This is a video you might not have expected from a doctor. Despite being very skeptical about supplements in the past, I've come to realize they're not all just expensive placebos, and a select few are potentially very useful for many people.

In fact, one of them is so effective, affordable, and essential to good health, it could transform the well-being of every single person watching this video.

But before we dive into the first supplement, I need to say one thing: everything I'm going to recommend here is for healthy people who don't have any specific nutrient deficiencies or increased requirements because of an illness or a physiological state.

For example, women who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant should definitely take folate supplements, and if you have any doubt whatsoever whether you should take a supplement or not, please talk to your doctor.

With that out the way, let's start by looking at some supplements that are so dodgy, even the pills and powders are trying to escape from the bottle.

Detox teas are supposed to give you more energy, reduce bloating, and help you lose weight.

Sounds great, but if you do notice any of those benefits, it might be due to the caffeine, the laxatives, the diuretics that will send you to the bathroom every 5 minutes rather than anything else.

Bottom line, you already have a natural detoxifying plant in your body, they're called your liver, kidneys, and colon, and assuming they work fine, you don't need any help from these supplements.

Don't waste your money or your time on these supplements or anyone who tries to sell them to you. Same goes for ketone supplements.

The theory is that these supplements help you achieve ketosis, where your body burns fat to provide energy rather than use glucose. The actual evidence that these supplements will help weight loss is pretty thin on the ground.

While they could temporarily increase blood ketones, that doesn't necessarily translate to the same metabolic benefits as nutritional ketos from a low carb diet.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still going to roll in the mud.

So there's no way I can put ketone supplements anywhere other than F tier. Now let's look at alkaline water.

This so-called functional water is simply H2O with added alkaline minerals. The purported benefits of these drinks are based on a handful of very small studies and don't warrant the headlines written about them.

There is no solid evidence that they can deliver any real benefit, so they just join detox teas and ketone supplements at the bottom of the pile.

Now let's talk about L-glutamine. You might have heard about the gut's health benefits of this supplement, and they're not so far-fetched.

L-glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid, which means we naturally make it as part of the process of creating protein, but if we're sick or injured, we might not be able to make enough and then we need to consume more.

There's limited evidence that L-glutamine can alleviate the symptoms of IBS, and it may be useful for people who are recovering from surgery or injury as L-glutamine levels tend to be lower in these individuals and in these cases, but there's not so much evidence to support the benefits in weight management or in building muscle.

You'd be better off just eating more protein. All that said, L-glutamine is going on the E tier. You might have heard of something called berberine, and specifically berberine being touted as nature's Ozempic, a natural way to increase your GLP-1 hormone, and keep you feeling full.

And yes, there are some small-scale studies, mostly in animals, showing it may do this. However, any GOP1 created in this way gets broken down by the body in a matter of minutes, so there's no real long-term benefit.

If you are interested in a more sustained GLP-1 increase and an S-tier supplement that really does help with that, stay tuned.

In the meantime, this is another one to avoid, so berberine joins L- glutamine on the E tier.

Next up, we have multivitamins. You just pop one of these pills and it gives you all the vitamins and minerals you need for the day.

The actual evidence that multivitamins provide any benefit is sketchy at best. One study from 2022 concluded that there wasn't enough evidence to decide whether multivitamins were overall harmful or beneficial, while another study published in 2024 found that people who regularly take multivitamins had a slightly higher mortality rate than those who don't.

At the end of the day, if you're consuming a multivitamin that gives you 100% of the recommended daily amount of several different vitamins or minerals and you're eating a halfway decent diet, you'll be getting way more than the RDA for some of those vitamins.

Your body can only absorb a certain amount of micronutrients each day, and anything above that level simply gets sent out of the body in yellow or brown liquid missiles.

So in a very real sense, if you're taking a multivitamin, there's a danger you might be pissing your money away.

If not that, you can actually end up suffering from vitamin toxicity if your body stores up more micronutrients than it actually needs.

For example, in certain cases of fat-soluble vitamins. In some cases, your doctor might prescribe you a multiv- vitamin to treat a specific condition and I get it, you're traveling, your diet's in the gutter, maybe you can't afford a nutritious diet right now.

