Most people we evaluate are taking several supplements they do not need, and missing one or two they do. The difference is not a matter of opinion — for most of what matters, it is measurable.
This page covers how to decide what you need, and how to tell a good product from an expensive one.
Reviewed by Dr. David Oliak, board-certified surgeon
Updated August 2026
The question is not "which supplements are good." It is "which am I actually short of."
For most of what matters, that is answerable. Vitamin D, B12, ferritin and omega-3 status can all be measured directly. So can the things that change what you need — thyroid function, kidney function, whether you are on a medication that depletes something.
Correcting a measured deficiency does something. Taking a nutrient you already have enough of usually does not, and the evidence for supplementing replete people is consistently weaker than the marketing suggests.
Iron is the one to be careful about. It is a common and valuable correction when ferritin is low — and taking it when you are not low causes harm rather than nothing. Iron should not be taken without measuring.
This is the same principle as the rest of the panel: the result tells you what applies to you, and your history tells you what it means.
Once the measuring is done, the list is usually short.
Vitamin D, where it is low, which is common. It is trivially correctable and one of the higher-yield findings on a panel. Worth pairing with vitamin K2, which directs calcium toward bone rather than arteries.
Magnesium, which is widely low and is one of the few concrete things to offer for sleep — the pillar that is otherwise hardest to prescribe for.
Protein, which is not really a supplement but is the most common genuine shortfall we see, particularly in anyone on a GLP-1 medication. Appetite suppression makes protein targets hard to reach, and muscle is what pays for it.
Creatine, which is among the best-evidenced supplements available for muscle and strength, and is being actively studied for effects beyond that.
Omega-3, where intake or measured status is low.
A basic multivitamin has a narrower case: it is gap insurance, most useful for restricted eaters and for people whose appetite is suppressed. For someone eating well, the evidence is thin.
Everything beyond that should have a reason attached to it that came from your results or your history.
Supplements are regulated as food rather than as medicine. Manufacturers are not required to demonstrate that a product works, and the burden of proving a product unsafe falls after it is already being sold rather than before.
In practice that means what is on the label is not guaranteed to be what is in the bottle, in the amount stated, in a form your body can use.
Third-party certification is the shortcut. Independent programs test finished products for identity, potency, and contaminants. Certification does not prove a supplement works — nothing about a supplement's certification speaks to efficacy — but it does confirm that the contents match the label. That is a lower bar than most people assume is already being met.
Three examples, because they are the ones where the difference is largest and easiest to check.
Omega-3. Cheap fish oil is concentrated into an ethyl ester form, which is less stable and less well absorbed than the natural triglyceride form. Instability matters because fish oil oxidises — rancid oil is the cause of the aftertaste people associate with it, and an oxidised product is not doing what it was bought to do. Source matters too: small cold-water fish accumulate fewer heavy metals than large ones. Look for triglyceride form and a stated source.
Creatine. The molecule is the same everywhere; the purity is not. Reference-grade creatine is manufactured to a tighter specification and micronised so it dissolves properly, which is why it does not produce the grit and stomach upset people report from cheaper tubs. Same compound, different manufacturing.
Magnesium. The form determines both absorption and tolerance. Glycinate and threonate are well absorbed and gentle; the cheaper oxide form is poorly absorbed and is mostly known for its laxative effect. The label says "magnesium" either way.
None of this is exotic knowledge. It is simply not on the front of the bottle.
Most people arrive taking six or seven things chosen from articles and shelves, and short of the two or three their labs actually point at. We would rather reverse that.
The reason we keep a small curated set here is that the evaluation creates the need — low vitamin D, low ferritin, not enough protein on a GLP-1. And it is better to close that loop in the room than to send someone back to a shelf to guess again.
It is a short list on purpose
— Dr. David Oliak, board-certified physician and surgeon
Collagen is worth its own paragraph because the popular claims and the evidence point in different directions.
As a protein it is inferior. It is an incomplete protein, low in leucine, and it does not build or preserve muscle the way whey does. It should never be used as a protein substitute, and anyone taking it for muscle is not getting what they think.
As a separate matter, hydrolysed collagen peptides have their own mechanism, and the trial evidence there is real if modest — strongest for skin elasticity and hydration, then joint and tendon comfort, with some bone-density data in postmenopausal women.
So: reasonable for skin and joints, if that is what you want it for. Not a protein.
Nutritional support is the first thing we act on after an evaluation, and it is the least invasive.
The pattern is consistent. The labs show the gaps — vitamin D low, ferritin low, protein intake short, omega-3 status poor.
Those are corrected directly, with products chosen for form and quality rather than for what happened to be on a shelf. Then they are re-measured, because a correction you never confirm is a guess with extra steps.
The rest of what people are taking usually comes off the list, which is often the more valuable half of the conversation.
A short, curated set, chosen against the criteria above rather than assembled to fill a shelf.
Momentous for protein, creatine and omega-3. Thorne for vitamin D with K2, magnesium and foundational formulas. Nordic Naturals and Designs for Health where a specific formulation is the better fit. ISDIN for skin and hair. Alongside these, a set of specialised products used with the genetic blueprint, where a result points at a particular need.
These are professional and medical-grade lines, generally NSF-certified, dispensed in the office and through our online dispensary for refills and anything we do not physically stock.
Nothing here is recommended without a reason from your results.
Let's begin
Your evaluation measures vitamin D, B12, ferritin and the rest directly, so the plan starts with what your results point at rather than what a shelf suggests. In Brea. To speak with us first, call 714-671-2005.
What a comprehensive blood panel measures
"Normal" versus optimal
Fasting insulin: the marker most panels skip
Hair loss after weight loss
For most of what matters you can measure rather than guess — vitamin D, B12, ferritin and omega-3 status are all directly testable. Correcting a measured deficiency reliably helps; supplementing something you already have enough of generally does not. Most people finish an evaluation with a shorter list than they arrived with.
The case is narrower than the marketing suggests. It is most useful as gap insurance for restricted eaters and for people whose appetite is suppressed — including anyone on a GLP-1 medication. For someone eating well and not deficient, the evidence is thin.
Not without measuring. Iron is a useful correction when ferritin is low, and taking it when you are not low causes harm rather than simply doing nothing. This is the one where guessing carries a real cost.
Look for third-party certification, which confirms the contents match the label. Then look at form: triglyceride-form omega-3, magnesium as glycinate or threonate rather than oxide, vitamin D paired with K2, reference-grade micronised creatine.
Certification does not prove a supplement works — it confirms you are getting what the label claims, which is a lower bar than most people assume is already met.
No. It is incomplete and low in leucine, and it does not build or preserve muscle the way whey does. It has a separate, modest evidence base for skin and joints — which is a reasonable thing to take it for, but it is not a protein substitute.
Usually because it has oxidised. Fish oil is unstable, and the ethyl ester form used in cheaper products is less stable than the natural triglyceride form. An oxidised product is not delivering what it was bought for.
We keep a small curated set, chosen for form and third-party testing, so that a correction the evaluation identifies can be started immediately. The list is deliberately short, and nothing is recommended without a reason from your results.
