Dietary supplements can provide health benefits – but using dietary supplements can also lead to health risks. Regulatory agencies do not review or evaluate the safety and effectiveness of dietary supplement products before they are sold on the market.
What You Need to Know About Dietary Supplements
You may have heard about them, possibly used them, and even recommended them to friends or family. While some dietary supplements are well understood, others require further research. Read on for important information for you and your family regarding dietary supplements.
However, a general note is that before deciding whether to take supplements, consult a healthcare professional to determine if you need dietary supplements to achieve a balance of foods and nutrients you require, or if you are simply wasting money and potentially harming your health.
Some supplements can help you get enough essential nutrients that your body needs to function.
What are Dietary Supplements?
Dietary supplements include ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and enzymes. They are marketed in forms such as tablets, capsules, soft gels, gelcaps, powders, and liquids.
What Are the Benefits of Dietary Supplements?
Some supplements can help you obtain enough essential nutrients that your body needs to function; others may help reduce the risk of disease. However, dietary supplements should not replace complete meals that are necessary for a healthy diet – so, remember to eat a variety of foods.
Unlike medications, supplements are not allowed to be marketed for the purpose of treating, diagnosing, preventing, or curing diseases. This means that supplements cannot make claims about diseases, such as “reducing high cholesterol” or “treating heart disease.”
Are There Risks Associated with Dietary Supplements?
Yes. Many supplements contain active ingredients that have powerful biological effects in the body. This can make them unsafe in certain situations and can harm or complicate health. For example, the following actions can lead to harmful consequences – even life-threatening ones.
- Combining supplements
- Using supplements with medications (whether prescription or over-the-counter)
- Replacing prescribed medications with supplements
- Taking excessive amounts of certain supplements, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, or iron
- Some supplements may also have unwanted effects before, during, and after surgery. Therefore, be sure to consult your doctor about any supplements you are taking.
Common Dietary Supplements
- Calcium
- Echinacea
- Fish Oil
- Ginseng
- Glucosamine and/or
- Chondroitin Sulfate
- Garlic
- Vitamin D
- St. John’s Wort
- Saw Palmetto
- Ginkgo Biloba
- Green Tea
Who is Responsible for the Safety of Dietary Supplements?
Regulatory agencies are not permitted to review dietary supplement products for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed.
Therefore, manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe before they are marketed.
If a dietary supplement contains a new ingredient, manufacturers must notify the regulatory agency about that ingredient before it is marketed. However, the notification will only be reviewed (not approved) for safety, not effectiveness.
Manufacturers are required to produce dietary supplements in a quality manner and ensure that they do not contain contaminants or impurities, and they must be accurately labeled according to Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and current labeling regulations.
If a serious issue related to a dietary supplement occurs, manufacturers must report it to the regulatory agency as an adverse event. The regulatory agency can remove dietary supplements from the market if they are found to be unsafe or if the claims made on the product are false and misleading.
