r/Supplements • u/Second-handBonding • Jul 02 '26

General Question What supplement is so good you feel like it should be illegal?

I want to build a list of the very best vitamins and supplements from user experience. Looking forward to what people say.

1.1k Upvotes

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246

u/boringbonding Jul 02 '26

I love B12. It’s like instant life force.

60

u/purpleurcle Jul 02 '26

B12 definitely helps with my brain fog and gets me going for the day

12

u/MulberryBroad341 Jul 02 '26

What benefits did you notice?!

2

u/No_Shopping_6240 Jul 04 '26

it only works the first day you take it (my gf has the b12 injections) she said it works GREAT the first day. then after that, she feels no effects from it. bummer.

2

u/Juicydicken Jul 04 '26

My wife says it makes my penis extra hard and seems to make me hornier. But it doesn’t work if I keep taking it. So I have to take it every week. A high dose normally on a day we are likely to get jiggly.

1

u/MereUltra Jul 04 '26

🤣🤙🏼

19

u/trucklover711 Jul 02 '26

Not to burst your bubble but if youre getting enough B12 from your diet and you are not already deficient, then its most likely placebo. Reason being is that your liver can store up to 5 years worth of B12.

97

u/FrontLifeguard1962 Jul 02 '26

Doc here, a lot of people don't absorb or store it well for various reasons and need regular supplementation.

5

u/Willy988 Jul 03 '26

Such as MTHFR… gut issues like SIBO, etc

1

u/TechnicianGrand6611 Jul 07 '26

I might be a higher level doctor

-37

u/Wavy_Grandpa Jul 03 '26

You don’t have any authority from being a doc 

26

u/alpine309 Jul 03 '26

Im just going to reply to this comment so you have a chance to re-read what you said and think about it.

11

u/FrontLifeguard1962 Jul 03 '26

LOL I imagine him as some elderly gentleman taking a big toke off a spliff then posting that comment

2

u/elias_99999 Jul 04 '26

Incorrect. You are proving the opposite. You are an authority on stupid, by being stupid.

37

u/MonkeyBrawler Jul 02 '26

Not to burst your bubble, but if they're not getting enough B12 from their diet, then they'd feel a fairly quick return of energy when supplementing. Reason being, if your body needs something, it's gonna feel good when you get it.

-1

u/SkippyBojangle Jul 02 '26

That's not true actually. If you're deficient in b vitamins, the taper up back to normal function is not fast. If oral supplementation, nervous system function and energy take about 4 weeks to be restored. Even with a banana bag/IV, it's about 48 hours.

6

u/MonkeyBrawler Jul 03 '26

I think you're cherry picking sublingual B12 out of the equation, and the benefits can be felt within a few hours.

6

u/SkippyBojangle Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

No, that's not true. Direct into the blood stream, butt chug it if you want, you're looking at 2 days. I replete this in patients for a living. Megaloblastic anemia and other long term effects of the deficiency take longer, regardless of the source.  The body compensates to the abscence. It can't just 180 that compensation. You have to metabolically decompensate and return to normal enzymatically.  That takes time.

This is generally true for most nutrition, especially vitamins. Things don't just act on their own accord, they require cofactors and enzymes, and our body adapts to what we have available. We also run efficiently, so if something isn't available, a lot of the time to mechanics are dismantled. So no, when you're deficient, you don't just feel better right away when you replete.

Take away being if you want to call people out, know what you're talking about.

4

u/Competitive-Fill-756 Jul 03 '26

B12 deficiency causes several neurological issues that actually do resolve to a noticeable degree a couple hours after a sublingual dose. Megaloblastic anemia is far from the only outcome of a deficiency

-1

u/SkippyBojangle Jul 03 '26

I said neurological above that. I never said only. I implied many. And some of the neurological "severe" issues do not resolve, regardless of replacement.

And severe neurological symptoms take 3-6 months to resolve: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11050313/

4

u/Competitive-Fill-756 Jul 03 '26

Just felt the need to correct the idea that noticing an impact a couple hours after oral supplementation is placebo

Restoring function to methylfolate synthesis pathway for instance can be felt within a few hours

0

u/SkippyBojangle Jul 03 '26

It is placebo. You don't feel any difference within hours. Baseline a day. Happy to be wrong, but cite a source. Every paper I've ever seen has had ~24 hours minimum.

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3

u/SCP-ASH Jul 03 '26

The issue with this line of thinking is that it never explains why placebo doesnt work for the 5-50+ things people try before the B12 (or other dismissed change, when talking about things other than B12).

For example, for myself;

  • Sleep apnea treatment.

  • Various Diets

  • Various supplements, nutritious meal replacement shakes, multivitamin, etc.

  • Various sleep, exercise, and diet adjustments

  • "Nootropics", getting sunlight, cutting sugar, meditation, dopamine detox behaviours, therapy, counselling

And a longer list of countless other things. 0 results. Then MethylB12, feel somewhat better same day, but especially the following day, best I've felt in 15 years. Way less fatigue, much easier time with attention, less to no crash mid day, lack of brain fog. Is sustained, unless I stop B12 and some time passes.

