How to detect a scam supplement (3 easy tests) | Dr. Jen Gunter
Oct 31, 2025
Dive into the world of dietary supplements and uncover the truth! Many products make bold health claims without solid evidence backing them. Dr. Jen Gunter shares essential tips to help you spot scams and ensure what you're buying is safe. Learn how some supplements can be contaminated or simply inadequate. Discover the importance of scientific support and quality sourcing to protect your health and wallet. It's time to empower yourself with the right information and navigate this often misleading marketplace!
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insights INSIGHT
Most Supplements Lack Strong Evidence
Very few supplements have solid evidence-based support.
View supplements mainly as fixes for dietary shortfalls like prenatal vitamins or iron.
insights INSIGHT
Supplements May Be Adulterated Or Contaminated
Supplements can be contaminated with heavy metals, mold, or fungi or contain less of the claimed ingredient.
Without pharmaceutical manufacturing standards, you often cannot trust what's actually in them.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Trusted Sources Before You Buy
Ask your doctor or consult CDC, ACOG, or the Office of Dietary Supplements before taking a supplement.
Prefer supplements recommended by multiple medical societies.
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“The truth is there are very few supplements that have good evidence-based medicine to support them.”
Supplements and vitamins constantly go viral with claims that they can transform your health just by integrating these pills into your daily routine. But before you add to cart, take a pause and make sure you’re buying exactly what you think you are. In the US, supplement companies can’t explicitly claim to cure, treat, or prevent a disease. So how can you know which ones are legit, and which ones might just be a money grab?Besides being potentially ineffective and a waste of money, some supplements have been shown to contain heavy metal, fungi, or even mold contaminants, and others contain just a fraction of what they claim to.OB/GYN and bestselling author Dr. Jen Gunter says that you can easily discern snake oil salesmen from legitimate supplements grounded in good science with these 3 tips.
About Dr. Jen Gunter:I am an OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician. I write a lot about sex, science, and social media, but sometimes I write about other things because, well, why not?I’ve been called Twitter’s resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB/GYN, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. I have devoted my professional life to caring for women.I’m here to build a better medical Internet. You can’t be empowered about your health if you have incorrect information. I got interested in online snake oil and dubious science when my own children were born extremely prematurely. I found separating the facts from the fiction difficult and I am a doctor, so I started thinking if this is hard for me how does everyone else manage? It put the bad information that my own patients were bringing into the office in perspective. I know people sit up late at night Googling things and fall down rabbit holes of misinformation because I’ve been there!
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