Dietary Supplement Use In The United States Prevalence Trends Pros And Cons

This fact sheet by the office of dietary supplements ods provides information that should not take the place of medical advice.

Dietary supplement use in the united states prevalence trends pros and cons. Dietary supplement use in the united states. According to the 2012 national health interview survey which included questions on americans use of natural products dietary supplements other than vitamins and minerals almost 18 percent of adults and about 5 percent of children used these products in 2012. Yet many herbal supplements may interact with prescription medications including some used to prevent or treat heart disease. The phenomenon is already visible in the vitamin and dietary supplement business where purchases have grown by 6 percent annually from 2007 2012 much of this coming from eye bone and joint supplements.

A dietary supplement is not represented as a conventional food or a sole item of a meal or the diet. A dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake e g enzymes or tissues from organs or glands or a concentrate metabolite constituent or extract. But research suggests that most don t tell their doctors about this use even those who also take prescription medications. Adults report taking supplements.

According to the dietary supplement health and education act dshea of 1994 dietary supplements are products intended to supplement the diet to enhance health and include vitamins minerals amino acids herbs and other botanicals. When you think of the growth in the fitness industry and the increasing attention americans are paying to health it seems counter intuitive but the number of people on a diet in the united states is steadily decreasing. Americans just don t diet like they used to. Since the peak of 31 of the population in 1991 there has been a decline to only 19 in 2014.

That is in the united states alone a pretty impressive number. Pros and cons of dietary supplements according to the 2010 supplement business report published by the nutrition business journal dietary supplements are a 27 billion dollar industry. As of 2012 consumers 65 and older accounted for 36 percent of u s. Vmhs sales a trend that is expected to continue for the foreseeable.

About half of u s. Despite potential health concerns herbal supplements remain popular in the united states where the overall market for dietary supplements reached an estimated 32 5 billion in sales in 2012 according to a paper published in the journal of nutrition.