Unlock the Game-Changing Secrets Behind the 2026 Men’s Health Supplement Awards – What Top Brands Don’t Want You to Know!

Ever wonder why the world of supplements feels like the Wild West—where every pill, powder, and potion promises the moon but rarely delivers? For nearly 40 years, Men’s Health has watched the supplement scene swell into a booming $431 billion market, teeming with more snake oil than science. But here’s the kicker: amidst the chaos, a fresh wave of companies is crafting supplements that actually work, backed by legit data and third-party certification. After months of digging, tasting, and consulting with top-notch dietitians, we’ve rounded up the crème de la crème. Ready to cut through the noise and find supplements that truly fuel your hustle? Let’s dive into the first-ever Men’s Health Supplement Awards and discover the real deal for a stronger, longer life. LEARN MORE

3 min read

IN THE NEARLY 40-year history of Men’s Health, we’ve never had a Supplement Awards. We never could. The supplement world has, for a long time, been rife with questionable pills, powders, and potions that make grand claims without scientific support. The snake-oil slinging only intensified during and after COVID, and now the supplement market is in a total gold rush—and projected to nearly double in size to more than $431 billion from 2026 to 2033.

Yet, thankfully, along with the modern supplement boom, a new class of companies has joined a handful of Ol’ Reliables in developing high-quality, data-backed, third-party-certified supplements. These products—from workout performance enhancers to muscle builders to sleep aids—work.

Which is why our team of Men’s Health nutrition and fitness editors, with the help of all three dietitians on our Advisory Board, felt like we could finally assemble our favorite supplements all in one place.

Our Men’s Health nutrition advisors reviewed editor-provided product suggestions for safety and effectiveness. In some cases, when a product did not meet their standards, the advisors offered a replacement product.

Dezi Abeyta, RDN, is a Tucson-based registered dietitian specializing in performance nutrition, metabolic health, and men’s hormone health. He’s the author of Men’s Health’s The Lose Your Gut Guide.
Abby Langer, RD, is the owner of Abby Langer Nutrition, a Toronto-based nutrition consulting and communications company. She’s the author of Good Food, Bad Diet.
Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, CSCS, CISSN, is a director of nutrition at Precision Nutrition, where he coauthored Precision Nutrition’s Level 1 Certification textbook, The Essentials of Nutrition and Coaching, and developed the Precision Nutrition Calculator. He has also served as a nutrition consultant for the San Antonio Spurs, Brooklyn Nets, and Cleveland Browns.

For more than six months, our team scoured the supplement marketplace, looking for products that satisfy three criteria:

The supplement must carry third-party certification from a reputable entity (including NSF, USP, BSCG, and Informed Choice) unless it’s considered a fortified food item (protein shake, protein bar, etc.). This ensures that the supplement is free from banned substances and that what’s on the Nutrition Facts Panel is actually in the product itself and in the amounts listed.
The product’s active ingredient must have peer-reviewed research published in a reputable journal supporting its advertised benefits.
The product has to actually taste good.

After heated discussion, we agreed on 31 winners across five categories. The final result: a list of science-backed, expert-approved, human-tested supplements that will help you live a stronger, longer life.

These are the first-ever Men’s Health Supplement Award winners.

There’s no supplement more foundational to building and maintaining muscle than protein powder. Without enough protein, your muscles won’t have the necessary fuel to kick-start the process of tissue repair. And while you can eat all your protein in the form of whole foods, depending on your goals, that can be a lot. Protein powder makes it much easier.

Best Overall Whey Protein

The Men’s Health staff practically runs on this stuff—for many reasons. One scoop houses a solid 28 grams of protein for a reasonable 130 calories. It’s third-party certified by the vaunted Informed Choice. The powder is made with only six ingredients. It’s just a tad sweet and deeply chocolatey. It blends equally well in water, milk, multi-ingredient shakes, and even homemade protein pancakes. We could go on, but we have way more supplements to get to.…

Best Budget Whey Protein

You know this stuff. You might even have it in your pantry right now. It’s a tried-and-true workout staple: A 120-calorie scoop nets you 24 grams of protein per serving, the taste is basically a chocolate milkshake, and you can find it pretty much everywhere at a solid price.

Best Pea Protein Powder

Too many pea protein powders taste like dirt. That’s largely because they’re made from yellow peas, like the kind you might find in pea soup. Ritual solves this with natural vanilla flavors, coconut MCT oil, and a touch of monk fruit extract, which together balance any rough flavors from the high-protein peas. One serving carries 20 grams of protein for 120 calories.

