Are Supplements worth it?
What to look for in a health supplement
Take a look at a supplement in your cabinet, you probably have at least a few supplements in there. By definition, dietary supplements are “a product that is intended to supplement the diet” by the National Institutes of Health. Anything with a vitamin, mineral, herb, amino acid, and other ingredients can be considered a supplement.
There are several items under “Supplement Facts” that you should take note of.
Serving size: tells you how many capsules you need to take to get the ingredients in the amount listed. You will also see how many servings are in each container.
If the serving size is 2 capsules, and you have 30 servings per container, the bottle will have 60 caps. Underneath, you’ll see what’s in the supplement, and sometimes a percent daily value.
Percent daily value: are based on dietary reference intakes (DRI), which are established by the Food and Nutrition Board2. It is the “average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98%) healthy people.”
These are adjusted for age, sex, and whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Ingredients like herbs will not have a DRI.
Do you need a dietary supplement?
The short answer: It depends. Some groups of people should be on a dietary supplement, for example, people who could become pregnant are recommended to take a folic acid supplement to prevent fetal developmental defects if they were to get pregnant.
Supplements can prevent and treat deficiencies under the guidance of a trained health care provider. If you’re deficient in iron, getting back to adequate levels can improve fatigue, exercise intolerance, and even heavy menstrual bleeding but excessive iron can also be extremely problematic and cause symptoms like fatigue, joint pain, and skin changes.
But supplements don’t just treat deficiencies some can manage a wide range of health conditions under the guidance of a trained healthcare provider. Some herbs and nutrients can help with issues from menopause, menstrual cycles, difficulties with sleep, blood sugar regulation, musculoskeletal pain, digestive health, headaches, migraines, and more.
Other supplements can improve issues that otherwise might not have conventional treatment options, like indigestion, stress, mood support, cognitive function, and more. Interested in taking a supplement? Read the section about supplement claims below before picking a bottle off the shelf.
Make sure to check with your doctor about issues you want to take a supplement for. Health conditions that should be diagnosed and managed by your doctor can manifest in many ways, and it is important to talk to your doctor to make sure you don’t have something else going on.
Can supplements be dangerous?
It’s important to know what is in your supplement, and how it interacts with other medications and health conditions. Some dietary supplements can be harmful if taken incorrectly, or when combined with certain medications. For example, people who smoke and take vitamin A increase their risk for lung cancer, and high amounts of vitamin D can be toxic. Iron above what your body needs can be harmful to the liver and cause systemic symptoms. St John’s Wort interacts with many, many medications because of the way it interacts with the enzymes that process other drugs.
Remember that supplements don’t always contain only vitamins, but botanicals, minerals, amino acids, and more. Botanicals have a long history in medicine, and their compounds have been isolated to create pharmaceuticals, for example, reserpine, a pharmaceutical, was isolated from an herb; taking this herb improperly can be dangerous.
Your healthcare provider can help you determine whether your supplement is appropriate for you, and also guide you on proper dosing. If you are pregnant or nursing, always talk to your doctor about which supplements you can safely take. Many supplements may not be safe in pregnancy or while nursing.
Supplement sources, quality, and claims
Sources for dietary supplements do matter. Companies need to follow manufacturing practices that the FDA outlines, and the FDA does inspect manufacturers. However, look into your supplement companies and see if the supplements have been tested and verified to contain what they claim to.
For example, red yeast rice (commonly used for cardiovascular health) can have varying amounts of monacolin, which is the active constituent that has the therapeutic effect; you can take the recommended dose of red yeast rice but still not see the effect because of varying monacolin content. Not only do you need to make sure you have the active component, but you need to make sure it doesn’t contain any citrinin, which can cause kidney failure. Finding a high-quality source that is citrinin-free is vital.
Supplement companies can only make very specific claims about what most supplements can do. These are typically limited to “structure or function” claims for example, supplements cannot say that a product decreases cholesterol levels, but they can say it supports the cardiovascular system. This leaves a lot of guesswork for you, the consumer since not everyone needs the same type of “cardiovascular support.” This is where a trained healthcare provider may be able to help you. You can have “cardiovascular support” that is focused on lowering cholesterol, or “cardiovascular support” focused on blood pressure, or “cardiovascular support” that is intended to nourish three vastly different therapeutic effects.
Research is ongoing for many supplement ingredients and many with positive outcomes. It’s important to read research critically, as issues from how the study was done (for example, was there a therapeutic dose?) to how the data is framed can skew the results. It’s easy to be duped if you’re not research-savvy. If you don’t know how to find someone you trust who is.
Tricks for getting in the habit
So, you and your health care provider have decided certain supplements are appropriate for you. The most important part now is consistency.
Here are some favorite tips for getting in the habit:
If you have nighttime supplements, keep them next to your toothbrush
If you take some mid-day, keep a pill organizer or container at your desk
Set an alarm on your phone
Keep them out on the counter next to the coffee maker
Take a look at your everyday habits and see what might be able to trigger you to remember them
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