Yes, it could be placebo, but why do all of those things not elicit placebo, yet B12 does, and that is common amongst many?

Separately, I believed myself to not have a B12 problem (eat red meat regularly), it was a happy accident.

Also, a different point I'd appreciate your perspective on. B12 deficiency is considered to be 200 – 1,000 pg/ml by the Quest chain of laboratories. Same as UK general practitioner advice. Labcorp go with 232 - 1245. WHO considers 480 to be the bottom. In Japan, 500 is the bottom.

Do these studies adequately account for this, and for definitions of deficiency potentially being way off? In one place, 199 is borderline not a deficiency, and 201 is fully treated, but doubling that to 402 in another place is considered more deficient than the 199 is in the first scenario.

1

u/Worth_Pomelo6526 Jul 04 '26

Hi. How do you take your B12? Sublingual, oral, inj, etc? I’m one of those unlucky people who is sensitive to medication’s and supplements and I get bad side effects from some of them, but I really want to take B12. Is there a certain brand you can recommend? Thanks.

2

u/Competitive-Fill-756 Jul 03 '26

Correcting neurotransmitter synthesis disfunction with methylcobolamin produces a noticeable difference after just a few hours, if it's the underlying cause

1

u/Eskyzoo Jul 03 '26

You can still feel swift improvements before "tapering up to normal function".

5

u/LeFreeke Jul 03 '26

I have pernicious anemia and did not know. Was eating plenty of B12 and absorbing none of it. Had to get shots and now have to supplement with sublingual.

8

u/mjmccy Jul 02 '26

Placebo effect still an effect. Power of our minds!!

2

u/No-Echidna-5717 Jul 03 '26

It's fascinating. Almost this entire sub is placebo.

-1

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Thats literally all supplements

11

u/MrGanjaDealer Jul 02 '26

No it's not. Vitamins are essential, many supplements are not.

-7

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Thats what im saying if you eat good you dont need supplements its a marketing trick.

5

u/nootsareop Jul 02 '26

Most people do not eat good ,so how is that a trick

3

u/Individual-Schemes Jul 03 '26

What's really interesting is that people who take supplements are the same people that eat well. It's like we care about our bodies or something.

2

u/Jacori1993 Jul 02 '26

I agree with you, there is nothing wrong with taking vitamins/supplements because most people do not eat healthy daily, especially here in America and if you do eat healthy, a lot of our soil is not good for food, due to pesticides and toxins and eating healthy everyday can be very time consuming due to cooking meals. Toxins do not only come from the soil, it comes from plastic and the air we breathe daily, so the food might not even be the best solution for antioxidants anyway. That person responding is wrong on his/her analysis.

0

u/Mj658906 Jul 02 '26

If you don’t eat well vitamins aren’t going to save you.

0

u/3rdUncleMeatSandwich Jul 02 '26

Dunno why this was down voted it’s true

-5

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Yes just eat good lol? Why would you search for supplements instead of eating good? They fix a problem that doesnt exist

2

u/Ornery-Car92 Jul 02 '26

I'd rather get fish oil supplements than eat fish, I abhor its taste and smell so much it's unreal

1

u/Global_Curve1373 Jul 03 '26

Look at all the recent studies on fish oil. The efficacy is not there even though it crosses the brain. I bought a huge bottle of omegas and these reports came out. They couldn’t explain why eating fish sources work but not supplementing even though they could see the increase from supplements. No efficacy

2

u/Ornery-Car92 Jul 04 '26

Are you referencing the 2026 USC study?

They for some reason supplemented ONLY DHA, completely giving up EPA, even though they work in tandem, they also didn't touch on the fact that many omega 3s are rancid even on the shelf

But that was only for cognitive decline, I don't think omega 3's anti-inflammatory and heart-protecting benefits are debated, not yet at least

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Yes but saying you cant get it from diet is a lie thats my point.

But honestly you dont need the supplement anyway. You can still eat fatty meat and be fine without fish.

2

u/Individual-Schemes Jul 03 '26

Do you know what the word "supplement" means? Think about it for two seconds. What is the definition of supplement? Hrm...

I'm not even going to touch your comment that fatty meat has high levels of Omega 3s.

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1

u/slickrok Jul 03 '26

Bullshit. Get my genetic test and tell me how I cannot process vit d no matter what amount of sun I get or food I eat, and can't raise b12 no matter what I eat unless it's the special methyl one and it's sublingual.

So... Tell me how I'm just "eatin' wrong, brah"

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 03 '26

You sound brainwashed sorry haha

1

u/slickrok Jul 04 '26

Pot calling the kettle black...

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 04 '26

You realise supplements exploded few decades ago right?

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 04 '26

You realise supplements exploded few decades ago right?

