Wellness Products

The supplement aisle is where hope is sold by the bottle. Some of it is genuinely useful. Much of it is expensive urine.

Supplements that earn their place

Vitamin D, because deficiency is genuinely widespread in India even in sunny cities.

Vitamin B12, for vegetarians and vegans, where it is not optional.

Iron, where a blood test has shown deficiency - and not otherwise, because excess iron is harmful.

Folic acid in pregnancy and before it, which prevents serious birth defects and is one of the best-evidenced supplements there is.

Calcium, where diet genuinely does not supply it.

The pattern

Every item above corrects a known deficiency. That is what supplements are good at. Taking nutrients you are not short of does not produce extra health, and for the fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E, K - it can accumulate and cause harm.

Test, then supplement. Supplementing on a hunch is how people end up with expensive urine and occasionally a real problem.

Reading the label

Look for a FSSAI licence number, a full ingredient list with quantities, a batch number and an expiry date. Be sceptical of proprietary blends that will not say how much of anything is in them, and of any product claiming to treat a named disease - in India that claim is not legal on a supplement.