Britons are taking more health supplements than ever before, often because of advice from social media influencers, a survey has found.
Products range from traditional supplements like daily multivitamin and mineral tablets to more unusual ones, such as capsules made from lion’s mane mushrooms.
Nearly three-quarters of people take at least one supplement and a quarter are using three or more supplements, according to the survey by Bupa.
Shorts
Scroll to previous short
Scroll to next short
Caption: NEW YORK – JULY 23: (L-R) Rapper Tupac Shakur poses for a portrait at Club Amazon on July 23, 1993 in New York, New York. (Photo by Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Photographer: Al Pereira
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Michael Ochs Archives
us news
Ex-gang boss found guilty over Tupac Shakur murder
Former gangland boss Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, has been found guilty of orchestrating the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
It is the first time anyone has been convicted over the infamous drive-by shooting.
What you need to know
The jury found Davis guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors argued that Davis did not fire the gun himself, but had masterminded the killing.
He is a former gang leader and uncle of the man long suspected of shooting Tupac.
After the verdict, Davis said he plans to appeal his conviction. He is due to be sentenced on 13 October.
2 min read
What happened on the night
The cold case has rumbled on for decades, with witnesses allowing police to piece together the chain of events before the rapper died.
On 7 September, 1996, Tupac went to watch a Mike Tyson boxing match on the Las Vegas strip.
He and Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of his record label, got into a fight with Orlando Anderson, Duane Davis’s nephew and a suspected member of the South Side Compton Crips gang.
Leaving the match with Suge, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting from the back of a white Cadillac.
Six days later, on 13 September, he died in hospital. He was 25 years old.
What convinced the jury?
The prosecution used Davis’s 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, in which he wrote he had been in the white Cadillac when the shots were fired.
Caption: Duane Davis stands during a break in closing arguments in his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, in Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Photographer: Steve Marcus
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
Caption: MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – AUGUST 1: Tupac Shakur attends KMEL Summer Jam at Shoreline Amphitheatre on August 1, 1992 in Mountain View California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Photographer: Tim Mosenfelder
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images North America
In closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal urged jurors to find Davis guilty, saying: “He’s the shot caller – in every instance in every iteration he’s the leader of the South Side Crips.”
Super flu vaccines start for pregnant women and children
Millions of children and pregnant women across England can get an updated flu vaccine from today.
Caption: Close-up of a healthcare worker hands giving injection on the arm of female in the clinic. Doctor giving flu shot to a woman in the medical clinic.
Photographer: Luis Alvarez
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Digital Vision
Flu jabs: What you need to know
This year’s vaccine will protect against the Super-K strain which was rampant last year.
Schoolchildren and pregnant women will get priority as they can easily catch and spread flu.
Other vulnerable groups, including those aged 65 and over, will be eligible for a free jab from October.
Children over two will be offered the vaccine as a nasal spray, while adults will receive an injection.
Pharmacies, GP surgeries and schools will offer the vaccines on the NHS.
Why is it important?
Caption: A military doctor administers a flu vaccine to a child in a military hospital after health authorities advised people to take a flu vaccine to avoid confusion with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) symptoms, in Milan, Italy, November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo
Photographer: FLAVIO LO SCALZO
Provider: REUTERS
Source: X06609
Dr Amanda Doyle, a national director at NHS England, said: “Last year’s flu season came early and was made worse by a new variant, which had a major impact for patients and put enormous pressure on urgent and emergency care services.”
She added: “With services already under significant pressure, it is vital that everyone offered the vaccine comes forward.”
Exclusive
2 min read
Facts and figures
Jabs will be given in locations including mobile vans.
Last year’s flu season started a month early with the Super-K strain.
Children are offered a vaccine in September as flu spreads quickly.
Almost 19 million people had flu jabs last winter, preventing 104,000 hospital admissions.
Explained
6 min read
uk politics
Burnham to tell MPs more public control needed
Caption: Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to staff members during a visit to officially open No10 North in Manchester, north-west England on July 24, 2026. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was to open his newly created northern office on Friday, as he bids to launch his flagship move to reverse decades of centralising power over England in London. (Photo by James Speakman / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: JAMES SPEAKMAN
Provider: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
The Prime Minister is set to call for greater control over public services like water, energy and transport in his first House of Commons statement since entering No 10.
What is he calling for?
Burnham held a Cabinet meeting this morning as the Government set out plans to build more prison spaces.
He has already announced cuts to VAT on energy bills and business rates for pubs and clubs and plans to overhaul social care.
Caption: Defence Secretary Wes Streeting arrives for a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London. Picture date: Tuesday September 1, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Photographer: Stefan Rousseau
Provider: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Source: PA
3 min read
Burnham’s first test in the Commons
Today’s speech will be Burnham’s first time at the dispatch box in 16 years.
