I spend most of my time telling people what not to buy. Proprietary blends, the wrong forms, rancid oils, undisclosed doses. It’s the natural consequence of working inside the supplement industry for 20 years — you see the gap between what’s sold and what’s worth taking, and you can’t unsee it.
So this article is the opposite. The short list. The supplements that have genuine evidence behind them, that most people could reasonably consider, in the forms actually worth taking. No brand to sell you, no affiliate links, no sponsorship behind any recommendation. Just the five I’d tell a friend to look at first.
“Most people don’t need a cabinet full of supplements. They need a few, in the right forms, at the right doses. Here are the few.”
One caveat before the list: supplements are individual. Your needs depend on your diet, your health, your age, your bloodwork, and your circumstances. This is a general starting framework, not personalised advice, and nothing here replaces a conversation with your doctor — particularly if you take medication or have a health condition.
Magnesium glycinate
Magnesium is involved in hundreds of processes in the body, and a meaningful proportion of people have intakes below the recommended level. It’s associated with sleep quality, stress regulation, and muscle function. The catch — and the reason it makes this list with a specific form attached — is that the most common supplemental form, magnesium oxide, is poorly absorbed. Glycinate is well absorbed and gentle on the stomach. If you take one form, this is the one. Malate is a good alternative for daytime energy; citrate is a widely available middle option.
Vitamin D3 (with K2)
Vitamin D deficiency is genuinely widespread, particularly for anyone who works indoors, lives through real winters, or has darker skin. The evidence for supplementing when deficient is strong. Two specifics: take D3 (cholecalciferol), not the less effective D2; and pair it with vitamin K2, which helps direct the calcium D3 helps you absorb toward your bones rather than your arteries. Testing your blood level first is ideal, since the right dose depends on where you’re starting.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA)
One of the most researched supplements there is, with consistent evidence for cardiovascular and inflammatory benefit — particularly relevant if you don’t eat oily fish regularly. The specifics that matter: look for the triglyceride form rather than ethyl ester for better absorption and stability, check the actual EPA and DHA figures rather than the total fish oil number, and make sure it isn’t rancid. Smell it. Fresh fish oil is mild; oxidised oil is sharp and unpleasant, and a rancid omega-3 works against you.
Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin)
B12 deficiency is common and rising, especially in people over 50 (absorption declines with age), those on plant-based diets (B12 is almost exclusively in animal products), and people on certain medications like metformin and long-term acid reducers. The form matters enormously: methylcobalamin is the active form your body can use directly, while the cheaper cyanocobalamin found in most supplements requires a conversion step that a significant share of people perform inefficiently. If you supplement B12, choose methylcobalamin.
Creatine monohydrate
The most studied supplement in existence, with an exceptional safety record — and increasingly studied not just for athletic performance but for cognitive function and healthy ageing. It’s inexpensive, which means almost nobody bothers to adulterate or fake it. Stick to plain creatine monohydrate; the fancier, pricier “advanced” forms have no meaningful advantage over the original and cost more. No loading phase is needed — a steady daily dose works fine. One of the rare supplements where the cheap, basic version is also the best version.
That’s it. Five. Not thirty.
What’s notable about this list is what’s not on it. No exotic adaptogens, no proprietary “performance complexes,” no antioxidant of the month, no expensive multivitamin. Those aren’t all worthless, but they’re rarely the place to start — and many are dominated by products with the exact problems I write about constantly: wrong forms, hidden doses, theatrical ingredients at sub-effective amounts.
Most people’s supplement stacks would improve not by adding to this list but by stripping back to something close to it: a few well-chosen products, in the right forms, at meaningful doses, from brands that disclose everything.
Two things. First, food comes first — these supplements support a reasonable diet, they don’t substitute for one. Second, individual needs vary, and the only way to know what you specifically need is to consider your own diet, circumstances, and ideally some bloodwork. This list is a sensible default starting point, not a prescription. If you take medication or have a health condition, talk to your doctor before starting anything new.
How to actually choose each one
For each supplement on this list, the same label-reading principles apply: check the form (in brackets after the ingredient name), confirm the dose is meaningful and matches what research uses, make sure individual doses are disclosed rather than hidden in a blend, and scan the other ingredients for unnecessary fillers. Five supplements, chosen carefully, in the right forms — that’s a better stack than most people have, at a lower cost than most people pay.
If you took nothing from this article except a single action: go look at the forms of whatever you currently take. Is your magnesium glycinate or oxide? Your B12 methylcobalamin or cyanocobalamin? Your D3 paired with K2? Your omega-3 fresh or rancid? Those four checks alone will tell you more about the quality of your stack than the price you paid for it ever could.
Want to know how your stack compares to this list?
The Label Review checks everything you’re taking against exactly these criteria — right form, right dose, no redundancy, no waste. Written report in 72 hours. Starts at €49.
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