17/07/2026
Common questions: Do I need to take supplements? and Why can’t I just use food?
And to be honest, there is nuance in the supplement debate. Supplement companies are a business and want to make money. Sure. BUT, the better companies out there want to make money AND have an ethical stance behind them. They put in big bucks into research and development, into quality control in both raw materials to ensure no adulterations and contaminations occur, and in facility integrity, hygiene and dose precision.
The better companies care about where they source their herbs, the growers, the environment, the level of active constituents in the raw materials they choose. They want a highly effective product because quality and real and positive effects in your health means repeat business.
Then there are the major retail manufacturers that are often owned by even larger profit machines who will claim a ton but produce low quality products. Cheap, but fairly useless.
But do we really need them at all? There are those that say all supplements are rubbish, unnatural and we should get what we need through diet alone. And fine, if you are willing and able to put that much focus on buying organic, cooking from scratch, making food preparation a core pillar in your life.
But you know what, a fair few of my own clients can’t or don’t want to do that. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t move the conversations and education toward changing those behaviours, but facts are, our diets are not always perfect, our food sources are not always perfect, our biochemical and genetic makeup is not always perfect, our lifestyle is not always perfect and we may need help now rather than in the months it may take us to sort out a decent nourishment routine.
So as to the question, are supplements a grift? Yeah, some can be. And some people CAN get all they need with diet alone.… BUT (con’t in comments) 👇🏼
