Health

Most dietary supplements are useless — here are the ones you should take

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The idea of a pill that can improve your overall health is an appealing one.

Unfortunately, no matter how colorful their packaging or hopeful their messaging, most vitamins and supplements fall prey to the same problem: We simply do not need them to be healthy. Some supplements — particularly those marketed for physical enhancement — can cause real harm.

However, there are a select few supplements which research suggests may provide certain benefits — especially for people who do not get a particular nutrient in their diet, who may be pregnant, or who do a specific kind of workout. With that in mind, take a look at the supplements you should take — and the ones you should avoid.

BI Graphics_Supplements chart supplements vitamins
Business Insider / Skye Gould

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Skye was the Design Director for Business Insider and Insider. She led the Graphics and Photo teams in producing all graphics, data visualizations, story art, photography, and special projects for the newsroom.
Erin was a senior health and tech reporter at Business Insider based in San Francisco, where she focused on startups and Silicon Valley. She's broken news on a variety of life science and health-tech stories, including: Before joining BI, Erin worked as a freelance health and science reporter for outlets including Newsweek, Popular Science, and Scientific American. Erin graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, San Diego and received her master's from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in New York, where she spent an extra semester completing her degree after breaking both wrists in a snowboarding accident.