Somewhere along the way, being healthy got very complicated.
It used to be: eat well, sleep enough, move your body. Now? You need your morning greens formula, your creatine, your adaptogen blend, your probiotic, your prebiotic, your gut-health kefir, your lion's mane, your magnesium (but which kind?), your omega-3, your electrolytes, and whatever TikTok decided was the supplement of the month.
We're not here to tell you supplements are a con. We wouldn't exist if we believed that. But we do think health got needlessly confusing - and a lot of people are spending real money on things their body doesn't actually need. Or doubling up without realising it. Or taking something because someone they follow takes it.
NothingFishy was built on a pretty simple idea: we'll tell you the truth, even when the truth is "you probably don't need this one." So here it is - an honest look at the supplement landscape, what the evidence actually supports, and how to figure out what's worth taking for you.
Why does everyone feel like they need 10 supplements?
A few things happened at once. Social media turned supplement routines into content. Wellness brands got very good at marketing. And modern life - the poor sleep, the stress, the ultra-processed food, the less time outdoors - all of this genuinely does put more demand on our bodies.
The result is an industry worth billions, with new products launching every week, each promising to be the missing piece in your health puzzle. The problem isn't that supplements don't work. Some of them work very well, in the right context, for the right person. The problem is that "popular" got confused with "necessary."
Your body doesn't care what's trending. It only cares what it actually needs.
What the evidence actually says: the three that are genuinely worth knowing about
Most people can get most of what they need from a varied, balanced diet. But there are a handful of exceptions - areas where, for biological or environmental reasons, diet alone often isn't enough. The NHS has been fairly clear on three of them.
Vitamin D - the one the UK climate basically forces you to take
Vitamin D is the supplement most likely to matter for most people in the UK. The reason is geography: from October through to early March, the sun in Britain isn't strong enough for your skin to produce meaningful amounts of it. If you're spending most of your day indoors, have darker skin, or tend to keep your skin covered, the window is even smaller.
The NHS recommends that adults consider taking 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D daily, particularly through autumn and winter. Certain groups, including people who are housebound, have darker skin, or are rarely outdoors - are advised to supplement all year round. For children aged 1–4, daily supplementation is recommended throughout the year regardless.
The ceiling matters too: the NHS advises adults not to exceed 100 micrograms (4,000 IU) per day. And because vitamin D is fat-soluble, meaning your body stores it rather than excreting excess, taking more than one supplement containing it (say, a multivitamin plus a standalone D3) can quietly tip you over recommended amounts.
If you're buying a vitamin D supplement, look at the dose clearly stated on the label. More isn't better here.
Magnesium - genuinely useful, but often misunderstood
Magnesium is involved in over 300 processes in the body - energy, muscle function, nerve signalling, bone health, sleep. It's not a wellness myth. But it's also something most people with a reasonably balanced diet should be getting enough of through food: green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, legumes.
The UK reference intake is 300mg per day for adult men and 270mg per day for adult women. The safe upper limit for supplementation is 400mg daily - and the NHS is clear that most healthy adults who eat a varied diet shouldn't need a supplement.
The nuance: some people genuinely do have lower levels - those with digestive conditions affecting absorption, people taking certain medications (including proton pump inhibitors and some diuretics), and older adults. If you're in one of those groups, it's worth a conversation with your GP.
Not all magnesium supplements are equal. The form matters more than the number on the front of the pack - magnesium oxide, the most common form in cheaper products, is poorly absorbed by the body. Marine magnesium, sourced from seawater rather than mined mineral compounds, is a naturally occurring, well-absorbed form. Magnesium glycinate and citrate are other well-absorbed options worth looking for on a label.
Omega-3 - important for most, not a magic bullet for everyone
Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly EPA and DHA, have a solid evidence base around heart health, brain function, and inflammation. The NHS recommends eating at least two portions of fish per week, one of which should be oily fish like salmon, mackerel, or sardines - but for those following a vegan or plant-based diet, fish isn’t an option.
The good news: you don’t need fish to get EPA and DHA. Algae-based omega-3 goes straight to the source - it’s where fish get their omega-3 from in the first place. Algae-derived supplements provide the same long-chain fatty acids without the fish, which also means no fishy aftertaste and no sustainability concerns. Our omega-3 is algae-based.
Whether you eat fish or not, if you’re considering a supplement, check the label carefully. What matters is the combined EPA and DHA content - a capsule labelled “1000mg omega-3 oil” might contain only 300mg of the active omega-3s.
