Why is there a supplement craze if they don’t even work?

Despite overwhelming scientific consensus that supplements don’t make healthy people healthier, the U.S. supplement industry continues to grow into a $70 billion behemoth. In this episode, Planet Money investigates how lax regulations allow nearly any product to hit store shelves with minimal oversight. The story centers on a clever loophole: companies can bypass FDA safety reviews by first introducing a novel ingredient into food products—like a synthetic jellyfish protein in a 'NeuroShake'—and then legally rebranding it as a supplement. This tactic, used by the now-infamous Prevagen, led to $165 million in sales despite FDA warnings and reports of seizures and strokes. Experts reveal that many supplements contain little to no actual active ingredient, and some even harbor dangerous contaminants like lead and arsenic. Yet, the real power of supplements may not lie in their ingredients—but in their placebo effect. As one nutrition expert puts it, 'If all it takes is a pill to make people feel better, I'm not going to argue too much about it.' The episode concludes with a sobering truth: Americans aren’t buying supplements for science—they’re buying hope, and the system is built to deliver it, no matter how unproven.