Pharmacist reveals 3 types of supplements she avoids

She finds dental vitamins unaffordable.

Longtime UK pharmacist Amina Khan, founder and director of skincare and supplement brand The Pharmacist Beauty, is revealing the three types of supplements she avoids.

“I think you’ll be surprised by most of them,” Khan told her 271,500 TikTok followers in September.

Rubber vitamins

“These are basically just a sugar pill — you might as well go have a dessert,” Khan said. “They can wear down very easily and can lead to mineral toxicity.”

There are often 3 to 5 grams of sugar in each gummy vitamin, Nebraska Medicine reports, and gums tend to have fewer nutrients per serving than traditional multivitamins.

UCLA Health recommends checking the label to make sure the gummies contain the right amount of nutrients and not too much sugar, looking for a certification stamp on the package to show that the gums have been third-party tested and adhere to the recommended dosage.

Eating gummy vitamins is an easy way to exceed your recommended daily intake of sugar and can lead to toxic levels of vitamins like A, D, E and K.

Khan said he prefers traditional capsules and tablets for adults and liquid or spray supplements for children.

General multivitamins

@aminathepharmacist

When do you think your £1.50 multivitamin or vimto gum works? 🙃 ➡️ Traditional capsules and tablets are the best. If you cannot swallow any of these, you can scoop the powder out of the capsule or crush the tablet and mix it with food/drink. ➡️ Solution focused supplements are what you need to see real results. It is better to focus on ingredients that help the actual problem. ➡️ For children, use liquids or spray supplements. ✨ Refill of my 2x prize winning hormone balance supplements is coming soon. Be sure to sign up for the waiting list to be notified immediately – link in bio 💊 #farmacisti #farmaci #gummybear #gummyvitamina #suplementet #needtoknow #vitamina

♬ original sound – Amina Khan

About a third of Americans, especially people 65 and older, take a multivitamin every day.

“These have a little bit of everything in them,” Khan explained. “Some of the doses of each nutrient are so low that they will hardly have an effect on you. Also, you don’t need all the vitamins in a multivitamin.”

Some researchers say multivitamins are a waste of money – there’s no evidence they reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer or premature death, for example.

There are some exceptions. Pregnant women and people who are malnourished may benefit from a multivitamin, although for the most part, doctors recommend simply eating a balanced diet to fill up on nutrients.

Multivitamins for hair, skin and nails

Supplements dedicated to hair, skin and nail health have become popular thanks to the Kardashians and social media ads, but Khan favors “solution-focused supplements” — individual vitamins or supplements that target a specific health concern.

“Multivitamins for hair, skin and nails, where do these focus? Hair, skin or nails?” Khan wondered.