Supplement Hype reports the state of evidence and grades claims. It is not a substitute for a doctor or pharmacist and does not diagnose, treat, or cure anything. Read the full disclaimer →
By goal
Ranked by the strength of human evidence — not popularity. 14 entries touch this goal. Each is graded claim by claim, because the same supplement can be strong for one use and weak for another.
convenient food, not magic
A genuinely useful, evidence-backed way to hit your protein target. Just remember it's food, not a potion.
Marketing intensity 70 of 100. Evidence strength 80 of 100. Verdict: Better than its hype.
essential if low, risky if you guess
Genuinely fixes fatigue when you're iron-deficient. But taking it without a blood test is a real mistake - excess iron is harmful and there's no easy way to get rid of it.
Marketing intensity 60 of 100. Evidence strength 55 of 100. Verdict: Hype ≈ evidence.
an energy fix only if you're actually low
Essential and genuinely energising if you're deficient. The 'B12 for energy' shots and gummies do nothing measurable if your levels are already normal.
Marketing intensity 75 of 100. Evidence strength 55 of 100. Verdict: Slightly overhyped.
essential if low, oversold if not
Real and important if you're deficient. Marketed as a cure-all for people who already have enough.
Marketing intensity 80 of 100. Evidence strength 55 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
smartly packaged salt
Genuinely useful when you're sweating a lot for a long time. The 'everyone needs electrolytes all day' trend is mostly selling you flavoured salt.
Marketing intensity 78 of 100. Evidence strength 50 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
the sleep trend ahead of its evidence
Genuinely useful for deficiency and constipation. The 'magnesium fixes your sleep and anxiety' wave runs ahead of the science.
Marketing intensity 70 of 100. Evidence strength 50 of 100. Verdict: Slightly overhyped.
the gentle form everyone reaches for sleep
A well-tolerated, easily-absorbed form of magnesium with a small but real sleep signal. The 'fixes your sleep and anxiety' framing still runs ahead of the data.
Marketing intensity 72 of 100. Evidence strength 50 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
the quiet, cheap sleep amino acid
Under-marketed and reasonably promising for sleep. The longevity buzz, though, is built almost entirely on worms and mice.
Marketing intensity 42 of 100. Evidence strength 48 of 100. Verdict: Hype ≈ evidence.
the absorption nobody mentions
Some real signal for joints, buried under whole-body cure-all hype - and curcumin is barely absorbed unless it's formulated for it.
Marketing intensity 78 of 100. Evidence strength 45 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
an expensive multivitamin with influencers
A pricey powdered multivitamin with great marketing. The handful of trials are mostly run by the makers, and none show it does what the podcast ads imply.
Marketing intensity 88 of 100. Evidence strength 35 of 100. Verdict: Severely overhyped.
the calcium-traffic-cop, on surrogate evidence
A plausible idea - help calcium land in bone, not arteries - with promising biomarker and imaging data. But hard clinical proof (fewer fractures, fewer heart attacks) isn't there yet.
Marketing intensity 70 of 100. Evidence strength 35 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
insurance you probably don't need
Mostly harmless, mostly unnecessary if you eat reasonably. It treats a worry more than a deficiency.
Marketing intensity 65 of 100. Evidence strength 30 of 100. Verdict: Overhyped.
hair-and-nails hype that can break your blood tests
Helps hair and nails only if you're genuinely deficient - which is rare. For everyone else it's a placebo with a real side effect: it can throw off lab results.
Marketing intensity 78 of 100. Evidence strength 28 of 100. Verdict: Severely overhyped.
a TikTok superfood with an iodine problem
A seaweed marketed as a 92-mineral cure-all on almost no human evidence - and its wildly variable iodine load can actually harm your thyroid.
Marketing intensity 85 of 100. Evidence strength 15 of 100. Verdict: Severely overhyped.
Based on human evidence, the best-supported options here are Whey / protein powder, Iron, Vitamin B12. Each is graded claim by claim — open a card for the sources.
Watch out for Greens powder (AG1 etc.), Multivitamin, Biotin, Sea moss — the marketing runs well ahead of the human evidence for these.