He is expected to face a two-hour grilling from MPs when he stands up in the Commons on Tuesday this afternoon.
Andy Burnham has promised to crack down on illegal migration (Photo: Jack Taylor/PA Wire)
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch (Photo: House of Commons / AFP)
On Wednesday, he will face Tory leader Kemi Badenoch during his first Prime Minister’s Questions.
Burnham is expected to face questions on how he plans to fill a £4.7bn black hole in defence spending.
Burnham has ‘clear plan’
The PM is considering legislation to to bring struggling utilities under government ownership.
He is set to tell MPs the cost of services to families is harming the economy.
Burnham is set to promise a plan to regain control of these costs.
A No 10 source said: “Andy is optimistic about our country’s future. He has a clear plan for how we turn things round.”
Analysis
3 min read
The NHS does recommend some supplements: Adults are advised to take vitamin D for six months over winter, as we cannot make enough of it when sunlight is weaker. Pregnant women and those trying to conceive should take vitamin D all year round, as well as folic acid.
But some others have little good evidence to support them – yet still have strong adherents online. Here are four widely used supplements that you probably can safely do without.
The turmeric myth
The yellow spice turmeric, widely used in cooking, has gained the reputation of a superfood. Its key ingredient, curcumin, is claimed to be anti-inflammatory and even to have anti-cancer effects.
But many of the original studies these claims were based on have been retracted due to concerns that they were flawed, the New Scientist reported in June.
It is also implausible that curcumin could have much effect on the body because it is poorly soluble and is mainly excreted. A study of men taking the supplement found it was barely detectable in their blood.
Special formulations of curcumin designed to boost absorption may even have caused liver injury, according to the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
“These high-bioavailability forms of purified curcumin were linked to several cases of liver injury and mentioned as a possible cause of outbreaks of acute hepatitis with jaundice in Italy,” the institute said.
Limited research on lion’s mane
Lion’s mane mushrooms may be consumed in the form of fashionable coffees, but these fungi are also sold as powders and capsules.
In mushroom form, lion’s mane is a large white fungus with long dangling fronds. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used for relieving stress and improving mood.
Today, lion’s mane is sometimes claimed to be a cognitive enhancer. This stems from the fact that it contains two groups of compounds, called erinacines and hericenones, which boost a molecule in the brain called BDNF that supports brain cells.
But experts say the research doesn’t support the claims made about it. “The research is really limited at the moment,” said Dr Ellen Smith, a nutritional researcher at Northumbria University. “There needs to be a lot more evidence before we can start making the kinds of claims that we’re seeing.”
Fishy claims about fish oil
Fish, especially oily fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines, has long been thought to be good for us because of its omega-3 fatty acids. Many studies have shown that people who eat more fish tend to have better health and live longer – with omega-3 assumed to be the reason.
Omega-3 is a key component of brain cell membranes and has been said to protect the heart in some way, perhaps by lowering blood pressure or levels of harmful fats in the blood called triglycerides.
But when it was tested in randomised trials – the best kind of medical evidence – the results were disappointing.
Fish eaters live longer but trials of fish oil supplements fail to show much benefit (Photo: Alexander Spatari/Getty)
Cochrane reviews, which combine evidence from multiple trials, found omega-3 supplements have little, if any, benefit for lifespan or the heart or brain.
“The most trustworthy studies consistently showed little or no effect of long-chain omega-3 fats on cardiovascular health,” said Dr Lee Hooper, a nutrition expert at the University of East Anglia, who led one of the Cochrane reviews.
Mixed results for multivitamins
A daily tablet containing all the main vitamins and minerals is one of the most popular supplements – taken by four in 10 people who take any supplement, according to the Food Standards Agency.
It is also among the least controversial. Many people see it as a sort of insurance policy, assuming it would make up any deficits in their diet.
But the NHS does not recommend that most adults take this kind of supplement. Randomised trials have shown they don’t make any difference to how long people live, nor to common conditions like heart disease or cancer.
The use of some vitamin supplements, including vitamins A and E, has even been linked with a slightly higher death rate in some trials. The explanation remains a mystery.
However, a large trial from 2022 – part-funded by the manufacturer of a multivitamin and mineral pill – found that people taking their supplement did somewhat better on memory tests than those taking a dummy pill.
The trial was large, involving about 3,500 people. But the effect was modest, roughly equivalent to the typical decline in memory abilities over three years of ageing.
Bupa’s poll of 8,000 people in the UK found that people are increasingly getting their health information from influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
“The sheer volume of health information available brings significant opportunities, but also makes it harder to distinguish trustworthy sources,” said Dr Caroline Wood, head of customer intelligence for Bupa Global, India & UK.
But the NHS says: “Most people should get all the nutrients they need by having a varied and balanced diet.”