A Texas-based clinical pharmacist is cautioning Americans against piling on supplements without first knowing what their body actually needs, warning that the popular practice of “stacking” vitamins, minerals and peptides can do more harm than good.
Jim LaValle, a clinical pharmacist and metabolic medicine expert based in Texas, told Fox News Digital that supplements can be genuinely useful — but only when matched to a person’s actual deficiencies, medications and health conditions.
“I’ve never met a supplement I didn’t like under the right circumstances. There’s some evidence around what it’s doing in the body.”
The problem, he said, is less about any single supplement and more about excess. “A lot of people take one of everything and then stack peptides on top of it — and then they’re going and doing 18 different things,” LaValle said.
Start With a Blood Test, Not a Trend
LaValle recommends starting with bloodwork to identify specific deficiencies rather than reaching for whatever supplement is trending online. He pointed to magnesium as an example: low magnesium has been linked to metabolic syndrome, and a supplement can help correct it — but only if a deficiency actually exists.
“We assume that if you eat healthy, you’re going to get those nutrients. But are the foods we’re selecting actually rich in those nutrients?” he said.
He gave fatigue as a common case where people misdiagnose themselves. Low iron and ferritin levels are frequent culprits behind tiredness, he said, yet many people instead buy stimulant-like adaptogens such as ashwagandha or rhodiola.
“They’re buying some kind of stimulant adaptogen to try to get their energy up. That’s pretty basic — you’re low in iron, and you never got a blood test.”
According to LaValle, it’s not the number of biomarkers tested that matters most, but how well the results are interpreted — allowing a person to identify “functional highs and lows” and set targeted health goals. He noted that someone training for an endurance event like a Hyrox, LT Games, or Tough Mudder competition might benefit from certain supplements to boost performance or cut injury risk, without needing to take them indefinitely.
Social Media Is Fueling the Habit
LaValle said online wellness culture is partly driving people to overdo it. “When people are getting barraged with marketing between social media and friends telling them, ‘I did this and it worked,’ they’ll lean in and go, ‘Hey, if two is good, four is better, and why not do 10?'” he said.
He cited zinc as a cautionary example. Zinc deficiency can impair immune function, cell growth and metabolism, but excessive zinc intake can cause digestive problems and even trigger copper deficiency, which in turn can lead to anemia and neurological issues, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“So having low zinc is not good, but you can overdo zinc. You can overdo vitamin A. You can overdo vitamin D easily, and that could be potentially toxic if you’re taking too much of it.”
LaValle’s advice: talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting or combining supplements, especially for anyone on prescription medication or managing an underlying health condition, and consider blood testing before adding new nutrients to a regimen.
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