Are Nutritional Supplements a Waste of Money?
The FDA is stepping up its oversight of the $50 billion nutritional supplement industry. Hopefully, it’ll help reduce the number of people who are hurt by harmful products. Unfortunately, it won’t do much to reduce the amount we waste on useless ones. Nutrition Diva has the scoop on which supplements are money down the drain.
The FDA recently announced that it plans to increase its oversight of the multi-billion dollar supplement industry. This would include everything from the calcium and multivitamins at your local drug store, to those questionable weight loss and virility supplements pitched on late night cable TV stations.
According to the FDA, “Three out of every four American consumers take a dietary supplement on a regular basis. For older Americans, the rate rises to four in five. And one in three children take supplements.”
All of these are currently regulated under guidelines known as DSHEA—the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. According to the regulations, manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe and correctly labeled.
However, unlike drug makers, supplement manufacturers do not have to submit proof of safety or efficacy before bringing their product to market. It’s sort of an honor system. If you get caught doing something wrong, you’ll be punished. But for the most part, there’s an assumption that people are following the rules.
In the 25 years since these regulations were enacted, the supplement industry has grown ten-fold—from about 4,000 products in 1994 to 50,000 different products now. With this explosive growth has come an increasing number of what FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb calls “bad actors,” aka companies that are either intentionally or accidentally breaking the rules. As a result, there’s a greater chance that consumers will be exposed to products that have undeclared or even illegal ingredients or contaminants.There’s also a greater chance that products may include unapproved or inaccurate health claims.
In response, Gottlieb intends to step up enforcement of the regulations. Hopefully, this will result in fewer people going to the emergency room due to adverse effects from dietary supplements. (In 2015, there were 23,000 such visits).
But, to tell you the truth, even when manufacturers are strictly obeying the rules, there’s still a lot of potential for consumers to be wasting their money on supplements that simply aren’t doing anything for them.
How Supplements Are Marketed
With the exception of a small number of approved claims, manufacturers are not allowed to say that that a dietary supplement will cure, treat, or prevent a specific disease or symptom. They are limited to what are called structure/function claims. For example, they can’t say that this calcium supplement will prevent osteoporosis. They can only say that calcium supports bone health.
Manufacturers—and their marketing teams—have learned how to communicate in code. Supplements don’t reduce arthritis pain, instead they maintain joint flexibility. They don’t reduce cholesterol, they help maintain healthy cholesterol levels. They don’t fight viral infections, they support healthy immune function. And so on.
But no-one is really fooled by this. Just as supplement manufacturers have learned to talk around the regulations, we consumers have learned to read between the lines. If it’s called Osteo-palooza, there’s a picture of an older woman on the front and it says something about maintaining healthy bones, we’re going to connect the dots. We’re unlikely to be dissuaded by the fact that the bottle also says in small print: “These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to treat, prevent, or cure any disease.”
More Oversight Won’t Save Us From Wasting Money
I’m glad that the FDA will be increasing its oversight of the supplement industry. Hopefully, it’ll keep some peoole from getting hurt. Unfortunately, stepped up oversight probably isn’t going to make a dent in the tens of billions of dollars that we waste on supplements that are completely legal and yet largely ineffective. That responsibility falls on consumers.
Just because a given nutrient supports bone health or immune function or brain health doesn’t mean that taking it will reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis, cancer, or dementia. And in fact, a growing number of studies demonstrates that most of the supplements we take do not have any demonstrable benefits in terms of our long term health or disease risk.
If you’ve been listening to the Nutrition Diva podcast for a while, you’ll know that for the most part, I’m not a fan of most supplements. Not only are the benefits questionable, but in some cases, they may actually do harm.
Fish oil and calcium, which are two of the most popular supplements, are good examples. Calcium is important for building strong bones and osteoporosis is a leading cause of disability among older women. However, taking high doses of calcium after menopause does not reduce the risk of osteoporosis and may actually increase the risk of heart attack.
See also: Should You Stop Taking Your Calcium Supplement?
Omega-3 fatty acids are important for heart health and heart disease is the leading cause of death. And yet, it’s become increasingly clear that while eating fish is linked with lower rates of heart disease (and other diseases), taking fish oil supplements is not.
See also: Are the Benefits of Fish Oil Overrated?
There are some situations where targeted supplementation makes sense:
- To correct a documented deficiency. If your doctor has diagnosed you with an iron-deficiency, for example, you’ll probably be given an iron supplement.
- To address a specific symptom or concern. If you are taking a course of antibiotics, for example, taking a probiotic may help prevent antibiotic-related diarrhea (See: Should I Take Probiotics With Antibiotics?). Or, if you have arthritis pain in your knees, you might want to try a glucosamine supplement to see if it helps. (And if it doesn’t, there’s no point in continuing.) See also: Do Glucosamine Supplements Work?
- To compensate for a specific nutrient shortfall. If you are unable to get the recommended amount of calcium from your diet, you might want to take a calcium supplement—but only as much as you need to fill the gap between what your diet provides and the recommended intake.
But the indiscriminate use of random supplements to improve your health or prevent disease is just about always a waste of money. Taking a B-vitamin complex, for example, will not give you more energy. Antioxidant supplements do not reduce the risk of cancer.
A Healthy Meal Beats a Fistful of Vitamins
Isolated nutrients simply do not provide the same benefits as eating the foods that are rich in those nutrients. Taking a supplement made from powdered superfoods, for example, does not provide the same benefits as eating fruits and vegetables. And if you’re already eating those fruits and vegetables, you’re not getting any extra benefit from taking that supplement.
See also: Can I Get My Vegetables in a Pill? and Can You Get Too Many Antioxidants?
Even worse, taking nutritional supplements often creates a false sense of security that you’ve got your bases covered and therefore can eat what you want. Not only are you not getting the benefits of eating whole nutrient dense foods, but you’re subject to the negative effects of ultra-processed or other junk foods.
We spend $50 billion a year on supplements, many of which are providing little to no benefit. I think we could get a lot more benefit from spending that money on nutritious food. Heck, for what some people are spending on supplements, they could afford nutritious food and a chef to cook it!
If you take random dietary supplements on the vague hope that they’re making you healthier, consider whether you might invest that money in your health more effectively. Maybe you could subscribe to a meal kit service or a produce box that would help you eat more vegetables and less take out. Perhaps you’d save enough to join a gym or yoga studio. Or, maybe you’d have enough to pay a cleaning service so you’d have time to use the gym membership you’re already paying for!
Other ideas? I’d love to hear them. You can leave me a message on the Nutrition Diva listener line at 443-961-6206 or on the Nutrition Diva Facebook page.
Want to eat healthier but don’t know where to start? Let me help! The next 30 Day Nutrition Upgrade starts soon. Details are here.
Orange versus supplements image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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About the Author
Monica Reinagel is a board-certified licensed nutritionist, author, and the creator of one of iTunes’ most highly ranked health and fitness podcasts. Her advice is regularly featured on the TODAY show, Dr. Oz, NPR, and in the nation’s leading newspapers, magazines, and websites. Do you have a nutrition question? Call the Nutrition Diva listener line at 443-961-6206. Your question could be featured on the show.
