Most of the nutrients your body needs can be found in the food you eat, but there are times these nutrients are not adequately absorbed by your body or are not readily available where you are. In that case, your healthcare practitioner may recommend that you take dietary supplements.
What is a dietary supplement?
Dietary supplements are substances you take orally to add nutrients to your diet or supplement something lacking in your body. They come in pills, capsules, tablets, extracts, powder, or liquid form.
Supplements don’t need a doctor’s prescription and can be bought over-the-counter. Here are some examples of dietary supplements available in the market today:
- Vitamins and mineral supplements – A, C, D, E, B6, B12, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc
- Herbal supplements – St. John’s Worts, ginseng, ginkgo, garlic, licorice root, hawthorn, and many others
- Amino acid supplements- tryptophan, valine, leucine, isoleucine
- Enzyme and digestive enzyme supplements – amylase, lipase, lactase, and sucrase
Before they are marketed, dietary supplements are only reviewed for safety by the manufacturers and distributors following the CGMP regulations. The FDA is not authorized to review the products for safety and effectiveness before they are sold in the market.
What is CGMP?
CGMP means current good manufacturing practices; it is the regulatory standard for ensuring the quality of dietary supplements in the market. It covers regulations on manufacturing, labeling, and holding operations of manufacturers of dietary supplements.
The regulations must ensure that products meet the identity, purity, strength, composition, and limit of contaminants of each product.
Because of the CGMP rules and the 1994 DSHEA or Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, firms that manufacture these products must ensure that:
- the product is safe
- claims are not false or misleading
- the product is FDA registered
When a product is believed to have caused harm to consumers, the FDA can react and issue a recall of the product or shut down the manufacturer if the accusation is proven to be true.
In cases like this, if you’re affected by a defective product and it has caused you considerable harm, you may file for damages with the help of an experienced personal injury attorney in Florida if you live in the state.
Hidden Dangers of Dietary Supplements:
Be wary of the dietary supplements you take. Here are some of their possible hidden dangers:
Possible Adverse Interaction With Other Medicines
Though many dietary supplements offer great benefits, many of them are not recommended to be taken when you have other medicines to treat some of your conditions.
St. John’s Wort is an herbal supplement that has been around for thousands of years and is believed to help treat depression. But taking this along with other medicines may reduce the effectiveness of those other medicines such as anti-depressants, transplant drugs, heart medications, and birth control pills.
Meanwhile, anti-oxidant supplements like Vitamins C and E reduce the effectiveness of some chemotherapy drugs for cancer.
Unsafe For Pregnant And Lactating Mothers
Pregnancy often puts women in a high-risk condition. That is why many pregnant women are often advised to take extra precautions when ingesting anything since it might harm them and the baby forming in the womb.
Carrying a life inside your body may mean you need to take extra nutrients to support your and your baby’s growth. This includes prenatal vitamins like folate.
But some supplements should be off-limits to pregnant women as they could cause harm to both the mom and the baby. Pregnant women should avoid taking black cohosh because it can cause uterine contractions and induce preterm labor.
Goldenseal, a plant used for respiratory infections and diarrhea, can worsen jaundice in infants and lead to fatal brain damage.
Excessive Intake Could Have Unfavorable Results
Many people might believe that supplements are good for them and can be taken in double doses, but this could yield unfavorable results.
An example is the excessive intake of calcium. The excess calcium does not settle in the bones; instead, it leads to plaque buildup in the aorta and other arteries, slowing down heart rate leading to bradycardia.
Meanwhile, when taken in high doses, Vitamin D could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke and may trigger extra calcium absorption, leading to muscle pain, abdominal pain, and kidney stones.
Conclusion
Natural foods can give you the essential nutrients your body needs. Adequate intake of healthy food, exercise, and enough exposure to the sun will be incredibly beneficial for your health and may remove the need for supplements.
But if you have a deficiency, allow a licensed health expert to advise you and avoid self-medicating. If you experienced adverse conditions from taking these supplements, you might seek help from legal experts to represent you in filing claims.