Does it actually work or is the whole thing a placebo
In: Biology
While the most common uses for vitamins are pure placebo, your body does actually get the vitamins from them. (Assuming they actually contain it and aren’t falsely advertised) as they’re usually the pure chemical vitamin mixed with a filler powder, (usually something like gelatin or powdered cellulose).
If you’re actually deficient in a vitamin, these supplement are usually quite effective, as it’s literally just the thing you need and some powder. But usually it’s just placebo, like vitamin c for the common cold.
What do you mean with “work”? Do they supply the advertised vitamins? Most likely yes. Do they do something good for your body? Most likely, speaking for the general population, no.
Nutritional deficiencies are not as common as marketing agencies want you to believe. There are some special occasions though, for example if you’re a vegan you should supplement vitamin B12, either through dietary supplements or through vitamin b12 enriched food.
Most of the scientifically backed marketing claims for vitamins and minerals relate to “contributing to the normal function of xyz”. That means, for example, vitamin C is necessary for your immune system to work. However, that does _not_ mean that it makes your immune system stronger, makes you more healthy or less susceptible for becoming ill.
Here is a list of all the scientifically backed health claims for dietary supplements:
[https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition/claims/register/public/?event=search](https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition/claims/register/public/?event=search)
So vitamin pills are just useful if you are in need of that certain vitamin.
However, as someone who worked in the field of dietary supplements I have to issue a warning here: dietary supplements are _not_ medical drugs. They do _not_ need regulatory approval, like meds do. They are _not_ regularly tested (sometimes they are tested but that’s pretty rare for smaller companies). There is no official control over dosage and quality. Literally anyone can sell dietary supplements, there is no required quality test or something. People often don’t know that and think that the quality control is the same as for medical drugs. It’s not.
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