We’re all guilty of it. Most of our supplement cabinets tell an elaborate story, but not the one that best supports our health and healing. Half-used bottles, expired products, caked powders, and combination products with trace-level amounts of cheap, ineffective ingredients are more common than we want to admit.

If this sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone. As a functional medicine practitioner, I see this all the time. The key to effective supplementation is a combination of quality and follow through, and it all starts with a little guidance about what to look out for!

At the end of the day, we, the wellness lovers, are well-meaning and trying to holistically support health, but our routines can insidiously become cluttered, redundant, and less effective than we think!

In this post, I’m going to guide you through a supplement cabinet audit. Hopefully this approach will help you simplify, upgrade, and increase your trust that the supplements you’re taking are truly bringing you one step closer to living your life more fully, whatever that looks like for you.

With Fall quickly approaching, this is a perfect time to rethink and reduce clutter. For a solid functional medicine approach to supplements, check out my post called The 3T’s for Strategic Supplementation.

why your supplement cabinet probably needs a reset

Supplements are tools for healing that have great potential, but especially when they are combined with lifestyle and environmental signals that “activate” the supplements. Like any useful tool, they work best when they are intentional, high-quality, and perfectly matched to the job at hand. Most people with overflowing supplement cabinets fall into one (or more) of these traps:

1. Redundancy

One of the most common mistakes I see is overlapping, redundant ingredients. If you’re taking a multivitamin, greens powder, and proprietary “immune support” blend, chances are that you may be getting the same nutrient from multiple sources. Some of these can add up quickly and even lead to toxic levels or levels that interfere with the absorption of other nutrients. This is one of the byproducts of marketing language and the “more is more" mentality that can actually tip the healing balance in the wrong direction.

2. Poor supplement quality

Not all supplements are created equally. The many forms of a given nutrient have different levels of efficacy and bioavailability. Cheap forms like magnesium oxide or turmeric powder are often poorly absorbed, while higher quality forms like magnesium malate and glycinate are much more effective. Fillers, artificial colors, or “proprietary blends” with undisclosed dosages and forms are additional red flags. Quality directly impacts how well a supplement is going to work for you.

3. Outdated functional feeds

Aside from covering nutritional baselines with a quality multivitamin, your supplement routine should likely change as your body and lifestyle change. Think increased seasonal demands of vitamin D in the winter or adaptogens for a tough season of adrenal demand at work. What served you six months ago may no longer fit your current needs. Prolonged or mismatched supplementation can even create imbalances over time, so it’s important to regularly audit your regimen.

4. “Kitchen sink” formulas

More ingredients on a label might look impressive, but more ingredients doesn’t automatically mean better results. Many trendy “all-in-one” blends pack 20 or more herbs, vitamins, and minerals into a single product. Each ingredient may have evidence to back it up, but the main issue is that many are in such small amounts that they likely do not offer a clear, evidence-based therapeutic difference. Therapeutic dosing is everything when it comes to truly moving the needle in your health. This also highlights the importance of professional guidance to sort through ideal dosing and length of holistic remedies.

5. Poor adherence to supplement plans

Supplements largely work differently than pharmaceuticals. They are often slower, gentler, and less concentrated because they aim to restore functional balance rather than simply turning a chemical reaction on or off in the body. Consistency matters. Many nutrients rely on steady, daily use, sometimes taking a full bottle or for several months, before noticeable benefits show up. Taking them sporadically or stopping too soon is one of the biggest reasons people feel that supplements do not work.

why targeted supplement support beats “more is better”

A common redirect to these top supplement roadblocks is that “more is not always more.” Over-supplementation or mismatched products to your actual needs can stress detoxification pathways, create nutrient deficiencies, and ironically make you feel worse no matter how much good intention you’re leading with. 

The point here is not at all to shame anyone for these supplement cabinet flags, but rather to increase honest awareness and highlight strengths if you’re already avoiding these all-too-common points.

Functional medicine (specifically good functional medicine), takes a different approach than “green pharmacy.” We aren’t just swapping supplements for medications, we aim for targeted support that adapts and accommodates your body’s actual needs! An audit for your supplement cabinet can help foster this shift for good!

step-by-step: how to redo your supplement cabinet

Think of this as an opportunity for a supplement audit. Here’s a step-by-step approach to going through everything to streamline and simplify your routine.

