I was talking with someone at a social gathering. A wonderful supplement was mentioned that would boost my energy. I didn’t write it down but it sounded like Sporkblot, or maybe Batspawn? Well, no matter. I’ll just wander over to the local drug store and find it. But I get there and I am faced with 30 feet of shelving overflowing with hundreds of supplements aggressively strutting their stuff. Yikes! What do I do?
Ahhh. I am enveloped in a moment of focused calm. (Ok, I am not calm. It’s an apocryphal story.) I visualize the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), comfortingly housed in the National Institutes of Health. It is no farther away than my favorite device to access the internet. I find ODS at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/
“Its mission is to strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by evaluating scientific information, stimulating and supporting research, disseminating research results, and educating the public to foster an enhanced quality of life and health for the U.S. population.”
That’s all well and good, but what can it do for me and you? Say, for example, that you can’t remember the name of a particular supplement, but you want it for brain health or menopause? No problem. Click on the “Health Information” menu on the top of the home page, and you’ll see the heading “Supplements for Specific Purposes” featuring a list of common reasons people take supplements.
Click on the condition of interest, say “Immune Function.” You’ll find an easy-to-understand overview of the immune system and related supplements. You will also find a list of relevant vitamins, minerals, botanicals and other ingredients that you can explore in depth. For example, is there any scientific evidence that the stuff is safe and effective to enhance the immune system?
On the same page that you find the heading, “Supplements for Specific Purposes,” there is another heading, “Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets.” These fact sheets are useful if you want to find out about a particular supplement. They are listed in alphabetical order. So, for example, you might want to know more about astragalus or lycopene. Click on it and you are rewarded with a discussion about how safe and effective it is; how it is used; and how it interacts with drugs, other supplements, and foods.
And here is another cool feature. Click again on the “Health Information” menu at the top of the home page, then click on “Consumer Awareness & Protection.” You have struck gold. Here you will find a wide range of topics you can click on for more info such as:
How to evaluate health information on the internet
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety alerts and advisories
How to spot health fraud
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fact sheets, consumer alerts, and articles on weight loss and fitness products.
Verifying a supplement’s contents and purity
But now, the elephant in the ointment. I know, it’s a mixed metaphor, but I think in this case it works. Consumer Reports warns that, “The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t verify that supplements contain what they say they do or whether they're contaminated with heavy metals, bacteria, or pesticides before they are sold...”
For example, a study by the California Department of Public Health analyzing FDA warnings from 2007 to 2016 identified 776 adulterated dietary supplements containing unapproved pharmaceutical ingredients. In the case of ephedra, a stimulant linked to numerous deaths and cardiovascular events, it took the FDA nearly a decade to gather sufficient evidence to ban ephedra-containing supplements in 2004, long after safety concerns had emerged.
So, how can you protect yourself from buying adulterated supplements? First, be sure to check the ODS fact sheets and other info noted above. Second, check the labels for third-party groups that have taken on the verification-of-contents role that the FDA ignores. According to Consumer Reports, these include:
U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP). USP is a nonprofit organization that sets what CR experts say are the most widely accepted standards for supplements.
The not-for-profit National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) offers two types of certification: NSF Contents Certified and NSF Certified for Sport.
http://www.ConsumerLab.com, a for-profit company, regularly tests and certifies supplements.
A final important note. Verifications displayed on the supplement container by the above third-party organizations mean it is likely that the product is not adulterated. It does not mean that you are safe from possible dangerous side effects or interactions with other drugs you may be taking. You can find out more about these issues on the ODS “Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets.” And of course, talk with your health care provider.
Hippocrates, the “father” of western medicine, is thought to have admonished his students to “do no harm” to their patients. An excellent guiding principle. In the case of supplements, take care to “do no harm” to yourself.
Lawrence D. Weiss is a UAA Professor of Public Health, Emeritus, creator of the UAA Master of Public Health program, and author of several books and numerous articles.
