Dietary Supplements:Safe or Not?

What are Dietary Supplements?

Vitamins

Herbs

Protein

Amino Acids

Weight Loss drugs

Performance Enhancing Drugs

Products designed to enhance or supplement personal diet and nutrition:

Current Laws on Dietary Supplements

• Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA)

• Current Good Manufacturing Processes of 2007 (cGMPs)

• Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act of 2006

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What current Laws or the FDA do NOT regulate:

① Product Safety does not have to be proven before market release

② Efficacy (effectiveness of a product) does not have to be proven

③ There are no set manufacturing standards

④ Quality of ingredients is not regulated

⑤ Herbal supplements (made from part of a plant) are not regulated as medicines by the FDA, therefore wrongful claims are possible

Dangers and Red Flags

• Ingredients may be toxic (harmless to some, but harmful or even deadly to others)

• Products may unwittingly contain banned substances

• Quality of the ingredients may be inferior and their origins undefined/questionable

• Quantity of stated ingredients may be unfulfilled and ripping the paying customer off

• Unsubstantiated or unproven claims may make a product appear better than it is

• Products and ingredients lack comprehensive long term study and trials

Dietary Supplement DO’s:

Ensure that a product is USP certified by searching for this label

Choose products from reputable companies

Consult a medical professional before beginning any supplementation

Utilize available and reputable websites to check supplements for possible contraindications or unfavorable interactions with other medications at sites such as:

National Institutes of Health Medline Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html RxList http://www.rxlist.com/supplements/article.htm

Conclusion

Appropriate diet and nutrition is best, a well-fed body won’t need help

Self education and awareness is key

Consult medical Professionals

Don’t believe too-good-to-be-true hype and remain healthily skeptic.

Dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals certainly have their place in modernHealth care and can be very beneficial, but every person should approach theiruse carefully, heed common sense and follow these basic principles:

References:

CHPA. (2015). FAQs about Dietary Supplement Regulation. http://www.chpa.org/FAQsDS.aspx#Regulated

USP. (2015). USP Verified Dietary Supplements. http://www.usp.org/usp-verification-services/usp-verified- dietary-supplements

Helpguide. (2015). Dietary Supplements.http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/dietary-

supplements.htm