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?

Top comment: take D and fish oil

2nd top comment: don't take anything

Wish I knew the right answer

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.