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Pharmacies are full of things that won’t necessarily heal us — vitamin C, homeopathic drops, probiotics — but we shrug and buy them anyway because, hey, they can’t hurt. But now we have some concrete evidence that probiotics can hurt, if they aren’t exactly the right ones for the health condition you’re trying to treat.

We all need vitamins, but that doesn't mean you need to take a vitamin. This week, science gave us another brick for the giant "vitamin pills are useless for most of us" sign that's been under construction for a while. (It's a metaphor, but I imagine it as something like the Hollywood sign, except nobody looks at it because they're all busy shopping for vitamins in the valley below.)

Cancer is scary. Chemo and radiation are scary. Herbal medicines and special diets seem friendly and comforting by comparison, but we now have clear evidence that people who use alternative treatments for cancer are more likely to die.

When you're having tummy troubles, you might think reaching for the bubbly haven of ginger ale is the best option. But soft drink, as it turns out, doesn't do much for your stomach, and that ginger ale probably doesn't have any real ginger in it anyway.

You'd think that by now we'd all stop falling for supplements which promise to "blast belly fat" or "drop pounds while still eating cupcakes," but you'd be wrong. Powerful marketing continues to dupe vulnerable people into wasting their money. Here are the common selling points (ahem, lies) that you'll find on the label.

Whey and casein are both complete proteins that are beneficial for those looking to bulk up. But they differ greatly when it comes to digestion rate, muscle growth, and use.

Gwyneth Paltrow, champion of vaginal eggs, bad lube advice, and honestly too many misguided ideas to keep track of, is now selling vitamins that she says can treat an imaginary disease called "adrenal fatigue".

Have you ever wondered if the supplements you're taking actually do anything? Me too. New labels proposed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration may help separate the wheat from the chaff, with "complementary medicines" falling under tighter regulation. Here's what you need to know.

Supplements aren't regulated like drugs. Their makers don't have to prove that they're safe or effective. Let's talk about some of the pitfalls of using supplements, and how you can improve your chances of getting a pill that does what it's supposed to.

Put simply, cryotherapy is the process of using cold temperatures for medicinal purposes, usually to treat pain. In recent years, it's become a popular in spas and sports centres to soothe aching muscles, improve arthritic symptoms, "slow ageing" and even help you lose weight. Your bullshit meter might be going off by now, and rightfully so. Here's the bottom line.

We all swear by something that we know probably doesn't work. Maybe it's vitamin C when everyone at work has a cold, or #bootea while we diet, or compression socks while we run. "Even if it doesn't work, what's the harm?" we tell ourselves. The truth is, it's not harmless, and we're only fooling ourselves.

If you're having trouble sleeping, melatonin is a popular and easy remedy. It's effective for many people, doesn't have any serious safety issues and is available as pills or gummies for only a few cents a dose. It's also misunderstood, though: melatonin is not a traditional sleeping pill.

Video: This video explains why we're always hearing about promising treatments -- for cancer, say -- despite very few of those breakthroughs ever showing up in the clinic. The reason isn't a Big Pharma conspiracy or incompetent doctors. It's because lab findings rarely survive real-world tests.

Dear Lifehacker, I have a coworker who swears by meal replacement shakes. I was shocked to see that her brand of choice cost over $150 per container! Is there any reason to believe these shakes are actually helping her? Better yet, are there other options I could convince her to use instead? I'm worried she's drinking the Kool-Aid of a very expensive fad.

Probiotics -- or so-called "good" bacteria -- have garnered some Kardashian-level celebrity status in the health world for their benefits on your digestion and links to overall health. Then there are prebiotics. Wait, they're the same thing right? Not at all. Let's clear the confusion.

The "live active cultures" in yogurt may sound like a good source of probiotics, but there's no guarantee they contain enough of those good bacteria to benefit your health.