You might be a little confused after reading the title of this article. Isn’t this a supplement review site you ask? Indeed, it is and I am not implying that supplements don’t work at all.
The important part of the title is the second part where it says that they aren’t working for you. The vast majority of the supplements that I take work very well for me or else I wouldn’t be spending my money on them.
Over the years however, I have tried many supplements that haven’t worked very well or at all. A large part of the fault in that was mine while part of it was the companies producing those worthless supplements.
Everyone is quick to blame the company for producing an inferior health and nutritional supplement but often fail to realize that some or most of the blame often rests on their shoulders. Have you ever wondered why you failed to see results with a supplement?
Here are the 5 Reasons Supplements Aren’t Working For You
#1- Ineffective and low-quality supplements
I will address this one first and get it out of the way. Unfortunately, many supplement companies are out to produce a quick buck off of their customers.
Due to being wrapped up in their greed, these companies will produce a bogus supplement that they know will probably not work. They will fill these supplements with toxic and ineffective ingredients. Remember, they’re not regulated by the FDA.
These companies will throw a bunch of garbage ingredients into their supplement and call it a “proprietary blend”. Under the guise of a proprietary blend, companies are allowed to list the total amount of the ingredients they put in but do not have to list the amount for each ingredient separately.
This allows them to put in very little amounts of certain supplements for the WOW factor however, you have no idea how much you are actually getting. You are often not getting close to the recommended amount of these ingredients for it to be effective.
With low-quality and ineffective ingredients, it’s no wonder that supplements in this category do not work.
(Most of these supplements belong here)
#2- You’re not taking them consistently
Now that I have covered the portion of the blame that the supplement company bears in the supplement not working for you, the rest of the blame is going to be put on your shoulders. Sorry, but I didn’t just pull these reasons out of thin air. I have made them all myself and realize the blame was mostly on me after I wasted my hard-earned money.
After a low-quality supplement, failing to take a supplement consistently is the biggest reason I see supplements fail to work for people.
Consistency is the key to anything but even more so with supplements. How can you expect something to work if you’re not taking it consistently enough to give it a chance?
For instance, people will complain that creatine doesn’t work for them however, when I ask them how often they are taking it they will sheepishly admit that they are only taking it here and there. Creatine needs to be taken consistently to fill your cells and stay in your system. Taking it here and there will not have very much of an effect at all.
This is applicable to all supplements. From protein to fish oil, you need to actually take these supplements consistently if you want to experience the benefits.

#3-You’re not taking them correctly
This is another major issue that I find with people. They will put a ton of effort into researching supplements and reading reviews but when they get the supplement, they decide that they are going to experiment.
For one reason or another, they don’t want to follow the company’s directions for taking the supplement. For example, people will often disregard the directions when a company advises them to take a supplement either on an empty stomach or with food.
They often do not think that this is an important detail in regard to the effectiveness of the supplement but they could not be more wrong. If a supplement company makes this type of recommendation, follow it because it has to do with how the supplement will digest and enter your body.
Some supplements digest better on an empty stomach while others digest better with a meal. Not following this one little detail can make all the difference of a supplement not working and it’s your fault for not listening.

Another area people like to ignore is the recommended time frame for a supplement. For example, a pre-workout or creatine supplement where it is recommended to take it within a certain time frame before a workout, 30 minutes prior etc.
People will do things like suck down a pre-workout and play video games for an hour. Then they decide to go and workout and wonder why the supplement isn’t working like it’s supposed to. It’s not working because you wasted an hour blasting martians and now it’s starting to wear off dummy.
#4-You’re not taking them long enough
Going along with consistency, many fail to actually give the supplement time to work. Supplements aren’t magic and rarely work instantly.
Many health and nutritional supplements need to be given a chance to work. You need to take them both consistently and for a period of time to feel the effects.
I can’t take fish oil for two weeks and expect to experience dramatic results during my next blood test. You need to do some research on the supplements you buy and understand the time frame in which they work.
Some supplements work very quickly, like pre-workouts, while some will take some time, like magnesium and fish oil. There are some supplements I take where I don’t expect to see the results until years down the road.
It all depends on the supplement. Patience is key with these supplements. Going off of that however, do not continue to take a supplement that is not working past the time frame it’s supposed to.
This can be a difficult thing to judge however, you have to keep an eye on your body and decide whether it is working or not. No point in wasting your money on something that is not working.

