BACKGROUND Use of dietary supplements during pregnancy may give an important contribution to nutrient intake, and for nutrients like folate and vitamin D supplements are recommended. Our objective was to study use and contribution of dietary supplement to nutrient intake among women participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). METHODS This study is based on 40,108 wome...

Dietary supplements are extensively used in the United States, especially by people age 50 and over. Surveys have shown that magazines and other news media are an important source of information about nutrition and dietary supplements for the American public. It is uncertain, however, whether magazines provide their readers with adequate information about the safety aspects of supplement use. T...

OBJECTIVES To review the use, benefits and adverse effects of the main dietary supplements consumed by adolescents. SOURCES The literature review was performed using MEDLINE and LILACS databases (1997-2008). We analyzed 377 articles, and 52 of them were selected as references. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS Consumption of dietary supplements is widely spread among adolescents. This habit has often...

BACKGROUND There has been little knowledge about dietary supplementation by the Chinese elderly. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the usage of dietary supplements by older adults in southern China. METHODS A total of 600 community-dwelling older adults were recruited from the outpatient clinics of three major hospitals in Foshan city between July 2007 and July 2008. Fa...

BACKGROUND The use of alternative therapies like herbs and dietary supplements is very common among hypertensive and diabetic patients all over the globe. Hypertension is a silent disease that causes increase in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, renal morbidity and mortality whereas diabetic complications cause heart attack, stroke, blindness and kidney disease. These are serious and chronic met...

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...

OBJECTIVE Half the US population takes dietary supplements, but surveillance systems available to regulatory and public health authorities to determine whether specific dietary supplements present a risk are inadequate and numerous severe injuries and deaths have occurred from their consumption. Uniformed military personnel regularly use dietary supplements and are more likely to use potentiall...

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...