Top 5 Most Overrated Supplements of 2025 According to Science

Methodology for Identifying Overrated Supplements

💡 The analysis identifies the most popular supplements based on purchasing data, search volume, and discussion board activity.
🎯 These popular supplements are then ranked by their magnitude of effect for muscle gain and fat loss.
🔑 The bottom five least effective supplements from the top ten most popular list are deemed the most overrated.
🔬 Effects are compared against gold standards: creatine monohydrate for muscle gain and trespide for fat loss.

❌ Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) offer minimal muscle growth benefits if adequate protein is consumed (around 1.6g per kg of body weight).
📉 Their effect on muscle growth is only about 12% of creatine's effect, and even less if protein intake is sufficient.
💸 Despite minimal efficacy, BCAAs generated $1.8 billion in sales in 2024.

⚠️ While effective in rodents, Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) shows very weak outcomes in humans for fat loss.
⚖️ It delivers approximately 0 kg of muscle gain and only about 1.5 lbs of extra fat loss over 12 weeks, which is about 14% of trespide's effect.
💰 CLA generated $231 million in sales in 2024, despite its disappointing results and potential for GI upset.

📉 Oral L-Carnitine absorption is poor due to gut bacteria degrading it, leaving little for actual muscle and fat loss mechanisms.
⚡ While it plays a role in transporting fatty acids, its oral form is largely ineffective for users.
📊 It results in about 1.3 lbs of extra fat loss over 12 weeks (12% of trespide's effect) with no reliable muscle gain, yet generated $220 million in sales.

🧪 These supplements, including ingredients like fenugreek and ashwagandha, claim to raise testosterone levels but yield minimal results.
🤏 The muscle growth yield over 12 weeks is a mere 0.07 kg (0.15 lbs), about 5% of creatine's effect.
📉 Fat loss is also negligible at about 0.2 lbs over 12 weeks, representing only 2% of trespide's effect, despite $3.7 billion in sales.
⚠️ Ashwagandha may offer psychological benefits by reducing stress, but its hormonal effects are weak.

🚫 Glutamine is rarely a limiting amino acid in diets and its benefits for muscle growth are not directly supported by evidence.
🤷 It fuels the gut and immune system, but most individuals already have sufficient levels from their diet.
📉 It shows no statistically meaningful muscle or fat loss change over 12 weeks, offering 0% of creatine's and trespide's effects.
💸 Despite $267 million in sales, glutamine provides negligible benefits for anabolism or fat loss for the general population.