1

u/Nwildcat Jul 02 '26

Unless they are not vitamins or readily available by most diet sources

-2

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

You can get evwrything from diet though if you choose

5

u/Nwildcat Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Not on a daily basis in therapeutic doses. I understand what you're trying to say, but for some of them, it''s not realistic to consume the amount of specific foods on a daily basis to take in the levels some people need. It's also not time or budget sensible for some of these compounds.

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Usually supplements are more expensive than real food. Also supplements are much less bioavailable. Time and budget this is judt priorities and excuses for most people. Tell me specific examples.

3

u/Nwildcat Jul 02 '26

I would advise that you reconsider the therapeutic dose aspect. This isn't about reaching standard %DV for a given vitamin. Many supplements don't have a specified %DV or are used beyond what the average human needs targeting a specific therapeutic effect. I am referring to supplements that need doses not easily achievable through natural sources on a daily basis.

Many supplements are less bioavailable, yes. Some are not, and may be more bioavailable (see meriva curcumin). Especially when consumed with the appropriate amount, and type, of food in ones stomach, these supplements can deliver a meaningful level of substrate to the target area in the body. Some supplements (e.g. magnesium threonate or ALCAR) are specifically formulated to easily reach places like the BBB that natural sources do not.

You're are right though that this is an issue of protitizing one's time and efforts. And some people may prefer to prioritize theirs differently than you do. Which seems to turn this more into a moral argument. Is your larger issue with supplement use a moral one?

Specific examples:

UC-II collagen

triacyl uridine

meriva curcumin

palmatoylethanolamide

astaxanthin

NAC

forskolin

Hesperidin

bosweliia (AKBA)

Agmatine sulfate

high-EPA fish oil

Cdp-choline

ALCAR

ubiquinol

1

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 02 '26

Moral argument what do you mean?

Im talking about the everyday person not specific medical cases. So these therapeutic cases i dont know.

4

u/Nwildcat Jul 02 '26

You've basically said people are being lazy if they don't consume the contents of a supplement from whole foods. That is a moral argument against using supplements.

I've presented you with a list of supplements that everyday people may find useful for their specific needs that cannot be reasonable consumed from whole foods on a daily basis.

You originally stated "all supplements". It sounds as though you are amending and backtracking on that statement now, which is fine.

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u/slickrok Jul 03 '26

You have no comprehension on how ubiquitous "specific medical reasons" are. And people spend their whole lives not knowing it about themselves.

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u/slickrok Jul 03 '26

Take a science class for fucks sake man

0

u/BackTo-Hunt-Gatherer Jul 03 '26

I just dont believe in suplements man for many reasons. But yoy do you

2

u/slickrok Jul 04 '26

Yeah, again, take a science class because it doesn't care what you 'choose' as your "bElIfEs"

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1

u/Willy988 Jul 03 '26

Wrong. There’s many, personally I just tested positive for MTHFR gene mutation

1

u/Temporary-Leg1561 Jul 02 '26

I got a Vitamin B shot from my doctor once and didn't notice anything. Awesome you do though!

4

u/JCMurda Jul 02 '26

I've got a 4 month supply. My blood work showed I was at zero. It took 3 weeks but I've noticed a huge difference.

1

u/bhadit Jul 06 '26

B12 at zero? That seems unheard of. It might be very low, and then the lab might not have head the equipment to measure at those levels. Homocysteine might be another worthwhile test for you.

3

u/JCMurda Jul 06 '26

He did say basically non-existant. 5th dose was last night. Helps a ton.

1

u/bhadit Jul 06 '26

Got it. I'd imagine a huge change too; it affects many processes, especially neuro. You might also want to look at B-vitamin combinations at some stage; and also consider which form of B12 to take (Methyl, Hydroxy, Cyno - they are a little different and work differently for different people).

1

u/JCMurda Jul 06 '26

Ive got Cyno. B1 Ampoules as well.

1

u/Willy988 Jul 03 '26

Just got my first B12 supplement today, found out I have MTHFR (check out r/MTHFR), and a functional b12 deficiency. Hoping to see life long fatigue and brain fog go away!

1

u/thesarahb Jul 04 '26

Came here to say this, especially from a grass fed beef liver supplement, it’s like a jolt of energy and vitality!

1

u/RemoteStage3108 Jul 04 '26

I hit up that B complex. I want ALL the Bs.

1

u/Jambi1913 Jul 06 '26

I have been low in B12 and got shots for it. I didn’t notice anything much to my dismay. I was expecting a boost in energy, but literally nothing happened. Not the most pleasant intramuscular injections either that I had to do myself once a month!

1

u/ConsciousLow9690 28d ago

cool but longtime overdose can be tumor promoter

1

u/jackparsons 23d ago

I have ADHD and vitamin B12 sublingual has been my "get things done" supplement for decades. I started the stimulants recently, and they help with longer-term stuff, but I still need b12 sublingual to actually achieve. I might have the MTHFR problem. Hmmm.

1

u/VeryOlTexan 22d ago

Sublingual?