Category Archives: Food Supplements

Researchers have found that nutrients from food may be linked to lower risks of death, while excess intake of certain supplements may have the opposite effect.

Taking supplements leads to an increased level of total nutrient intake.

Dietary supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, and enzymes.

Suppliers sell them in different forms, including tablets, capsules, powders, and liquids.

Common dietary supplements include calcium, fish oil, and vitamin D.

Dietary supplements should not replace complete meals, which are essential to nurturing the body. Talking to healthcare providers before making the decision about whether to take supplements is a good practice. Doctors can help people achieve a balance between nutrients from food and supplements.

Many supplements also contain active ingredients that may have strong biological effects. Any of the following actions could be harmful or even life-threatening: combining supplements, mixing supplements with medicines, or taking too much of some supplements, especially vitamin A, vitamin D, and iron.

When buying supplements in the United States, it is important to read labels and get information about the manufacturer. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are responsible for taking action against any adulterated or misbranded supplements but not before the products are available on the market.

According to the 2018 consumer survey conducted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), consumer confidence in products and trust in the dietary supplement industry is strong among people in the U.S.

The survey found that 75 percent of U.S. individuals take dietary supplements, as opposed to just 65 percent in 2009.

This years data provide further evidence that dietary supplements are mainstays in modern-day health and wellness regimens, explains Brian Wommack, the senior vice president of communications at the CRN.

Vitamin and mineral supplements such as vitamin D and calcium remain the most popular types. However, the use of herbals and botanicals especially turmeric has significantly increased during the past 5 years.

The main reason that U.S. individuals take dietary supplements is overall health and wellness, according to the survey.

Although many people use dietary supplements, a recent study found that multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin C showed no advantage or added risk in the prevention of cardiovascular disease or premature death.

However, folic acid alone and B vitamins with folic acid may reduce the risk of heart disease.

The team, from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Medford, MA, conducted a study to evaluate the association between dietary supplement use and all-cause mortality. The researchers have published their results in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

As potential benefits and harms of supplement use continue to be studied, points out senior study author Fang Fang Zhang, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, some studies have found associations between excess nutrient intake and adverse outcomes, including increased risk of certain cancers.

The study used data from more than 27,000 U.S. adults and assessed whether adequate or excess nutrient intake was linked to all-cause mortality, and whether results changed if the nutrients came from supplements instead of food.

For each nutrient, the scientists calculated the daily supplement dose by combining the frequency with the product information for ingredient, the amount of ingredient per serving, and ingredient unit.

They assessed the participants dietary intake of nutrients from foods using 24-hour dietary recalls and mortality outcomes through the National Death Index through December 31, 2011.

There were several key findings:

In addition to the harmful effects of excess calcium intake from supplements, the researchers found that people with no sign of vitamin D deficiency who use vitamin D supplements may have an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Further research on this potential connection is necessary.

Our results support the idea that, while supplement use contributes to an increased level of total nutrient intake, there are beneficial associations with nutrients from foods that arent seen with supplements.

Fang Fang Zhang, Ph.D.

Zhang adds that it is important to understand the effect that the nutrient and source might play on health and mortality outcomes especially if not beneficial.

She also notes some limitations in the study, including the duration of dietary supplement use studied and the fact that dietary supplement use was subject to recall bias.

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Is it better to get nutrients from food or supplements?

A famous animated crab once sang, The seaweed is always greener in somebody elses lake. But you dont have to be a musically gifted crustacean to reap the benefits of sea moss which offers a bevy of potential health benefits.

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Sea moss is a type of red algae also known as Irish moss (or Chondrus crispus, if you want to get formal about it). Its harvested for its carrageenan, an ingredient used to thicken milk products like ice cream, but its also available raw and in supplement form think pills, powders, gels and gummies.

Registered dietitianBeth Czerwony, MS, RD, CSOWM, LD,weighs in on sea mosss benefits and side effects, so you can decide whether this spiny sea vegetable deserves a place in your diet.

First things first: There seem to be quite a few health benefits of sea moss, but they arent heavily studied, Czerwony warns, and sea moss supplements are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Theres plenty of research data on the health benefits of seaweed, sea mosss cousin just not on sea moss specifically. Still, its considered generally safe for consumption, and the benefits align with those of other seaweeds.

