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Beta
Vitamins for your hair, nails, and skin are everywhere on Instagram
Marketing supplements
The concept may not be new, but the techniques used to market supplements are.
In 2013, companies realized they could make use of social media to promote their supplements as youthful and fun.
One of the attractive qualities for supplements is a strong engagement on social media, with packaging designed to be super-shareable.
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An old concept
Beauty supplements aren’t a new concept. We've been able to buy hair and nail formulas for decades at the drugstore.
The supplements, from vitamin ingredients like biotin, zinc, folic acid, vitamin C, to botanicals like oils, saw palmetto, ashwagandha, green tea, and turmeric, have different formulas that claim they will make you look better or younger.
The beauty supplement market
Although beauty supplements were a small part of the beauty industry previously, they are now becoming increasingly popular. The global beauty supplement market is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $6.8 billion by the end of 2024.
A survey of buyers revealed that supplement brands, not skin care or makeup brands, are most likely to be picked up by retailers, as
beauty supplements have become hope in a bottle.
Using beauty personalities
Supplement brands are making their products look very pleasing on social media. Then they use influencers to spread the message further.
The ultimate sign that brands have found mainstream acceptance is the now-familiar Instagram shelfies, where people post pictures of their well-displayed medicine cabinets.
The science of beauty supplements
The claims these supplements make are still doubtful. Many products have little or no data to support their claims substantively.
- Biotin will not aid in hair growth unless you're deficient in the nutrient, which is rare.
- Collagen supplements probably won't keep your skin looking youthful.
- Turmeric, a food ingredient promoted for its anti-inflammatory effect, was dismissed as insignificant by many scientists.
- The data on probiotics, apparently showing promise for atopic dermatitis, is not conclusive.
Safety and efficacy
The safety, efficacy, and contents of supplements cannot be trusted.
- An independent lab that analyzed beauty supplements found small quantities of lead in it. Lead is a heavy metal that's a neurotoxin in children.
- High doses of biotin can produce false lab results, increasing the chance of missed diagnosis and treatment.
- Ashwagandha has a variety of side effects, including miscarriage.
- Too much Vitamin A and E can cause hair loss.
FDA regulations
The FDA does not regulate supplements. They are barely subjected to government scrutiny due to a law passed in the 1990s. The claims that include vague words like "promotes", "maintains" and "supports" are legal as long as manufacturers attach a disclaimer that reads: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
However, target consumers are starting to become educated and care enough to call the beauty industry out on their wild claims.
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Individual Supplement Studies
Looking at individual studies won't determine if vitamin supplementation is good for you. They're scientifically dense and the conflicts of interest can be very hard to spot.
"Systematic revi...
Research Reviews’ Results
- If you are healthy, and have a modern balanced diet, taking multi-vitamins and high-dose antioxidants may shorten your life.
- There’s no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention of diseases.
- Beta-carotene and vitamin E seem to increase mortality, and so may higher doses of vitamin A.
- Antioxidant supplements need to be considered as medicinal products and should undergo sufficient evaluation before marketing.
- The functions of minerals and vitamins are understood largely by their deficiency diseases so there’s no certainty what they all do or how they interact.
- Antioxidants soak up toxic, chemically-reactive by-products of metabolism called free radicals. These free radicals, left unchecked, can cause damage to DNA and may be linked to cancer.
- Your body's immune system fights infections by using free radicals to kill bugs. Several of the minerals and vitamins in excess can cause damage.
Supplement Usage Recommendations
- Folic acid for the women thinking of having a baby and pregnant women up to week 12 of the pregnancy.
- Vitamin D for all pregnant and breastfeeding women, those aged six months to five years or over 65 and for people who are not exposed to much sun.
- Vitamins A, C and D supplementation are recommended for all children aged six months to four years, especially those not eating a varied diet.
- If they are prescribed to you for a medical condition.
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The Reality Behind Supplements
Studies demonstrate that multivitamins don't improve outcomes on a number of health measures, from staving off cognitive decline to preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer. The health b...
Beware Of Supplements’ Claims
In the US, supplements are regulated like food — and not drugs — under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, pill makers can basically put whatever claims they want on their bottles.
One analysis of supplement websites found 81 percent made at least one health claim — and more than half of those promised to treat, prevent, diagnose, or cure specific diseases. But a quick thought exercise will tell you that if these pills were truly panaceas, the FDA would have to treat them like drugs, not foods.
Resist The Urge For a Quick Fix
Back when undernutrition and vitamin deficiencies were widespread, supplements made some sense. But now one of the more urgent health problems is obesity and overnutrition while a growing body of studies shows that supplements’ effects are minimal or negative.
Remember that you can’t know for sure what's really in your supplement bottle. And that the pills probably won't make you any healthier (unless you have a medically diagnosed deficiency). And they might even be hurting you.
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Alkaline water
Alkaline water - water that has been treated to have a higher pH level than the 6.5-7.5 pH range - is experiencing a surge in popularity.
There are a variety of alkaline water brands on t...
Marketing claims
Marketing claims behind alkaline water are based on the acid-ash hypothesis. The idea is that eating certain foods, like meat, dairy, and eggs, results in acid ash in your body, which increases your acid levels and causes health problems.
While there are some poorly designed studies that suggest alkaline water confers health benefits, there is no rigorous scientific evidence to support this belief.
The science behind blood pH
You can't change the pH of your body by drinking alkaline water. Your body regulates its blood pH in a very narrow margin. If your pH varied too much, you wouldn't survive.
However, your diet does affect the pH of your urine. Most people's urine is about 6, which is acidic and not a problem. Alkaline may make your urine less acidic, but it doesn't make a difference to your health.
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