Dietary supplements have become an integral part of modern culture. This can include vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanical extracts, amino acids and fish oils.
Though many view supplements as medications, they’re actually regulated as food by the FDA, making it important to make wise choices and use when choosing and taking them.
Choosing the Right Supplement
At a time when every shelf in the wellness aisle offers to be your savior, selecting supplements can seem daunting. From B12 to omega-3 and vitamin C supplements to greens powders – your choices seem limitless!
An important key to reaping maximum benefit from supplements is selecting high-grade products. Practitioner-grade supplements sold through health professionals or direct distributors guarantee they have been tested, stored properly and free from potentially harmful additives.
Look for third-party testing by respected organizations like ConsumerLab or US Pharmacopeia that ensure that supplements contain what is listed on the label without any contamination, liquids, tablets, gummies or capsules are suitable forms of ingestion and that it adheres to any specific dietary preferences (e.g. veganism or kosher).
Third-Party Tested
Third-party testing of supplements is an invaluable way to ensure they contain what they promise, while maintaining consistent quality standards – an especially essential feature for people with allergies or sensitivities.
Send a sample of a supplement to an outside lab for testing for purity and potency so you can be assured it’s safe and effective use. This way you’ll know it meets all applicable regulations.
ConsumerLab, US Pharmacopeia and NSF International offer impartial evaluations of supplements. Look out for their certification stamps when making decisions based on supplements sold. Also look out for labs offering lightning-fast results and full access to the underlying data – these features indicate an experienced team dedicated to customer satisfaction.
Herbal Supplements
Herbal supplements are made from plants such as leaves, roots, seeds, berries or flowers and have been around for centuries. Their benefits range from relieving anxiety to improving immune functioning.
Dietary supplements are products consumed to supplement your diet, such as pills, powders or gummies that can add nutrients such as vitamins (like Vitamin D), minerals, herbs or probiotics to it.
As herbal dietary supplements don’t undergo the same stringent safety testing as prescription medicines, and may interact negatively with certain drugs, it is always advisable to consult a healthcare provider prior to using them.
Whole Food Supplements
Supplements provide an effective means of supplementing any gaps in diet. They’re an easy and cost-effective way of adding extra vitamins, minerals and other compounds that may be hard to come by through traditional means alone.
However, not all supplements are created equal; various reports have revealed that many products sold at grocery stores, Amazon carts and vitamin shops don’t contain all of their claimed ingredients.
“Whole food” supplements have long been one of the most controversial terms used in the supplement industry, as manufacturers often use it without providing sufficient explanation of its meaning. According to FDA standards, to qualify as a whole food supplement one must contain naturally occurring enzymes and phytochemicals that facilitate absorption and metabolism processes in addition to naturally occurring vitamins.
Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) Supplements
Social media posts often promote multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. This $40 billion industry relies on person-to-person sales between contractors and friends and family to market health and wellness products, often promising dramatic benefits such as rapid weight loss or financial freedom working part time from home.
MLMs have established themselves in the health and wellness market, with companies like Amway and Herbalife becoming household names when it comes to nutritional supplements and weight management solutions. Meanwhile, brands like USANA offer immune support supplements as well as premium skincare lines.
MLMs may be legal from a legal perspective, yet scholars contend they breach ethical principles such as beneficence and nonmaleficence. Furthermore, they pose a potential threat to consumers by encouraging endorsers to make false claims about the products’ efficacy or recommend them for conditions which would not benefit from them.
