The supplement aisle feels like  it’s taking over grocery stores, and we’ve never heard of half  of the stuff they’re selling.

And the half we have heard  of, we only know from like, 4am infomercials delivered by some  very enthusiastic salespeople. I really have to remember to turn the TV off before bed... nightmaressss.

But how good are any of those alleged magic pills? Can they really do what those  bright eyed salespeople claim, or are they just scams? To figure that out, we’re going to  dive into the peer-reviewed research.

And we’ll be rating them all using our high-tech and very scientific Scale Of Truth! [intro music] Let’s kick things off with a  so-called miracle exercise supplement: Colostrum. Colostrum is the milk produced by mammals for the first few days of their babies’ lives. It’s chock full of immune cells, including antibodies and antimicrobial peptides, which can give babies the head-start they need to fight off infection in those early days.

It’s also high in protein, vitamins,  antioxidants, and growth factors, which all help babies get the  nutrition they need to grow. And since it’s so great at helping babies grow, why wouldn’t it be great  for helping adults grow too? Or at least, in the muscle department.

Which is why supplement companies  turned to the dairy industry and started selling bovine colostrum, claiming it’d help consumers get beefy. A lot of studies examining the  effects of colostrum supplementation use whey protein as a control. Whey is the liquid part of milk separated out when the rest is thickening  for cheese and other products.

In one study comparing the two,  they found that after 8 weeks, people on whey protein gained  regular body weight after exercise, while the people on the bovine colostrum gained what they termed bone-free lean body mass. Essentially, they gained non-bone, non-fat weight, which translates to organ and muscle gains. A separate study reported that a colostrum group had greater gains in leg press strength, other studies have reported improved running, jumping  performance, and cycling power.

Which sounds great. But the problem is that the  findings aren’t consistent. Like, the study that saw lean weight gains found that extra muscle didn’t  translate to more strength.

While the study that reported  leg strength increases found no difference in lean  body mass gains between groups. And probably the oddest study found that colostrum might make your skin thicker, so there’s definitely a lot of variation. The discrepancies could be  due to any number of things, from differences in dosage and  concentration, study design, or even the study populations.

So it’s a good thing colostrum  users potentially have thicker skin, because I have to break it to them: there’s not enough evidence  here to support the claims. And there’s one other wrinkle in the story, which is that the dairy industry  funds some of these studies, because more demand for  colostrum means more profits. They love a good cash cow.

This ones kind of a middle of the road on Scale of Truth. It’s not going to harm you, but it  probably isn’t worth your money. Next!

While colostrum is supposed to help you pump iron, this next supplement is all about relaxation. Valerian is a plant with  small white flowers that grows all across Europe, Asia, and North America. It’s been used for medicinal  purposes for thousands of years, mainly as a treatment for insomnia.

And it’s still a popular sleep aid  and anti-anxiety supplement today, only now we’ve put some  scientific research into it. Some studies have found significant improvements in sleep quality and anxiety scores, with the valerian group showing  double the improvement of the control. For anyone who’s struggled with sleep, that can make a world of a difference.

However, that finding isn’t universal. One study looking at whether  valerian root could help people undergoing cancer treatment found that  it wasn’t all that useful for them. And a 2007 study looking at people  diagnosed with sleep disorders also found no difference between  valerian root and a placebo.

But a 2020 meta analysis may  have found the root cause of these mixed results: Dosing. Turns out that all these  studies haven’t been consistent in the amounts of valerian  root they gave to participants, and the supplements were  processed in different ways, resulting in inconsistent  amounts of the active compounds. See, supplements aren’t regulated in the same way that typical medications are.

The FDA has rules for them, but as long as the ingredients are safe, it’s kind of a scouts honor situation. That can lead to a wide variety of things marketed as “valerian root” supplements that might not have much valerian in them at all. Even variations in how the valerian is originally processed can change its efficacy, since some of the active components  of it are pretty unstable.

In general, valerian supplements work the best when they use the whole root or the rhizome, are taken daily for at least a month, and  are at a dose of 450 to 1410 milligrams. When those conditions are met, the meta analysis concluded that the  supplements consistently improved sleep quality. so all in all, not too far off the mark Good job, valerian root! Next up is another traditionally  relaxing herb, ashwagandha.

