Complex Numbers

Supplementary

Snake oil gonna snake.

A natural deception: 3 marketing myths the supplement industry wants you to swallow  

Though snake oil doesn't deserve all of its reputation for fakery. It had a use in traditional medicine   (whether it was actually efficacious, I don't know). The problem was, hucksters started promoting it as a magical cure-all, so now "snake oil salesman" is a synonym for fraudster.

The business of supplements is booming, and with all the hype around them, it’s easy to forget what they actually are: substances that can powerfully affect the body and your health, yet aren’t regulated like drugs are. They’re regulated more like food.

Okay, but let's be clear, here: food can "powerfully affect the body and your health." The line between food and drug isn't always sharp. Hence you get a long string of "superfood" fads.

It’s important to consider why so many people believe supplements can help them lead a healthier life. While there are many reasons, how supplements are marketed is undeniably an important one. In my years following the industry, I’ve found that three mistaken assumptions appear over and over in supplement marketing.

There follows a discussion of those "three mistaken assumptions" (I'd have phrased that differently, using words like misleading, false, or lie, but I'm not getting paid to mince words to avoid lawsuits).

1. The appeal to nature fallacy

The appeal to nature fallacy occurs when you assume that because something is “natural” it must be good. The word natural is used a lot in the marketing of supplements.

Leaving aside for the moment the inherent ambiguity of "natural," I've long wondered how they can take, say, a plant, extract its juices, distill out the desired chemicals (everything is chemicals), stuff it into a pill, and still call it natural.

To be clear, “natural” does not equate to “better,” but that’s what the marketing wants you to think.

Remember, poison ivy is natural. So are those mushrooms that'll kill you horribly and painfully. And the pollen which, even though I'm not technically allergic, is playing havoc with my sinuses right now (and for which I'll happily take a manufactured antihistamine).

2. The belief that more of a good thing is always better

There’s another assumption that piggybacks on the appeal to nature fallacy: If something is natural, it must be good, and more of it must also always be better.

This seems to be pervasive in human psychology, for whatever reason. I have to guard against it, myself, even though I know it's not the case. Not just with food, but activities as well. You can overdose on anything, even water.

3. The action bias

Finally, the supplement industry likes to capitalize on the idea that doing something is better than doing nothing. This is the action bias. Taking action makes people feel like they have more control of a situation, which is especially powerful when it comes to health.

This one's pervasive, too. It doesn't help that, in some cases, it seems to be true. Getting five minutes of exercise a day is said to be better than getting no exercise at all, though again, more is better... up to a point.

But in this particular case, taking a supplement might not be better than not taking one. Okay, that's a convoluted sentence with a lot of negations. Given the risks, it might be best to avoid supplements. As with most things, I feel like a person should consult with their doctor as to whether a supplement is useful or necessary, and safe. Doctors don't know everything, either, but they're more likely to have the relevant information, based on your own health profile, than good old Doctor Google.

On the flip side, if very few people bought these supplements, they wouldn't continue to be manufactured. This might have adverse effects on the people who, for whatever reason, do have to take supplements. It's like how I get snarky about "gluten-free," but the fad helped make available more products that people with legitimate gluten allergies can eat, improving their quality of life.

So, if you're a supplement fanatic, maybe rest easy knowing that you're making life better for other people... if not necessarily yourself.