With its seductive promise of quick, easy fixes - "Concerned about your health? Just take a pill!" - the supplement industry is prospering.
Sales are increasing every year. Half of Americans now regularly take one or more supplements.
We live in a pro-supplement haze created by advertising and
careless journalism. Many media articles sensationalize short-term, inconclusive, and flawed research. Large-scale, well-designed studies showing the long-term health effects of supplement use are expensive, difficult to conduct, and therefore uncommon. Those that are done often receive less attention because their results tend to be less sensational. Meanwhile, the FDA's ability to control misleading advertising and packaging is
limited.
Contrary to popular belief, there is
no verification by government or independent agencies before products go on the market to ensure that their labels accurately represent the quantity and quality of listed ingredients. Nor are products independently tested in advance for dangerous impurities. The FDA only conducts tests if reports of serious harm have surfaced. A recent Frontline documentary, "
Supplements and Safety," provides a disturbing look at safety and quality issues.
When supplements
are pure and
do have the claimed potency, their net effects on health may be beneficial, negligible, or harmful. Supplements taken in hopes of helping one health problem may harm health in other ways. For example, researchers have found an increased risk of heart disease in individuals taking
calcium for bone health and an increase in mortality from all causes among people taking high doses of
vitamin E.
For the majority of consumers, it is unclear whether vitamins, minerals, and other dietary supplements make them healthier, sicker, or simply poorer. In 2013, a major medical journal published an editorial titled "
Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements." It was
contested by the supplement industry.
If your health care professional recommends supplements or if you independently choose to take them, following steps outlined in
this guide can help you make safer, wiser purchases. You will also find helpful information in the National Institutes of Health's fact sheets describing the
possible and proven effects of various supplements.
Be aware that supplements (including calcium, fish oil, vitamins, and herbal supplements) often interact with prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
Many interactions involve drugs and supplements that are quite common. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to check for other possible interactions among your current supplements and drugs, and recheck when you add a new supplement or drug.
Health experts agree that the safest, most unequivocally beneficial (and delicious) path to good nutrition is eating well. You will find clear, science-based dietary advice in this attractive
brochure and remarkably brief
poster from the Swedish government.
Is it actually bad to 
Splitting prescription pills may enable you to save quite a bit of money. If your doctor confirms that doing so will not diminish your medication's safety and effectiveness, he or she will also need to increase your prescription's strength.
