5 common supplement questions shoppers ask
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The answer to this question depends on two things: the supplement and the expected outcome. For example, joint-health ingredients glucosamine and chondroitin usually take six to eight weeks before they start to work. Melatonin, on the other hand, generally starts to work within the first week or even the first day.
That depends, says Michael Holick, PhD, MD, author of The Vitamin D Solution (Penguin, 2010), For example, vitamin D is stored in fat cells so you don’t have to take it every day. Maintenance supplements, however, such as multivitamins, calcium or ginseng, should be taken daily—as should any supp taken for long-term therapeutic effects. “There are some supplements that may be used acutely for specific effects, and those don’t have to be taken on a daily basis,” says Bruno. “For example, valerian taken for better sleep or L-theanine taken for stress relief generally do not need to be taken daily.”
Yes, some of them can. St. John’s wort is the most common example. This popular herb is often taken for mild depression, but it can also increase the metabolism of or reduce the blood concentrations of many prescribed drugs. For example, St. John’s wort may increase the metabolism of oral contraceptive estrogens, prolong narcotic-induced sleep time, change the effects of some antihypertensive drugs and decrease the effects of Xanax, says Gene Bruno, provost at Huntington College of Health Sciences. As you can see, it is vital that customers discuss use of St. John’s wort with a physician if he/she is prescribed pharmaceuticals of any kind. Most other medicinal herbs—including echinacea, garlic, gingko, ginseng, goldenseal and milk thistle—don’t regularly interfere with prescribed medications; in 2012 German researchers concluded that these six botanicals produce no adverse effects when interacting with pharmaceuticals. Foods can interact with prescribed medications, too. The most notorious example is grapefruit juice, which inhibits the liver detoxification of certain drugs in the intestines and—to a lesser extent in the liver—making them more powerful. Another problem, however, is that some prescribed drugs can interfere with or deplete the body of some essential nutrients. A common example is statins, which are taken to lower cholesterol levels. Some research suggests that statins deplete the body of coenzyme Q10.
The old-school Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and its updated equivalents, the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) and Daily Value (DV), all mean the same thing: the minimum amount of a nutrient the general population needs to stave off a deficiency disease. For example, most healthy people need 90 mg per day of vitamin C in order to not get scurvy.
We asked Michael Murray, ND, author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (Atria, 2012) for recommended intake levels of important nutrients. Murray advises reading labels to find a multivitamin formula that contains vitamins and minerals in these ranges. “Be aware that you will not find a formula that provides all of these nutrients at these levels in one pill—it would simply be too big. You would need to take at least three to six tablets per day to meet all these levels,” Murray says. “While many one-a-day supplements provide good levels of vitamins, they tend to be insufficient in minerals. Your body needs the minerals just as much as it needs the vitamins—the two work hand-in-hand.” Here are optimum intake ranges to guide shoppers in selecting a high-quality multivitamin.
Shoppers have lots of questions about supplements, as they should. After all, being a savvy consumer means learning as much as possible about products before making a purchasing decision. While you may never have all the answers to your customers' questions, here's some information to help you address some of the most common ones. For a full crash course on supplements, head over to Delicious Living's supplement guide.
Shoppers have lots of questions about supplements, as they should. After all, being a savvy consumer means learning as much as possible about products before making a purchasing decision. While you may never have all the answers to your customers' questions, here's some information to help you address some of the most common ones. For a full crash course on supplements, head over to Delicious Living's supplement guide.
5 common supplement questions shoppers ask
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