Dietary Supplement Guidelines Latest

Healthy people do not need to take any additional dietary supplements as long as they eat a balanced diet.； Pregnant women, the elderly, vegetarians and other specific groups of people need to first undergo a nutritional assessment to identify deficiencies, and then make targeted supplements. All Internet celebrity "universal supplements" and "disease prevention supplements" are not recommended for regular use by ordinary healthy people.

Last year, I helped a friend in the nutrition department of a tertiary hospital organize the outpatient consultation ledger for half a year. Among the 10 people who came to ask about supplements, 8 were attracted by short videos and Xiaohongshu, and the remaining 2 were stuffed with a bunch of imported supplements by relatives and friends who didn't know whether they should take them. Last month, a little girl who works in Internet operations came to me and said that she had been taking Internet celebrity liver-protecting tablets for three months. The physical examination showed that the transaminase was twice as high. She thought it was due to staying up late. She stopped taking supplements for two weeks and then re-examined, and it fell back to the normal range. Later, when I checked the liver-protecting tablets she took, the amount of vitamin A added exceeded the recommended daily intake by three times. The fat-soluble vitamins cannot be excreted and accumulate in the liver, which puts a burden on the liver.

Don't think this is an exception. The "Guidelines for the Use of Dietary Supplements for Residents" just updated by the Chinese Nutrition Society in 2024 specifically mentions that more than 60% of supplement abuse cases in our country are caused by healthy people following the trend and taking non-essential supplements. The latest relevant research in the New England Journal of Medicine also supports this point: regular use of multivitamins by healthy people cannot reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and long-term consumption of large doses will increase the probability of renal dysfunction and osteoporosis.

Speaking of this, some people may want to mention the foreign naturopathic schools. I also have friends who practice natural healing. They usually recommend herbal supplements such as elderberry, milk thistle, and ashwagandha to their clients. Objectively speaking, both views have basis: the evidence-based group believes that there is currently no large-scale long-term clinical data to support the effectiveness and safety of this herbal ingredient, and the US FDA will not certify the efficacy of this kind of ingredient. ； However, the logic of naturopathic practitioners is that these ingredients have been used in traditional applications for hundreds of years and are suitable for short-term adjustments when the schedule cannot be adjusted. As long as you choose products with third-party testing for heavy metals and pesticide residues, and do not consume them for more than 3 months in a row, the risk is controllable. This kind of controversy actually reminds everyone: supplements are not absolutely good or bad, it all depends on whether you use them in the right scenario.

Oh, by the way, the so-called "anti-aging black technology supplements" such as NMN and PQQ, which have become very popular recently, I also checked the latest regulatory requirements: NMN has not yet been approved as a food ingredient in my country, and those sold on the market are either illegal products, or they are deceiving people under the guise of "tablet candy", which cannot achieve the anti-aging effect as advertised.； PQQ-related research is still in the animal experiment stage, and there is very little data on human effectiveness. There is really no need for ordinary people to spend a lot of money to be guinea pigs. There are also many mothers who love to buy imported DHA for their children. My cousin fell into a trap last year. A certain Internet celebrity model she bought was added with estrogen-like ingredients. After half a year of taking it, the child showed signs of premature growth, and it took almost a year for him to go to the hospital for treatment before he got better. Don’t think that imported supplements are reliable. In many European and American countries, the supervision of dietary supplements is much looser than in China. There is no need for complete safety verification before being put on the market. It will only be recalled if something goes wrong.

If you really want to say who really needs supplements, the scope is actually much narrower than you think: the digestion and absorption function of people over 65 years old has deteriorated, and the absorption efficiency of calcium and vitamin D is 30% lower than that of young people. They can supplement vitamin D3 and calcium in regular small doses.； People who have been vegetarians for a long time have almost no food sources of vitamin B12. Over time, they are prone to anemia and numbness in their hands and feet. This must be supplemented. ； Folic acid should be supplemented in the first trimester, and calcium and DHA should be supplemented appropriately according to dietary intake in the second and third trimesters. ； There are also people who have had gastrointestinal surgery and have been taking specific drugs for a long time. They can just follow the doctor's instructions and take supplements. There is really no need for others to take them blindly.

If you really struggle to eat takeout every day and even eat vegetables for a week, it’s okay to take a basic multivitamin supplement in the short term, but don’t think of this as a long-term solution – there is no dietary fiber or phytochemicals in supplements. These are good things only found in fresh vegetables and cannot be replaced by small pills. Choosing supplements is also simple. First check whether there is a domestic blue hat health food label, and then look at the ingredient list. The simpler the formula, the better. Don’t buy a supplement with a bunch of added sucrose, flavors, and preservatives, let alone believe in the propaganda of “preventing and fighting cancer” and “curing insomnia”. If it really has this effect, it has been sold as a prescription drug for a long time, and it is not sold as a supplement.

To be honest, I also prepare some supplements at home. Every year during the flu season, I put two boxes of Saccharomyces boulardii with specific strain numbers, which are particularly useful for treating antibiotic diarrhea. I occasionally take vitamin C for two days after staying up late, but they are only for emergency use. In normal meals, try to ensure that you have one pound of vegetables and half a pound of milk every day. After all, supplements are meant to be "supplementary." If you eat the staple food clearly, it will be much more cost-effective than spending thousands on a bunch of bottles and cans. I'm really not sure whether I want to eat it or not. Spending tens of dollars to get an account in the nutrition department is more reliable than reading 10 grass-growing articles.