Health Tips: Dietary Supplements And How They Work

A dietary supplement is a product intended for ingestion that contains a “dietary ingredient” intended to add further nutritional value to (supplement) the diet. A “dietary ingredient” may be one, or any combination, of the following substances:

*A vitamin

*A mineral

*An herb or other botanical

*An amino acid

*A dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake

*A concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract

 Dietary supplements may be found in many forms such as       tablets, capsules, soft gels, gel caps, liquids, or powders. Some dietary supplements can help ensure that you get an adequate dietary intake of essential nutrients; others may help you reduce your risk of disease.

A dietary supplement is intended to provide nutrients that may otherwise not be consumed in
sufficient quantities.

Supplements as generally understood include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, among other substances. U.S. authorities define dietary supplements as foods, while elsewhere they may be classified as drugs or other products.

There are more than 50,000 dietary supplements available. More than half of the U.S. adult population (53% – 55%) consumes dietary supplements with most common ones being multivitamins.

For those who fail to consume a balanced diet, the agency says that certain supplements “may have value.”]

Regulations
Food (or dietary) supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect whose purpose is to supplement the normal diet. They are marketed ‘in dose’ form i.e. as pills, tablets, capsules, liquids in measured doses etc.

The Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to food supplements establishes harmonised rules for the labelling of food supplements and introduces specific rules on vitamins and minerals in food supplements. The aim is to harmonise the legislation and to ensure that these products are safe and appropriately labelled so that consumers can make informed choices.

Annex II of Directive 2002/46/EC is a list of permitted vitamin or mineral preparations that may be added for specific nutritional purposes in food supplements. It has been amended by Commission Directive 2006/37/EC, Commission Regulation (EC) 1170/2009, Commission Regulation (EU) No 1161/2011 and Commission Regulation (EU) No 119/2014 to include additional substances. The trade of products containing vitamins and minerals not listed in Annex II has been prohibited from the 1st of August 2005.

Medical uses
The intended use of dietary supplements is to ensure that a person gets enough essential nutrients.

Dietary supplements are unnecessary if one eats a balanced diet.

Types of dietary supplements
There are many types of dietary supplements.

Vitamins

Vitamin is an organic compound required by an organism as a vital nutrient in limited amounts. An organic chemical compound (or related set of compounds) is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on the circumstances and on the particular organism. For example, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is a vitamin for humans, but not for most other animals. Supplementation is important for the treatment of certain health problems but there is little evidence of benefit when used by those who are otherwise healthy.

Minerals

Dietary elements, commonly called “dietary minerals” or “minerals”, are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules.

Herbal medicine

Herbal medicine is the use of plants for medicinal purposes. Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through much of human history, and such traditional medicine is still widely practiced today. Modern medicine recognizes herbalism as a form of alternative medicine, as the practice of herbalism is not strictly based on evidence gathered using the scientific method. Modern medicine, does, however, make use of many plant-derived compounds as the basis for evidence-tested pharmaceutical drugs, and phytotherapy works to apply modern standards of effectiveness testing to herbs and medicines that are derived from natural sources. The scope of herbal medicine is sometimes extended to include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.

Amino acids and proteins

Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds composed of amine (-NH2) and carboxylic acid (-COOH) functional groups, along with a side-chain specific to each amino acid. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, though other elements are found in the side-chains of certain amino acids.

Amino acids can be divided into three categories: essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids, and conditional amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, and must be supplied by food. Non-essential amino acids are made by the body from essential amino acids or in the normal breakdown of proteins. Conditional amino acids are usually not essential, except in times of illness, stress, or for someone challenged with a lifelong medical condition.

Essential fatty acids

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for good health but cannot synthesize them.The term “essential fatty acid” refers to fatty acids required for biological processes but does not include the fats that only act as fuel.

Bodybuilding supplement

Bodybuilding supplements are dietary supplements commonly used by those involved in bodybuilding and athletics. Bodybuilding supplements may be used to replace meals, enhance weight gain, promote weight loss or improve athletic performance. Among the most widely used are vitamin supplements, protein, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), glutamine, essential fatty acids, meal replacement products, creatine, weight loss products and testosterone boosters. Supplements are sold either as single ingredient preparations or in the form of “stacks” – proprietary blends of various supplements marketed as offering synergistic advantages. While many bodybuilding supplements are also consumed by the general public their salience and frequency of use may differ when used specifically by bodybuilders.

DRUG

Natural or synthetic substance which (when taken into a living body) affects its functioning or structure, and is used in the diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of a disease or relief of discomfort. It is also called legal drug or medicine. A legal or medicinal drug (such as amphetamines), however, can be harmful and addictive if misused.

It is also defined as habit forming stimulant or narcotic substance (such as alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, or a derivative of cocoa or poppy) which produces a state of arousal, contentment, or euphoria. Continued or excessive use (called drug abuse or substance abuse) of such substances causes addiction or dependence. Thereafter any attempt to discontinue their use results in specific reactons (called withdrawal symptoms) such as sweating, vomiting, and tremors which cease when the use is resumed.

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