Seaweed is a bit of a superfood. It has a higher fiber content than most vegetables which is a good thing, as fiber has all kinds of positive effects on the body. It can improve blood sugar control, help lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

Studies show that sea moss may help lower bad cholesterol, which is one of the factors for heart disease, Czerwony says. It has also been shown to help lower blood pressure, another key factor in heart health.

Remember how much fiber seaweed has? High-fiber foods are filling foods, which means they may keep you from overeating. Fiber keeps us fuller longer, which may help with weight control, Czerwony says.

Iodine is one of the keys to a healthy thyroid, but because your body doesnt make iodine on its own, you can only get it through diet. (Most people, however, get enough iodine from dairy products, seafood and iodized salt.)

Your digestive system is full of bacteria, some good and some bad. And because gut health is associated with overall health, balancing out those bacteria is an important element of your wellness. Algae, including sea moss, is a good source of fiber and live bacteria. It can help replenish the good bacteria in our gut, Czerwony says.

One study showed Atlantic salmon that ate sea moss to have a more efficient immune response than salmon that didnt. Of course, fish and people have very different bodies, and no similar studies have yet proven the same effect on humans.

Still, a healthy gut is associated with a healthy immune system. And sea moss is also high in iron and antioxidants, which both contribute to immune health.

Sea moss is rich in an amino acid called taurine, which helps with muscle-building. When we exercise, we get little micro-tears in our muscles, Czerwony explains, but amino acids can help with that recovery.

Sea moss also has about 6 grams of protein per 100 grams, an exercise staple. Just dont rely solely on sea moss for exercise recovery! Youve still got to make sure youre getting enough healthy food, hydration, rest, etc.

Sea moss is mostly thought to be healthy, though it contains inconsistent amounts of both good nutrients and some less healthy stuff (which well get to in a moment).

Sea moss is a product of its environment, so its nutritional value depends largely on where its grown, Czerwony says. Unfortunately, theres no real way to know exactly whats in it or how much, and one batch may have higher potency than the next one.

Sea moss is associated with two key risks.

Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing, as is the case with iodine. In fact, endocrinologists advise against taking iodine supplements unless specifically indicated by your doctor, as they may actually have a negative effect on your thyroid.

Yikes! Seaweed is known to absorb heavy metals from the water in which it grows. Its not toxic in small amounts, but you definitely dont want to overdo it on seaweed consumption.

Not of risk but still of note is sea mosss slimy texture and fishy taste.

Raw sea moss has an earthy, underwater taste similar to clams and oysters. If you dont like seafood, the flavor of raw sea moss is probably not going to be for you, Czerwony says. Luckily, though, it shouldnt have much of a taste in supplement form.

Taste aside, you may also be put off by sea mosss mouthfeel: In gel form, it has a slick, thick texture similar to aloe vera. If it bothers you, try switching to a different type of supplement.

One study found that 4 grams of sea moss per day is typically safe but you should still check with your healthcare provider before taking it, especially if you already have hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.

Its available the raw, as well as in a variety of supplement forms, including:

Which version you take is up to you. Its really about whatever your preference is, Czerwony says, so long as youre following proper dosing instructions.

But whether youre just taking sea moss supplements or loading up on other types, too, its worth remembering that you cant out-supplement a bad diet.

Sea moss does have potential health benefits, but having a good, varied diet is going to be the most helpful to your body, Czerwony says. Dont depend on supplements.

Continued here:

What Are the Benefits of Sea Moss? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

These days modern life can bring with it a wide range of dietary preferences and restrictions. Many people are on restricted diets due to health conditions, religious reasons, intolerances, and allergies. As a registered dietitian, I believe its important to know the different ways to get the key nutrients your body needs on any diet. What should you consider key nutrients? Well, that really depends person to person. However, overall, iron and calcium should be staples. In the winter time, vitamin C is really important too. And for pregnant women, getting some folate in your diet is a must.

Lets talk Calcium for a moment. For example, if you are lactose intolerant, it may be harder for you to get nutrients through milk and cheese. Both are calcium rich foods and are generally good sources, but if you have an intolerance, youll need to get calcium elsewhere. Some other sources of calcium could include broccoli or poppy seeds.

When it comes to restricted diets, supplements can play an important role. As a dietitian, I always suggest checking with your doctors first, especially for people who have severe deficiencies where food itself may not be enough, which can be the case with iron deficiencies, for example. The same could be the case for someone with a vitamin B12 deficiency. Sometimes people whove been vegan for years tend to be B12 deficient, because its commonly found in meats.

