\n<\/p>\n
I am sitting in a small room painted emerald green as a nurse counts vials she will need to fill with my warm red blood. I have no needle phobia, and I am a living, breathing woman in America, so I am used to being poked and prodded. Still, she and I exchange a meaningful glance over the 13 glass tubes. \u201cIt looks worse than it is,\u201d she tells me.<\/p>\n
This assessment is taking place at The Lanby<\/a>\u2014a \u201cholistic primary care\u201d provider with annual fees starting at $5,000. Like most 30-somethings, I have the nagging feeling that I should be more committed to achieving optimal health. And like most 30-somethings who have stacked obligations like Jenga blocks, there is a limit to how much I am willing to do. I have not come to this place to be told to exercise more or to switch to a Paleo diet. I want a pill. Perhaps several.<\/p>\n Me, and most people you know. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of adults<\/a> (and more women than men) take a supplement, and the proportion is trending upward. There are now around 100,000 different supplements<\/a>\u2014which the FDA defines in vague terms as ingestible products meant to augment the diet\u2014on the market in the United States. Such interventions run the gamut from familiar add-ons like the humble vitamin<\/a> to witchier formulations: microbiome \u201cboosters\u201d; sleep chews; tablets meant to reduce stress, bloat, and \u201ctoxins\u201d in the bloodstream; and capsules formulated to speed metabolism. And that\u2019s not counting injectable peptides or hormones or mushroom elixirs, all of which further stretch the rather elastic definition of a \u201csupplement.\u201d Most undergo no FDA approval process.<\/p>\n But not even the sober and sensible among us are immune to their quick-fix promises. An acquaintance (the daughter of two doctors) told me she turned to vitamin gummies after gobs of her hair fell out postpartum. She trawled the drugstore aisles for a product high in follicle-boosting biotin and has been housing an Olly supplement called Undeniable Beauty<\/a> ever since. Is it working? Her nails seem healthier, and the biotin is water-soluble, which means any excess she ingests gets flushed down the toilet.<\/p>\n This friend did her research on the ground, reading labels in an actual store\u2014a quaint approach, according to The Lanby\u2019s cofounder Chloe Harrouche. \u201cMost people are sourcing their supplements through Instagram,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018Well, if it worked for them….\u2019\u2009\u201d Around 55 percent<\/a> of Americans report getting health information from social media, which can of course be rife with misinformation. (Supplements do not cure measles!) Lack of access to affordable health care in America cannot be helping matters. Over 100 million Americans do not have a primary care provider<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have never missed an annual checkup, but I still wonder about the potions and pastilles I scroll past. Should I be subscribing to Gr\u00fcns, the brand of \u201csuperfood gummies\u201d that purports to combine a multivitamin with adaptogens, herbs, antioxidants, prebiotics, \u201csuper mushrooms,\u201d and the nutritional equivalent of whole vegetables and fruits? Could I live to be 100 and nimble on AG1, a greens powder endorsed by neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman? Should I actually read one of the dozens of articles I\u2019ve glimpsed about creatine<\/a>, a compound said to boost muscle mass and improve cognition? (Yes, according to Abbie Smith-Ryan, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. \u201cIt\u2019s not the end-all-be-all magic supplement a lot of people are selling, but it can have impactful results,\u201d she says.) Is this quest all about some unfulfilled longing for the Flintstones multivitamin that I was barred from taking as a child? (\u201cEat your broccoli, and then we\u2019ll talk,\u201d my mother told me.) Or could there be one encapsulated mineral standing between me and perfect focus with Jennifer Lawrence hair?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n