The European Food Safety Authority puts the baseline for cardiovascular benefit at 250mg of combined EPA and DHA per day.
If you already eat oily fish twice a week, a supplement could be unnecessary. If you eat a plant-based diet or rarely eat fish, it’s worth adding.
On the supplements that get a lot of hype right now
We're not going to dismiss the trending supplements out of hand - the science on some of these is more interesting than the marketing suggests, and more nuanced than the hype implies.
Creatine
Creatine is one of the most extensively studied sports supplements in existence, with over 500 peer-reviewed publications to its name. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses have confirmed that creatine supplementation combined with resistance training meaningfully increases muscle strength and lean body mass in adults - one 2024 meta-analysis of 23 randomised controlled trials found significantly greater upper-body and lower-body strength gains compared to placebo. The International Society of Sports Nutrition has called it one of the most effective nutritional ergogenic aids available.
The important qualifier: it's most effective when combined with an actual training stimulus, and effects are more pronounced in those doing high-intensity, short-duration exercise. If you're not training consistently, the benefit is limited.
Probiotics
The probiotic research landscape is genuinely promising - and genuinely complicated. Over 1,500 human clinical trials have been published, and accumulated evidence does support measurable benefits across multiple outcomes. But the critical detail is strain specificity: the evidence for one bacterial strain does not transfer to another, even within the same species. A review published in eClinicalMedicine identified six specific single-strain probiotics showing significant efficacy for irritable bowel syndrome outcomes - but only when those particular strains were used.
A World Gastroenterology Organisation 2023 guideline similarly emphasised that "probiotic" should only be applied to live microbes shown in controlled human studies to impart a specific health benefit.
In practice, this means a probiotic product is only as useful as the evidence behind its specific strains. A well-formulated product with clinically studied strains at adequate doses is a different thing to a generic "contains live cultures" label. When evaluating any probiotic, the question to ask is: which strain, at what dose, for which outcome?
Greens formulas
The honest summary on greens powders: the evidence for the category as a whole is limited, and most of the studies that exist are small, often industry-funded, and don't use the actual product being sold. Experts at institutions including the Mayo Clinic and UCLA Health are consistent on this - greens powders can be a useful nutritional top-up when vegetable intake genuinely falls short, but they cannot replicate the fibre content, phytochemicals, or satiety of eating whole vegetables. A typical serving contains 1-2g of fibre, against a daily recommendation of 25-35g.
Where they make most sense: people who travel frequently, have limited access to fresh produce, or are consistently falling short on vegetable variety. Where they make least sense: as a shortcut for people whose diet is already adequate, or as a substitute for addressing the underlying diet. The other thing worth watching is ingredient transparency - many greens formulas use proprietary blends that don't disclose individual ingredient doses, which makes it impossible to evaluate whether the active components are present at levels shown to be effective in research.
The overlooked problem: doubling up without realising
Here's something that doesn't get talked about enough: many people are inadvertently taking the same nutrients twice.
A standard multivitamin often already contains meaningful amounts of vitamin D, vitamin C, zinc, B vitamins, and more. If you're then adding standalone supplements on top - a separate D3, a separate zinc, a separate B-complex - you might be well above the intended dose without meaning to be.
It's worth doing a quick audit: read the labels on everything you're currently taking, and add up the totals. You might find you're already covered.
So how do you know what you actually need?
Honestly? The most reliable answer isn't another supplement. It's knowing your own starting point.
Blood tests can tell you whether you're actually low in something - which changes the conversation entirely. Taking vitamin D because the NHS says it's worth it in winter is sensible. Taking it because you read a post that said everyone is deficient, without checking, is a guess.
Our nutritionist-led quiz is designed to cut through the noise. It looks at your diet, your lifestyle, your goals, and your gaps - and helps you build a routine that actually makes sense for you, rather than one built from things you've seen recommended somewhere.
We've also worked with our nutritionist to put together a set of purpose-built bundles - groups of supplements that support a specific goal, without unnecessary overlap. Less guesswork, more intention.
The point isn't to take less. It's to take better.
We're not anti-supplement. We're pro-knowing why you're taking something.
Vitamin D, magnesium (if you need it), omega-3 (if your diet falls short) - these are three areas with a genuine evidence base behind them. Not trends. Not marketing. Just decent science and, in the case of vitamin D, a straightforward gap that the UK climate creates for almost everyone.
Health isn't supposed to be a 12-step morning routine. It's supposed to work quietly in the background of your life. If your supplement shelf is stressing you out more than supporting you, that's a sign something's off.
Start with what you actually need. Build from there.