Snake Oil or Supplement?

Information is Beautiful has a wonderful interactive graphic illustrating the scientific evidence for health supplements. What is surprising to me, is that many supplements that I had written off as crap actually have strong evidence for treating certain conditions. Like St. John's wart for treating mild depression. Who would have thunk? However, what is no surprise, by far most supplements fall in to the categories of having little to no scientific evidence for the claims that are made about them. Vitamin C, ginseng and gingko biloba are all a waste of money. My favorite thing about this graphic is that it shows that even if some claims are correct about a supplement, that doesn't make it a cure all. Green tea for example is has cholesterol reducing properties, but there is little evidence that it can prevent cancer or help in weight loss. If you are spending money on supplements or are thinking about it, please check out this site. You might end up saving a lot of money.