New supplements aren't just boasting vitamins and minerals; they also promise to be beautiful, delicious and vegan.

Why it matters: People are relying on marketing messages instead of their personal health needs to pick and choose what to take.

Threat level: Most people aren't regularly talking with their primary care physician about supplements, and even if they did, doctors and many health care professionals "have no clue here," Taylor Wallace, CEO of Think Healthy Group and editor of Journal of Dietary Supplements, tells Axios.

• "I always suggest consulting with a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) about supplement regimens to make sure you aren't getting too much," Wallace says.

What they're saying: Glossy marketing messages can also be a red flag, says Pieter Cohen, associate professor at Harvard Medical.

• Cohen, who has been researching the supplement industry for decades, says he knows the dangers of supplements and how labels can be wrong about ingredients and amounts.
• "If the supplement label suggests it will have some immediate or really any health benefit, I recommend not taking it."

"Farm to capsule" — that's what people really believe, "Why Wellness Sells" author Colleen Derkatch said in a recent podcast.

• "That these are plants that are grown in very kind of bucolic fields with little down-home, families farming, and somehow they kind of magic their way into capsule form.
• "And the similarities to pharmaceuticals become a lot murkier, right? They are pills and bottles. They are synthesized in labs. There's a lot of correspondence between the two things."

Third-party verification is one way consumers can check to see if the new supplement their TikTok feed is raving about is actually what it says it is.

• Groups including NSF and USP offer verified product directories.
• Always tell doctors prescribing you medication what supplements you're taking to make sure they don't react poorly to one another.

The bottom line: No matter what they look like, supplements are processed pills with a business behind them.

​​Sales of supplements, which typically contain multiple ingredients, are outselling main-ingredient vitamins (think: vitamin C or D capsules), according to data from NielsenIQ.

Why it matters: Consumers are pouring more money into products promising weight loss, sleep and stress relief — part of a bigger global shift toward spending on wellness.

Zoom in: Here's how Alabama regulates supplements, and some guidance on how to stay informed.

Zoom out: Globally, 82% of consumers say health product labels need to be more transparent, and a quarter cite lack of trust in effectiveness as a barrier to healthier choices, according to NIQ's Global Health & Wellness Trends report.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been portrayed as supplements' savior, but his FDA plans may not go down easy.

Why it matters: Millions of Americans take supplements, and how the federal government treats them impacts everything from individual health to a booming business' bottom line.

Catch up quick: The FDA regulates supplements (a more than $60 billion industry), but unlike prescription drugs, companies don't need preapproval to sell them. The agency usually only steps in after a product is flagged as unsafe or misleading.

What we're hearing: Kennedy, known for taking multiple vitamins himself and touting some supplements as treatments, is directing the FDA to require review of all Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) affirmations — the process companies use to show a substance is safe to eat without needing full agency approval.

Between the lines: That proposal might be "well intentioned," Natural Products Association CEO Daniel Fabricant says, but could drive up supplement prices and limit consumer choice.

• Fabricant, a former FDA director, says the food and supplement industries could face "one standard federally, and then 50 other standards state-wise. How is that workable for anybody?"

What they're saying: "We encourage individuals to consult a healthcare provider when choosing a dietary supplement, and we will continue working to strike the right balance between protecting public health and respecting personal choice," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Axios in an emailed statement.

The bottom line: While Kennedy's nutritional tilt energizes supplement makers, his FDA proposals could still introduce new regulatory hurdles that the industry may not fully welcome.

Multivitamins aren't magical substitutes for a healthy lifestyle, but they could be a part of one.

The big picture: A multivitamin feels like an easy health insurance policy, but most health professionals say healthy, whole foods are still the best bet.

Most research on multivitamins shows they're low-risk and low-reward. For older adults, there are some documented benefits.

• "When we've seen actually quite consistent findings for potential benefits of a multivitamin on cognition, I would say that applies to men over 60 and women over 65," says Howard Sesso, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, who has led multivitamin clinical trials.
• In a study of men 50 and older, daily multivitamin use had a "very modest" reduction in cancer as well as certain eye diseases, Sesso says.

Between the lines: Research on multivitamins, and really everything, has been conducted on more men than women.

• Avoid products with botanicals and a long list of additives, Sesso says. Those don't always mix well with medications such as GLP-1s or blood pressure meds.

Fun fact: While Sesso agrees that benefits are minimal, he decided to start taking a multivitamin at age 50 ("once I hit the eligibility criteria for the studies that I've been conducting"), even though he eats a healthy diet and stays active.

• His advice for multivitamin shoppers: Skip the pricier "specialized formulations" and go with a major brand.