If you want to improve your diet, the first place you should look is with your physician. They can assist in creating the ideal combination of foods and nutrients for you body.
There is an enormous variety of supplements on the market today ranging from folic acid to probiotics. To stay safe and ensure optimal results from taking any supplemental medication, it’s vital that you keep track of which ones you take and discuss them with your healthcare provider.
What are they?
Dietary supplements are any vitamins, minerals, herbs or other ingestible substances you add to your daily diet for health reasons. This could include tablets, powders, gelcaps or liquids. They may contain nutrients derived from food sources (like folic acid for pregnant women or calcium for stronger bones) or they could even be synthetically made.
As the FDA does not regulate dietary supplements like prescription or over-the-counter medicines, supplement makers cannot make claims that their product treats, cures or prevents disease (a disclaimer must appear on each label). Instead, companies often make vague statements about how a specific ingredient can improve overall wellbeing.
Be sure to purchase supplements from reliable manufacturers who adhere to best manufacturing practices, without any record of FDA warnings or recalls. Also look for certification from independent testing organizations like United States Pharmacopeia or ConsumerLab as proof that your supplements were properly produced without contaminants such as heavy metals or drugs being present in them.
How do they work?
The vitamin, mineral and herb industry – comprising 90,000 products on store shelves – represents a $30 billion industry. Supplements are touted as ways to feel better, look better and perform better; yet are they really effective and safe?
Dietary supplements are regulated under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, or DSHEA, which stipulates they do not undergo rigorous safety testing like prescription medicines do. Therefore, FDA has limited powers to monitor dietary supplement safety or recall any problematic products.
Still, the FDA suggests it is important for consumers to consult a health care professional prior to taking any dietary supplements, because some could interact with medical conditions or cause adverse reactions in some individuals. Furthermore, supplements could contain ingredients not listed on their labels and could contain prescription drugs that have yet to be disclosed by manufacturers. If anyone experiences adverse reactions while using supplements they should notify both their healthcare provider and report this incident directly to the agency.
Are they safe?
As their name implies, dietary supplements are supplements taken on top of regular meals. Like food items, they contain vitamins or minerals in higher concentrations that may be taken at larger dosages in supplements. Unlike drugs however, dietary supplements don’t go through rigorous testing and approval processes before hitting shelves.
Due to this, supplements may not always be safe and may even be dangerous in certain people. Supplements can trigger allergic reactions and interact with certain medications; additionally they could contain potentially hazardous materials that can prove hazardous.
As FDA does not issue premarket approval for dietary supplements, companies must follow “good manufacturing practices” in order to ensure that ingredients are pure and that the product meets quality standards. You can find out more about its safety by looking for seals from organizations like U.S. Pharmacopeia, ConsumerLab or NSF International that test supplements.
What are the risks?
Dietary supplements are products you can take to boost the nutritional intake in your daily diet, such as vitamins, herbs, minerals or substances such as echinacea, fish oil or melatonin.
Supplements may be taken either independently or recommended by health care professionals, for example to combat osteoporosis or reduce risks during pregnancy, for instance by prescribing iron and calcium supplements, folic acid supplements and/or prenatal vitamins as needed.
Supplements that promise fast weight loss or muscle building could end up sending people straight to the emergency room with serious side effects such as liver damage and pulmonary embolisms, yet many cases go unreported. The May issue of the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics addresses why both consumers and health care professionals should exercise caution around supplements.
