Recent studies have shown
that many vitamins and supplements do little for our health and are a
waste of money. This chart will make it abundantly clear how true that
is.
In this
brilliant chart by David McCandless from 2010, you can see a gorgeous
visualization of how many supplements are actually helpful — based on
scientific studies — and how many are basically nothing more than snake
oil.
McCandless, writing on Information is Beautiful, explains:
This
image is a "balloon race". The higher a bubble, the greater the
evidence for its effectiveness. But the supplements are only effective
for the conditions listed inside the bubble.
You
might also see multiple bubbles for certain supps. These is because
some supps affect a range of conditions, but the evidence quality varies
from condition to condition. For example, there's strong evidence that
Green Tea is good for cholesterol levels. But evidence for its
anti-cancer effects is conflicting. In these cases, we give a supp
another bubble.
