For years, my kitchen was a supplement graveyard. A plastic storage bin overflowing with bottles in the cabinet. More bottles lining the counters. A full-page printed chart held with magnets to the fridge telling me which pills were at which time or with which meal. When I traveled, I threw it all in a supersized Ziplock bag, because I couldn’t figure out what to leave behind or how to organize the sheer volume of capsules I had.

I was trying to out-supplement every bad habit I had, but I was barely keeping up with half of them. It was a rare day that I would remember all of my pre-breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime supplements. If I was lucky I hit a few a day. I wasn’t even hitting 3 meals a day.

Now my supplements travel in a small vitamin organizer. The chart is gone. The bottles that earned a spot on the shelf are the ones I can feel working. Everything else got cut.

Here’s what stayed, what didn’t, and how I decided:

How I decided what supplements to keep

3 fairly simple questions sort what stays from what goes.

1. Can I feel a difference? If I’m not sure after a few weeks on something, I take a few weeks off and see if I notice. That break is the truth-teller. Most of what I’ve quit, I quit after taking a break and realizing I felt exactly the same without it.
2. Can I reasonably get it from food in my everyday diet? If yes, I don’t duplicate. That’s a waste of money and one more pill to track.
3. What’s the dose per pill? I always try to remember to check. Some bottles look impressive at 240 capsules until you see the label says take 6 daily. I avoid those when I can, especially if others have a smaller serving size.

Those 3 filters cut my cabinet in half.

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1. Magnesium Glycinate

I take this one every night just before bed. My messed up sleep was what first brought me to this one, and I could tell it worked fast. Within a week I was staying asleep longer than I had in months. This is the one supplement I would refill first if I ran out of everything. And the great thing about it is that it helps with so much more than just sleep.

Magnesium is involved in over 300 processes in the body, including ones that regulate your nervous system and produce melatonin. Most women in perimenopause are running low on magnesium without knowing it. The glycinate form is easier on the stomach than various other kinds and it’s the form most studied for sleep.

A 2025 randomized trial of 155 adults with poor sleep quality tested 250 mg of magnesium bisglycinate daily against a placebo and found a meaningful drop in insomnia severity after 4 weeks. I wrote more about magnesium in my post on 11 evidence-based wellness tools if you want to go deeper.

2. Glycine

A study in Sleep and Biological Rhythms found 3 grams before bed improved sleep quality and reduced next-day fatigue. Follow-up work has held up the finding and my personal experience backs it as well. I take this one at the same time as my magnesium before bed. It’s another one I started for sleep, another one I felt a difference with right away.

Glycine is an amino acid. Your body makes some of it, but most people don’t get enough unless they’re eating bone broth or skin-on meats regularly. It quiets the nervous system and lowers your core body temperature slightly, one of the signals your body reads as time to go to sleep.

Bonus tie-in: glycine is one of the amino acids your body uses to make glutathione, which is number six on this list. So this one is doing two jobs.

3. Creatine

I’d been on and off creatine for months, which turned out to be the perfect setup for testing whether it did anything noticeable for me. It did. When I’m taking it consistently, I feel slightly more…alive.? When I stop, that low-grade extra energy goes away.

I take mine in the afternoon with my lunch. There’s no rule that says it has to be pre-workout. It just has to be daily.

Creatine helps your muscles regenerate the energy your cells use for short bursts of effort; maybe that’s why it’s the most researched supplement in strength training. What’s newer is the research on creatine for women over 40, which looks at cognition, mood, and bone health, instead of looking at muscle only. I was intrigued with all the possibilities from one, single supplement and wanted to start giving it a try.

A 2021 review in Nutrients on creatine and women’s health concluded it may support muscle function, bone, and mood in peri- and postmenopausal women, especially when paired with resistance training. The dose in most studies is 3 to 5 grams. I myself aim for 5 grams a day. Skip the fancy forms of creatine; monohydrate is what most research uses and it’s the cheapest.

4. Adrenal Cortex

I wanted to start something when my cortisol labs came back a mess. I tried an adrenal cocktail but could not handle drinking it, especially in the morning when recommended. My adrenals were overworked and cortisol was far from where it should be. Adrenal cortex is a glandular supplement, which means it’s made from the outer layer of animal adrenal glands and it provides the raw material your own adrenals use to function.

I take the capsules in the morning as part of my routine. I haven’t retested my cortisol yet, so I can’t tell you if the labs have improved at all. What I will tell you is I’m addressing this after testing with a specialist, not on the recommendation of the internet.

