“Main toh thak gayi, bhaisaab” — is a familiar line from a famous television character.
A supplement advertisement has now given it a new twist: tiredness, the ad suggests, can be fixed with calcium.
After taking it, the actress declares: “Ab main nahi thakti” — “I don’t get tired anymore.”
In another advertisement, two iron gummies are supposedly equivalent to two bowls of fresh green spinach.
The message is simple: take supplements and feel younger, healthier, and more energetic.
But do we really need a supplement every time we feel tired, stressed, low on energy, or worried about our health?
From calcium and magnesium to collagen, biotin, vitamin D, and “immunity boosters”, supplements have become a booming part of the wellness market. Social media has amplified promises of better sleep, stronger bones, healthier hair, glowing skin, improved immunity and even better health for children.
Scroll through social media, and it can seem that nobody is eating enough of anything. Yet nobody is advising them to eat more. Instead, everyone from celebrities to people in white coats recommends supplements.
The India nutritional supplements market size was estimated at USD 42.97 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% from 2025 to 2030 by Grand View Research. India's drug approval process is managed by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO); most supplements are not regulated by CDSCO but require mandatory approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations. FSSAI defines them as "a category of food consisting of concentrated sources of nutrients or other ingredients with nutritional or physiological effects used to supplement a normal diet".
Market share growth is driven primarily by a young population, rising disposable incomes, and growing health awareness. And increasingly, the message is reaching children.
“Supplements have moved from pharmacy shelves to breakfast tables — and increasingly into children’s lunchboxes. Vitamins, gummies, powders and herbal products promise better immunity, sharper brains, more energy, faster growth and healthier hair,” says Dr Aijaz Ilmi, Senior Consultant and Head, Preventive Wellness & Metabolic Diseases, Pacific OneHealth.
“But correcting a deficiency is not the same as buying a marketing claim. The simple rule should be supplement the gap, not the hype.”
Does everyone need supplements?
No, for most healthy people, food first.
“A varied diet provides protein, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre and thousands of bioactive compounds in combinations no multivitamin can reproduce,” says Dr Ilmi. For most healthy people, food first.
But that doesn't mean supplements are useless.
Senior nutritionist and author Ishi Khosla says the category is too broad to dismiss.
“Supplements are a vast spectrum. They range from protein supplements to vitamins, minerals, fibre and probiotics. It is a whole world of its own; we cannot oversimplify it or lump everything into the same category,” she says.
Given modern lifestyles, particularly in urban settings, Khosla believes many people may need nutritional support.
“We cannot simply wish supplements away or dismiss them. So besides food, most of us today need nutritional support; then yes, many people do.”
What does the evidence say?
A large Johns Hopkins analysis of 277 clinical trials examining 24 diet and supplement interventions found that most vitamins, minerals and dietary approaches were not linked to longer life or reduced heart disease risk.
Low-salt diets and omega-3 supplements showed possible benefits, while folic acid appeared potentially beneficial for some people. Combining calcium with vitamin D may also be associated with a slightly higher stroke risk.
Most interventions, including multivitamins and vitamins A, B6, C, D and E, selenium, calcium, iron and fish oil, showed no significant association with increased or reduced risk of death or cardiovascular disease.
This does not mean supplements never work. Their usefulness depends on the nutrient, the person, the dose, and the reason for taking it.
India has real nutritional gaps
India does have a substantial micronutrient problem.
A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis in the Journal of Nutritional Science estimated a pooled prevalence of about 61% for vitamin D deficiency, 54% for iron deficiency, 53% for vitamin B12 deficiency, and 37% for folate deficiency. Among people under 18, estimated prevalence was about 60% for vitamin D, 55% for iron, and 57% for B12.
But population-level prevalence doesn't translate into an individual diagnosis.
Fatigue, hair loss, poor sleep, or anxiety may have many causes. A social-media post linking a symptom to a nutrient deficiency doesn't prove the nutrient is the problem.
“Claims involving immunity, brain, energy, growth, and wellness are especially common. Nutrients support normal immune function, neurological development and growth, but more than the body requires does not necessarily improve them,” says Dr Ilmi.
Who genuinely needs supplements?
