Dietary supplements are products containing essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals, herbs or botanicals, or amino acids. They come in various forms such as tablets, capsules, gummies, powders or beverages and come in all shapes and sizes for your convenience.
Supplements may help supplement any nutrients missing from your diet; however, only take them on advice of a healthcare provider. FDA closely monitors marketplace activities to identify products with false or misleading claims and take appropriate actions against these.
Vitamins
Vitamins are nutrients required by our bodies in small amounts for proper functioning and health maintenance, found both in plant and animal foods as well as dietary supplements.
Vitamin supplements may be composed of both natural and synthetic ingredients, sold as tablets, soft gels, gummies, bars, powders or liquids. Dietary supplements containing multiple vitamins or mineral supplements may be called multivitamins; their regulation by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) usually follows suit with other dietary supplements.
Most people can meet their vitamin needs through diet alone; however, others may benefit from supplementing with vitamins. It’s important to inform a health care provider of any dietary supplements you are taking so they can monitor levels accurately, warn of potential interactions or risks and recommend the ideal brand or type.
Minerals
Minerals are natural solid substances found within rocks or extracted from the ground, with ordered internal structures and distinct chemical composition. Furthermore, minerals feature crystal forms which express their ordered atomic arrangement with distinct external forms – this characteristic distinguishing them from amorphous (non-crystalline) natural materials like glass.
All naturally-occurring minerals can be divided into seven distinct crystal systems, or groups, for easy classification. Careful observation of crystal shape can help identify minerals; other properties aiding identification include hardness, lustre/streak/cleavage.
Your body requires small amounts of minerals to remain healthy. Zinc is one such mineral, helping the immune system fight infections while producing DNA, the genetic material of all cells. You can find zinc-containing foods in abundance or supplement forms.
Herbal Extracts
Herbal extracts are an essential ingredient in nutritional supplements. As their name implies, herbal extracts contain concentrated quantities of herbs that have been extracted by submersion in alcohol or vinegar in order to release their chemical components and extractive properties. Herbal extracts are available as both tinctures and powders.
Many botanical dietary supplements can be safely taken as directed and have low risk of drug interactions; however, it is still wise to check reliable resources or speak to clinical pharmacists or pharmacologists in order to ascertain whether any specific herbal products interact with certain medications (e.g. echinacea, milk thistle, garlic or ginseng).
Herbal extracts are highly sought-after in the cosmetic industry, offering natural color and flavor enhancement for food, drinks and skin care products alike. Furthermore, these natural antioxidants can boost performance of other ingredients like vitamins, minerals and fatty acids to further boost performance.
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber refers to plant foods that our bodies can’t fully digest or absorb, passing largely intact through our stomach, small intestine and colon before being expelled from our systems. Fiber helps lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels while improving bowel function and satiety – potentially protecting against certain forms of cancer in addition to being an overall good thing!
Dietary fiber content varies significantly, depending on its source and processing. Whole grains, legumes and some fruits contain high levels of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). Lignin can also be found in plants like berries and apples while cereals and grains tend to contain more hemicelluloses than NSP.
Definitions of dietary fiber used for research and labelling purposes vary between regulatory bodies and countries. Most definitions rely on prescribed analytical methods to quantify fiber levels; most definitions exclude oligosaccharides such as inulin, resistant starch and lignin as sources.