Whenever you eliminate whole food groups, you have to be cognizant about what vitamins and minerals youre getting. It may take more work and planning, but it can be done. Often when we think of eating healthy, people think that means removing fats and carbs from our diets. But the truth is several are healthy and a great source of nutrients. Fruit and yogurt have great nutrients and they are carbs. Whereas avocado and olive oil are nutrient rich fats. Also, calories dont really matter when it comes to vitamins and nutrients. For example, one tablespoon of peanut butter is about 100 calories and it has a ton of nutrients. Just because a food is higher in calories doesnt necessarily mean that it isnt full of needed minerals and nutrients.

Personally, I follow a Kosher diet. Sometimes I also loosely follow parts of a Mediterranean diet by limiting red meat during the week. I intentionally ensure Im getting the vitamins and minerals needed by including healthy fats through poultry and fish during the week. One of my go-to tips for finding foods rich in key vitamins and nutrients is to keep things colorful. A good indicator of whole foods rich in minerals is that they are also rich in color. For example, sweet potatoes rich in orange color are high in vitamin A, and tomatoes are rich in lycopene due to their red color.

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Getting The Vitamins & Minerals You Need On Any Diet - SWAAY

Periodically, bizarre challenges surface and trend on social media, tempting people to try out the latest technique while recording themselves. Some challenges are harmless, but others are potentially dangerous.

One concerning challenge, known as dry scooping, gained popularity on TikTok: Someone takes a scoop of powdered pre-workout supplement mix and attempts to swallow it dry, rather than adding it to liquid.

This isnt an innocuous stunt to pull for a laugh; dry scooping may have dangerous health effects because of the ingredients in pre-workout supplements, including high levels of caffeine.

Dry scooping may trigger health problems ranging from trouble breathing to a heart attack, even among young, healthy people.

Some people who consume a dry scoop of pre-workout mix may accidentally inhale some of the powder, which isnt intended to be swallowed dry. As they attempt to catch their breath, they may cough out powder everywhere. If the powder makes its way to the lungs, they may develop inflammation or an infection.

Other people who dry scoop may experience heart palpitations or other heart-related symptoms because of the high caffeine content of pre-workout powder. One scoop of a typical pre-workout powdered supplement mix may contain the caffeine equivalent of three cups of coffee. Its intended to give someone a boost of energy during a workout. When someone mixes the powder with water, they drink it gradually, which limits the amount of caffeine that they consume all at once. But when someone ingests an entire serving of powder in one mouthful, theyre hit with the caffeine equivalent of multiple cups of coffee in a single wave. This can make the heart pump at an accelerated rate... or worse. This spring, 20-year-old Briatney Portillo, a social media influencer, had a heart attack after dry scooping.

Dry scooping could have a dangerous effect on your heart, because high levels of caffeine might cause heart palpitations, an irregular heartbeat or another cardiac problem, says Joseph Underwood, M.D., chair of emergency medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center. People who are more likely to participate in social media challenges are teens and 20-somethings, and theyre generally young and healthy. They dont expect that copying something funny that they saw online could threaten their well-being, but its possible.

Many companies manufacture pre-workout powders, and the ingredients in each companys products vary somewhat. However, many pre-workout powdered supplements include:

Dietary supplements arent regulated by the Food and Drug Administration the same way that medications are. For this reason, its possible that supplements including pre-workout powder may contain higher or lower levels of ingredients listed on the label, including caffeine.

The two main concerns with dry scooping include breathing difficulties for people who have trouble swallowing the chalky, dry powder and heart-related problems, from excessive levels of caffeine consumed in a short time frame. Possible symptoms include:

You shouldnt participate in social media challenges, especially if the challenge requires you to ingest something in a way that it wasnt intended to be ingested, says TK doctor. It isnt worthwhile to risk your health for the promise of some likes on social media.

The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.

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What Is 'Dry Scooping,' and Why Is It Dangerous? - Hackensack Meridian Health

Sugar cravings are no joke when it comes to interrupting your weight loss journey. Whether you're trying to avoid the post-dinner ice cream or just attempting not to snack on chocolate during the workday, these cravings will sneak up on you in a seemingly unavoidable way.

Thankfully, there are some ways you can help crush these sugar cravings by making sure you're getting enough vital nutrients throughout your day. And sweets-lovers out there may benefit from knowing that magnesium is one of the best supplements you can take for getting rid of cravings.