In those cases, maybe multivitamins could be a useful temporary crutch.

Those scenarios are, you'd be better off spending your money on more fruit and vegetables, and don't forget frozen fruit and vegetables are just as good for you as the fresh stuff and often way cheaper.

That being said, I'm putting multivitamins on the D tier.

Now let's talk about omega-3. Omega-3 is one of those supplements everyone has heard of and everyone knows is good for them, right?

But if you ask most people what it actually is, well, would you know? Well, flounder no more, I'm going to explain.

Omega-3 is a type of fat that is essential for ourselves to work properly. It's an example of an essential fatty acid that can only be obtained through food or supplements.

There are three types of Omega three: ALA, which we can get from plants like walnuts, seeds, and vegetable oils, and DHA and EPA, which we get from eating oily fish like sardines, tuna, and salmon.

These fish get their omega-3 primarily from eating algae. We are able to convert ALA into DHA and EPA, but only in very small quantities.

So if you don't eat fish for any reason, should you be taking an omega-3 supplement?

The evidence is mixed at best and a bit fishy. Oh brother, this guy stinks. One large-scale study which gave 8,000 participants either a very high level of Omega-3 supplements or a placebo found that the people given the omega-3 had fewer heart attacks, fewer strokes, and suffered fewer deaths.

However, that study involved giving people way more DHA and EPA they normally get from eating oily Fish on the other hand, other studies show that there is effectively no impact on health outcomes from increased omega-3 consumption.

The problem with these studies is that if we're simply asking people how much oily fish they eat a day and then looking at what their health outcomes are, there are so many other factors not taken into account, like any medicine they're taking, how healthy they are, the rest of their diet, it's really hard to know what the difference omega-3 actually makes.

All that said, if you don't eat fish because you're vegan, for example, or you're suffering from a chronic inflammatory condition like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, then in these cases, maybe taking an omega-3 supplement may give you some benefit, and you can get vegan Omega-3 supplements too, made from algae, but they are pretty expensive at the minute.

If you don't fall into one of those categories I just mentioned, you're probably better off saving your money.

Omega-3 is going on the C tier, it won't Krill you and salmon had to tell you the truth, didn't they?

Never mind the supplement, I think these puns of mine belong in the C tier too. Oh boy, on to electrolytes.

Electrolytes are minerals like sodium, potassium, and calcium that are essential for the regulation of certain bodily functions ranging from nerve transmission to blood pressure.

The claims made about electrolytes include improved hydration, improved athletic performance, and faster recovery from exercise. The one claim that really does stand up is the need to consume additional electrolytes after strenuous exercise.

When we sweat, which by the way is just filtered blood, we lose electrolytes, that's why sweat is salty, and you may be surprised to learn that we can easily lose up to a liter of sweat during an hour of physical activity, that volume of water can double depending on the individual's metabolism, how strenuous the activity is, and how hot it is.

So electrolyte supplements are useful for anyone exercising for an extended period of time, particularly if they're a heavy sweater. The point is that we're all different in how much we sweat and how much exercise we do, so it's really impossible to give a general recommendation for every single person.

As for the other benefits I mentioned, again, the weight of evidence doesn't warrant the need for electrolyte supplements for most people most of the time, unless your doctor prescribes you one because you're violently hosing chocolate lava out of one end, or you're sweating buckets, or vomiting, or you're exercising so intensely that you need it, you can probably give them a miss.

Now time for the D. What do you mean by that? Vitamin D. Perhaps you know our skin makes vitamin D from exposure to sunlight.

So if you're a night shift worker or you don't get out of the house in the daylight hours for whatever reason, it might seem like good sense to take a vitamin D supplement.

Indeed, in the UK, the NHS recommends people take Vitamin D supplements during the winter months, and all year round if you have dark skin or you don't get enough sunlight on your skin for any reason.

However, here's what happened when vitamin D was put to the test. A large scale 2018 study gave more than 25,000 people either vitamin D supplements or a placebo for more than 5 years, and then looked at whether it reduced the number of people who developed or died from serious conditions like cancer or cardiovascular disease.

It found Vitamin D supplements had no effect on whether people developed cancer or not, whether they suffered from cardiovascular disease, and no impact on the number of people who died for any reason at all.

