for strength training)

Protein

Glucosamine (for joints)

I second the Omega 3's, in the form of cod liver oil. Also a refrigerated probiotic occasionally and zinc every day (Zinc is super great for general physical strength and vitality for me, very underrated, strong recommend).

i thought zinc interferes with copper absorption? maybe you shouldn't take it every single day.

NAC

vitamin D 50.000 IU once per week Melatonin 1mg quite often and for long period of time Omega 3-6-9 2-3 times per year during three months

Vitamin D

Zinc

OMEGA-3

Whey Protein

Magnesium (if you don't eat a lot of meat)

Adaptogens

What is this and what is a good example of one you take?

Omega 3 and CoQ10

None whatsoever.

Bacopa

ritalin

Believe it or not there is still over the counter speed in the US, but Ritalin isn't one of them.

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