#5-Poor diet
No matter how many high-quality supplements you take, they are not going to live up to their full potential if you have an awful diet. Just like you can’t out-train a bad diet, you also can’t out-supplement one.
You can’t expect a supplement designed to improve your health and body to work if you are stuffing your face with fast food around the clock.

Sure, supplements can definitely help you in many ways by filling in nutritional gaps but they are not miracle cures. I think that many people give supplements too much credit and believe that they will work regardless of anything else they do to counteract those benefits.
You need to provide a good environment for these supplements to work. I’m not saying you need to have a perfect diet but you definitely need one that is fairly clean and healthy to experience the full benefit of the supplements.
You would not expect a brilliant garden to grow in a pile of sewage so don’t expect any major benefits when you throw supplements into a horrific diet.
Wrapping up
I know that some of you may have expected me to dump all the blame onto the supplement companies for the supplements not working.
I agree that it can be frustrating to hear that many of the reasons your supplements aren’t working are your fault. The good news about that is that all of these are relatively easy fixes.
Now that you know most of the main reasons that supplements aren’t working for you, you can examine your own habits and decide whether some or all of these are to blame for the lack of results you are experiencing.
Have you ever made any of these mistakes when taking a supplement? I would love to hear your comments and thoughts on these. If you also have any to add to the list that you have made yourself I would love to hear those as well.
Hi Dan!
I could not agree more. Although, the manufacturers themselves should take some of the blame it is on us as well. They wouldn’t sell something if we aren’t buying it. We need to be more mindful with our hard earned cash and what we are putting into our bodies. I have failed so many times because I do not take them for the extended time that I should or I do not take them the exact days I should. I always seem to forget. I should work harder on taking them correctly to get the overall affects I want for my body!
Thanks for the wonderful post!
Hi Katie,
I totally agree! A lot of people simply forget to take them. I’m going to write a post in the very near future with some tips that I use to remember my vitamins/supplements:) Thanks for your comment.
I felt this was spot on and although I don’t take supplements, I have read a lot about them. I do feel a lot of them are bogus. Saying that, your article was very fair and informative for those that do consume supplements.
Thanks
Thanks Susan. Yes many are but there are a lot of great ones out there and overall, the supplement industry as a whole has gotten a bad rap. Thank you for your comment.
Hi Dan, I’m glad I came across this. It’s so true that these 5 reasons could explain why supplements don’t always work for some people. There are many factors to think about when someone complains that a supplement is not working properly.
I’m a Pharmacist and a lot of patients I see don’t take their medication consistently, they don’t take it correctly, or they complain it’s not working, but then you find out they haven’t been taking it for a sufficient amount of the time.
The same principles can be applied to supplementary medicines.
As a whole, we need to take responsibility for our health if we want to see positive results.
Thanks for sharing this guide.
Hi Stephanie,
I’m glad that your professional experience is in line with my experience. I know that many of the same reasons apply to both prescribed medication and supplements. You are very welcome. Thank you for your comment:)
Everyone knows that you shouldn’t self medicate… so this is an interesting twist on taking supplements. Apparently there is more than meets the eye even with supplements and “popping” them, hoping they work, might not produce the results one hopes for…
Now I am going to do a little study and make sure that the ones I am taking… are being taking right.
Seems like those who say that most of the supplements value get flushed down the toilet might be right, but the reasons why, may have to do with how they are taken??? and not the supplements themselves.
Hi Mitch,
Yes, it is important not to just mindlessly pop supplements but understand how they should be taken. Yes many do end up getting wasted unecessarily for sure. Thanks for your comment Mitch.
You are so right! I know my dad does this. He has Parkinson’s and I have him try things that are proven to help. He will haphazardly try them for maybe a week, maybe 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes even just a couple of days. Then I ask him if they are helping, and he will tell me no (which is what I knew he would say). He would spend good money on these, sometimes over $100 for one item only to discard it after a very short period of time. So yes, consistency, time, following orders and everything you described does matter. Great information! I am going to bookmark and have my dad read this. Not sure if it will do any good, but you never know.
Hi Leahrae,
Hopefully it will at least give him something to think about. That’s alot of money to be wasting on something that may very well be able to help him:( It can be hard to be patient supplements but I find that it’s usually worth it in the long run. Thank you for your comment.
You cover some really great points in this article and I really like the tip about your poor diet, because at the end of the day we cant rely on supplements to make us healthy if we’re just eating junk food all day long. Life aint that simple!
Hi Danielle,
Yes that is very true. If it only were that simple LOL. Thank you for your comment!