Best Vegan Protein Powder

If you’re not a fan of straight-up pea protein but can’t do whey, Vega’s got you. Reinforced with a blend of pea, pumpkin seed, and sunflower seed protein, this powder delivers a whopping 30 grams of protein per 170-calorie scoop. Bonus: A serving also has 480 milligrams of tart cherry juice, an ingredient that has been shown in studies to help support exercise recovery.

Best Casein Protein Powder

Casein is the other protein in dairy that’s not whey, and it also contains all nine amino acids. Your body digests casein more slowly than whey, which is why some people chug a casein shake before bed to optimize muscle building. If that’s you, you’ll actually look forward to knocking back this creamy variety that has 25 grams of protein per two scoops. If that’s not you, day-drinking your protein is totally fine too.

Best Tasting Protein Powder

The supplement industry is filled with celebrity and athlete ambassadors, but few of them have the flex like six-time Mr. Olympia Chris Bumstead. The iconic bodybuilder isn’t just affiliate-marketing either—he’s a partner of Raw Nutrition. This tasty powder offers 25 grams of protein for just 4 grams of carbs and 140 calories per scoop. It dissolves into a variety of mixers. And in keeping with a need for purity when competing at an elite level, this protein powder is Informed Protein certified. Milk and Cookies is Bumstead’s personal favorite flavor. Ours too.

Best Collagen Protein Powder

Research is building around the benefits of collagen peptide supplementation and better joint health. So if you’re interested in staying active, you might want to throw some of this into your next shake. Sourced from cows, this supplement is NSF Certified for Sport, unsweetened, and straightforward.

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Not everyone loves a shake—or has the time to whip one up. These ready-to-go options are here to help.

Best Ready-to-Drink Protein Shake

This year, Muscle Milk retooled its formula to streamline the ingredient list while offering a holy-cow 42 grams of protein per 240-calorie bottle. All that protein comes from ultrafiltered milk, which helps everything go down smooth and creamy.

Best “Clear” Protein Drink

Twenty grams of grass-fed whey fuel this 90-calorie can. Tart-sweet and refreshing, it’s what you want on ice after an especially sweltering workout.

Best Protein Coffee Drink

Scooping protein powder into coffee never works out well for anybody. This can of supersmooth ultrafiltered milk with real brewed coffee contains 20 grams of lactose-free protein and a solid 175 milligrams of caffeine. Shake. Chug. Get moving.

Best Protein Bar Under 200 Calories

People rave about David’s macros. And, yes, 28 grams of protein for 150 calories is pretty wild. But how can you not talk about taste? How the first bite of the bar is slightly salty, not overpoweringly sweet? How that saltiness then drives up the cookie-tastic flavors of everything else? It’s delicious.

Best Protein Bar Over 200 Calories

Combining high-quality protein powder with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and dates, Transparent Labs blurs the line between bar and cookie—to extremely tasty effect. You’ll enjoy all 15 grams of protein in this 280-calorie bar.

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Smart athletes know that a strong diet is the keystone to workout performance. But they also know that certain supplements, like these, can provide an edge.

Best Creatine Monohydrate

A single-ingredient, no-bull offering from an elite-level brand. It’s NSF Certified for Sport, free from added sugars and flavors, and it doesn’t have a strange aftertaste or texture.

Best Creatine Chew

These tablets are tasty (the mango variety is great too). Each one contains 1 gram of creatine and 1 gram of sugar. They’re also NSF Certified for Sport.

Best Creatine Gummies

The creatine gummy market has exploded recently, but this NSF Certified for Sport offering stands out with lower-sugar bites that don’t stick in your teeth. Each gummy contains 1.5 grams of creatine (three gummies equal a serving).

Best Pre-Workout

With 200 mg of caffeine from coffee beans, this “pre” will fire you up and provide sustained energy for whatever workout you’re about to tackle. It’s NSF Certified for Sport and the rainbow sherbet flavor is A-plus.

Endurance exercise demands fuel goo that goes down smoothly and then performs. These 100-calorie packs combine delicious organic honey with a fruit-flavor blend, which contains 24 easily digestible carbs for the long haul.

Best Electrolyte Packs

We appreciate the 500 mg/500 mg balance of sodium and potassium in these potent 20-calorie packs. The watermelon flavor hits especially hard after a long run or ride.

Best Electrolyte Mix

Coconut water powder fuels the 250 milligrams of hydration-restoring potassium in this slightly sweet mix. A solid 500 milligrams of sodium, in part sourced from Himalayan rock salt, helps replenish what’s lost through sweat.

