If I were slightly more petty, I’d send this story to my mother, who made me choke down disgusting chewable vitamins and fluoride tablets for years. (In her defense on that second one, we had well water rather than fluoridated city water, and my teeth have always been pretty strong. Those tiny pink pills were still gross, though.)

The only supplement I’ve seen used successfully is one of my roommates taking a daily garlic pill purely for the purpose of warding off mosquitoes at his parents’ lake house in the summer. (We can’t smell it, but it would seem that the bugs can.) Personally, I prefer to just eat the garlic in my food, but he doesn’t like the taste and the pills seem to work for him.

For the most part, I have to agree. Vitamin pills are largely just expensive urine.