By Hannah, Co-Founder of Elliegance
Walk down any high street or scroll through social media for five minutes and you will be offered a supplement for almost everything. Glowing skin, stronger joints, better sleep, an easier menopause, a smoother ride through cancer treatment. The promises are big, and so are the price tags.
I have been reading a lot about this recently, and I keep coming back to one simple question. If we do not have a deficiency, why are we taking them?
This is not an anti supplement rant. Some supplements are genuinely brilliant. But I think it is worth pulling the evidence apart from the marketing, so let us talk about it properly.
Where supplements genuinely earn their place
Let us start with the good news. Vitamin D is the obvious example. From October to early March the sun in the UK simply is not strong enough for our bodies to make enough of it, so government advice is that everyone should consider a daily 10 microgram supplement through autumn and winter. It is cheap, it is well researched, and it is backed by the NHS. Even here, more is not always better. The NHS advises not to go above 100 micrograms a day.
There are other clear cases too. Folic acid before and during early pregnancy. Iron or vitamin B12 when a blood test shows you are low. These all have one thing in common. They are targeted at a real, identified need, ideally confirmed by your GP.
If you have a diagnosed deficiency, take what your doctor recommends. That part is not up for debate.
The supplements that really earn their place have one thing in common. They are answering a real, identified need.
The collagen question
Collagen is one of the biggest names in the supplement world, and there is serious money behind it. Much of it is sourced from animal hides, bones and fish skin, essentially a byproduct of the meat and fish industries, repackaged as a beauty essential.
To be fair, there are studies on collagen. Quite a lot of them, in fact. But a 2025 review of 23 trials, published in The American Journal of Medicine, found something really telling. When all the studies were pooled together, collagen appeared to improve skin hydration, elasticity and wrinkles. When the researchers looked only at the higher quality studies, or only at those not funded by the supplement industry, that benefit disappeared.
The collagen industry has pushed back, arguing that industry funded research is not automatically poorer quality, and that is a fair point to hear. So my honest verdict is this. Collagen is unproven rather than disproven. It is certainly not the miracle the adverts suggest.
If it really worked, would it not be on the NHS?
This was my first thought too, and I think it is a good instinct to be sceptical. But it is not a perfect test. The NHS focuses on treating illness and on what is cost effective, so plenty of things that might help with how we look or feel will never be prescribed. Some GP practices no longer routinely prescribe vitamin D, simply because it is so cheap to buy over the counter.
A better question might be this. Is there good, independent evidence that it works, for someone like me, at the dose being sold?
Menopause, cancer and the search for relief
This is the part I feel most strongly about. Women going through menopause, and people living with or recovering from cancer, are often desperately searching for something, anything, that will help. I know that feeling. And it makes us a prime target for expensive products with big claims.
The NHS is clear that herbal remedies for menopause are not tested and regulated in the same way as medicines like HRT, so it is not known how safe or effective they are. Some can be risky alongside other medication. St John's wort, for example, can interact with tamoxifen, blood thinners and epilepsy medicines, and black cohosh has been linked to reports of liver problems.
If you are having cancer treatment, Cancer Research UK notes there is some evidence that high dose antioxidant supplements might make treatment less effective. NHS cancer teams commonly advise against taking any supplements or herbal remedies during treatment unless your doctor has said it is safe. Many of these products reach the shelves without approval from the UK medicines regulator, and most manufacturers never test how they interact with other medicines.
When you are already going through something so hard, spending money on something that could quietly work against your treatment is a risk worth taking seriously.
When we are searching for relief, we are at our most vulnerable to a big promise in a beautiful bottle.
Questions worth asking before you buy
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Do I actually have a diagnosed need for this, or am I taking it just in case?
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Who funded the research behind the claims on the label?
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Could it interact with any medication I am taking, including HRT, tamoxifen or chemotherapy?
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Have I checked with my GP, pharmacist or treatment team?
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Do I know how much I should be taking, and is that dose safe?
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Could I get the same benefit from food, movement or rest?
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Am I paying for evidence, or am I paying for hope?
Would food and movement serve us better?
For most of us, the foundations are not glamorous. A varied, balanced diet, regular movement, good sleep and cutting back on alcohol quietly do a huge amount of work, and they come with far fewer unknowns than a tub of capsules. You know exactly what you are putting into your body, and there is no guessing about the dose.
Exercise is one of the best evidenced ways to ease the fatigue that so often comes with cancer treatment, and staying active and eating well can help many women manage menopause, from mood and sleep to bone health. For me, movement was everything. My daily qigong practice got me through treatment in a way no pill ever could.
That said, lifestyle is not a cure all. Some menopause symptoms are severe, and HRT or other treatments prescribed by a doctor can be life changing. Eating well and moving more should sit alongside proper medical support, not replace it.
So, is it all a scam?
Not all of it. Some supplements are cheap, well evidenced and recommended by the NHS. But a great many sit in a grey area where the marketing has run far ahead of the science, and the people being sold to are often the ones with the most to lose.
So I will leave you with the question I keep asking myself. What are you taking right now, and do you really know why? Have you noticed a genuine difference, or are you taking it just in case? I would genuinely love to hear your experiences.
Whatever you are going through, you deserve honest information and real care, not just clever marketing. Be curious, ask questions, and always talk to your doctor before you start or stop anything.
With so much love,
Hannah x
This journal entry is for general information only and is not medical advice. Always speak to your GP, pharmacist or treatment team before starting or stopping any supplement.
Further reading
NHS: Vitamin D: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/
NHS: Herbal remedies and complementary medicines for menopause symptoms: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/alternatives-to-hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/herbal-remedies-and-complementary-medicines-for-menopause-symptoms/
Cancer Research UK: Vitamins, diet supplements and cancer: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/vitamins-diet-supplements
Myung and Park (2025), Effects of Collagen Supplements on Skin Aging, The American Journal of Medicine: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2025.04.034