Nutritional Supplements

Samantha KlymHW499: Bachelor’s Capstone in Health and

WellnessMay 19, 2015

Nutritional Supplement

Intro:Nutritional supplements can also be considered dietary supplements. The Dietary supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) defines a dietary supplement as a product that: supplements the food you eat; contains one or more dietary ingredient (including vitamins; minerals; herbs or other botanicals; amino acids, and other substances); comes in pill, capsule, tablet, or liquid form; and is labeled as a dietary supplement. (M. Smith, P. Smith, and M. Smith, 2015) There are many benefits to taking a nutritional supplements. Especially, if someone is lacking in certain nutrition. Unfortunately, there are some risks that go along with taking them. I personally feel that we should be getting most of our nutrients from foods. But, I understand that is really difficult to achieve. Some people are so busy they forget to eat, let alone make sure they are getting all their nutrients from food. It is so much easier to take some pills and call it a day.

Different types of nutritional

supplementsNutritional supplements can be used to boost overall health, help immune system, reduce illness, reduce age related conditions, improve sports performance, and help the healing process during any disease or illness.

Different types are:

Vitamins

Minerals

Herbs

Meal Supplements

Sports nutrition

Meal Supplements & Sports Nutritions

With summer coming two of the most popular right now are; Meal supplements and Sports nutrition.

Meal Supplements- Meal supplements can be used for people that want to lose weight. There are countless amounts of protein shakes that are used as meal replacements. Some examples; Skakeology, Special K, GNC lean, etc. Some fad diets even give you food based meals to eat daily. Meal supplements are also used for people with special need, illnesses, or physical disabilities. Depending on what the person needs the meal supplement will contain specific protein, carbs, fats, and fiber.

Sports Nutrition- This type of nutritional supplement is designed to help support athletes before, during, and after their activity. A lot of these supplements support metabolism, energy, performance, high protein, and provides non essential amino acids. A lot of the times when athletes take these supplements, they need to drink more water, certain minerals, and antioxidants. Personally, when I had to take all the supplements for my show, I had to drink over a gallon of water. Sports drinks also falls into this category. The reason being is because they have electrolytes. Electrolytes is also considered salt and it is lose during sweating.

Top 5 types of people to take nutritional

supplement

Pregnant Women

Nursing Mothers

Strict vegetarians

People that have food allergies

Senior citizens

The reason they should be taking nutritional supplements in because they can’t get all the vitamins and minerals in their diet.

5 Tips: What Consumers Need To Know aAbout Dietary Supplements

Step 1: Make sure you are informed on the supplement you are taking. You need to understand the safety and risks of the substance you want to take.

Step 2: Just because the label says “natural”, it doesn’t mean it is safe. Certain herbs can harm the liver.

Step 3: Be careful on what supplements you take at the same time. Some dietary supplements may interact with medications (prescription or over-the-counter) or other dietary supplements, and some may have side effects on their own. (NCCIH, 2015)

Step 4: Be careful of contamination. It has been shown that some supplements contain “hidden” prescription drugs.

Step 5: Make sure you talk to your doctor before taking any nutritional supplement.

Nutritional Supplement

Risks

There aren’t many, but there are some risks of using nutritional supplements.

They are:

Taking the supplements with medication. Either over the counter or prescription.

Taking the supplements in stead of prescription medicines.

Certain supplements can have a toxicity. (Vitamin A, Vitamin V, and Iron.

Nutritional Supplements

There are many different educational resources that are available. For one; scholarly articles. Along with the FDA and NCCAM.

One recommendation I have is to definitely talk to your doctor before taking any supplement. Then, a lot of the supplements are trial and error. One supplement might work for someone but not another. The reason I say that is because when I took supplements, some didn’t work. Even though people said they would, they didn’t. Precautions that should be taken is definitely to do research before taking a supplement.

Citations

(n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Nutritional Supplements

5 Tips: What Consumers Need To Know About Dietary Supplements. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2015, from https://nccih.nih.gov/health/tips/supplements

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm109760.htm

Dietary Supplements. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/dietary-supplements.htm

The Truth Behind the Top 10 Dietary Supplements. (2015). Retrieved May 20, 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/diet/truth-behind-top-10-dietary-supplements?page=2