The research on adrenal cortex is thinner than the other supplements on this list. Most of what supports its use is clinical experience in functional medicine rather than randomized trials. I’ll say that plainly because I want to be very transparent. This would not be the first supplement I’d say for most people to grab.

5. Berberine

Berberine is a compound found in several plants and has traditionally been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries. Modern research has focused on its effect on blood sugar. It definitely seems to have one. A 2022 meta-analysis of 37 randomized trials involving over 3,000 patients with type 2 diabetes found that berberine significantly reduced fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, with an effect on glucose control comparable to routine oral medications like metformin.

That last line is why you don’t start berberine without talking to your doctor first. It’s a serious tool, especially if you’re already on blood sugar medication. Stacking berberine on top can push you too low. This is not one to try because TikTok told you it was nature’s Ozempic. (It isn’t, by the way. GLP-1s and berberine work through completely different processes, and comparing them doesn’t help either one).

I started berberine when my numbers on my GLP-1 weren’t as controlled as I would have liked them to been. I’m putting in a new CGM again so I can see what the supplement is doing to my numbers. When I have real data, I’ll write about it.

6. Glutathione

I came to glutathione sideways. A friend recommended a medical intuitive, and one of the first things she flagged was that my glutathione was low. I’d never heard the word before. I happened to stumble across a place that did IV glutathione, tried one, and felt like a million bucks. I started learning more about what glutathione was and what it worked for, and realized the medical intuitive had likely been right.

I moved to weekly injections after that, and now I take it daily orally.

Glutathione is considered your body’s master antioxidant. It’s made in the liver from 3 amino acids (including glycine, from earlier on this list). It neutralizes free radicals, supports liver detoxification, and helps recycle other antioxidants. Glutathione levels drop with age, stress, illness, and toxin exposure, which describes most women in midlife.

One thing worth knowing is that oral glutathione absorption is debated in the research. A 2015 randomized trial in the European Journal of Nutrition found that 6 months of daily oral glutathione supplementation raised body stores at both 250 mg and 1,000 mg per day. Liposomal and IV forms are considered more bioavailable if you want something stronger. I’ve always felt a bigger impact from my injections and IVs but they’re not as convenient as my pills.

The 4 I Stopped

Greens powders. They taste terrible and they cost a fortune. AG1 and similar products run $80 to $100 a month. That money buys a lot of real vegetables, which taste better, do more, and come with fiber and the act of chewing. If greens powders were the answer, the world would be a healthier place already. It’s not and they aren’t.

Maca. I had high hopes. I’d heard it would help with hormonal imbalance. I took a full bottle and felt nothing. Some small studies suggest maca may help with sexual function or mood in peri- and postmenopausal women. Others show nothing. If it doesn’t work for you, no amount of “give it three more months” is going to change that.

Calcium. Calcium has to be paired correctly to actually absorb. You want vitamin D, vitamin K2, magnesium, and weight-bearing exercise in the mix. I’m too lazy for that dance when it’s easier and cheaper to get calcium from food. This isn’t a definite no; it’s not an automatic yes either, which is a real shift from what women in previous generations were told.

L-theanine. L-theanine was in everything. I wanted to believe it would take the edge off my stress and give me calm focus. It didn’t. I never felt enough to know that I was feeling anything. Fair warning if you want to try it: L-theanine shows up in a lot of stress and sleep blends at trace amounts. Check the labels. Most research uses 200 mg or more; a lot of blends contain a fraction of that.

The best supplement is the one you consistently take.

To keep consistent, I use a Dosey sorter on my nightstand for my bedtime pills, and the twist-and-stack containers from Dosey on the kitchen counter – one for morning and one for afternoon. The pretty, functional compacts add a touch of whimsy to my supplement routine. There’s no chart on the fridge and no overflowing bin anymore. If I take something at a specific time, I set an alarm on my cell phone with the names of the supplements.

If your medicine cabinet looks like mine used to, this is your permission to edit it. Toss anything expired. Toss anything you can’t remember why you started. Put what’s left in something you can see and reach. Then take a break from anything you’re not sure about and see what your body tells you.

The shelf that you keep up with is worth more than the one that keeps up with everyone else’s.

This post is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. Talk to your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider before starting or stopping any supplement, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, take prescription medication, or have an existing health condition. I share what has worked for me. What works for you may be different.