- In the United States, supplements are not regulated like medicines.
- The director of the Office of Dietary Supplements said it’s important to do your homework before taking it.
- Stefan Pasiakos said it’s important to know that supplements are not a magic bullet, and dosage is the key.
Supplements are a polarizing topic. Some swear by them, while others consider them a complete waste of time and money.
But top US supplement expert Stephen Pasiakos told Business Insider that neither view is helpful.
“We need to approach it objectively and let the evidence speak for itself,” said Pasiakos, who heads the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements, a government agency that evaluates the latest scientific discoveries about nutritional supplements. says. People’s understanding.
Mr. Pasiakos is a nutritional scientist by training and joined ODS in July 2023 with the aim of bringing a high level of scientific objectivity to the supplement field. He wants to provide people with clear information to help them make informed choices and optimize their health.
From multivitamins to probiotics, nutritional supplements have become a staple in bathroom cabinets, and a new study found that nearly 58% of Americans say they’ve taken some kind of supplement in the past 30 days. Data from CDC No wonder, then, that the U.S. dietary supplement market was estimated at $45.1 billion in 2023. Statista.
However, the FDA does not approve supplements before they go on the market. This means that, unlike drug manufacturers, companies don’t have to conduct multiple clinical trials to prove a product’s effectiveness, they don’t necessarily have to list the amounts of ingredients, and their products contain other ingredients not listed on the package. It may become contaminated or cut by substances. one 2023 survey A paper published in JAMA Network Open found that 89% of 57 nutritional supplements tested did not accurately list their ingredients.
This means it’s important to do your homework before taking supplements, but doesn’t mean supplements can’t play a role in supporting and promoting health, Pasiakos said.
He shared three common misconceptions about supplements that can prevent people from reaping their benefits.
1) The more supplements, the better.
When it comes to vitamins, minerals and nutrients, more isn’t always better, Pasiakos says. It’s common for people to think that because something is “natural” they can’t have too much of it, but that’s not true, he says.
It may not be safe to consume more than the recommended amount, and for many natural products, we simply don’t know where the upper limit is, Pasiakos said.
Taking more than the recommended daily limit of supplements can have serious effects. In May 2023, a man died after taking too much vitamin D for nine months.
Meanwhile, too much magnesium can lead to paralysis or death in extreme cases, and too much vitamin C can cause kidney problems and vitamin B12 deficiency, says the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Dean Professor Rob Chilcott previously told BI: .
According to the CDC, more than half of Americans took some type of supplement in 2021. Getty Images
2) Supplements are “contaminated and adulterated”
Pasiakos said people tend to fall into two camps: those who think all supplements are “contaminated and adulterated,” and those who think they all work. .
Pasiakos said certain resources, such as ODS’ supplement fact sheets, can help people make informed decisions about supplements, and that the third-party NSF Product Certification Program is listed on the label. The company stated that it can guarantee that the content contained in the product is as follows.
However, it is important to know that verification programs do not support the health claims companies make about their products. “We’re just saying what’s on the label is in the dietary supplement,” he says.
“What I’m saying is that people are well educated about these products and understand what’s in them and that the industry isn’t trying to get them. “I just want you to understand,” he said, “but there are certainly aspects of certain nutritional supplements that are considered unsafe.”
3) Supplements are a magic bullet
Pasiakos said people are always looking for a magic bullet to get healthy, but they can’t find it in nutritional supplements.
Like many nutritionists, Pasiakos puts food first when it comes to health. He sees supplements as a complement to a healthy diet, rather than a replacement for it.
“You can’t consider nutritional supplements without understanding the underlying diet,” he said. Without knowing what a person is eating and getting from their diet nutritionally, it’s impossible to advise them on which nutritional supplements they should take, he said.
“You can’t ignore that. So that’s how I see it.”
