While celebrating mainstream medicine’s increasing acceptance of nutritional supplements, one should be aware that testing an alternative scientific approach according to the standards of the mainstream will not necessarily generate the most informative guidance. Nutritional supplements and vitamins need to be seen in the light of both traditional western medicine, and traditional local beliefs and practices around the world.

Product safety and purity

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just announced that manufacturers of vitamins, herbal pills and other dietary supplements would have to test the ingredients of all their products for safety and purity. The new standards follow concerns that existing regulations are too weak in that they allow supplements on the market that were contaminated or whose ingredients didn't match claims made on the label. The aim is to prevent the wrong ingredients getting into supplements. The regulations also try to prevent contamination of supplements as well as the accidental inclusion of pesticides, glass or heavy metals like lead.

Quality products

Most people don't realize that dietary supplements can have side effects, just as there are potential side effects to prescribed medications. It is for this reason that in many countries, Germany, for example, nutritional supplements and vitamins are regulated like drugs. The U.S. has lagged behind in that area. Though most experts agree that the regulations will increase the likelihood that supplements will be of high quality, some raise the issue of whether these products, which claim to remedy everything from arthritis to asthma, actually work. Make sure that when you take vitamins and other nutritional supplements, you pay attention to the research behind it. If a doctor is testifying to the safety and efficacy of a nutritional supplement, there is a good chance it will do you a whole lot of good. If in doubt, check what you read with your own medical practitioner.

The background

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates dietary supplements as foods, and not as drugs. The FDA can take action only after a dietary supplement has been proven harmful. However, certain foods (such as infant formula and medical foods) are deemed special nutritional supplements because they are consumed by highly vulnerable populations and are thus regulated more strictly than the majority of dietary supplements. The FDA’s rationale for a lack of regulation is a;freedom to choose; by the consumer. They tend to believe that the supplement is beneficial until problems arise. Dietary supplements are permitted to make structure/function claims. These are broad claims that the product can support the structure or function of the body, but when made, they need to be backed up with evidence submitted to the FDA.