Consider Safety When You Take Diet Supplements

When you decide to use dietary supplements or botanicals, it is wise to consider your safety. Dietary supplements may contain ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, extracts, metabolites or a combination of these ingredients.

Botanicals on the other hand are product formulations from plants and may come from leaves, roots, flowers or stems.

Safety in use of dietary supplements is most important for proper use. Dietary supplement have a role in people who may be at risk of nutrient deficiency. But, ironically, dietary supplements are used by those likely to be at the lowest risk of nutrient deficiency.

Dietary supplements are usually formulated in form of capsules, pills, tablets or liquids and are not intended to be used as foods or as the only source of diet. Dietary supplements are supposed to supplement the conventional diet or meal.

Routine use of multivitamin supplementation may not be necessary for all people but can be used effectively in at risk population.

Botanicals are sometimes used for medicinal purposes. Some of the formulations include infusion, teas or concentration beverages made from boiling roots.

Botanicals are sometimes used as extracts for products such as glycerol solution, alcohol, solvent or tinctures. They can be made into pills such as tablets, capsules or soft gels. Botanicals have also been used as topical applications as creams, or essential oils as those used in aromatherapy.

In the area of botanical supplementation, there is no or very little evidence of existence of at risk population who need routine supplementation. Otherwise botanicals are used more to alleviate symptoms or illness or diseases. No supplements are used to cure any diseases as you are made to believe by those who sell the so called herbal drugs.

Dietary supplements can be used effectively by:

Those with inadequate dietary intake such as ht e elderly, who may who may have denture or other problem that affect nutrient intake.

Women who may be pregnant and lactating as their nutrient requirements a re increased.

In chronic illnesses which increase the nutrient requirements. Some of these conditions are osteoporosis and bone related conditions, cardiac disease which may cause increase in certain nutrients or in conditions where the nutrient absorption is affected.

Lifestyle choices may increase nutrients needs. For example, smokers have higher vitamin C requirements. There is increased folate requirements in alcohol users just to mention a few.

However, any one who has a risk of nutrient deficiency and may require dietary supplementation needs a complete analysis of dietary intake to determine the need for supplementation on individual basis.

For safe use of supplements, after the dietary assessment by a dietician one need to make sure that the supplement they are taking has a qualified health claim that is based on scientific evidence and approved for use a dietary supplement.