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I think the vast majority of supplements are of no use to any particular individual unless one has a deficiency or a chronic health problem for which there is no effective regular medicine.
Vitamin D for example can be measured and supplemented if necessary. I also recall a doctor saying that selenium supplements are useful to help prevent cancer, but only supplement with the small amounts found in multivitamins - at higher doses it's a poison.
My opinion is formed partly through personal experience attempting to reduce pain/inflammation associated with chronic disease. After reading medical databases I experimented with dozens of potential treatments: most had no effect, a few had negative side effects and a few provided benefit.
It's annoying when medical professionals dismiss a particular substance simply because most supplements are unnecessary. On the other hand there are plenty of people deluding themselves about the effectiveness of alternative treatments and plenty of criminals taking advantage of them.
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