Why Americans Need Information on Dietary Supplements

Why dietary supplements?

Why US adults use dietary supplements.

BACKGROUND Dietary supplements are used by more than half of adults, although to our knowledge, the reasons motivating use have not been previously examined in US adults using nationally representative data. The purpose of this analysis was to examine motivations for dietary supplement use, characterize the types of products used for the most commonly reported motivations, and to examine the ro...

What you need to know about dietary supplements.

Herbs and botanicals are used by a large number of people in the United States and have been used therapeutically in Europe for decades. Consumers are becoming more interested and subsequently better informed on the use of herbs to self-treat minor illness. Unfortunately, because of conflicting and anecdotal information, variable potency, and the widespread availability of herbs, many home care...

Dietary supplements.

For the athlete training hard, nutritional supplements are often seen as promoting adaptations to training, allowing more consistent and intensive training by promoting recovery between training sessions, reducing interruptions to training because of illness or injury, and enhancing competitive performance. Surveys show that the prevalence of supplement use is widespread among sportsmen and wom...

Dietary supplements for osteoarthritis.

A large number of dietary supplements are promoted to patients with osteoarthritis and as many as one third of those patients have used a supplement to treat their condition. Glucosamine-containing supplements are among the most commonly used products for osteoarthritis. Although the evidence is not entirely consistent, most research suggests that glucosamine sulfate can improve symptoms of pai...