Snake Oil Supplements?

Filed under: General Health, Nutrition

It can be hard to know which supplements are worth it, and which ones are not. There is often a lack of data(which doesn’t necessarily mean there is a lack of benefit, it may just not have been studied yet), conflicting data, or too little data to draw strong conclusions.

Fortunately informationisbeautiful.net has come up with an elegant solution to finding whether a supplement is worth it or not. They have compiled data on supplements for their benefits on a multitude of problems, and have provided how strong or weak the evidence is for their use, as well as their popularity.

Check it out – Snake Oil? Scientific evidence for popular health supplements.

I will note that you might see a supplement in their more than once, but if you bring your cursor over the bubble you will see that it is because a supplement might have a benefit from more than one action.

While I think this website is fantastic, I will still note that some supplements may be worth trying even if they don’t meet the criteria set forth here. Sometimes, depending on the cost and the supplement and condition in question, it might be worth it to you to try it out and see what happens.

I want to thank Nate Tiplady for pointing that out to me. I also wanted to let any Cressey Performance readers that I will be making an appearance there one day next week. Once I solidify the day, I will let you all know.

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1. Luke Says:
   January 3rd, 2011 at 11:30 am

   Any thoughts on Biotest’s Alpha Male? I normally wouldn’t even think about using a product like that, but recently read Dan John’s book “Never Give Up” and it was one of his top-recommended supplements. Dan seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy and the fact that I’ve never seen him use any kind of affiliate programs for products he talks about online makes me think that his endorsements are more genuine than most.

   Are you familiar with it?

2. Brian St. Pierre Says:
   January 3rd, 2011 at 12:31 pm

   Luke,

   I am familiar with it, and I agree that Dan John is a no-nonsense kind of guy. I usually agree with almost everything he writes, but I can’t say I would necessarily recommend Alpha-Male. You can try it for sure, but I would not expect miracles. On top of that, it would prudent to get your testosterone, progesterone, estrogen and other hormones measured before you take a product like that. It is important to have a baseline to 1) know if you even need to increase your testosterone, and 2) know if the product is even working.

   If you do end up using it, let me know your results.

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