Health comes first. These days, people are seen more concerned about their health and wonder if they should start taking supplements. In conversation with Dietitian Chandramala Awasthi, we get to know much more information about dietary supplements.

  • Could you please briefly let us know, what exactly are supplements?

Answer: In simple words, the products that one consumes in addition to their daily diet, to be healthy and recover from some deficiencies are dietary supplements. A dietary supplement is a product (other than tobacco) intended to supplement the diet that contains one or more of the following ingredients: a vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, an amino acid: a concentrate, metabolite, a constituent, an extract or combination of any of these. 

The FDA defines dietary supplements in part as products taken by mouth that contain a "dietary ingredient." Dietary ingredients include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs or botanicals, as well as other substances that can be used to supplement the diet. Dietary supplements come in many forms, including tablets, capsules, powders, energy bars, and liquids. 

  • Are supplements necessary to include in our diet plan?

Answer: The answer is both Yes and No. For an active healthy individual who eats a balanced diet, supplements are of no use but if you are diagnosed with some kind of deficiency in terms of nutrients supplements become necessary. People suffering from chronic illness, recovering from long-term disease, malnourished individuals, and those who are poor and didn’t have access to a healthy balanced diet often are deficient in one or more nutrients which leads to further complications in health. So, take supplements only if necessary and if regular food is insufficient to provide adequate nutrients for you.

 

  • Do supplements work? How do we know if it is working or not?

Answer: Unlike drugs, dietary supplements don’t cure, prevent or treat disease conditions but are meant to supplement you with some nutrients which will help achieve good health. Dietary Supplements must go through some testing by an authoritative body to prove their safety and effectiveness, only after that, we can trust them. 

If you are taking some kind of supplement, your body will tell you if it’s working or not, the purpose of taking that particular pill should be met which is one obvious sign of its effectiveness. Various kinds of clinical and laboratory tests will help you to know if your supplements are working or not.

 

  • Can people get the side effects from taking supplements?

Answer: Taking any dietary supplement without having complete information about them and our health can be risky. Not all supplements have side effects but they do contain some active ingredients which have a strong biological effect on our body and may be harmful in various health conditions.

 

  • Does one have to consult the doctor before starting taking supplements?

Answer: Yes, consulting with your doctor or a dietitian before taking any supplement is necessary especially if you are on regular medications. Your doctor will help you understand whether that supplement is going to interfere with the medicine you are taking or not and whether it’s safe or not. Your Dietitian will help you to achieve a balance between food and nutrients so you need to consult them before starting on any supplement.

 

  • How do we know if we require supplements? 

Answer: The body has various ways of communicating with us; if we are having some deficiencies the body will signal us with various symptoms. Common vitamin and mineral deficiency signs can be brittle hair and nail, pain over various parts of the body, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, mouth ulcers, bleeding gums, very dry skin, hair, and various others. If you are feeling easily tired, fatigued, have difficulty with indigestion, loss of appetite you should consult with your doctor and s/he will recommend you if to have any supplement or not.

 

  • In Nepal, how often do you encounter people taking supplements?

Answer: People in Nepal are not far –behind in following the new trends that are popular to the rest of the world thanks to social media. People easily believe in stuff that promises them good health, youthfulness, and longer life so Nepalese people are also often found taking various kinds of supplements on a regular basis. Spending money on expensive supplements is usually seen in the people who usually have a higher level of education and income.

 

  • People often confuse supplements with vitamins, could you please clarify that?

Answer: Vitamin is a general term used by people to describe everything and anything that they consider helpful for our body. People often call water a vitamin because it is good for our health! Regarding supplements as mentioned above, they come in various forms and have various nutrients. Vitamin is just one nutrient type that we find in the form of supplements. Some examples of supplements are Calcium, Zinc, Selenium, Iron, Amino acids, fish oil, probiotics, etc. all of these aren’t vitamins.

 

  • Do you have any interesting stories that you have come across, being a nutritionist, relating to supplements?

Answer: Not a particular story but since I have been working as a dietitian for eight years now, I have come across people of various walks of life who have their own unique beliefs about food nutrients and their health. I have observed that people easily follow trends about dietary supplements which they have heard to be beneficial. People don’t hesitate to pay heavy amounts on such pills and powder which have been advertised to be a superfood. Some people easily trust herbal concoctions or anything that claims to be herbal is very safe and magical. One such trend was seen during the recent pandemic when people were taking leaves and stems of some particular plant thinking that it’s the only thing that will protect them. Later on, we have seen those regular users suffering from health ailments that were mild to severe. People also have a habit of overdoing things, thinking if one is good more will be better.