Half of us take dietary supplements on a regular basis. About half of the other half considers it a good idea, too, but just doesn’t find the time or discipline or trusted source to take the capsules and pills every day.
So only about a quarter of Americans look at nutritional supplements as a bad or dumb or unnecessary idea. The rest of us see supplements as positive for health and well-being. That’s according to a joint Harvard School of Public Health and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of several large national opinion surveys.
Then the debate starts. Half of us believe advertising by supplement manufacturers to be “not true.” Regular users are twice as likely to believe advertising and marketing as non-users.
Half of us say we think supplements can help treat the flu, arthritis or depression–61 percent said colds can be shortened or avoided–while the other half doesn’t think so.
On the subject of safety, 47 percent of U.S. adults said people are “often and sometimes” harmed by dietary supplements, while 44 percent said supplements “rarely or never” cause harm.
One of the most telling statistics about nutritional supplements? When supplement users were asked if they would continue using a favorite product if a government agency said it was ineffective, 72 percent said yes, they would. In a follow-up question, 66 percent still said yes even when the government agency was identified as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Of all respondents, supplement fans or not, only 37 percent of Americans said they believe supplements are adequately tested for safety.
One more thing: Only half of Americans, 53 percent, know that dietary supplements are not regulated to any significant degree by the government. Products can go to market without any requirements for safety or effectiveness. Hey, supplement makers don’t even have to register with the FDA. The other 47 percent either didn’t know this or said the government is watching out for them.
The truth is, the supplements market is too wide open for our collective good, especially if people decide they are going to self-treat with herbal remedies or megadoses of any product. The FDA is devising a set of manufacturing practices for supplements, expected to be released early this year, and that’s a good thing.
Supplement makers will not be held by law to follow them, but it is expected that industry and consumer activists’ pressure will get most companies in compliance.
One suggestion will be that the FDA will be given authority to inspect manufacturers’ records. Sounds scary, maybe, but right now tell me, who knows enough to inform consumers? If manufacturers have to be more open about their practices, consumer watchdog groups can offer their expert analysis too.
In the New England Journal of Medicine last month, physicians Donald M. Marcus of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Arthur P. Grollman of State University of New York at Stony Brook suggested that manufacturers should report adverse effects to the FDA. They also contended that labels should include information about any adverse effects, including herb-drug interactions.
What responsible supplement maker says no to those recommendations? There are plenty of well-intentioned leaders and companies in the supplement marketplace. They truly believe their products can make lives better and healthier. We need to shake out the ones with less-admirable goals. They know who they are and we should, too, even if it means the government has to get involved and budget money has to be wrangled. I know purists at the health-food stores are squirming about now, but e-mail me if you see another way out.
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Speaking of involvement, I continually wonder why no single group of health practitioners has stepped forward as experts.
Naturopathic physicians, who study plant medicine in depth, would be my choice. But only 10 states, not Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan or Iowa, allow them the medical license to provide therapeutic advice about herbs and other supplements.
A logical choice might be nutritionists. Some nutritionists and dietitians have smartly made it a point to know more about supplements–taking clinical courses and even getting advanced degrees–but too many more nutrition professionals are conservative to a fault. Motivated consumers look elsewhere.
Most physicians beg off with a not-enough-time excuse. Pharmacists can be helpful, and some are climbing the herbal learning curve quite swiftly. But they are time-crunched themselves, and it is predicted we are running headlong into a pharmacist shortage.
We’re left with ourselves. That’s not good enough, but it will have to do.