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I think about a lot of things all the time. I see things, and my brain absorbs them, and that information is there to be called up at any moment in time.

"That’s called learning, genius."–Yeah, I know. But I’m just saying that I’ll see some bit of trivia or whatever, and my brain will cling to it. A passing glance at something, and even though I’m not consciously aware of what I’ve seen… I’ll be somewhere years later and that info will pop out.

It’s useful when I find myself in a situation I’m not really prepared for to have my brain basically go "Don’t worry. We got this. X=Y, so all you gotta do is H+E+L+P and you won’t die."

So the whole "Supplements are not FDA approved, which allows them to contain pretty much ANYTHING in whatever dosages" stuck in my brain and I’ve never fallen for the various supplement scams out there.

I mean, some of those scams look AMAZING. They can really get you believing that they’re doctor(MD) approved and not "doctor(asterisk)" approved.

You can really tell when they spend lots of money on their marketing campaigns. Just chef’s kiss on that official looking packaging.

And the people they target!

They really go after people with undiagnosed normal conditions.

Like, there was one that made themselves sound like Adderall, and they describe all the symptoms without mentioning ADHD… So if you were in the grocery store–or likely gas station–and you came across the packaging with the list of recognizable symptoms but didn’t know you have ADHD, you might buy the product and end up ruining your body.

From the ingredients list, there was a lot of caffeine, which would help with the focusing and thus give you the idea that the product is working as intended. But there was also 2500% of the daily value of vitamin B6.

Enough to totally destroy your health and maybe even kill you.

It really is a product where the first taste could be lethal.

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And there’s a lot of things like that.

Little packets of pressed pills that say they’re vitamins or just call themselves supplements, and they depend on that "not FDA approved" labeling to keep you from suing them.

Because if you choose to buy something and choose to ingest it, you’ve made the choice, whatever the consequences may be. Up to and including organ damage, blood poisoning, permanent infertility, blindness, etc.

Because you’re supposed to be an adult and you’re supposed to know what you’re getting into, even if groups of people have made a concerted effort to destroy the basic education system in your country. To the point that you don’t have the capability to realize that your favorite nihilistic podcaster makes the bulk of their money selling vitamins and supplements that could possibly be death in a bottle. Maybe to the point that you don’t have the capability to recognize that your podcaster isn’t being ironic. Isn’t being fair or just. That they might have a desire to see the death of you and your family. That all they care about is money.

Like, supplement salesmen and their supporters have ruined the Better Business Bureau so as to keep schilling their products.

Their whole basis is greed.

Remember the "diet drink" that was supposed to "make you slim" quick?

"Just pour the pouch into a bottle of water, drink, and watch the weight disappear." And famous celebutantes came striding out of pools in bikinis and talked about how they use the product to make themselves red carpet ready and blah blah "Buy this stuff now. You won’t regret it."

And then those celebrities never addressed the people harmed? And there was a class action lawsuit, so the complainants can’t even talk about it or they lose their payouts? And the product disappeared off the shelves, and the company likely changed their name, but all those investors definitely got rich?

Remember that? Yeah.

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Not all supplements are bad.

Too much of anything isn’t good for you. Like, there’s a whole thing where you can eat too much seaweed, then you’ll suffer dietary distress due to ingesting too much fiber. Or like, you can eat too many carrots and your skin will turn yellow.

And like, in the moment you might worry that you’re dying, but if you stop eating them, you won’t die and things will eventually go back to normal.

But there are some supplements that can have a permanent adverse effect. Whether the bad effect is caused by your liver being overloaded and shutting down, or your electrolytes are thrown so far out of balance that you OD, bad things can happen.

So it’s really not a good idea to jump on any fad and make that your identity.

Just because people are doing something doesn’t mean that it’s something they should be doing or that it’s healthy.

And sometimes, people lie.

Remember those YouTubers that pretended to make a glowing liquid by pouring normal household items into a glass? And then people were trying it at home and it wasn’t working. And then finally they admitted that they’d stopped the camera and poured the insides of a glowstick into the glass and that it was all a trick?

Or remember when those YouTubers filmed themselves drinking boiling water through a straw and being all right? Then some kid tried it and died, and it turned out to all be a "funny" trick?

In those instances, people used fakery to get hits and likes on their ad-revenued videos. They didn’t think about the people at home watching their videos, believing their lies were truth because they never said anywhere on their videos or in the descriptions that it wasn’t real. In fact, they insisted that everything they did was real up until they were faced with their deception.

And in that same way, those selling supplements for profit don’t go out of their way to warn their customers.

They don’t say that too much B6 causes sensitivity to the sun, painful and disfiguring skin legions, gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and heartburn, numbness, and involuntary muscle movements.

Too much calcium causes bone pain, headaches, fatigue, and lethargy.

Too much vitamin A causes nausea, vomiting, vertigo, blurry vision, bone thinning, liver damage, headache, diarrhea, skin irritation, pain in the joints and bones, and birth defects.

Too much vitamin C causes diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, bone spurs, iron overload, kidney stones, and insomnia.

There’s a reason why the best way to get your daily value of vitamins is through your diet. Because while you can theoretically overdose on carrots… there comes a point where your stomach simply can’t fit anymore.

And sure, you can make a smoothie so packed with vitamins and fiber that someone will crap their pants after drinking it… but for the most part, you’re less likely to overdose on vitamins and minerals when eating food.

A compressed pill that someone likely haphazardly mixed in their backyard lab could have any amount of a particular ingredient. Some pills might have a little, some might have a lot, and while the packaging should list what’s inside the pill… a lot of extras are handwaved away as "natural flavor."

Adding a bit of powdered kale to your fruit and vegetable smoothie is a healthier option than trustingly swallowing mystery pills you buy from a gas station display.

Because as long as they call it a supplement, they don’t have to feel responsible when you swallow a pill and your health disintegrates as a result. They can enjoy their money, push more product, and never have to worry they’ll be called into court.

As long as the packaging says it’s not FDA approved, their hands are clean from a legal standpoint. Even as they game the SEO results so that their products are the first to appear for every question. Even as they pay to have their sponsored posts appear at the top of every search result. Even as they pay people to write posts so they have content on their sites to lure in the unwary. Their hands are clean. From a legal standpoint.

And someone right now is swallowing a pill with 2500% of the recommended daily value of vitamin B6. Because they think it’s "healthier" to treat their undiagnosed ADHD with unregulated supplements rather than to visit a doctor and receive a prescription for FDA approved medication.

Because that someone has swallowed the anti-science propaganda and doesn’t believe in medicine.

They’ve watched a YouTube video. They’ve heard a paid sponsor touting the amazing benefits of a trendy supplement. And they feel like they’ve done all the due diligence necessary to take their health in hand.

"It’s not like vitamins and minerals can hurt someone," they’ll say, insisting that "vitamins are healthy." Even as they consume an amount well above the recommended daily dosage.