Off Label · Issue 05 · October 6, 2026
7 supplements that don't suck (plus one bonus)
Most supplements are overrated. These are not. What each one does, the form to buy, and the dose.
Hey there!
In four years of medical school I got exactly one lecture on nutrition. One hour. Supplements never came up.
Here's what that gap looks like in real life. Tens of millions of Americans take a statin. The most common complaint? Muscle aches. People get told it's just a side effect they have to live with.
But statins block the same pathway your body uses to make CoQ10, the molecule your mitochondria need to make energy. And one of the hallmark symptoms of low CoQ10 is... muscle aches.
We create the deficiency with one hand and call the symptom "inevitable" with the other. Nobody connects the dots because nobody was taught to look for them.
So this issue is the short version of something I've been building for a while: the 7 supplements (plus one bonus) I actually think are worth your money. What each one does, the form to buy, and the dose. (Scroll to the end for where I buy mine.)
1. Magnesium
If I could only recommend one supplement to most people, it's this one.
- Why: It runs hundreds of enzyme reactions, from sleep and stress to muscle function and blood pressure. About half of Americans don't get enough from food. And your standard blood test barely picks it up, because less than 1% of your magnesium is in your blood.
- Buy: Glycinate for sleep and calm. Malate for energy and muscles. Threonate if you're focused on the brain.
- Skip: Magnesium oxide. It's the cheapest and most common form, and in one absorption study only about 4% of it was actually absorbed. You're mostly paying for a stool softener.
- Dose: 200 to 400mg (elemental) daily, in the evening if it's for sleep.
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2. Vitamin D3 + K2
Vitamin D isn't really a vitamin. It acts like a hormone, and most people who work indoors don't make nearly enough.
- Why: In a study of more than 12,000 older adults, those taking vitamin D were 40% less likely to develop dementia over the following decade.
- Why the K2: D helps you absorb calcium. K2 tells that calcium where to go (bones) and where not to go (arteries). In the Rotterdam Study, people with the highest K2 intake had 52% lower odds of severe aortic calcification and a 57% lower risk of dying from heart disease.
- Buy: D3 (not D2) paired with K2 as MK7.
- Dose: 2,000 to 4,000 IU of D3 plus 100 to 200mcg of K2, with a meal that has some fat. I aim for a blood level of 40 to 60 ng/mL, so test, don't guess.
3. Omega 3s (EPA + DHA)
- Why: In the REDUCE IT trial, people already on statins who took 4 grams a day of purified EPA had 25% fewer major cardiovascular events (17.2% vs 22.0%). DHA is also a major structural fat in your brain.
- Buy: Triglyceride form, third party tested for freshness and heavy metals. Cheap fish oil is often oxidized (if it smells or you burp fish, that's a clue).
- Dose: 1 to 2 grams of combined EPA + DHA daily, more for specific goals with your doctor.
4. Whey protein
Muscle is the organ of longevity, and most people undereat protein, especially after 40.
- Why: A large meta analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found protein supplementation boosted strength and muscle gains from training, with the benefit leveling off around 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.
- Buy: Isolate (easiest on the gut) or concentrate, third party tested. Short ingredient list.
- Dose: 20 to 40 grams per serving, as a tool to hit about 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg of total daily protein.
5. Sulforaphane
The compound from broccoli sprouts that flips on your body's own defense system (a pathway called Nrf2).
- Why: In a 12 week randomized trial of 300 adults in a heavily polluted region of China, a daily broccoli sprout drink led to 61% more benzene (a carcinogen in air pollution) being flushed out in urine.
- Buy: Stabilized sulforaphane, or glucoraphanin paired with myrosinase (the enzyme that converts it). Without the enzyme, much of it never activates.
- Dose: Follow the product. Most studied doses fall in the 10 to 60mg range.
6. Creatine monohydrate
The most researched supplement in sports nutrition, and it's not just for lifters anymore.
- Why: Beyond strength and power, a 2024 meta analysis found creatine improved memory, attention, and processing speed, with the clearest memory benefit in older adults.
- Buy: Monohydrate. That's it. The fancy versions don't beat it.
- Dose: 5 grams daily, every day, no loading needed. Some people go higher for cognition.
7. CoQ10
Back to where we started.
- Why: A 2018 meta analysis of randomized trials in the Journal of the American Heart Association found CoQ10 reduced statin related muscle pain, weakness, cramps, and fatigue. Levels also naturally fall as we age.
- Buy: Ubiquinone is fine for most people. Ubiquinol if you're over 50 or absorption is a concern.
- Dose: 100 to 200mg daily with food.
Bonus: A good multivitamin
Not magic, just insurance.
- Why: In COSMOS Mind, more than 2,200 adults over 65 took a daily multivitamin for 3 years. It improved overall cognition, which researchers estimated as roughly 1.8 years of cognitive aging slowed.
- Here's the part I love: they used Centrum Silver. A basic drugstore multi with cheap forms of most nutrients. If a bare minimum multivitamin can move the needle like that, think about what a well formulated one might do.
- Buy: Look for methylated B vitamins (methylfolate, methylcobalamin), chelated minerals, and no iron unless you actually need it.
Where I actually buy mine
Here's the part nobody talks about. The supplement aisle, and especially Amazon, is full of products that are underdosed, oxidized, or flat out counterfeit. When third party sellers can list the same bottle, you don't always know who actually shipped it to you.
That's why I buy through Fullscript. It's the dispensary doctors use. Products come directly from the brands, ship from Fullscript's own warehouses, and the catalog is the practitioner grade, third party tested stuff I'd actually recommend to a patient.
👉 Get 10% off everything in my Fullscript store
(Full transparency: I earn a small amount when you order through my store. You'd pay more for the same products almost anywhere else.)
One last thing: this list is built for the average American, not for you specifically. The best supplementation is targeted to your labs, medications, and goals. If you take a blood thinner or any prescription, have kidney disease, or are pregnant, check with your doctor first. This is education, not medical advice.
But if you're going to spend money on supplements, spend it on the ones that have earned it.
[Round 110px headshot: drclaymoss.com/assets/clay-headshot-crop.jpg]
Stay healthy, Clay Moss, MD
P.S. A lot of you have asked if I see patients. Starting in 2027, I'm opening a limited number of founding patient spots in my private longevity and performance medicine practice, and the waitlist is now open. If you want a more proactive, lab driven approach to your health, join the private care waitlist here. It's a short application, no commitment.