Dietary Supplements
Is There an Advantage?
Although the best way to obtain vital nutrients and vitamins is a appropriate diet, people often use dietary supplements to gain vitamins and nutrients they don’t feel they are getting through proper eating habits or feel they need to take in order to stay healthy. They also can help prevent deficiencies from poor diet. The effectiveness of dietary supplements has long been disputed however. Many are not tested or regulated by the FDA and many have not been tested for long-term consequences.
A dietary supplement is defined as anything that supplies nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids that is not consumed enough through a person’s regular diet. Although many people feel that it is necessary to supplement their diets (especially athletes), studies have shown that dietary supplementation is not necessary for those who eat a healthy and balanced diet. However, people with poor eating habits are more predisposed to vitamin and nutrient deficiencies and these deficiencies can bring upon bacterial and viral infections as well as certain diseases. Because of this, sometimes-dietary supplementation is absolutely necessary for some people to live a healthy life.
Safety is a major issue when it comes to dietary supplements. Even though there are hundreds of health minded, safe supplement companies, there are also “rogue” companies that do not follow rules and safe manufacturing practices. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) simply does not have the resources to keep track and regulate supplement companies. If one of these “rogue” companies were to produce a supplement that was of poor quality or got contaminated, there would be no way of stopping it from being put on the market and in turn; consumed by the public. Every time someone takes one of these supplements, they are “rolling the dice” as to weather the product is safe and healthy to use. This is an unnecessary risk to take however. If one consumes a well balanced diet, there is no reason to take dietary supplements unless there are pre-existing medical conditions that require special treatment.
It is easy to understand how people who do not need dietary supplements get sucked into buying and consuming them. Especially in the world of sports and athletics with outrageous claims such as “Torch Fat,” “Get Shredded Fast!” and “Look Like a Freak.” Some such companies are called Muscle Asylum Project, and BSN. Such claims are very effective in convincing people that they absolutely need a particular supplement to be the best athlete they can be. If one does believe that these products are necessary and purchase them, often people become addicted to the supplement, even though in reality—it does nothing to benefit them. They just feel like they have to in order to be healthy or physically fit. People are often the victims of highly effective marketing strategies that make consumers feel obligated to purchase them.
Overall, dietary supplements are not necessary for a person who consumes a normal healthy diet unless they suffer from a deficiency disease that requires additional supplementation to make up for the difference. Other than that, dietary supplements are unnecessarily dangerous risks to ingest if not properly researched and FDA approved.
by Eric Olsen
Filed by pcerny at October 17th, 2007 under Uncategorized