It did show vitamin D reduced the mortality rate in people who were already suffering from cancer.

So this suggests Vitamin D supplements may be useful for some people, but if you're already healthy, there's probably no point taking them.

So what about all those reports you've seen that most people are vitamin D deficient?

As this New York Times article points out, the worry about vitamin D deficiency shows an alarming correlation with vitamin D testing companies and doctors who receive funding from those companies.

As any good scientists can tell you, just because two events are correlated, like a doctor receiving funding from a vitamin D testing company and that same doctor suggesting many people are vitamin D deficient, it doesn't mean those two events are linked.

However, in this case, on balance, maybe they are. One thing you could do to improve your vitamin D consumption is to increase consumption of the humble mushroom.

You might not think you have much in common with agaricus bisporus, but both you and it do one thing exactly the same: you make vitamin D when you're exposed to the sun.

Yes, incredibly. But, and mushrooms increase their amount of vitamin D2 specifically when left in the Sun for just 20 minutes.

That's vitamin D2, mind you, so you need to get your vitamin D3 elsewhere.

So Vitamin D supplements may be useful for people with a deficiency but are unlikely to have any increased benefit for the rest of us.

honestly, if you eat a balanced diet and take a 15-20 minute walk in the middle of the day, assuming it's not cloudy out, and of course, you take care you don't get burnt, you're probably going to be fine for vitamin D.

In any case, if you feel you are deficient, you can always go and check it out during a blood test.

It's even possible to consume too much vitamin D from feasting on multivitamins and those high-dose supplements.

That being the case, I am going to rank it in the B category. Next up, we have magnesium, which has been claimed to have all sorts of benefits.

What I feel is a heightened sense of awareness and focus, yet feeling calm to work throughout the morning. Who wouldn't want that? Well, there are a number of different forms of magnesium which are thought to have different benefits.

They include magnesium glycinate, which may help you relax, feel less anxious, and sleep better; magnesium Heth 3 and 8, thought to improve cognition and memory; magnesium sulfate, AKA Epsom salt, used to treat aching muscles; magnesium citrate, which can be a gentle form of drain cleaner for your intestines; and magnesium lactate, thought to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

Magnesium L-Threonate is probably the best supported out of all of these compounds. One of the issues with different forms of magnesium is how bioavailable they are, and that is how easily they are absorbed onto the cells of the body.

Magnesium L-Threonate is known to pass readily into brain cells, where it's thought to act directly on those cells.

In one study, participants were either given a magnesium L-Threonate supplement or a placebo for 30 days.

They tested individual's memory both before and after taking the supplement or the placebo and found that the people who received the supplement had significant improvements in their memory compared to the people who had received the placebo.

That said, most of the research done on magnesium L3 in it has been done on animals, so might not fully apply to humans.

One of the biggest myths about magnesium is that it's a micronutrient most commonly deficient in adults.

There's actually no real evidence to back this up. If you think you might be deficient in magnesium, get a blood test done and that'll prove it one way or the other.

Magnesium is one of those supplements that won't hurt you if you take it without needing it, except maybe hurting your wallet.

Just make sure you get the right one, and if you take a supplement designed to have a laxative effect to help you sleep, you might just find it does the opposite effect.

For now, I'm going to place this supplement in the B tier.

Okay, you gym rats and protein gobblers, let's talk about protein powder. Protein rocks. Are you guys talking about protein?

I love protein. I love protein too. We know you love protein. First of all, where does it come from? When cow's milk curdles, it splits into a liquid called whey and a solid called casein.

Both of these can be used to make a protein powder: whey protein, casein protein.

However, there are also non-animal sources of protein, and you've probably seen pea protein powder being sold as well. Anyone looking to increase their muscle mass should be thinking about increasing their protein consumption.

And if you happen to be in your 40s or older, that should be you. The reason for this is that as we age, we naturally start to lose some muscle mass.

This is the one reason why so many elderly people are so frail, and this is not just a vanity thing, a fall or a trip for a healthy 35-year-old is just a nuisance.

A fall for an 85-year-old with reduced muscle mass could be fatal.

Now, you could try just eating more protein, but a protein powder will be much quicker and more convenient unless you plan on taking a steak sandwich to the gym.

