The health benefits associated with pomegranate juice have led to the development of pomegranate extracts as botanical dietary supplements. Pomegranates contain hydrolyzable tannins in the form of punicalagins and punicalin as well as tannin-based complex oligomers that account for much of the antioxidant activity in juice. The content of ellagic acid has been used to standardize most pomegrana...

Today in the United States there is a high demand and correspondingly a huge market for dietary supplements. Accordingly, any regulatory policy in the area of dietary supplements has the potential to affect a large portion of the population. About sixty percent of Americans take dietary supplements in one form or another. The results of a recent American Dietetic Association survey indicate tha...

The gastrointestinal tract digests and absorbs dietary nutrients, protects the body against physical and chemical damage from contents in its lumen, provides immunity against external antigens, and keeps an optimum environment for the gut microbiota. These functions cannot be performed normally in several diseases of which the following are discussed here: irritable bowel syndrome and inflammat...

The use of dietary supplements is increasing globally and this includes the use of plant food supplements (PFS). A variety of factors may be influencing this increased consumption including the increasing number of older people in society, mistrust in conventional medicine and the perception that natural is healthy. Consumer studies in this area are limited, with a focus on dietary supplements ...

To clarify the prevalence of dietary supplement use among college students, we conducted Internet-based nationwide questionnaire surveys with 157,595 Japanese college students aged between 18 to 24 years old who were registrants of Macromill Inc. (Tokyo, Japan). Among the 9066 respondents (response rate 5.8%), 16.8% were currently using dietary supplements. The prevalence of dietary supplement ...

BACKGROUND Dietary supplement use is common in older US adults; however, data on health risks and benefits are lacking for a number of supplements. OBJECTIVE We evaluated whether 10-y average intakes of 13 vitamin and mineral supplements and glucosamine, chondroitin, saw palmetto, Ginko biloba, garlic, fish-oil, and fiber supplements were associated with total mortality. DESIGN We conducted...

BACKGROUND Products made from botanicals that are used to maintain or improve health are known as herbal supplements, botanicals, or phytomedicines. Many herbs have a long history of use and claimed health benefits. However, many herbal supplements and botanicals have potent pharmacologic activity that can contribute to adverse effects and drug interactions. The use of herbal supplements by can...

In herbalism, botanical supplements are commonly believed to be safe remedies, however, botanical supplements and dietary ingredients interact with transport and metabolic processes, affecting drug disposition. Although a large number of studies have described that botanical supplements interfere with drug metabolism, the mode of their interaction with drug transport processes is not well descr...

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with excessive consumption of dietary supplements among professionals working at gyms in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. METHODS: this is a cross-sectional study with all local fitness professionals identified in 2012; excessive consumption of dietary supplements was defined as the use of three or more types of suppleme...

Commercial dietary supplements are marketed as a panacea for the morbidly obese seeking sustainable weight-loss. Unfortunately, many claims cited by supplements are unsupported and inadequately regulated. Most concerning, however, are the associated harmful side effects, often unrecognized by consumers. Garcinia cambogia extract and Garcinia cambogia containing products are some of the most pop...