--- title: 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment | TIME description: TIME senior writer John Cloud took over 3,000 vitamins and supplements in a span of five months to see how his health would change. The results may surprise you canonical: https://time.com/video/lzZCTPZO/ og:title: 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment og:description: TIME senior writer John Cloud took over 3,000 vitamins and supplements in a span of five months to see how his health would change. The results may surprise you og:url: https://time.com/video/lzZCTPZO/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lzZCTPZO/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment twitter:description: TIME senior writer John Cloud took over 3,000 vitamins and supplements in a span of five months to see how his health would change. The results may surprise you twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lzZCTPZO/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment [Watch (HLS stream): 3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lzZCTPZO.m3u8) (4:17)  _Published 2011-09-02. TIME senior writer John Cloud took over 3,000 vitamins and supplements in a span of five months to see how his health would change. The results may surprise you_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:16 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [President Trump Announces $10 Billion Foxconn Factory in Wisconsin That Will Create 3,000 Jobs](/video/O2NiOCBD/) ### President Trump Announces $10 Billion Foxconn Factory in Wisconsin That Will Create 3,000 Jobs [3,000 Skeletons Found Under London Train Line](/video/6I3zToDh/) ### 3,000 Skeletons Found Under London Train Line [Pippa Middleton Kicks Off 3,000-Mile Charity Bike Ride](/video/1NdrBaY8/) ### Pippa Middleton Kicks Off 3,000-Mile Charity Bike Ride --- ## Transcript I'm John Cloud, I'm a senior writer at Time, and the host of the Healthland Podcast. I did an article this week about the nutraceutical business, I took 3000 supplement pills, and we're gonna find out the results. [ MUSIC ] Nutraceutical are this third territory beyond foods and drugs. We have this vast expanse of dietary supplements. I had the idea that, okay. If we're gonna study what nutraceuticals are, maybe I should take then. And, and maybe we could actually have a blood test that I would do in the beginning before I took them. And then a blood test afterward. And then, that way, we would measure whether these things, you know, are actually useful for your body. [ MUSIC ] I found a company online. They're called Usana Health Sciences. I filled out the form. They generated an enormous list of, of supplements they though I should take. It ended up being 22 pills a day. Also protein powders and protein bars and, you know, my entire day was filled, essentially, with these supplements. It says it tastes like a home- baked cookie. At first, I felt slightly awkward about taking so many pills. And then at some point I just totally owned it. I was like, you know what? This is great. I'm, I'm taking all of these nutrients, I'm getting all of my vitamins. I'm getting every possible thing my body could need, every day. There is never any conscious decision I made. But at some point along the way I had obviously decided that I was getting all the nutrients that I needed, and so I started eating more junk food. So I've actually gained weight. Yosanna had asked me to keep a health log, and I looked back and I gained about ten pounds in the end. And also about an inch on my waist. I've gone from eating a pretty healthy diet. To having some entries that were like burgers, a few french fries, and onion rings. Psychologist call this the licensing effect. It's the idea that you allow yourself to do something bad, after you've. You know, done something good for yourself. Usana is a very straight- forward company, I told them, you know, this was happening and they sent me a low- glycemic cook book and they emphasized that their products should be taken only with a nutritious diet. Lots of water, and exercise and sleep. And, and, you know, after that emphasis was made clear to me, I think my licensing effect went down. And I, and I realized that nutraseuticals aren't a replacement for anything. I mean, you still have to make responsible choice about your eating. [ MUSIC ] And that's the interesting thing, after five months on 22 pills a day with powders and bars, so little had changed in my blood. The first one was that my vitamin D went way up. It went up by 75 %. My first blood test was in January, my second was in June. So, maybe [ LAUGH ] in June, I was just spending more time in the sun. The second thing that changed significantly was my good cholesterol. They couldn't really agree on why my HDL cholesterol would go up so much. [ MUSIC ] This is a $ 28 billion industry. It's grown. It's more than twice the size it was in 1995. People spend an enormous amount of their money on these products. It might be right for some people particularly if you have a blood test that shows you're deficient in something. But if you're just going to the GNC at your mall and they are convincing you to spend $ 200 on some huge vitamin regimen you probably don't need that. You might be able to spend that money a little more wisely. [ MUSIC ] [ SOUND ] ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"3,000 Pills Later: A Nutraceutical Experiment","description":"TIME senior writer John Cloud took over 3,000 vitamins and supplements in a span of five months to see how his health would change. 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