By: Chris Gates

In the world of health and fitness, supplements are often marketed as quick fixes or “essential” in order to make progress.

And that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, most supplements are completely unproven — or have been proven to do diddly squat.

Many are a waste of time and money. And in this article, I’ll outline the three worst supplements for health and fitness so that you can waste less of your time and hard earned money.

Time to dive in!

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The Three Worst Supplements for Health and Fitness: Fat Burners

Fat burners are a category of supplements that promise to increase metabolism, reduce appetite, and help the body burn fat more efficiently.

HOWEVER…

The reality is that many fat burners are filled with ingredients that have minimal to no impact on fat loss.

Most fat burners rely on stimulants like caffeine to create a temporary increase in energy and metabolism, but that effect is short-lived and doesn’t lead to significant long-term fat loss.

The Evidence:

• Caffeine: While caffeine can temporarily boost metabolism, studies show that the effect is minimal, and the body quickly adapts, reducing its effectiveness over time. For example, this study found a relatively small increase in overall calorie burn throughout the day with consistent caffeine intake (75-150 additional calories burned over 24 hours).
• Other Ingredients: Many fat burners contain unproven ingredients like yohimbine, green tea extract, and L-carnitine. These ingredients often lack substantial scientific backing and may even pose health risks, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure .

Ultimately, fat loss is best achieved through a combination of diet, exercise, and sustainable lifestyle changes — not by relying on a pill.

Fat burners tend to create fat loss from causing you to move more, but you can do that on your own.

So, don’t waste your money.

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The Three Worst Supplements for Health and Fitness: Testosterone Boosters

Testosterone boosters are supplements that claim to increase your body’s natural testosterone production, leading to enhanced muscle growth, strength, and vitality.

HOWEVER…

Most of these products are ineffective at best, and potentially harmful at worst.

Many testosterone boosters contain herbs and compounds like tribulus terrestris, fenugreek, and D-aspartic acid, which are marketed as testosterone enhancers but have little scientific evidence to support the fact that they do…

Well…

Anything.

The Evidence:

• Tribulus Terrestris: Studies have shown that tribulus terrestris has no significant effect on testosterone levels in healthy men.
• Fenugreek: While some research suggests fenugreek may have a slight impact on testosterone, the overall effect is negligible and unlikely to produce noticeable benefits .
• D-Aspartic Acid: Initial studies on D-aspartic acid showed promise, but subsequent research has failed to confirm these results, with some studies even suggesting a decrease in testosterone levels with prolonged use.

In addition to being ineffective, some testosterone boosters can interfere with the body’s hormone balance, potentially leading to side effects like acne, mood swings, and even a decline in natural testosterone production.

In general, I’m a big fan of NOT messing with your body’s natural production of anything.

And in the case of testosterone, we’ve seen drastic reductions in testosterone (specifically in men) over decades of time, due in large part to deteriorating health habits.

Supplements aren’t going to make a significant impact on your testosterone. But you know what will?

• Eating whole, nutritious foods
• Exercising regularly with an emphasis on strength training
• Getting adequate sleep consistently

Fixing your bad habits can make MASSIVE improvements. It’s harder, but also far more effective than supplementation.

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The Three Worst Supplements for Health and Fitness: BCAAs

BCAA stands for “branched chain amino acids,” and this supplement is a common one used by people looking to build muscle and enhance recovery.

However, for most people, BCAAs are completely unnecessary. Especially if you’re consuming an adequate amount of protein in your diet.

BCAAs include three essential amino acids:

• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Valine

And the things is, those are already found in high-protein foods like meat, eggs, and dairy.

The Evidence:

• Adequate Protein Intake: If you’re already consuming enough protein (my recommendation is 1 gram per centimeter of your height), your body is getting more than enough BCAAs naturally. Supplementation is a waste.
• Ineffective Alone: BCAAs alone do not provide the full spectrum of amino acids required to repair and grow muscle. Complete protein sources like whey protein, which contain all nine essential amino acids, are more effective.

In short, unless your diet is severely lacking in protein, BCAA supplementation is unlikely to offer any additional benefits and is a waste of money.

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The Bottom Line…

While supplements can sometimes provide a helpful boost, it’s important to approach them with a critical eye.

In most cases, using supplements is completely unnecessary and can be accomplished by diet alone.

In other cases, supplements can potentially be harmful to your long-term health.

My recommendation is to stick with the supplements that are tried, tested, and proven to work across vast amounts of scientific research.

Lucky for you, I wrote about the only three supplements you actually need in another article. I hope it helps!

If you need help navigating the fitness world and chasing your individual goals, you can learn about 1-on-1 online fitness coaching right here on my website.

And if you like what you see, please fill out a coaching application so we can talk more about your goals, and how I might be able to help!

Thanks for reading.

~ Chris