Supplements—this word seems so innocent and sounds so unthreatening. However, it is cause for much concern.
Generally, supplements are substances people take in order to either add nutrients to their diet or lower their risk of developing certain medical conditions such as osteoporosis, arthritis, among others. These substances usually come in form of tablets, capsules, gel, powder, extracts or liquids. They might contain vitamins, minerals, fibre, herbs or other plants and they often don’t require a doctor’s prescription to be bought.
Undoubtedly, for some people, their doctor may recommend a supplement where they don’t get sufficient vitamins and minerals from their daily diet. But over the cause of the years, there has been an alarming trend. Many people have replaced healthy and balanced diet with supplements. This is highly erroneous. Supplements should never be taken in the place of proper diet. The food we eat is meant to supply the body with the necessary vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and as such, the body will always need nutrition gotten from food and nothing should replace it.
Others have replaced medical care with supplements. This is another alarming misconception. This is most likely due to some of the “miracles” which some of these supplements are advertised to perform. In the case of supplements, the saying which goes “when something seems too good to be true, it probably is”, stands true.
Many others have also taken to combining supplements with their medication without first consulting their doctor or health care providers. This can be dangerous as certain ingredients are not to be combined and may either worsen the person’s condition, or undermine the treatment.
Yet a number of people now view supplements as an all-in-one preventive measure against all ailments.
The ads which a majority of the companies producing these supplements utilize, have unfortunately fuelled these wrong beliefs. Some promise that the supplements would keep people from getting sick or prevent them from developing a particular medical condition. Some even go as far as promising to prolong the lives of people. Sadly, there is usually little or no scientific research undertaken before these claims are paraded before people. The ads are designed with the aim of making as much economic gain as possible. The companies are very rarely driven out of concern for the health and well being of people. The influencers and promoters of the supplements are often well compensated to dish out all manner of “wonders” done by these supplements. Many of these promoters are people who are well liked or popular enough to draw a crowd and as such, people would be more inclined to go for supplements which have purportedly been tested and proven by celebrities. Funny enough, some of these companies even go as far as recruiting medical doctors (who should know better than to promote supplements) to further promote their products. The idea behind this tactic is that there is greater confidence in a product if a medical personnel vouches for it. And where there is greater confidence, automatically there would be a hike in sales.
It is true that a few of these supplements may be helpful which is why it is best to seek the advice of your doctor or health care provider first. However, many of these supplements could turn out to be harmful or on the other hand, be of no health value whatsoever to the person.
What people fail to understand is that they have so much more to benefit from effecting healthy adjustments. These adjustments may include such things as including healthier and richer foods in their diet, excluding junk, reducing fatty foods, including fruits, vegetables and roughages, and replacing a sedentary lifestyle with a more active and intentional lifestyle. These adjustments are usually cheaper than many supplements which people purchase. In addition to being cheaper, they have been medically proven beyond doubt to yield great results.
Research is yet to ascertain whether many supplements are altogether safe and useful. Sadly, the power of drug regulatory agencies mostly doesn’t extend to evaluating or screening these supplements. The companies that produce these supplements therefore often bear the responsibility of ensuring that the supplements they produce are safe. These companies are majorly profit driven who will employ all possible means to ensure that these supplements are sold therefore, there is most times no guarantee that these supplements even contain the ingredients they are labelled to contain. There is also no guarantee that the supplements are capable of doing what they purport to do.
The danger is, if this trend continues, supplements may completely replace medication, medical consultation and attention thereby promoting self diagnosis, self medication and home remedies. Where people rather than seeking the necessary medical attention, would prefer to ply themselves with various supplements giving ridiculous assurances of healing and or prevention. Medical personnel are trained in the science of the body and there are different specializations for different parts or systems of the body. This is much proof that the body is complex therefore it is highly necessary for each part to be studied as a whole. An easy example is headache, a seemingly simple ailment. In one person, a headache may just be a headache. In another person, a headache may be a symptom of another ailment. Yet in a third person, a headache may be a symptom of an ailment quite different from that of the second person. These can only be determined if people go in for medical consultation bearing in mind that no two body systems are the same. Further, medication meant for Mr. A shouldn’t be automatically used by Mr. B simply because they both seem to have the same symptoms. Note that it is possible for the same person to have the same symptoms at different times and end up being diagnosed with different ailments each time. This is just to show how complex our body system is.
A powerful tool that can be employed to successfully combat the mounting complications from this economic driven phenomenon, is frequent, thorough and widespread medical education. When medical professionals take out time to carefully explain the meaning, uses and dangers of supplements to the general public, I believe that this impending pandemic can be stopped.
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