Should You Really Be Taking That Supplement?
- Gemma Westfold
- May 1, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: May 22
Supplements are everywhere.
Go in to the shops go online or listen to a wellness podcast and you will be told you probably need magnesium, collagen, creatine, NMN, greens powders, probiotics, electrolytes and ten other things before breakfast.
The supplement industry is now worth billions of pounds globally, and with wellness trends moving at lightning speed, it is easy to feel as though everyone should be taking a long list of pills and powders to be healthy.
And to be clear, I am not anti-supplement. I use supplements clinically with clients all the time and I use some myself. But I use them where there is clinical need, with intention and purpose.
I may recognise this need from:
Blood work
Functional questioning and symptom patterns
Medications
Stress load
Dietary intake
Hormonal shifts
Inflammation
Gut health
Nutrient depletion
Supplements can be incredibly effective when they are used appropriately. The key is using the right supplement, at the right dose, for the right person, at the right time, rather than simply taking more because social media said so.
The Foundations Still Matter Most
This is the most important thing in this blog:
I have never seen somebody continue eating a highly processed Western diet, sleeping poorly, living on ultra-processed food, under-recovering, sedentary, chronically stressed, and suddenly become metabolically healthy because they started taking NMN, creatine, NAC or magnesium.
Not once.
The standard UK diet acronym could easily be SUK. And frankly, it often does.
People understandably want the shortcut. The capsule before the consistency. The biohack before the basics. But biology does not work like that.
You cannot out-supplement chronic inflammation, poor sleep, blood sugar chaos, nutrient-poor food, stress overload and a sedentary lifestyle. A supplement may support physiology, but it cannot override it.
That is why the first thing I always recommend is building solid nutritional and lifestyle foundations through:
Real food
Adequate protein
Fibre
Healthy fats
Stable blood sugar
Movement
Resistance training
Sleep
Stress management
Consistency
These things are not glamorous, but they are profoundly effective. Once those foundations are in place, supplements can become genuinely useful and supportive.
Supplements Should Be Targeted, Not Random
One of the biggest misconceptions in the wellness world is that more supplements automatically means better health.
It does not.
Supplements are biologically active compounds. They are not inert, and they should not be taken endlessly or “just in case”. Sometimes I use therapeutic doses for a short period to correct an imbalance or support a particular physiological pathway. Other times I use lower maintenance doses.
What somebody needs today may not be what they need six months from now. That is why I generally recommend supplements for a defined period, often around 12 weeks, before reassessing symptoms, progress and blood markers.
The body changes, stress changes, hormones change and health changes. Supplement plans should evolve too.
Why Balance Matters
Everything you consume has to be processed through the body, particularly the liver and kidneys, which is one reason balance matters so much.
If your body does not need a nutrient, taking more will not necessarily improve your health. Sometimes you simply produce expensive urine, particularly with water-soluble vitamins like B vitamins and vitamin C. Fat-soluble vitamins such as A and D can accumulate over time and, in excessive amounts, become harmful.
I have seen people unknowingly “stack” supplements containing the same nutrients and end up taking excessive levels over time. Vitamin B6 is a common example because it is added to so many products, including multivitamins, energy supplements and sleep blends. In high amounts over prolonged periods it has been associated with nerve symptoms and neuropathy.
Due to unintentionally taking too much, I have also seen clients with:
Extremely elevated vitamin D levels
Altered liver enzymes
Nutrient imbalances
Kidney markers affected by excessive or inappropriate supplementation
Neuropathy
This does not mean supplements are bad. It simply means they should be used wisely.
Nutrients work together in balance and sometimes compete with one another for absorption and transport. For example:
Too much zinc may contribute to copper deficiency
Calcium and iron can interfere with one another’s absorption
High dose vitamin D is best balanced appropriately with vitamin K2
This is why personalised advice matters and why blindly adding more and more products is rarely the answer.
Supplements and Medications Can Interact
Another important consideration is that supplements can interact with medications, sometimes significantly.
Examples include:
Fish oil and vitamin E potentially increasing bleeding risk alongside blood thinners
St John’s Wort reducing effectiveness of antidepressants, the contraceptive pill and anticoagulants
Calcium and magnesium interfering with thyroid medication and some antibiotics
Vitamin K counteracting warfarin
Medications can also deplete nutrients.
For example:
Statins may lower CoQ10 levels
PPIs such as omeprazole can impair absorption of B12, magnesium, iron and calcium
Metformin is associated with lower B12 levels
The contraceptive pill may affect several B vitamins, magnesium and zinc
These depletions often go unnoticed until symptoms begin to appear, which is why taking a full case history matters.
Kidney Function and Blood Tests Matter Too
The kidneys are one of the body’s major filtration and excretion systems, so kidney health matters enormously when it comes to supplementation.
Many supplements and their metabolites must ultimately be filtered and excreted through the kidneys. If kidney function is already reduced, or somebody has chronic kidney disease, tolerance to supplements may change significantly.
This is particularly relevant with:
High dose vitamin C
Excessive vitamin D
Magnesium supplementation
High dose protein powders
Creatine
Fat-soluble vitamins
Electrolyte products
Supplements can also affect how blood tests look.
Creatine is a great example. It is actually one of the most evidence-based supplements we have for muscle strength, cognition, recovery and healthy ageing. However, creatine supplementation may increase serum creatinine because creatinine is a breakdown product of creatine metabolism.
This can artificially lower calculated eGFR on blood tests and make kidney function appear worse than it truly is.
Context matters enormously when interpreting results.
Why Testing Can Be Helpful
This is exactly why I use my Wellness Check, NHS blood work and functional testing in clinic.
Even basic markers from a Full Blood Count and standard blood chemistry can provide valuable insight into nutrient status, inflammation, metabolic health and energy production.
High MCV may suggest low B12 or folate, while raised inflammatory markers may indicate ongoing inflammation or oxidative stress.
When we need to go deeper, I also use Organic Acid Testing (OAT), including the Metabolomix+ panel by Genova Diagnostics.
This gives insight into:
Cellular nutrient function
B vitamin status
Mineral status
Amino acid status
Mitochondrial energy production
Oxidative stress
Detoxification pathways
Neurotransmitter metabolites
Gut microbial activity.... and more
Either blood testing on it's own or with the Metabolomix+ allows me to move beyond guesswork and create more personalised, targeted support plans based on what the body is actually showing us.
The Big Picture Always Matters
Supplements absolutely have a place in health and wellbeing. I use them clinically, thoughtfully and strategically, and they can be incredibly supportive when used correctly.
But they should support the foundations, not replace them.
Nothing is as powerful as consistent, daily habits around food, movement, sleep and stress regulation. That is where long-term health is built.
The big picture matters.
Always.
Book a free 20-minute ‘Health Review’ call today, and let’s create a personalised plan to get you feeling your best!
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