Dietary supplements & non-prescription drugs can be found at any stores. You may also find specific branded stores for selling supplements & weight loss pills. Such supplements & pills claim to give you energy booster to reach your goal faster. So far such claims are true?
Let us dig into this through this blog.
Most fitness folks easily fall prey to these supplements & weight loss/fat burner pills since fat loss & weight loss journey is difficult & can be really frustrating. Sustainable & long term weight loss is a tough nut to crack & requires a lot of hard work, patience & perseverance. However, fitness aspirants are quick to follow advertisements showing thin models holding fat burner supplements, making them believe that they have an easy & short cut way of achieving their weight loss goals. However, this is just a myth since weight loss is a short period of time is dangerous & has far fetched effects.
Such supplements that can alter your body health even at moderate level has capacity of hurting your body in the long term. Only drugs recommended by health professionals are safe to consume.
Food & drugs act(FDA) is meant to protect us from false & misleading information on the packaging of product can potentially confuse & be harmful for safety of those consuming it. Most of the supplements sold in the United States & Canada does not explicitly require to prove that the product is safe to be consumed. This is because most of the supplements are put into product & not drug category. So until & unless any supplement is claiming to cure any disease, it can easily move into the market unnoticed.
So how can such products trick the customer:
- Advertising & Media claiming that product helps in weight loss or any other health benefit however the same is not listed as intended use of product.
- Using synonyms of Natural claiming product as organic & natural & avoiding flagged words that require proof of ingredient source.
- Finding traces of other drugs in the product that may have that efforts making you believe the claim.
The effectiveness of supplements is questionable. Although, some of the supplements such as calcium, Omega-3 & Vitamin-D may help in a good way such as giving strong bones, reducing bone loss & possibility of heart disease. However many supplements contain strong active ingredients that have strong effects on your body. Such supplements can have side effects when consumed with a prescribed medicine or taking supplements in combination. Dietary supplements can also interact with certain prescribed drugs in ways that can create complications.
Please consider that some of the ingredients in these supplements are added to a number of foods such as cereals & beverages that will give you more of them than you think & more might not be better. It is not only expensive but can also increase the risk of side effects. For example getting Vitamin-A in excess can create headache, lead to liver damage, reduce bone strength & cause birth defects. Never consider replacing real food & diet with supplements since body has a tolerance limit for vitamins & minerals. Beyond a particular limit, it is not healthy & safe for your body to consume more. Always focus on getting these macro nutrients from daily food intake.
If you can see change happening in small period of time by taking supplements, it is a wakeup call. You cannot sustain on supplements for your whole life. Focus on a mix of exercises & nutrient rich diet to build up muscle & get a fitter body rather than shelling $ 75 -$80 every month on Whey Protein.
Be cautious of supplements such as Creatine which acts as energy boost & provides energy for muscle contractions. However it has huge negative impacts on live, stomach & kidney. When you start taking this supplement regularly, you body stops producing ATP on its own.
Be cautious about taking dietary if you are pregnant & even more cautious when giving it to child. Most dietary supplements have not been tested for safety for pregnant women & nursing mothers.
Key takeaways
Don’t decide to take dietary supplements without consulting a health care provider.
- Don’t take supplements in place of, or in combination with, prescribed medications without consulting your healthcare provider.
- A supplement’s safety depends on many things, such as its chemical makeup, how it works in the body & how it is prepared
- Before taking a dietary supplement, ask yourself these questions:
- What are the health benefits of this dietary supplement product?
- Does this product have any safety risks?
- How, when, and for how long should I take it?
