Americans spend billions each year on dietary supplements, from single-nutrient pills to complex multivitamins and “senior” formulas. Supplements may be used to address specific health objectives; such as calcium and vitamin D to improve bone health or folic acid and lutein/zeaxanthin during pregnancy to lower birth defect risks.
Vitamins
Vitamins are organic molecules (or groups of related molecules, known as vitamers) essential to normal bodily function and health that your body requires in small amounts for good functioning and wellbeing. Since your body cannot produce all vitamins on its own, some must come from food. Common examples of vitamins include C, folic acid and the B vitamins.
European Union regulations mandate that dietary supplements must be clearly marked to indicate their vitamin content. They come in different forms such as tablets, capsules, gel caps, powders and bars or gummies and contain vitamins, minerals, amino acids botanicals or even live microbes.
Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements in the US to ensure they are safe for consumption. If a supplement makes false or misleading claims, FDA may take legal action against its manufacturer and distributor. Supplements may also bear approval seals from independent testing organizations like U.S. Pharmacopeia, ConsumerLab or NSF International that establish standards regarding ingredients, strength and manufacturing practices.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic solids that exist as individual elements or in combination, known as compounds, as natural substances. Each mineral has a distinctive chemical composition and ordered internal atomic structure that makes them stand out among all others found in nature.
Minerals typically exhibit their crystalline structures through distinctive shapes that reflect them; table salt (sodium chloride) for instance has a cube shape while quartz, feldspar, mica and olivine are amongst other commonly encountered minerals. Other distinguishing characteristics among them are luster, hardness, ductility, color and piezoelectricity – characteristics which give rise to unique differences among them.
Some minerals act as antioxidants to shield cells from damage caused by free radicals; this includes copper, folic acid, potassium and selenium as examples of such. Minerals are essential to our bodies for many functions including bone health and muscle maintenance as well as producing enzymes; we require macrominerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and potassium as well as trace minerals like iron manganese zinc for proper functioning.
Herbs
Herbs are nonwoody plants with flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark or pericarp. Examples include cinnamon (Cinnamonum bark), basil (Ocimum basilicum), oregano (Origanum vulgare) and other spices like turmeric. When used for seasoning, herbs can also be dried out and ground into powder for easier seasoning purposes.
Some herbs have long been utilized as medicine in traditional practices and religions for healing purposes, with myrrh and frankincense from Commiphora species serving as incense in various religions while Tulsi, sacred to Hinduism, grows at Hardwick Hall Physic Garden Derbyshire England while cannabis is utilized by Rastafaris.
Herbs can be taken in various forms: teas or syrups brewed from boiling plant parts; liquid extracts like tinctures or dry extracts; oils or glycerin gummies or tablets. Herbs may help support specific organs or tissues with tonic herbs or serve as adaptogens – helping balance body systems as a whole.
Other Ingredients
Consumers shopping for dietary supplements can use FDA’s Dietary Supplement Ingredient Directory to locate information on specific ingredients. This directory serves as a one-stop shop for ingredient and product details; for example, entering “methylsynephrine,” an appetite suppressant commonly found in weight loss supplements, into its search box reveals its alternate names such as oxilofrine, p-hydroxyephedrine and para-hydroxyephedrine; along with agency actions or statements associated with them.
Other Ingredients in Supplement Facts Panel (Other Ingredients) must be declared, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs or food components that require content declaration beyond what has already been claimed for in the Supplement Facts panel (such as vitamins or minerals derived from plants; sugar added; name and amount added and food components such as gelatin starch stabilizers preservatives); serving sizes are required but do not need to be listed separately if they appear within net quantity of contents declaration).
