SupplementsPeter Attia's Framework for Deciding Which Supplements and Drugs Are Worth Taking
In AMA #85, Peter Attia walks through how to think critically about medications and supplements without defaulting to blanket approvals or rejections. The core principle: define the problem precisely before choosing any intervention. From there, the standard of evidence required should scale with the stakes involved. Attia explains why mechanistic reasoning alone is insufficient, how baseline risk determines real-world benefit, and why relative risk statistics often mislead. He also tackles the practical side — how to run self-experiments, monitor effects without self-deception, and know when to stop a therapy. The episode closes with a frank assessment of the supplement industry's regulatory failures and a short list of over-the-counter supplements Attia considers to have a reasonable evidence-to-risk ratio.
