Bitter pill: are you wasting your money on supplements?

A dietitian says many supplement claims overstate benefits, particularly for people who already get enough nutrients from food. Multivitamins remain widely used, but a major trial found only a tiny memory improvement in older adults—about a quarter of a word on a 20-word recall test—while outcomes like mood, immune function and overall wellbeing showed little or no change. Multivitamins may still help during life stages with higher nutrient needs, such as pregnancy, or when intake or absorption is lower, though formulations aren’t standardized. The article also discusses creatine and collagen: creatine may modestly support heavier lifting or sprints with training; collagen peptides may improve skin hydration and elasticity after roughly three months, mainly in women in their 40s and 50s.