Supplements are a scam. They have a new crop of teenagers and twenty something every couple of years to sell to. All those guys in their glossy ads are steroid users. Off steroids and they wouldn't be hired to be in the ads.
The various protein powders are very expensive. You can get the same quality protein and save money by buying steaks,chicken, fish, eggs and greek yogurt. What would you rather have? A greek yougurt and a steak on your grill or a protein powder drink that you choke down?
How about BOTH? One immediately after working out (shake) and the other about an hour later. It works for me.
As far as price goes, it's all about smart shopping. You can get protein powder quite economically at places like Sam's Club or Costco. Then, there's always (as I like to do) the clearance sales at GNC and Vitamin Shoppe. I just finished a serving of Soy Protein 95, a 4-lb jug of which I got for $12.50 last month.
GNC's "new" rules is that they can't mark down any other name brand product lower than 50%. But, they can mark down their own products as low as 75% off.
Creatine works for some trainers. It's cheap but despite all those questionable "studies" out there I wonder about safety. It does make you retain water so it is effecting the kidneys that regulate water. It also can really irritate your digestive system to the point of having the runs.
Fat burners are caffeine and herb stimulants. Making yourself jittery isn't the way to lose weight.
Vitamins and minerals: I see no harm but I also see limited benefits.
Supplements are completely unregulated. The only time they are is when a problem is reported. You don't know where they source out their materials. Distributed by is meaningless because you still don't know where they got the materials. Many of the various whey companies get their whey from the same source. You wouldn't want to ingest anything made in China. Sports Illustrated did a whole thing on supplements. One company was run out of a guys garage. He mixed the sourced materials there. Had fancy glossy labels for his containers. He also had slick ads in the bodybuilding magazines.
Creatine is time-tested and proven. 20 years ago, a small 300-gram bottle would have run you at least $60. Now, you can get twice that amount for $20 or less (with a free T-shirt, if you get Prolab's brand).
Supplements are like anything else that's sold today. You have your high-quality brands, your average ones, and your cheap-quality. In the end, it's about smart shopping.
And, it's not a "food vs. supplements" arguments. USE THEM BOTH. Get your diet down cold, as far as building mass or cutting fat is concerned. Then, add the supplements to get even better results.
