Further, scientific studies are very often flawed. I trust how I feel at least as much as I trust a study.
Hey, you know, if supplements make you feel better and there's no evidence that a particular one does any harm, then go for it!
But you have to acknowledge that "feeling better" in the absence of any evidence that a particular supplement has a detectible impact is more likely to be some complex placebo effect than anything else. Which is still valuable, but important to think about.
"Totes in your mind dude. Feeling better could not possibly be evidence of improved physical health."
This line of thinking makes me crazy and I don't understand why it is considered acceptable in any environment that remotely considers itself to be a space that values logic and science and the like.
We've ample evidence of the existence of the placebo effect.
Supplements are frequently studied. Some have scientific evidence of efficacy. Others don't, and it's reasonable to point out that claims of their efficacy that can't be successfully shown via studies may be the placebo effect at work.
Yes. Also it's called then placebo effect for a reason. Because the effect is real. Placebo effects can cure cancer. Feeling better is important if not the ultimate goal. Some medicine may be a combination of placebo and effects we don't understand.
A couple of random thoughts and then I should probably just bow out of this discussion:
1. I get dismissed a whole lot as my experiences being placebo effect or hallucination or whatever. My kids and I mockingly say "If just believing I will get well will cure us, I will take that. That must mean we have some of the most powerful minds on the planet."
2. When they do studies, they often use sugar pills as a placebo. I find this questionable. Sugar is an actual chemical. I use it at times for things like pain reduction. It doesn't work the same as a pain killer, but it does a good job of taking the edge off. Presuming that sugar is inert and has no impact on the body is a flawed mental model.
Hey, you know, if supplements make you feel better and there's no evidence that a particular one does any harm, then go for it!
But you have to acknowledge that "feeling better" in the absence of any evidence that a particular supplement has a detectible impact is more likely to be some complex placebo effect than anything else. Which is still valuable, but important to think about.