I've watched people around me blow insane money on stuff that does absolutely nothing and I've been annoyed long enough. This is the list. Context: I'm not a coach, not a nutritionist, just someone who actually reads before spending. That's it.
Also, did you know MuscleBlaze, HK Vitals and TrueBasics all belong to the same parent company, HealthKart? They've essentially built a system that profits off every stage of our confusion. And most people have no idea. Keep that in mind as you read this list.
**1. BCAAs**
Grown men sipping watermelon BCAAs mid-workout like it's unlocking something.
Leucine, isoleucine, valine. Three amino acids. Already in your whey. Already in your eggs and paneer. If you're hitting protein targets through food and whey you are getting more BCAAs than that ₹2000 box is giving you.
The only person who benefits from standalone BCAAs is someone training completely fasted with zero protein. That's basically nobody. Everyone else is buying flavoured water and calling it a stack.
**2. Mass Gainers**
The skinny guy pipeline. Walk into any supplement store at 50kg and someone will hand you a 5kg tub with "5000 CALORIES PER SERVING" on the front like that's a flex.
It's maltodextrin. Cheap sugar with a scoop of protein thrown in so they can call it a supplement. You are paying premium price for the nutritional equivalent of rice, banana and milk, which you could make at home for ₹40.
The weight you gain on mass gainers is real. It's just mostly fat and water. Congratulations.
**3. Testosterone Boosters**
"Bhai yeh le lo, 3 months mein farak dikhega."
Ashwagandha, fenugreek, zinc, some herb nobody can pronounce, jacked guy on the packaging, ₹1,800 price tag.
**No OTC supplement raises testosterone** in a clinically meaningful way in a healthy male. The studies these brands cite are tiny, done on deficient or elderly populations, and the effect sizes are genuinely embarrassing. If your testosterone is actually low that is a medical issue. Get bloodwork. See a doctor. Don't let a brand profit off your insecurity.
And the fact that the same company selling you whey protein also sells you testosterone boosters and then sells you a "wellness" brand for everything in between, sit with that for a second.
**4. Shilajit**
This one's had the biggest glow up of 2024. Every second reel is someone dissolving tar like resin in water. "ancient ayurvedic secret, 5000 years of wisdom, testosterone, focus, virility" bro relaxxx, the west found a new marketing gimmick to charge 50 USD for tar.
Shilajit has some minerals and fulvic acid, there's modest evidence for benefits in *deficient* populations. That's it. The cognitive enhancement and natural test booster claims? Fantasy.
Bonus: a significant portion of shilajit in the Indian market is adulterated or underdosed. Heavy metal contamination from poor sourcing is a documented problem. So you're paying for placebo and possibly getting lead as a complimentary add-on.
**5. Fat Burners**
Pre-summer every year without fail. Green tea extract, L-carnitine, CLA, some metabolism "activator" all in one capsule, sold with a photo of an eight pack.
The actual measurable effect on fat loss without diet and exercise changes? Basically zero. These ingredients have minor supporting roles at best, they are not doing anything meaningful if your nutrition is bad and you're not in a **CALORIE DEFICIT.**
What they are very good at is making you feel like you're doing something while you're not. That feeling is worth ₹1,500 apparently.
**6. Detox Pills — and I'm Specifically Calling Out AURIC Liver Detox**
Okay this one actually bothers me bc my dad used to take it until i learned abt it.
AURIC claims "removes toxins, cleanses your liver, resets your gut." Premium packaging. Feels trustworthy.
Your liver is what detoxes you. Every single day. Without a ₹600 pill. That is its entire biological purpose and it is extremely good at it. The word "detox" in the supplement space is completely unregulated; companies can write it on anything and nobody stops them because it's technically not claiming to treat a disease.
AURIC knows exactly who they're targeting, people who consume wellness content, trust words like "ayurvedic" and "gut health," and feel like buying something premium means they're taking care of themselves. That's not wellness. That's very effective marketing aimed at a specific psychological profile. The ingredients aren't dangerous. It's just solving a problem that doesn't exist.
If your liver genuinely needs help, stop drinking alcohol and sleep 8 hours. That's the detox.
**7. Biotin**
The entire Indian wellness market decided biotin cures hair fall and nothing has killed me more slowly. Biotin deficiency is **rare**. Most people eating a normal diet are not deficient. If you're not deficient, supplementing more does nothing. There's very little evidence it helps hair loss in people who aren't actually deficient.
But hair fall is scary and emotional and "one tablet a day" is an easy sell. So here we are with biotin gummies at every pharmacy and a D2C brand selling them every 3 Instagram posts. (man matters)
Get your ferritin and iron checked before buying your fifth biotin bottle. Low ferritin is the actual most common cause of hair fall in India and nobody's talking about it because you can't sell a blood test.
**What I actually take:**
Creatine monohydrate. Whey Protein Isolate. Vitamin D, because I got bloodwork done and I was deficient like literally every other Indian. Magnesium before bed.
**That's it. 4 things. The rest is noise.**
Tell me I'm wrong in the comments, I'm actually curious if anyone has bloodwork or tangible data showing any of the above worked for them. Not being snarky, I'll genuinely change my mind if the evidence is there.
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Tired of seeing t boosters and fat burners everywhere
Respect to you for writing all these. I am the same kinda person who reads the label before buying anything. Nowadays brands are making profits out of these gimmicks people keeps falling for
"Fat burner lene ke sath ekdm bdiya cardio krna pdega tbhi result dikhega"....lwdo jab cardio krunga toh bina fatburner ke bhi result dikhega hi na
I'd like to add that omega 3 is beneficial especially if you're vegan/vegetarian.
Bro, You forgot to write about Collagen
Good post bro I was about to buy that t booster and then saw this also I didn't know healthkart owned muscleblaze
Quality POST !!!
It's really sad , how my hardworking middle class corporate friends waste like 25% of their salary on this s#it and are still same since past 2-3 years ... Just more dull and white hair ...
Only thing that works :
1) creatine
2) magnesium l-threonate (not that low grade magnesium)
3) vitamin D3 + calcium
4) vitamin C
5) caffiene
Gem of a post brother
multivitamins also
Want to add that whey isolate doesn't do anything special over concentrate. It's just more whey per gram of powder but you're paying a lot of extra money for that. And if you're buying for lactose intolerance then you can try amul whey which is lactose free or plant protein. A 3k+ whey isolate will give the same results as 1k plant protein. Plant protein taste sucks though.