What are Dietary Supplements, and Who Needs Them?!

What are Dietary Supplements, and Who Needs Them?!

What is Dietary Supplement?!

The term “dietary supplement” is defined by the DSHEA (The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994) as a product (except tobacco) intended to supplement the diet that bears or contains one or more dietary ingredients, such as a vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, amino acid, fatty acids or other dietary substance delivered in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, liquid, etc. for use by humans to supplement the regular diet by increasing total dietary intake, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or other substance.

What is the difference between the common names of supplements?!

Dietary Supplement, Food Supplement, and Nutritional Supplement; all are terms used to describe supplements, phrases that are sometimes used interchangeably. But in truth, there are differences between them. A Food Supplement is a supplement that is obtained with the least change from the food, such as fish oil supplements or protein supplements. A Dietary Supplement is a supplement consisting of one or more food-derived components, such as vitamin and mineral supplements. But Nutritional Supplement is more general, a supplement that, in addition to the nutrients in the normal diet, has one or more botanical components or other substances.

What is the difference between Supplements and Medications?!

Medications are unsafe unless proven otherwise, but Nutritional Supplements are safe unless proven otherwise. in other words, unlike Medications, Dietary Supplements are regulated post-market, meaning that the content or safety of supplements is not assessed by a regulatory agency before being supplied to consumers.

Who needs Supplements?

Keep in mind that dietary supplements, supplement your diet, and they can never be a substitute for your diet. Not only vitamins and minerals are available in foods, they are so complex. fiber, macronutrients, phytochemicals, and thousand of nutrients and non-nutrient are not fully identified is available in a variety of foods. However, some people in some life cycles require supplements because the nutrients they require are difficult to obtain in enough amounts through food. (These people are listed in detail in the table below). Also, in some diseases, the need for some nutrients may increase for certain reasons. In addition, due to the modern lifestyle, some healthy people do not get adequate nutrients from foods.

Population groupNutrients
Infants and childrenVitamin A, Vitamin D, Iron
Women childbearing ageIron and Vitamin B9 (Folate)
PregnancyVitamin B9 (Folate) and Vitamin D
Breast-feedingVitamin D
Old ageVitamin B12 & Vitamin D
VegansVitamin B12 & Vitamin D
AthleteVitamin C & Iron

References:

  1. Bailey RL. Current regulatory guidelines and resources to support research of dietary supplements in the United States. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. 2020;60(2):298-309.
  2. Whitney E, Rolfes SR. Understanding nutrition: Cengage Learning; 2019
  3. Marriott BP, Birt DF, Stalling VA, Yates AA. Present Knowledge in Nutrition: Basic Nutrition and Metabolism: Academic Press; 2020.

Related Posts

28 Responses

  1. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Appreciate it!

  2. I am so happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that’s at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this greatest doc.

  3. Very good website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!

  4. My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was totally right. This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

  5. This is without a doubt one of the finest articles I’ve read on this topic! The author’s thorough knowledge and passion for the subject are evident in every paragraph. I’m so appreciative for stumbling upon this piece as it has enriched my knowledge and stimulated my curiosity even further. Thank you, author, for investing the time to craft such a outstanding article!

  6. Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So nice to find somebody with some original thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is something that’s needed on the web, somebody with a little bit originality. useful job for bringing one thing new to the internet!

  7. whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, lots of people are looking around for this info, you could aid them greatly.

  8. whoah this weblog is great i really like studying your posts. Keep up the good work! You already know, lots of people are searching round for this info, you can aid them greatly.

  9. I like what you guys are up also. Such intelligent work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I?ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my website 🙂

  10. I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It?s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.

  11. I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade web site post from you in the upcoming also. Actually your creative writing skills has inspired me to get my own site now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a great example of it.

  12. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don’t know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!

  13. Thanks , I have recently been searching for information about this subject for ages and yours is the best I have discovered till now.

  14. I have read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you few interesting things or advice. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I desire to read more things about it!

  15. Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Great blog and amazing design and style.

  16. It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to this outstanding blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this blog with my Facebook group. Talk soon!

  17. My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was entirely right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

  18. great publish, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector do not notice this. You must proceed your writing. I am sure, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!

  19. Thank you for some other magnificent article. The place else may just anybody get that kind of info in such an ideal method of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am on the look for such information.

  20. I think other site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and excellent user friendly style and design, as well as the content. You’re an expert in this topic!

  21. Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you will be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage that you continue your great posts, have a nice afternoon!

  22. Heya i?m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.

  23. Your style is very unique in comparison to other people I’ve read stuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this page.

  24. whoah this blog is great i love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You know, many people are looking around for this info, you can help them greatly.

  25. Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. In any case I will be subscribing on your rss feed and I’m hoping you write again very soon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *