When it comes to improving your health, dietary supplements can be a great way to get the vitamins and minerals you need. But it's essential to remember that supplements are not a substitute for a healthy diet and lifestyle. Many supplements contain active ingredients that can have strong effects on the body, so it's important to be aware of the potential risks. Most people can safely use dietary supplements as long as they don't take too much.
However, dietary supplements aren't totally risk-free and taking them can carry certain risks, especially for people being treated for cancer or other serious medical conditions. To ensure safety, look for products that have the USP Verified brand, which means they meet the quality, purity and potency standards established by the non-profit organization U. S. Pharmacopeia.
If you experience any side effects or an adverse reaction after taking a supplement, stop taking the product and report it to the FDA. In the past decade, the FDA's regulatory partner, the Federal Trade Commission, has filed more than 100 legal challenges against claims about the effectiveness of supplements. Botanical supplements (such as garlic, ginger, ginkgo biloba, echinacea, and others) are made from plant material, so many of them are sold as “natural products”. However, recent research has raised questions about their safety and effectiveness. For example, a study by German and Swiss researchers followed nearly 24,000 adults for an average of 11 years and found that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack. Some companies do not correctly follow the FDA's rules on filing claims and correctly labeling supplements.
In some cases, when herbal supplements have been tested, they have been found to contain very little or none of the ingredients listed on their labels. If you search for dietary supplements on the Internet and find a site that claims its products can diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent a disease, go directly to another site. Evidence suggests that high doses of some antioxidant supplements may actually increase your risk of cancer rather than reduce it. If you're exposed to the sun at noon during the warmer months and regularly consume foods rich in vitamin D such as fatty fish, eggs and fortified dairy products, you probably don't need to take a supplement. Fabricant has said that dietary supplements combined with prescription drugs are the biggest threat to consumer safety. Forty percent of supplement labels warn people not to take them if they have a medical condition but only a few mention an ailment such as a bleeding disorder; 36 percent warn of possible adverse reactions but only 13 percent warn of possible interactions with a specific drug or type of drug. In conclusion, dietary supplements can be beneficial when used correctly but it's important to be aware of potential risks.
Always be alert to the possibility of an adverse reaction when taking a new product and if you experience any side effects or an adverse reaction after taking a supplement stop taking it immediately and report it to the FDA.
