Intermountain Health Experts Suggest Parsing out the Efficacy from the Allure of Dietary Supplements

A quick trip down the health-food aisle of any grocery store, or a simple scroll through social media and one thing is clear — the dietary supplements industry is alive and well.

“This is a booming industry in the United States,” said Sara Fausett, clinical and outpatient dietitian for Intermountain Cedar City Hospital. “The marketing on this is amazing and it sells very well. It’s very persuasive and you can bet they are making a killing on these products.”

Protein powders, ground up greens, probiotics and pills, patches, and liquid drops of every vitamin imaginable, it can be overwhelming to say the least. And with all the vials and bottles one has to wonder — are all these supplements really necessary? And are they all created equal?

In order to answer these questions, Fausett draws on years of experience as a registered dietitian, as well as hours of coursework studying specific nutrients and the science behind how the body utilizes vitamins and minerals. Her best advice to the general population is to get accurate, up-to-date information from a dietitian and a pharmacist, not just an online influencer, and in some cases, not even just the patient’s physician.

“Some of these supplements may not play nicely with other medications and that can be dangerous,” Fausett said. “At the very least, some of these may make certain medications less effective.”

While Fausett said there is certainly a place for a good, multi vitamin or prenatal vitamin in most people’s lives, and there are special circumstances when certain vitamin supplements can be helpful, there are criteria people need to consider when adding a supplement to their diet. The first is — have you tried getting that nutrient from food instead?

“People tend to want to use a pill to get the answers, but 9 times out of 10, your nutrition is best absorbed through your food,” Fausett said. “This could be as simple as choosing a peach as a snack instead of a candy bar.”

For more specific questions regarding medications and supplements, Fausett highly recommends speaking with a pharmacist to see if, for example, the patient’s statin medication will interact well with a CoQ10 supplement.

“It’s so common for things like this to be recommended together, but you need to check with a pharmacist to see if they are going to interact well,” she said.

Another example are patients with anemia who are taking Iron and vitamin C supplements. The type of iron may have an impact on how much a vitamin C supplement will aid in iron absorption.

“It’s incredibly complicated,” Fausett said. “When you start looking at supplements you’re playing with a lot of chemistry. It’s better to talk to a professional to figure some of these things out.”

Whether a person is interested in supplements for reasons related to overall health, fitness, or beauty, there are a few questions Fausett said everyone should ask before climbing on board the bandwagon.

“First, do you actually need it,” Fausett said. “I’m not talking about wanting it, or purchasing it out of fear or panic, but deep in the bottom of your heart is this going to help you feel better?”

The second is to determine if the product has been third-party tested. Since supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, having a stamp of approval from an independent certification program like NSF or UPS (United States Pharmacopeia) can help ensure the product actually contains what it claims to contain.

From there, Fausett said, it’s time to check your list of supplements against your list of medications with a dietitian and pharmacist. After that, it comes down to an individual gut check.

“Check in with yourself when you are calm and decide whether or not the supplement is worth the experiment,” Fausett said. “In some cases, the supplements may actually help. In other cases, you’re paying a lot of money for something your body will eliminate as waste.”

More often than not, the answers people are seeking to improve their health are more straight forward than the supplement industry wants people to believe. Eating a well-balanced diet and maintaining regular exercise is still the best way to get results.

“Most people know the answers, but they’re boring. They’re not flashy and they take time to work,” Fausett said. “That’s why supplements are so alluring.”

Alluring, but expensive. Which is why Fausett said it’s important to find out whether or not your supplements of choice are truly effective.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.