Supplements may help fill nutritional gaps or address specific health concerns, but they shouldn’t replace a healthy diet. Be wary of any inflated claims made for supplements; always read and follow label directions carefully.
Dietary supplements are meant to supplement your diet and provide essential vitamins and minerals you might be missing from foods alone.
Dietary supplements
Dietary supplements are products marketed as health aids that promise to promote overall wellbeing. Their ingredients can include vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanicals, amino acids and enzymes and come packaged as pills, capsules, gel caps, powders or drinks. While dietary supplements may help prevent some diseases or alleviate certain conditions, they should never replace eating a varied diet.
The FDA regulates dietary supplements, such as claims about disease prevention or treatment. Their regulations mandate that manufacturers and distributors submit an FDA safety notification prior to marketing any dietary supplement product.
Consumer and healthcare provider adverse event reports as well as product complaints are evaluated by FDA in order to identify early indicators that a supplement may pose serious safety risks, and then work with manufacturers in order to remedy or withdraw it from market if needed. FDA also keeps an online database for recalls and warning letters published by it.
Food supplements
Food supplements (sometimes referred to as dietary or nutritional supplements) are concentrated sources of nutrients sold in pill, tablet, capsule or liquid form in measured doses for consumption. Food supplements may help correct deficiencies or imbalances in our diet while assuring adequate intake of specific nutrients essential for human physiology and supporting specific physiological functions.
Be mindful that dietary supplements don’t undergo the same stringent testing and approval processes as drugs before entering the market, meaning their listed ingredients could differ from what actually exists inside of each bottle.
To protect yourself, it is recommended that any adverse reactions related to dietary supplements be reported directly to the FDA. It’s also a good idea to speak to a health care professional before beginning any new dietary or nutritional supplement; keep in mind that some weight loss or sexual enhancement supplements contain prescription drug ingredients not approved for use in dietary supplements.
Herbal supplements
Herbal medicines are made from plant parts like seeds, roots, leaves, berries and flowers and come in the form of tablets, capsules, powders or extracts. People take herbal supplements to treat symptoms such as anxiety, sleep issues and low libido.
As opposed to pharmaceutical medications and over-the-counter treatments, herbs are not strictly regulated by the FDA and therefore their quality can differ widely; some may even contain unintended ingredients or cause side effects when taken with certain medicines; for instance St John’s Wort can increase antidepressant effectiveness when combined.
For your benefit, the USP has provided information about some common herbal products. Here you can access scientific evidence related to these herbal products as well as how they might interact with any medications that you are currently taking and any safety concerns they might present.
Homeopathic supplements
Consumer health products (CHPs), such as herbal, vitamin and homeopathic remedies found in most medicine cabinets are governed by Health Canada, which also oversees natural health products (NHPs).
Homeopathy operates under the belief that highly diluted substances may stimulate your body’s natural healing response. Homeopathic medicines are usually made from plants, minerals or animals and come in forms like pellets, drops, gels or creams sold both in stores and online.
Homeopathy has not been shown to work beyond placebos in studies conducted so far. According to the National Institutes of Health, those opting for homeopathy could put their health at risk by refusing conventional medical treatments and delaying needed healthcare services.
Vaccinations are the ideal way to protect children against serious illnesses like measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough. While vaccinations don’t come available as homeopathic remedies known as nosodes, some homeopathic practitioners may recommend giving these remedies instead as protection.
