Dietary Supplements: Are You Wasting Your Money?


DSHEA. If you're not familiar with it, you could be wasting your hard earned money and time on the supplements you're consuming. DSHEA stands for Dietary Supplement Health Education Act of 1994, which basically prevents the FDA from regulating dietary supplements. Instead, manufacturers are responsible for ensuring their own products are safe for consumption and that product claims are backed by scientific evidence (http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/default.htm). That means you are entrusting a company that exists to maximize its own profits to provide you with a quality, safe, and effective supplement instead of an adulterated product.

For more information, watch this segment of a documentary exposing common practices in the supplement industry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vxrTMYXpZo.

A solution to this issue is third party certification, which is when an independent company inspects a supplement manufacturer's production process and labeling for safety and accuracy. Examples of third party certifiers are NSF (http://www.nsf.org/services/by-industry/dietary-supplements/) and USP (http://www.usp.org/dietary-supplements/overview). Look for their seals on whatever supplement you are planning to purchase.



While some manufacturers may in fact produce quality products without third party certification, a company that does participate in third party certification is dedicated to proving to consumers its products are safe and effective. Buying from a company without third party certification is analogous to taking a professional athlete at his or her word that he or she will not use performance enhancing drugs. We use independent testing agencies to police our athletes, so why would you trust a dietary supplement manufacturer to police themselves?

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