A report from supplement giant Thorne shows that consumers have difficulty deciding which products to buy — and who to trust — amid a sea of conflicting information
The supplement industry is booming — the gummy market alone is expected to reach $67 billion by 2031— as consumers increasingly look to personalize and optimize their health in the pursuit of longevity.
But Thorne, one of the industry’s biggest brands, has just revealed (or confirmed) the lack of confidence consumers — especially Millennials and Gen Z — have in choosing the best products and deciding which brands they can trust.
The brand’s new Wellness Confidence Gap Report drew upon research conducted by Censuswide, with a sample of 3,013 US consumers, all collected in October 2025.
While consumers are doing more research before buying supplements, the report found that over half (57%) of respondents are unsure which products are best suited for their individual needs, while 56% also said there is too much conflicting information about supplements.
“More options have widened the wellness confidence gap, making it harder for consumers to feel confident in their choices,” Thorne CEO Colin Watts wrote in the report.
Transparency is a demonstrably vital component of purchasing supplements, according to the report, with respondents valuing these three qualities the most:
Products backed by clinical research and scientific evidence (37%)
A clear list of every ingredient on the product label (33%)
Products made with clean, pure ingredients (33%)
Those priorities are increasingly relevant with publicly waning trust in supplements, especially after recent findings uncovered alarmingly high levels of lead in several popular protein brands.
Evidently, consumers do want to buy supplements, despite their uncertainty. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that supplements work, with 50% of Millennials believing supplements are better than over-the-counter or prescription medications and 70% of Gen Z thinking supplements make them healthier.
But figuring out which supplements to purchase is one of the biggest challenges for consumers, especially in a saturated market filled with mixed messaging online.
credit: Thorne
Who Consumers Trust To Help Them Find the Right Supplements
Thorne found that nearly one in three Americans think it’s too hard to decipher what their health information means (test results, blood work, patient history, etc.) to figure out which supplements they need, as almost 25% don’t know what steps to take after reading their health information.
So, where are people turning to figure out how to navigate the confusing supplement landscape?
For starters, Americans are more likely to trust doctors (80%) and friends and family (80%) over the news (46%).
That said, the report found that Millennials (41%) and Gen Z (40%) are more likely than Boomers (13%) to trust social media influencers for wellness advice.
Trust in those influencers has led to nearly 50% of Gen Z purchasing a supplement because it was trending online, compared to 40% of Millennials and just 10% of Boomers. Males (42%) are more likely than females (37%) to purchase a trending supplement.
Why AI Might Be the Answer
But here’s one of the more notable resources emerging in the supplement game: artificial intelligence.
Over one-third of Americans (41%) say they trust AI platforms like ChatGPT for health and wellness advice, with Millennials being the most trusting generation at 48%.
Thorne has seen the potential to capitalize on increased interest in AI, as its report reflects a pivotal opportunity for brands to help guide their consumers. The brand launched its own AI-powered wellness advisor, called Taia, trained on over four decades of clinical research, practitioner expertise and product science.
Earlier this year, Watts revealed in an interview with ATN that the supplement brand was looking to lean into personalization through diagnostic, at-home test kits as well as AI.
“What we’re seeing is (consumers) want to think about supplements — and they want to think about Thorne — as a performance brand,” Watts told ATN. “Similar to getting on a treadmill and seeing their (metrics) improving, that same generation is saying, ‘When I use whey protein, or when I use Catalyte, I want to understand, How is it going to help me perform? How is it going to help me today and tomorrow?’”
Transparency Is Gaining Ground
The growth of SuppCo, an app where users can analyze supplements based on ingredient quality, create personalized product stacks for specific health goals and receive expert advice from doctors and nutritionists, is another reflection of the increased push for supplement transparency and quality, as the survey respondents indicated.
Ahead of its beta launch in October 2024, the company secured $5.5 million in seed funding.
“I feel like the hardest, most gray area of the health and wellness industry is supplements,” SuppCo co-founder and CEO Steve Martocci, who previously co-founded GroupMe, told ATN.
SuppCo says it’s pushing supplement companies toward greater transparency and efficacy by providing brands with test scores to reflect their quality and potency.
“Brands have removed bad, inactive ingredients from their products,” Martocci added. “We got titanium dioxide out of a pretty big-name brand.”