Dietary Supplements

Dietary supplements are defined by law as “products taken by mouth that contain a dietary ingredient”. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs or botanicals and other substances that can be used to supplement the diet are the ingredients of dietary supplements.

Some forms of dietary supplements are capsules, tablets, powders, liquids and there are energy bars as well. All these dietary supplements are available in many stores worldwide as well as in the World Wide Web.

Vitamins and minerals – This form of dietary supplements may help you in many ways and includes preventing you from getting easily sick and is essential for the growth and development of multicellular organism.

Herbal Products and Botanicals – This comes from plants like algae and other macroscopic fungi or combination of both.

Amino Acids – This plays a big role in metabolism and is the building block of proteins in the body.

Enzyme Supplements – This speeds up biochemical reactions through complex proteins.

People use herbal dietary supplements for many reasons and some of these reasons include seeking for a medicine that can compensate for diets, eating habits or medical conditions. A research has shown that dietary supplements are effective in preventing and treating diseases. Research has also develop some anticipating results suggesting that other dietary supplements are helpful for other health conditions, like omega – 3 fatty acids are good for treating coronary disease, though in most cases further research is needed before having a conclusion.

The Federal Government is responsible for regulating dietary supplements through the Food and drug Administration.

- The Food and drug Administration sees to it that every company making dietary supplements must follow the manufacturer’s “good manufacturing practices” and ensure that dietary supplements are processed well and meets the quality standards. Good Manufacturing Practices takes effect on 2008 for big manufacturers and 2010 for small companies.

- Dietary Supplements in the market are still monitored by FDA, and if they found that the supplement is unsafe, they can take legal actions against the manufacturer and distributor. They also issue a warning that requires the product to be removed in the market.

The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for regulating dietary supplements advertisement. It requires that all information included in the advertisement is truthful and not misleading.

The government through The Food and Drug Administration suggests that a person must consult first with a health care professional before using any herbal dietary supplements. These medicines may be made of herbal substances but still it comprises ingredients that have firm biological effects that are not safe to other people.

It is important that one must look for authentic sources of information to evaluate if certain dietary supplement is genuine. Rigorous scientific testing is the most reliable source of information. You can search in the net about a certain supplement but since sometimes it is hard to find for a most reliable source so you better ask your health care provider for assistance and look for scientific research findings in the box or bottle of the supplement.