Hi everyone,
I'll be returning to my home country for a while, and considering buying some Japanese supplements as gifts for my family and friends. I see these supplements everywhere, but never bought any of them. So I just put it on here to ask.
Are Japanese supplements generally considered to be effective? Have any of you had personal experiences with them that you'd like to share?
And are there any safety concerns I should be aware of? Just want to make sure I'm not giving something that could potentially be harmful.
Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your help!
by General-Discussion67
7 comments
I don’t recommend it with the recent scandals involving harmful ingredients in some supplements. Maybe buy them some traditional Japanese お菓子 instead.
And here I was thinking thinking a pair of boring socks was about as low as you could go on the scale of “I couldn’t be arsed but I had to give you something” presents.
But no, OP has taken it to new heights, or rather lows. Not only has OP found something that absolutely nobody on this planet would be happy to receive as a gift, nonono, OP had to take it a step further and low-key insult friends/family. “hey you look like shit/too poor to buy vegetables/fruits. Here, have some supplements”.
Just buy snacks as omiyage like a regular person. Nobody wants to receive pills for Christmas (and for the few who wants supplements; you’d know and wouldn’t need to be asking here)
I think it’s a nice gesture, but as somebody who takes supplements I always stick to specific brands! I think lots of people who take supplements tend to be like this, too. If you’re not 100% sure that the family member would want that specific supplement, maybe some traditional Japanese sweets like somebody else suggested is a safer idea.
I actually like receiving supplements from overseas since it’s expensive back home but i usually go for specific brands or nutrients. Asian here! If you are from countries like UK, australia or us, i think you can skip it.
Second that comment on recent health scandals. I think if you want, sticking to the big brands like DHC and “mainstream” vitamins like vitamin B, C, collagen, green juice (if they can take bitter kale flavours) would be safer.
The other alternative is muscle relief patches – go for class three supplement classified than class 2 classified. Class 2 is usually reserved for otc drugs and contain some painkiller components and you dont want some unwanted drug drug interactions since you never know what your recipient is taking.
If you eat a variety of food and exist outside a relatively normal amount, you don’t need any supplements. The vast majority of any supplement market anywhere in the world is unregulated, poorly tested if at all, and has little to zero evidence base for effect.
It’s just a money making industry that relies on general public ignorance and the placebo effect to make money, and the ones that can be useful are only useful if you’re deficient. So…. generally pretty bad purchase, definitely not a good gift. Alternative medicine that actually works is just called “medicine”, and I think most people would generally regard a box of Ibprofin tablets when they don’t have a headache as a bad gift.
And here I just bring people Strawberry Kit-Kat bars.