Dietary supplements are a wide range of nutrition-packed products available in various forms such as tablets, gel caps, softgels, powders and bars. Dietary supplements may contain multiple essential vitamins or single nutrient vitamins; essential minerals (like calcium or iron); herbs; or amino acids.
Though supplements should not be seen as miracle-cure remedies, they can still play an integral part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle or address specific health challenges. Unfortunately, however, they may cause adverse reactions in some individuals.
Vitamins
Vitamins are organic compounds your body uses in small amounts for various metabolic processes. You can get most of the vitamins you require through a healthy diet; however, pregnant women, people who drink excessively, those on plant-based diets or those living with certain medical conditions may benefit from taking vitamins supplements (49-50).
Vitamins come in two varieties, fat-soluble and water-soluble. Your body stores fat-soluble vitamins in its liver and other tissues while flushing water-soluble ones out through urine. Fat-soluble vitamins play an integral part in bone formation, blood clotting and immune function; water-soluble ones help absorb iron from food sources while acting as antioxidants to protect cells.
Not all supplements contain vitamins sourced from real food; others may be synthetically produced. Because the Food and Drug Administration imposes less stringent regulations than on prescription drugs, it’s wise to read labels carefully and consult your healthcare provider before taking any supplement. Ideally, an independent organization like ConsumerLab or NSF International would certify the quality standards are being met if available.
Minerals
Minerals are inorganic elements essential to all living things for growth and proper functioning, found both in soil and water sources, which plants absorb via absorption through roots or animals that consume them directly; humans do not make their own minerals so must obtain them through food sources or supplements.
Minerals are natural inorganic solids with specific chemical composition and ordered crystal structure, such as amber or jet, that qualify as minerals according to scientific definition. Any substance fulfilling these criteria is known as a mineral; with some exceptions like organic compounds like amber and jet or calcium carbonate mollusc shells.
Minerals exhibit various properties beyond chemistry that make them useful or intriguing. Some minerals are hard, shiny and lustrous and can easily be cut or chipped while others can shatter or shatter under pressure. Many are translucent allowing light to pass through them to reveal internal structures while others remain opaque. Other features may include tenacity, cleavage fracture or parting characteristics.
Herbs
Herbs are plants or parts of plants used for their scent, flavor and therapeutic benefits. They can be taken in various forms – pills, capsules, teas and dried/fresh plants are among them – however unlike drugs they don’t go through rigorous testing procedures and may interact negatively with prescription and OTC medicines.
Herbal remedies can act as tonic herbs or astringents to strengthen organs and tissues in the body, while they also serve as sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants, appetite suppressants or stimulants.
Herbs differ from spices in that spices are composed of bark, seeds, roots or berries of non-herbaceous plants (such as cinnamon) or woody ones such as bay leaves. Culinary terms usually refer to “herbs” as green leafy plants such as basil, parsley and rosemary while botanically they could fall under either category; both varieties offer health and nutritional benefits to your diet.
Other Ingredients
Dietary supplements contain various ingredients depending on their product, such as vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanicals, amino acids and other substances. Dietary supplements come in tablet form (tablets), capsule form (capsules or capsules), gummies form (gummy bears or gummie bears), powders or drinks; popular types are multivitamins with fish oil capsules glucosamine or probiotics as popular examples.
No matter the form or appearance, all dietary supplements must be identified on their labels as such. In addition, they must include a Supplement Facts panel that details serving size, number of servings per container, list of ingredients used and their source (for instance rose hips for vitamin C). In cases where the source cannot be established (ie naturally occurring ingredients like rose hips), additional details such as source/source must also be disclosed on labels of such supplements.
Private labeling dietary supplements with trademarked ingredients allows brands to promote the quality of their products while simultaneously increasing both perceived and actual value of your offering compared to similar offerings that use generic or commodity ingredients only.
