The Cheapest Effective Supplements vs the Priciest Hyped Ones

$5 of creatine has more clinical evidence behind it than every product on the right-hand list combined. The supplements with Tier 1 evidence cost less than your morning coffee per month. The ones with one preliminary trial cost $60–1,500. Side by side.

Cheap (Tier 1 evidence for ~$5/month)

1. Creatine monohydrate — ~$5/month
2. Psyllium husk — ~$6/month
3. Glycine — ~$5/month
4. Niacinamide — ~$4/month
5. Riboflavin (B2) — ~$4/month
6. Sodium bicarbonate — <$2/month
7. Oral rehydration salts — cents per serving
8. Melatonin 0.3 mg — ~$5/month

Pricey ($60–1,500/month, preliminary)

1. NAD+ IV (clinic) — $500–1,500/session
2. Ketone esters — $200+/month
3. NMN — $80–120/month
4. Nicotinamide riboside — $60–90/month
5. Akkermansia muciniphila — $60+/month
6. Urolithin A — $60+/month
7. Cycloastragenol (TA-65) — $200+/month
8. MOTS-c peptide — $200+/month

Bottom line

Price tracks marketing, not evidence. Almost every supplement on the cheap list has hundreds of trials and an FDA-acknowledged claim. Almost every supplement on the pricey list has one or two RCTs and an Instagram presence. Patenting a novel molecule and being clinically useful are different things.

See the full cost-vs-evidence comparison on Discover →