Ashwagandha is a shrub used in  traditional Ayurvedic medicine for a variety of conditions, but you might recognize it  from the supplements aisle as a stress and anxiety remedy. And fortunately, the science around  this one is pretty clear-cut! Two studies that hit all the  buzzwords we know and love, like double-blind, randomized,  and placebo-controlled, found that a daily dose of  Ashwagandha root extract led to significant improvements on measures of stress, anxiety, and quality  of life compared to the placebo.

One of them also reported improvements in multitasking and concentration, as well as lower cortisol  and higher serotonin levels. Two separate meta analyses from 2022 and 2024 reported that the supplement  significantly reduced stress and anxiety, and found that effective dose  was around 300-600 milligrams consistently taken for at least a month. Many studies report Ashwagandha improves sleep and reduces anxiety, so this might be our first S tier supplement.

But a lot of those studies were fairly small, and big Ashwagandha funded at least one of them. So more independent research needs to be done, especially on the long term effects of usage. Which is why we put ashwagandha just  a little bit behind valerian root.

Not terrible, but there’s  room for improvement. Next! While valerian and ashwagandha may  help you get your beauty sleep, this next supplement promises to  help you keep a youthful glow.

Collagen is a vital component  of our skin’s elasticity that decreases as we age, and lately, people have wondered if  taking a collagen supplement might hold off the aging process. A lot of supplements market collagen  as an anti-aging miracle ingredient, but that’s not a guarantee that it works. A review looking at 12 papers that investigated oral and  topical collagen supplements found that overall, using collagen increased skin hydration and reduced wrinkles, with no reported adverse effects.

Some studies even reported  that it increased elasticity and led to smoother skin overall. But, only three of those papers  had sample sizes over 100 people, and only one exceeded 200, so these big  claims aren’t based on big datasets. The largest study had 480 participants, but it had two major drawbacks.

First, it wasn’t a normal over  the counter cream application, but akin to microneedling. Second, it didn’t really use  objective measures to see improvement. Its main data collection was patient satisfaction, which could suffer from sunk cost fallacy.

Histology on a small subset of patients showed increased levels of  elastin and collagen postop, but that doesn’t really tell us  whether patients looked younger. Which, let’s be real, is what people flirting with the idea of collagen use really want to know. One of the smaller studies was  randomized and placebo controlled, which is great, but it was only single blinded, which means that the researchers knew  who was getting the real treatment and who was getting the placebo.

And that study was investigating a collagen drink. And also was funded by the  company who makes the drink. Not the best optics there.

So there have been a lot of  studies reporting skin improvements from collagen supplements,  whether oral or topical, but getting studies to  investigate which one is better using larger sample sizes and less  dubious funding would be good next steps. For now, this one doesn’t rank  very high on our scale of truth. But who knows?

Once more studies are done,  that could go higher someday! And before we review the next  supplement, a brief ad break! This SciShow video is supported by ACT, makers of the #1 taken college admissions test in nearly half of U.

S. states  based on 2024 grad class data. And since you’re watching SciShow, you might want to know that  the ACT test is the only one that offers an optional science section. It’s also the only test with  flexible testing options allowing you to take science or writing  tests, and flexible testing modalities, allowing you to take the ACT  online or with paper and pencil.

And ACT keeps improving! As a reflection of ACT’s  commitment to student feedback, the enhanced ACT focuses  more on what students know rather than how fast they can answer questions. You can check it out by scanning the QR code or clicking the link in the description.

Biotin, AKA Vitamin B7, is a popular supplement for  helping your hair or nails grow. But does it work? Clearly not A 2017 meta-analysis looked at 18  studies into its effects on people who had various medical conditions affecting  their hair or nails, and in all cases, their hair and nail growth improved!

However, another 2017 review warned that there’s been hardly any  clinical trials investigating its efficacy for people without those conditions, and depending on the reason for hair loss, it may have literally no effect. Obviously. It’s also unclear whether biotin can help people who just want longer hair or nails, or if it only helps those when  there’s an underlying condition.