“Supplements make sense when there is a demonstrated deficiency, predictable nutritional gap or medical reason for increased requirements,” says Dr Amitav Banerjee, eminent epidemiologist and Professor Emeritus at Dr DY Patil Medical College
This can include iron, vitamin B12 or vitamin D deficiency; pregnancy-related folate needs; restrictive or vegan diets; malabsorption disorders such as coeliac disease; gastrointestinal disease or surgery; certain medications; and particular stages of infancy and childhood.
"Many guidelines recommend vitamin D supplementation for infants. Supplements can also be appropriate when nutritional requirements or losses are increased.
Pregnancy is another clear example. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends 400–800 micrograms of folic acid daily for people planning pregnancy or capable of becoming pregnant because of its role in preventing neural-tube defects," he adds.
When science becomes a wellness trend
Magnesium illustrates the problem.
It is an essential mineral involved in muscle and nerve function, blood glucose regulation, and blood pressure. It is now heavily promoted online for sleep, anxiety, stress and relaxation.
A 2024 systematic review of 15 interventional studies found improvements in some sleep and anxiety studies. But the studies were small, used different doses and formulations, and varied substantially in design. The authors called for larger randomised trials.
Magnesium is not automatically harmless. High supplemental doses can cause diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramping, while very high doses can cause toxicity, particularly in people with impaired kidney function.
“Magnesium is very important. But who takes it and how we take it is also important,” says Khosla.
Collagen offers another example of marketing running ahead of evidence.
A 2025 meta-analysis of 23 randomised controlled trials involving 1,474 people found apparent improvements in skin hydration, elasticity and wrinkles when all studies were combined. But studies without pharmaceutical-company funding showed no significant benefits, while higher-quality studies found no considerable improvements.
More is not always better
Many people assume taking extra more vitamins and minerals must be beneficial.
It is not, say experts.
Fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K can accumulate in the body and become toxic.
“People frequently assume ‘more is better’ when buying vitamins over the counter. However, fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin D cannot be flushed out easily by the body and can build up to toxic levels,” says Dr Banerjee.
Excess vitamin A, iron, for example, can cause toxicity, including liver abnormalities. Excess iron can be harmful and interact with medicines and other supplements.
“You cannot assume that because something is good, more of it is better. Anything in excess can become toxic, even something as basic as water,” says Khosla.
“The important thing is that supplements need to be individualised and personalised. Who is giving it to you, why you are taking it, and how you are taking it are all important,” she adds.
And then there are children
One market analysis estimates that India’s children’s dietary supplement market generated about $108 million in 2025 and could reach $247.8 million by 2033.
Gummies, powders, flavoured drinks and chewable tablets can look more like confectionery than medicine.
"But a child who eats a reasonably varied diet does not automatically need a multivitamin, says paediatrician Dr Sivaranjani Santosh, a health expert who fights misinformation on social media.
A 2025 systematic review in Frontiers in Pediatrics found that evidence for oral supplements in chronic childhood diseases was often inconsistent or limited and that they could not yet be recommended for systematic clinical use.
There are, of course, children who genuinely need supplementation because of diagnosed deficiencies, restricted diets, malabsorption, chronic illnesses or increased nutritional requirements.
"A doctor may consider symptoms, medical history, diet and medications, along with laboratory testing where appropriate, before prescribing," added Dr Santosh.
Even for adults, testing may be useful for persistent unexplained fatigue, weakness, pallor, hair loss, tingling, muscle cramps, poor growth, unexplained weight changes or a highly restricted diet.
When influencers become prescribers
Social media has changed how people encounter health information — and supplements are among its biggest beneficiaries.
“Social media is very influencer-driven today. Everyone seems to be suggesting one thing or another,” says Khosla.
“You cannot stop somebody from talking about their own experience, but sharing a personal experience and prescribing something is different.” In a 2021 study, researchers found that substances not approved for human use were in some supplements; in another 2023 analysis, 89 percent of performance enhancers did not declare ingredients, and 12 percent contained ingredients prohibited by the FDA
The takeaway
Supplements have a legitimate place in medicine and nutrition.
The question is whether we use them to correct a real problem — or because we have been persuaded that everyone has one.
Many people may be overfed yet undernourished, but indiscriminate supplementation is not the answer.
The smarter approach is simple: food first, assess risk, identify the gap.
Don’t supplement because an advertisement found you. Supplement because your biology gives you a reason.