Step 1: pull everything out & take inventory

Lay everything out and begin with a rough sort. Separate your supplements into categories such as “daily essentials”, “as needed supplements”, “exercise support”, or base your categories off of what it is you’re trying to address. 

For example, you might put a multivitamin, magnesium, and daily probiotic into the “daily essentials” category and put your immune boosting herbs or adrenal blends in your “situational” category. The goal is to be able to quickly scan and see what you’re actually taking versus what’s just taking up space, and then to prioritize access to those that you take more frequently. 

Step 2: check expiration & quality

Supplements should show an expiration date, which is determined by best practices for quality and potency control. Consider tossing anything that is past its expiration date. Check the labels for markers of quality as well such as GMP certification, third-party testing, and clear labeling of dosages.

You might consider tossing those without disclosed ingredients AND dosages in proprietary blends. Or use your phone or a computer to view the manufacturers website that might also list these quality control details. 

Step 3: cross-check for redundancy

Next, flip all of the bottles so that their nutrition labels and ingredient lists are visible. Write down what nutrients show up in multiple bottles and formulations. This will help guide you to cut back or consolidate your supplements and avoid potential overdosing situations. Important nutrients to consider to avoid overdosing include the fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K, as well as vitamin B6, iron, and zinc.

Step 4: match supplements to current goals

Here’s where being intentional is going to drive the best results with your audit. Ask yourself, “If I were starting fresh today, would I choose to be on the supplement, and why?” If you can’t clearly answer that question and match to your current goals, either put the supplement on the backburner, toss it, or consult with a practitioner about its utility.

Step 5: upgrade for bioavailability

Simple swaps can make a big difference. Once you’ve surveyed your current supplement stash, you can start making choices that will work better for your body. When in doubt, ask a practitioner well-versed in bioavailability and best practices for evidence-based dosing.

Step 6: make a “core 4” or daily essentials supplement stack

As a little bonus, I’ll propose a solid foundational routine that might benefit most people. Of course consult your practitioner as well as this is not specific medical advice. 

• A high-quality, bioavailable multivitamin such as Cielo’s Rise
• Additional magnesium, which is a nutrient of great public health concern (glycinate or malate)
• Well-sourced omega-3s or a daily anti-inflammatory support supplement such as Cielo’s Golden Hour
• A daily probiotic or broad gut-health formula like Cielo’s Horizon

how to build a smarter, more intentional supplement routine

• Quality over quantity: Fewer high-quality supplements often work better compared to many low-quality supplements. Be discerning and deliberate.
• Start with food & lifestyle: Supplements can help to fill gaps in baseline nutrition status, but they don’t replace food, stress resilience, and daily movement. Our lifestyle sends signals to your body on how to actually USE the supplements.
• Reevaluate needs & goals every 3–6 months: Go through a regular reset with your supplements to keep your routine aligned with your health goals. For most of my patients, I don’t have them on therapeutic supplements for longer than about 2-3 months before reevaluating. 

a functional medicine perspective: less guessing, more testing

While foundational supplements like a high-quality multivitamin, a daily gut health product, and an anti-inflammatory supplement are a reasonable starting point for most people, I rarely make additional recommendations without some type of objective lab data to guide the process. 

Symptoms can arise from very different underlying imbalances, and what looks like the same problem on the surface may have completely different root causes. For example, low magnesium might be due to simple dietary gaps or to chronic stress causing your body to burn through it faster. Advanced functional testing, such as nutrient markers, Organic Acids, or DUTCH testing, helps take the guesswork out by revealing where your true deficiencies, absorption issues, or stress-related depletions lie. 

If you’ve been taking the same supplements for years or have a cabinet full of products without clear results, testing can save you time, money, and frustration by helping you focus only on what your body truly needs.

your fall supplement reset checklist

✔ Pull everything out and declutter
✔ Check expiration dates, ingredient forms, and brand quality standards
✔ Match products to current health goals (immune, energy, gut, etc.)
✔ Upgrade forms for better absorption
✔ Stick to a targeted core routine
✔ Reevaluate every 3–6 months