And another study points  out that biotin supplements can interfere with test results  for things like thyroid conditions, so taking it as a “just in case”  might land you in a hairy situation, and not the Rapunzel tresses you were going for. So on our scale of truth,  we say bye-bye to biotin! Our next supplement claims to do more than just keep your hair growing.

Purveyors of this one insist that one  little pill can outsmart viruses and keep you from getting sick. Lysine is an essential amino acid, meaning that it’s one of the nine  amino acids necessary for life that we don’t make in our bodies. Since we don’t make it, we  need to get it from our food.

A lot of animal products like red  meat, cheese, and eggs contain lysine, but there are some options for  vegetarians and vegans like tofu or beans. And an option for everyone is a lysine supplement, sometimes advertised as L-lysine to denote  the configuration of the amino acid. But it’s not just a supplement to  fill in the gaps of my all-ramen diet.

The main idea behind a lysine supplement involves its contentious  relationship to another amino acid. L-lysine is antagonistic to L-arginine, which basically means the two of them fight over who gets taken up into cells. And arginine is required in  multiple stages of replication for a lot of viruses, including herpes viruses and possibly SARS-CoV2.

So the idea is that if you load up on lysine, it outcompetes the arginine in your system and causes those viral particles  to stop replicating so well. People are most interested in it for its  alleged ability to prevent cold sores, or speed up their healing. And you can see the appeal, especially when you compare the  price of a bottle of pills or powder to that tiny tube of Abreva that’s like $25.

So does it work to fight cold sores  or is it just another lie seen on TV? Again, review papers are very mixed. While there are some studies that show it can speed the healing time for cold  sores and even genital herpes sores, those papers are at least 40 years old, and come from studies with  really small sample sizes.

Plus, some of the studies  with higher doses of the stuff reported that patients had nausea  and gastrointestinal symptoms. There are also some medical concerns about staying on lysine long-term, especially for people with  gallbladder or cardiovascular issues, which isn’t great. Even more concerning, some of  the only double-blind studies show no significant effect on cold sore  healing rates or lesion appearance.

And a 2017 review concluded that here wasn’t any evidence that  it made a real difference, except maybe in people’s subjective  experience of cold sores. So the data is dated and weak on that application. Too much lysine can lead to a buildup of excess calcium, and hypercalcemia has its own dangers, associated with  plaque build ups or heart arrhythmias.

So before you take this one,  definitely talk to your doctor, especially if you already have heart problems. Because of the possibly harmful side effects, we’re giving this one a hard  no on the scale of truth. Our final supplement is one  that our bodies already make, but sometimes, they might need a boost. it’s vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin!

Studies suggest that more than 40% of people are vitamin D deficient. And those numbers can be even  higher depending on where you live. We make vitamin D in our skin  as a response to sunlight, so if you live far enough from the equator, you may not get enough sun in the  winter to meet your vitamin D needs.

Vitamin D plays a lot of roles in the body, but some of the main ones are increasing  calcium levels and helping to strengthen bone. Because of that, vitamin D  supplements are pretty popular, especially among the sunlight-averse. But a review published in Nature found that supplementing  doesn’t help prevent fractures or other negative health outcomes, like cancer, falls, or heart problems.

So even if you are living that vampire lifestyle, vitamin D supplements may not do you much good. Another reason people might take  vitamin D is to improve their mood, especially to help ward off the Winter Blues. But the evidence isn’t all that clear here either.

A review paper found mixed support  for vitamin D’s effects on mood, so popping some extra  supplements over winter break may not be all you need to  make it through to spring. However, there’s much more  evidence that vitamin D supplements are way more important for you if you’re already severely deficient in the stuff. For instance, children with a vitamin D deficiency can develop rickets, a disorder where bones don’t grow properly and are too weak to support their bodies.

And in these cases, we have lots of evidence that taking vitamin D supplements really matters. So vitamin D gets a pretty good grade! Even though we don’t know for sure that everyone needs the supplemental help, it’s super important for  the people that do need it.

It’s easy to be wooed by a compelling ad or an influencer’s endorsement: Take this one pill and feel better right away! But hopefully, you’re now better informed about which ones are worth your cash, and which are better left on the shelf. Think of it as a little supplemental information the next time you’re in that  overwhelming aisle at the grocery store. [ OUTRO ]