Are supplements harmful?
Created on: January 26, 2026
Last edited on: February 5, 2026
Supplements are a useful addition to modern diets - not only, but also, when they are vegan. One thing is clear: supplements are not inherently bad. We explain the topic based on solid scientific evidence.
What is a supplement?
A supplement is a food intended to complement the diet in a targeted way. Supplements provide vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids, or other nutrients in concentrated form, for example as tablets, capsules, or powders. An important clarification: in the EU, the US, and most countries worldwide, supplements are not classified as medicines. Under the EU’s general food law (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002), food supplements are considered food.
“Vegans have to take chemicals!”
Everything is chemistry - nature, the human body, and food consist entirely of chemical compounds. Everything we eat, drink, or see is chemistry. The term is often used emotionally, but from a factual standpoint it is value-neutral.
Chemistry describes composition and processes, which by themselves do not make a product unhealthy or dangerous. Here are a few clear examples:
Drinking water (H₂O) only becomes safe to consume through complex chemical processes in which specific substances are used to remove pollutants and disease-causing pathogens. Without these processes, water from many sources would not be safe for human consumption. Even an apparently “natural” apple consists entirely of chemical compounds - including water (H₂O), fruit sugar (C₆H₁₂O₆), vitamin C (C₆H₈O₆), and various pigments.
To prevent nutrient deficiencies, targeted supplementation is recommended in many cases - not only for vegans - especially during critical life stages such as childhood and pregnancy, or in extreme sports. Many of these recommendations have long been integrated into everyday life and are even implemented automatically through the fortification of conventional foods to ensure adequate population-wide intake.
A typical example is iodine in table salt - in many countries worldwide, table salt is usually iodized because soils are low in iodine. In this way, many staple foods in supermarkets are fortified without consumers questioning it further.
👉 You can find more examples in our NUTRIENT GUIDE.
Dietary supplements and targeted supplementation therefore accompany most people long before they adopt a plant-based diet. The example of iodized salt clearly shows how fragile the often emotional rejection of so-called “chemical” supplements actually is.
In science, the Paracelsus principle applies - the dose makes the poison. It is not the mere existence of a substance that determines its effect, but the amount, the context, and individual conditions. Water, oxygen, or vitamins can be just as harmful as substances traditionally considered “toxic” if they are incorrectly dosed. As long as supplements are dosed according to need and based on evidence, they can support health.
“I don’t want to take supplements, I’d rather eat animal products”
This argument does not hold up factually. Animal-based foods usually do not contain their nutrients “naturally,” but because supplements are added to animal feed. Meat, dairy, eggs, and fish are therefore often indirectly supplemented products.
In industrial animal farming, supplementation is standard practice, not an exception. Depending on the species, feed is deliberately fortified with vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and more to ensure growth, productivity, health, and the prevention of deficiencies.
👉 You can find out which animals are typically supplemented, and how, in our NUTRIENT GUIDE.
The conclusion is clear: anyone who consumes animal products almost always ingests supplements indirectly through the animal. The difference compared to vegan supplementation is not whether supplementation occurs, but how - directly, in a controlled and transparent way via vegan supplements, or indirectly through a dead animal.
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