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There are a whole bunch of supplements out there that promise to help you fall asleep faster, spend more time in deep sleep, and even fix insomnia. Many of those claims are overblown—but there are a handful of quality options that might improve your rest.

Best Melatonin

Too many melatonin supplements aren’t third-party certified, which carries risks because the amount of the active ingredient might be more—or less—than what’s on the label. That’s key because sleep experts recommend anywhere from 0.5 to 3 milligrams of melatonin to most naturally mimic what your brain produces to send you off to rest. Other amounts might not work—or mess with your sleep. These 3-milligram tablets are third-party certified by USP, easy to swallow, and you only have to take one. No guesswork involved.

Best L-Theanine

L-theanine is a compound found in tea that can help you relax and focus—though in supplement form, it often comes in higher dosages. Thorne’s capsules contain 200 milligrams of the stuff, an amount that may help you drift off to sleep more easily.

Best Magnesium

Studies have shown that magnesium glycinate may help your muscles relax, which can lead to better sleep. More research is needed, but if you’re curious about trying magnesium for rest, these 120-milligram capsules are third-party certified.

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If you find yourself falling short on certain nutrients, these supplements can help you dig out of a deficiency—or make sure you never dip into a shortfall.

Best Multivitamin

Momentous’s smart dosages are built for nutrient absorption and come with a trusted NSF Certified for Sport seal of approval.

Best Probiotic

This unflavored blend of soluble and insoluble fiber mixes easily into oatmeal and protein shakes. It’s organic and NSF certified, and it contains no added sugar. So if you need help with constipation (hey, it happens) or regularity, or you just want to hit your daily fiber needs, the 9 grams in one scoop will help you achieve those gut goals.

Best Psyllium

These plant-derived flakes are high in soluble fiber, which binds to water in your body and helps make digestion easier, um, “post”-digestion. We like that this stuff is organic and passes California Proposition 65 standards on toxic metals.

Best Vitamin D

Research shows that D3 is more effective at raising and maintaining blood levels of vitamin D, a nutrient that’s important for immune function, bone health, and mood. Your body can make vitamin D from the sun, but when that’s a challenge, you can turn to a supplement if your doctor recommends it. Vitamin K2 supports bone health. This brand packages them together in a handy tincture.

Best Fish Oil

If you have a difficult time eating oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, etc.) twice a week, you may want to talk to your doc about picking up a supplement for your heart health. Klean’s softgels contain 250 milligrams of DHA and 500 milligrams of EPA a pop. They’re no hassle to take, contain a little orange flavor to combat the fishiness, and come third-party certified by NSF Certified for Sport.

Best Vitamin C

While science hasn’t yet shown that vitamin C can prevent a cold, a few studies have shown that the nutrient can decrease the severity and shorten the length of a cold, which isn’t nothing. These tiny pills each contain 500 milligrams of vitamin C, which is safely above the 200 milligrams recommended for cold relief. They’re USP third-party certified too.

Best Beetroot

“It is certified by Informed Sport, has a standardized amount of dietary nitrate (400 milligrams per shot), and is the product commonly used in beet research,” says Brian St. Pierre, RD, CSCS, a Men’s Health nutrition advisor.

Zinc, too, has been shown in scientific research to shorten a cold and has other benefits, from supporting cell health to healing wounds. Meat and seafood eaters typically consume enough zinc, but this supplement contains a strong 30-milligram dosage per tablet in case your doc thinks it’s time for a little extra help.

Best Ashwagandha

There’s some research to suggest this shrub-derived supplement may help with stress, anxiety, and even insomnia. Just make sure you’re buying an elite product like this one, which is third-party certified and free from junky fillers.

Paul Kita is a Deputy Editor at Men’s Health, where he has covered food, cooking, nutrition, supplements, grooming, tech, travel, and fatherhood at the brand for more than 15 years. He is also the author of two Men’s Health cookbooks, Guy Gourmet and A Man, A Pan, A Plan, and the winner of a James Beard Award.

Charles Thorp is the Fitness and Reviews Editor at Men’s Health, where he shares the best product recommendations in gym equipment, recovery tools, supplements, and more. Following an early life in athletics, Charles became a NASM-certified trainer and began writing programs alongside the most respected coaches in the world. Since entering the world of fitness content, Charles has had the opportunity to learn from and train alongside high performance individuals from the NFL, UFC, NBA, Formula 1, CrossFit, US Olympics, and Navy SEALs. When he’s not writing about training programs or gear, he can be seen at the gym or in the wild, putting them to the test.

The editors of Men’s Health are your personal conduit to the top experts in the world on all things important to men: health, fitness, style, sex, and more.