And for example, if you wanted to make a protein smoothie, you could supercharge it by adding berries or a banana for added phytonutrients and fiber.

I do need to say though that increased protein consumption is only really going to contribute to significantly increased muscle mass if you're doing sufficient resistance exercise.

Also, make sure you check the ingredient list of any protein powder you buy. Ideally, you want one without too much added sugar because you could always sweeten it yourself with fruit or honey.

As a generally available, convenient, and affordable supplement for pretty much everyone to take, it's hard to beat protein powder and drinks, so I'm putting it on the A tier, recommended.

Now we're on to the juicy stuff. Creatine is seen as the bodybuilder supplement, although it can have a benefit for anyone who does any kind of training at all.

Creatine monohydrate is the most common form of this supplement. It helps to stock up the levels of phosphocreatine in muscle and other cells, so try not to get all worked out about other versions of it.

Basically, this molecule helps muscle cells create energy, so by supplementing creatine, you can simply get your muscles to do more work when you're exercising.

We do get creatine from most meat products, which means that vegetarians and vegans tend to have less of it than meatheads.

One study showed that vegetarians taking Creatine also gained improvements to their memory and brain function as well as increased muscle mass.

Doctor Ranks Every Supplement: Worst To Best

I’m Dr Karan, a general surgeon in the NHS, dork & dad-dog (not necessarily in that order).

If you want to learn more about health, science & medicine with a bit of inappropriate humour thrown in then it’s a statistical probability you might enjoy this channel.

Sit back & enjoy..or recoil in horror at the things I’ll teach you.

Also while you’re here if you’ve liked any of my videos then you’ll enjoy my book “This Book May Save Your Life” here:

https://linktr.ee/thisbookmaysaveyourlife

Dr Karan

Introduction and Disclaimer Regarding Supplements

Doctor discusses supplements, acknowledging past skepticism but recognizing some potential benefits.

Important disclaimer: recommendations are for healthy individuals without specific nutrient deficiencies or increased needs due to illness.

Example of exception: pregnant women needing folate supplements; consult a doctor if unsure.

Low-Rated Supplements: Detox Teas, Ketone Supplements, and Alkaline Water

Detox teas are ineffective; any perceived benefits are likely due to caffeine, laxatives, and diuretics.

Ketone supplements show weak evidence for weight loss; don't provide the same benefits as a low-carb diet.

Alkaline water lacks solid evidence of real benefits.

Mid-Range Supplements: L-Glutamine, Berberine, Multivitamins, and Omega-3s

L-glutamine: conditionally essential amino acid; limited evidence for IBS symptom relief and usefulness for recovery from surgery or injury.

Berberine: small studies (mostly in animals) suggest GLP-1 increase, but the effect is short-lived.

Multivitamins: evidence of benefit is sketchy; one study linked them to higher mortality rates.

Omega-3s: essential fatty acids; evidence of benefit is mixed; may be beneficial for vegans or those with chronic inflammatory conditions.

More Mid-Range Supplements: Electrolytes and Vitamin D

Electrolytes: essential minerals; beneficial for those exercising strenuously; evidence for other benefits is weak.

Vitamin D: skin produces it from sunlight; supplements may be useful for those with deficiency or limited sun exposure; large study showed no overall benefit for healthy individuals.

Higher-Rated Supplements: Magnesium, Protein Powder, Creatine, and Fiber

Magnesium: various forms with different benefits; magnesium L-threonate shows promise for memory improvement; deficiency is not common.

Protein powder: convenient way to increase protein intake; beneficial for muscle mass and overall health, especially for older adults; needs to be combined with resistance exercise.

Creatine: improves muscle energy production; benefits extend to vegetarians/vegans; no major side effects with proper dosage.

Fiber: numerous health benefits; most people benefit from increased intake; supplements (psyllium husk and prebiotic fibers) are recommended.

Probiotics: A Supplement Requiring Further Information

Probiotics: rated B-tier (possibly C-tier); benefits may vary depending on individual needs; further information is needed.

Doctor Ranks Every Supplement: Worst To Best

Doctor Ranks Every Supplement: Worst To Best

Scripts