What are dietary supplements?

There are hundreds of dietary supplements that we come into contact with daily, ranging from basic nutrients to functional extracts. The ones that ordinary people come into contact with are not that mysterious, and most of them are designed around daily dietary deficiencies and specific needs.

Take the most popular ones, for example, the B-complex tablets stuffed in your bag when you catch the subway in the morning, the folic acid taken three months in advance by a girl preparing for pregnancy, the calcium plus D3 that the elderly at home carry in their pill box, and even the effervescent vitamin C tablets that many people stock up in the summer for whitening, are all basic vitamin and mineral supplements. The controversy over whether to take this type of supplements has never stopped. On the one hand, the nutrition community generally agrees that "a balanced daily diet can meet the needs, and there is no need to take additional supplements." On the other hand, doctors in the clinical nutrition department often prescribe such supplements to special groups. I used to accompany a friend who has been eating a vegetarian diet for a long time. She often felt sleepy and had no energy. After checking, she found out that she was deficient in B12 and iron. The doctor asked her to take regular supplements of these two types, and she recovered after two months of taking them.

If your daily diet is really not that regular, or you have specific needs, you have probably seen many more targeted supplements. For example, milk thistle is stocked up by people who stay up late for fear of damaging their liver, lutein is bought by people who often sit in front of the computer, fish oil and coenzyme Q10 are often eaten by the elders in the family, and whey protein is consumed by fitness groups after training, all fall into this category. This type of supplement is even more controversial. Take the most common fish oil, for example. Some studies believe that long-term consumption is helpful for regulating blood lipids in people with high blood lipids. In recent years, large-sample clinical studies have pointed out that healthy people have almost no clear benefit from taking it daily. A friend of mine eats salmon three times a week, followed the trend and bought fish oil and ate it for more than half a year. There was no change in blood lipids during physical examination. On the contrary, there was no discomfort after stopping. To put it bluntly, the intake of omega 3 in the diet is enough, and supplementing it is useless.

I have also stepped into related pitfalls. Two years ago, I saw Internet celebrities promoting anti-sugar pills, saying that taking them would prevent acne and yellow faces. I spent thousands and took them for more than three months, but I still got acne. Later, I asked friends who are in the nutrition industry to find out that many of the active ingredients in these conceptual supplements are so low that they can be ignored, and they essentially charge an IQ tax. If you really have to choose, first look to see if there is a blue hat label on the health food. If you are not sure whether you want to eat it, it is safer to see a nutritionist for an evaluation first.

Finally, I would like to mention that dietary supplements are essentially "supplements" and cannot replace normal diet, let alone medicines. If you really feel uncomfortable, see a doctor first. Don't just buy supplements on your own. Some fat-soluble vitamins cannot be metabolized if they are taken too much, and may put a burden on the liver and kidneys.