I’m A Pharmacist – These Are The 3 Supplements You’re Wasting Money On

We are very much in a wellness era. We want to know our skincare routines to a tee, have perfect sleep hygiene and take the right supplements but honestly, it’s a minefield out there.

Especially with supplements. How do you know what you do and don’t need? How many is too many different supplements per day? And, crucially, are there any that we shouldn’t actually be taking?

That last question is especially hard when you are first figuring out what your body does and does not need. I mean, don’t we all want great skin, health, and mental health?

Thankfully, one pharmacist has taken to TikTok to discuss the three supplements we should always avoid.

@thewellnesspharm

How to take supplements the right way. How to use supplements. Supplement information. Wellness tips for women. Supplement dos and donts. How to supplement properly. Supplements I would never take. #supplementsthatwork #howtotakesupplements #supplementsforwomen #wellnesstok

♬ original sound – Ariana Medizade

The supplements we should all be avoiding

According to Ariana Medizade, a pharmacist and TikTok creator with the kid asked her to…

Vitamin D3

Medizade said: “There should be a warning label on supplements for this, but I would never take Vitamin D3 by itself.”

She went on to explain that it should always be taken with Vitamin K2, otherwise when your body absorbs calcium, it’s going to be deposited in, “all the wrong places.”

For example, instead of going to your bones, it’ll likely go to your arteries. This can cause calcification, a process in which calcium builds up in body tissue, causing the tissue to harden, and other long-term issues.

St John’s Wort

Medizade said: “Never take St John’s Wort. Especially if you are on oral birth control pills, or any other type of medication.

“St John’s Wort is known to be something called a CYP3A4 inducer, which induces the metabolism of medications in your body, causing them to be at lower concentrations in your bloodstream, as if you never even took the medications in the first place.”

Yikes.

Zinc with Magnesium together

The pharmacist warned that these two minerals compete for absorption when you taken them together. Instead, she advises, separate taking them by two hours, make sure you take zinc with food and if you do have a supplement that combines the two, make sure that it’s dose-optimised.

This means a 1-10 or 1-15 ratio of Zinc to Magnesium.

Brb, need to check my medicine cupboard.