What are dietary supplements? And what do they do? Dietary supplements are products meant to supplement your diet when you consume them. They include amino acids, enzymes, herbals and botanicals, minerals, vitamins, and many more. You can take them in capsules, liquids, powders, tablets, and even energy bars.
Most of us take them at various points in our lives. Most commonly, we take vitamins and pills that are meant to improve our health by adding nutrients. Is it all good stuff, though? Not entirely. Supplements are more complicated than many people think. They are nearly as complex as our biological systems themselves. Our team has taken a look at the pros and cons of taking supplements and listed them below for you. Let us know in the comments of any supplements you recommend.

Pros:

Increases physical performance   

Do you get tired too easily when trying to take jogs outside? Supplements can improve muscle strength, endurance, and general physical performance. Many athletes take them regularly to improve performance. You may recall past stories about athletes using performance-enhanced drugs to perform well, but we mean supplements in moderation, not drugs in excess.

Prevents diseases and illnesses

Reasonable amounts of nutrients do prevent diseases and illnesses. For example, Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, can prevent the flu, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, as well as anxiety and depression. Given the almost constant cloud cover that many parts of North America have seen this spring, taking vitamin D supplements would especially be helpful.

Cons:

They are not regulated as much as drugs

Compared to drugs, people who manufacture supplements do not have to prove that they are effective or healthy. For example, a manufacturer may advertise on a label that it can make you lose weight naturally. However, manufacturers are not required to take one themselves to see if there is a real cause and effect between the product and losing weight.
With drugs, on the other hand, manufacturers strictly test them in numerous ways to see if there is a correlation between taking medication and its desired effects.

Can be toxic if you don’t take them carefully

Although this may not apply to all supplements, the general rule is not to take more products than a label recommends. Also, don’t take a variety of supplements or replace prescription drugs with them. Doing so can cause side effects which include, but are not limited to, blurred vision, drowsiness, lower bone strength, headaches, liver damage, nausea, swelling, and vomiting.
Also, if you take supplements around the same time as medications, they can mix, which may cause side effects or decrease the effectiveness of the medicine. For example, if you take melatonin and vitamins that are not particularly useful, you could find that melatonin may not help you sleep as easily.

Other things to consider:

Although supplements provide multiple health benefits, you should not replace other healthy habits with them. For example, vitamin E may prevent severe sunburns in hot weather because of relatively moist skins, but we recommend you do not let vitamin E take over sunscreen. Similarly, vitamin C tablets should not replace fruits and vegetables.
Secondly, regardless of how effective people may advertise certain products to be, some brands will be more beneficial than others.
Lastly, young children with weak immune systems, pregnant women, and nursing mothers should especially be cautious about taking some supplements as they are more prone to illness.

And so:

Many dietary supplements are healthy and safe to take, but others can be risky, particularly when you overtake them. Read the labels, notice what brands are useful, take them in moderation, and you should be fine. If you are unsure, ask your doctor, family members, or friends about their knowledge of specific brands.