A free checklist for deciding whether a supplement is worth
buying. No email required. Built to be used standing in a shop or on a checkout page, not
read as an article.
Most supplement content is written by people selling supplements. This is the opposite: a set of
checks that frequently end with “don’t buy this.” That is a legitimate outcome, and it is
the one the industry’s own content never reaches.
This is information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose, treat or prevent anything.
Before you look at any product
☐ 1. Write the problem in one sentence
Specific enough to be wrong. “I want to be healthier” cannot be evaluated.
“I wake up three times a night” or “my knee hurts going downstairs”
can.
Why it matters: a vague goal makes every product seem relevant and none of them
falsifiable. If you cannot say what should change, you will never be able to tell whether anything
did — and you will keep buying.
☐ 2. Ask whether this is a nutrition problem at all
Fatigue, poor sleep, low mood and aching joints have many causes. Most do not respond to a
capsule.
Stop here if: the symptom is persistent, worsening, or new. That is a clinician
question, and a supplement can delay an answer that matters.
☐ 3. Check whether food does this
Many supplemented nutrients are abundant in ordinary food, and for people without a diagnosed
deficiency the dietary route is cheaper with fewer interaction questions.
Checking the evidence
☐ 4. Evidence for this compound, at this dose, in people like you
Three separate conditions. Marketing routinely satisfies none while implying all three.
- This compound — not the food it came from. Evidence that oily fish is
associated with better outcomes is not evidence that a capsule reproduces it. - This dose — many products contain a researched ingredient at a fraction of the
researched amount. - People like you — a trial in people with a diagnosed deficiency says little
about someone without one.
☐ 5. Check who paid for the research
Across supplement literature, industry-funded trials tend to report more favourable results than
independently funded ones. Large independent trials deserve more weight.
Reading the label
☐ 6. Serving size — the most misread line
Every number on the panel is per serving, not per capsule. If a serving is three
capsules, a bottle of 90 lasts 30 days, not 90, and the advertised dose requires
taking all three.
This single line changes both the real dose and the real cost per day.
☐ 7. Is there a proprietary blend?
A blend lists one combined weight without disclosing how much of each ingredient is present.
Ingredients must appear in descending order by weight — that is all you get.
Red flag: if the active ingredients sit inside a blend, you cannot
verify the dose of anything, and you cannot compare the product to any other.
☐ 8. Check the form of the ingredient
Magnesium oxide and magnesium citrate are both magnesium and differ meaningfully in absorption.
Where research supports an ingredient, it usually supports a specific form.
☐ 9. Look for third-party testing
Marks from USP, NSF International or ConsumerLab.
Know exactly what this buys you: certification generally confirms the product
contains what the label says, without specified contaminants. It does not mean the
ingredient works. Quality and efficacy are separate questions, and marketing blurs them.
☐ 10. Find the disclaimer
US supplements are not reviewed by the FDA for effectiveness before sale. A structure/function
claim must carry: “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”
Read that as an instruction, not boilerplate. A product that could claim more
would be claiming more.
Before you pay
☐ 11. Ask a pharmacist about interactions
The highest-value five minutes in this entire process, and the most skipped.
Usually no appointment needed. Bring your full list.
Particularly relevant with: blood thinners · antibiotics · thyroid medication · upcoming surgery
· kidney or liver impairment · pregnancy.
☐ 12. Work out the real monthly cost
Cost per serving, not per capsule (see #6), multiplied by the months you intend
to continue. This is a recurring cost, not a purchase. If it is a subscription, find the
cancellation path before signing up.
☐ 13. Write your baseline down
A number if possible — pain out of 10, hours slept, times waking — plus one specific activity you
struggle with.
Memory reconstructs improvement that did not happen. Without a written baseline
you will not be able to judge the outcome honestly.
☐ 14. Set a review date before you start
Most trials run for months, so a week tells you nothing. Eight to twelve weeks
is a reasonable default. Write the date down.
☐ 15. Change one thing at a time
Starting a supplement, a new bedtime and a gym membership in the same week means you learn
nothing about any of them.
☐ 16. Decide now what would make you stop
Nothing changed by the review date · side effects appear · your clinician finds an interaction ·
the cost stops making sense.
“I might as well keep taking it” is how a trial becomes a subscription.
Expect regression to the mean
This is the single biggest reason people believe a supplement worked, and it is almost never
mentioned.
People start something when symptoms are at their worst. Symptoms that fluctuate
tend to improve afterwards regardless of what was taken. That improvement feels like evidence and
is not.
It is why a written baseline and a fixed review date matter more than any individual check above.
Marketing patterns that should slow you down
None proves a product is bad. All are reasons to look harder.
- A named condition it claims to treat — supplements legally cannot claim to
diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. A product doing so is breaking its own rules. - Urgency or countdowns — your nutritional status does not have a deadline.
- Proprietary blends hiding the actives.
- Testimonials instead of trials — the people it did not work for do not appear.
- “Doctor formulated” — not a regulated term, and not the same as tested.
- Attacking mainstream medicine to establish credibility.
- A quiz that recommends products — the output was decided before your answers.
The one-line version
Know what problem you are solving · check the dose against the research, not the
marketing · read the serving size · ask a pharmacist about interactions · write a baseline · set a
review date · decide in advance what would make you stop.
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Dietary Supplements
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
- NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
MediVara publishes health journalism. This checklist is not medical advice and is not
reviewed by a licensed clinician. Do not start, stop or change any supplement or medication without
speaking to a qualified healthcare professional who knows your history and your prescriptions.
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