How Healthy Are Dietary Supplements?

Food supplements are preparations that contain certain vitamins, minerals, trace elements, or plant extracts. Some of these remedies also combine several nutrients together. Products of this type are controversial, but not necessarily unhealthy. Under certain circumstances and after medical consultation, they can promote health, but caution is required, especially when self-medicating. Dietary supplements should never be taken as a “substitute” for a balanced diet. In the case of malnutrition, healthy eating behavior cannot be learned by taking them!

Most dietary supplements are freely available in stores. It is often impossible to foresee what effect a certain preparation will have on the individual in the long term. Some of them have no appreciable effect on the body at all. For others, on the other hand, there is a risk of an overdose of certain nutrients, a so-called hypervitaminosis. Especially with the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, taking food supplements can lead to an overdose if the body is actually getting all the nutrients in sufficient quantities through a balanced diet. Excessive amounts of vitamin A can cause dizziness, nausea, and headaches, as well as long-term damage to the liver, making it dangerous for pregnant women and their unborn children. Too much vitamin D over a long period of time can lead to kidney damage and increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Normally, a healthy person who eats a balanced and varied diet does not need any dietary supplements. The body is sufficiently supplied with all vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that are required for health and well-being. A nutrient deficiency as a result of an unbalanced diet, on the other hand, cannot easily be compensated for with supplementary preparations. Finally, fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, grain, and dairy products do not contain any nutrients in extracted form. They are often combined with other ingredients that enable the body to utilize the nutrients in the first place. Supplements can hardly replicate these complex properties.

Nonetheless, for some people it may make sense to enrich their meals with dietary supplements. After thorough medical diagnosis and consultation, they may even prove healthy and necessary under certain circumstances. Under certain circumstances or with some diseases, the body cannot obtain sufficient amounts of vitamins and other nutrients from food.

Dietary supplements can also be important for vegans, vegetarians, or people who suffer from food intolerances in order to compensate for or prevent deficiencies. There is also an increased need for some nutrients, such as folic acid, during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Basically, a detailed medical examination with subsequent consultation is essential to avoid incorrect medication.

It is also important to know that from a legal point of view, food supplements are considered food. Unlike medicines, they do not have to pass an approval process and the manufacturers do not have to prove the effectiveness of the preparations using scientific studies. Nor do the drugs have to be tested for side effects.