Just because you can...does not mean you should: an examination of efficacy and potential harms from non-prescribed supplements taken by members of the Christchurch Health and Development Study at age 40

The development and sale of non-prescribed dietary supplements is a growing industry. According to Euromonitor (2020) the value of global retail sales of non-prescribed supple-ments increased by 105% between 2007 and 2021. New Zealand's market grew by 72% during the same period from NZ$194.8 million to NZ$335.5 million. Global demand for supplements such as vitamins C and D, minerals and herbal supple-ments increased as the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened despite, in most cases, no scientific evi-dence that their consumption can directly combat SARS CoV-2. Copyright © 2022 New Zealand Medical Association. All rights reserved.