“Dietary supplements can be beneficial to health but do involve certain risks” we all have heard this a lot of times from our neighbors, magazine, YouTube, and other sources. Most people are unaware of the benefits of using bamboo silica with biotin, folic acid, omega3, and more. Some dietary supplements are well understood and others require extensive research.
Stick to this article to know more about dietary supplements.
What are dietary supplements?
A dietary supplement is an artificial product; it comes; the form of powder, pill, gel tabs, capsule or liquid. You might use it to incorporate nutrients in your daily diet to lower health risks. Dietary supplements contain vitamins, fibre, amino acid, herbs, fibre, mineral, enzymes, or plants.
Sometimes, the ingredients of supplements are even added with drinks and food. However, you don’t need a doctor’s prescription to purchase dietary supplements.
Benefits of dietary supplements
With the Green revolution, the usage of chemical fertilizers touched the skyline. Extensive use of chemicals hampers the quality of the food making it lose vital vitamins. Due to consuming chemically countered reapings, almost 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiency worldwide. To overcome nutrient deficiency, even doctors recommend dietary supplements.
Dietary supplements are additional vitamins that the human body needs to function correctly. Dietary supplements are extensively used by people suffering from diabetes, cancer, micronutrients deficiency and more.
Also Read About: How to improve the immune system with nutrition
Some of the dietary supplements help in enhancing overall health and also manages many health crises.
- Omega3 fatty acids are known to ensure a healthy heart condition. It also helps people to fight against certain heart diseases.
- A combination of various vitamins such as Vitamin C, zinc, copper, zeaxanthin, lutein, and Vitamin E may help slow down vision loss in older people suffering from age-related macular degeneration.
- Vitamin D and Calcium helps in maintaining bone health and curbs bone loss.
- Calcium salt supplements, like calcium d glucarate, can help fight certain types of cancer, reduce elevated estrogen levels, detox the body, and lower cholesterol levels.
- Consuming folic acid can prevent birth defects.
- Bamboo silica with biotin promotes hair growth.
Are there any risks involved in consuming supplements?
Many dietary supplements contain active ingredients that can retain strong effects in your body. Make sure to check such ingredients and see if you are allergic to it. There is a high risk of a bad reaction, consult a healthcare provider before consuming a manufactured product.
Generally, people get allergic to dietary supplements only when the products are consumed in high doses or constantly shuffling between various supplements without consulting a physician. Some supplements can even induce bleeding and change your reaction to anaesthesia if taken before a surgical procedure. Some supplements even react with other medicines and create health crises; here are some examples:
- Vitamin K can lessen the ability of blood thinner warfarin to deter blood from clotting.
- Some antioxidant supplements such as vitamin E and C can reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy in cancer patients.
Consuming more than your body needs can cost you more and also increases the risks of side effects. For example, excess iron causes vomiting and nausea; it also may damage the liver and other organs. Too much vitamin A can give you headaches, reduce bone health, induce birth defects, and liver damage.
Who is accountable for the safety of dietary supplements?
The manufacturers are responsible for making sure their supplements are safe for human consumption. FDA is not authorised to review supplements before they are marketed. However, manufacturers need to notify the FDA if a new element is added before its marketing. FDA will only ensure it’s safety and not effectiveness.
How to know more about the supplements?
To know more about the dietary supplement, check the label. The label must contain the name of the product, date of manufacture, manufacturers name and location.
You can even search the product online and read the reviews and ingredient list. Look for the composition chart to know the exact quantity of the manufactured product.
Consult a healthcare provider before using any supplement to prevent a bad reaction. Allergies are common while trying a new product, make sure to check with your physician if it consists of any active ingredient.
How to be a smart supplement shopper?
Here is how you can be a super-shopper.
- Always keep your safety on top priority by avoiding active elements that can create strong effects in your body.
- While searching for supplements on the web, use noncommercial or government websites instead of relying on marketers’ information.
- If the claims sound viable and credible, then the supplements are probably good. Still do not forget to consult your physician before starting the pills.
- The term “Natural” does not make a product safe. Do not follow products blindly; check the elements and their composition.
Conclusion
Nowadays, hair skin and nail vitamins are getting popular. Before incorporating multivitamins in your diet, do consult your healthcare provider. They will help you achieve the required balance of nutrients by telling you the nutrient and food your body needs.
