Your Supplement Questions, Answered

When it comes to taking your vitamins, minerals, fish oils, probiotics, and other supplements, you have questions. Lots of them! Questions like, What’s the best time of day to take them? Can you take them all at once? What’s the best place to store them? We heard you. We turned to Tieraona Low Dog, MD, author of Fortify Your Life: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and More, for answers to some of your most common queries.

- Tieraona Low Dog, MD

How can I be sure I’m buying a quality supplement? Stick with reputable brands manufactured in the U.S. Most of the really disturbing news about “supplements” is not about vitamins, minerals, or common nutritional supplements, which generally contain what they claim on their labels. Steer clear of herbal products coming out of China and India that have been found on numerous occasions to be adulterated with undeclared prescription drugs, as well as containing high levels of lead, mercury, an/or arsenic.

Also, look for third-party seals such as the United States Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit scientific organization that sets standards for the identity, strength, quality, and purity of dietary supplements manufactured, distributed, and consumed worldwide; NSF International, an independent organization of scientists and public health experts that sets standards for supplements and tests and certifies them; and Consumer Labs, a private company that tests numerous branded products and allows companies that pass its quality tests to use its seal.

How do I know label claims are accurate?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict rules about what companies can say about supplements. Manufacturers can claim that a supplement supports general well-being or the normal structure or function of the human body. For instance, such statements as “Calcium builds strong bones” or “Antioxidants maintain cell integrity” are permitted. However, labels (and advertisements) cannot claim that a supplement treats or cures diseases. So, while there are randomized controlled trials that demonstrate the herb St. John’s wort is effective for the treatment of depression, for example, a manufacturer cannot say this on the label. Instead, the label would have to say something like, “St. John’s wort supports a healthy mood.”