Continue reading to learn how magnesium supplements or magnesium-rich foods can help your cravings, and for more healthy eating tips, make sure to check out 12 Best Snacks That Crush Hunger Cravings.

First, it may be helpful to understand what magnesium is in general and what it can be used for. This essential mineral, which is not produced by the human body and can only be found in certain foods and supplements, is needed for a multitude of functions across the entire body.

Magnesium is helpful for regulating blood pressure, bone development, and maintaining regular muscle contractions and heart rhythm. If you are deficient in magnesium, you may experience things like nausea, weakness, or vomiting.

One lesser-known benefit of magnesium is its ability to help crush sugar cravings. According to a report from the Journal of Nutrition, people with magnesium deficiencies may find themselves craving chocolate more than usual because of chocolate's high magnesium content.

Considering that a Hershey's Mik Chocolate Bar can have as much as 24 grams of sugar in it, reducing your chocolate cravings can significantly lower your added sugar intake.

Magnesium is also known to help regulate your blood sugar levels, which can help with sugar cravings and a feeling of more satiety after meals.

The best food sources of magnesium include spinach, Swiss chard, pumpkin seeds, almond butter, and Atlantic mackerel. You can also find magnesium in chicken, Greek yogurt, brown rice, wheat bread, and beans, although these contain smaller amounts.

If you feel like you may be deficient in magnesium, or feel like you're unable to curb your intense sugar cravings, it may benefit you to not only eat more of these foods but to buy a magnesium supplement as well.

One possible side effect of taking a magnesium supplement is that it has been known to potentially interfere with certain medications. In order to avoid this, talk to your doctor about taking magnesium with your current medications.

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The #1 Best Supplement to Crush Sugar Cravings, Says Science Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

1. CRN: This is not the final word on NAC

Published in May when Amazon was moving ahead to remove NAC-containing dietary supplements from its website, this article, which pulled in over 80,000 page views, covered CRNs response to the ongoing situation. Fast forward seven months and there has still been no resolution of the issue with FDA continuing to state that it has not yet reached a final decision.

2. FDA seizes adulterated dietary supplements containing kratom worth $1.3 million

Another article from May, this time around the seizure of over 207,000 units of dietary supplements and bulk dietary ingredients containing kratom worth approximately $1.3 million by US Marshals, acting at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"There is substantial concern regarding the safety of kratom, the risk it may pose to public health and its potential for abuse,"said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., the FDA's Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs, at the time of the raid.

3. House Resolution aims to recognize vitamin D's benefits for COVID-19

There has been a lot of interest in the associations between vitamin D status and outcomes of COVID-19, and this article covered the introduction of a resolution in the US House of Representatives to recognize the benefits.

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) introduced the resolution in February to unite the voice of the House of Representatives in the search for additional ways to limit the negative effects of COVID-19 and hopefully encourage our public health establishment to issue much-needed guidance as to truly how effective vitamin D can be in preventing serious symptoms, complications, or death from the coronavirus.

4. Vitamin D supplements linked to increased microbiome diversity

Our reporting on a study published in the Scientific Reports about vitamin Ds potential to beneficially shift the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota in vitamin D-deficient/insufficient, but otherwise healthy, women, was the fourth most read article of 2021.

Commenting independently on the studys findings, Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology and head of Food Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading in the UK, told NutraIngredients-USA: This is a very well-done study showing interesting in vivo results. The positive effects of vitamin D on the micro biome are noteworthy.

Moreover, the trial may have relevant for the current COVID pandemic given that both seem to have an involvement in helping entomology.

5. Judge rules to invalidate two NR patents in win for Elysium Health

Lawsuits and countersuits between New York-based Elysium Health and California-based ChromaDex started back in 2016, and there were a couple of judgements handed down in quick succession in the second half of 2021. Closing out the top five of our most read articles was our coverage of the decision by US Judge Colm Connolly, United States District Court for the District of Delaware, to granted the request from Elysium Health to invalidate two Dartmouth College patents licensed by ChromaDex relating to nicotinamide riboside.

Elysium had been accused on infringing on the two patents - U.S. Patent No. 8,383,086 and U.S. Patent No. 8,197,807. However, Judge Connolly granted Elysiums motion for summary judgement, stating that the patents in question were invalid because nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, is a naturally-occurring vitamin, and therefore patent ineligible (Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank Int 'l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014)).

6. Study: Curcumin extract combats the one-two punch of gut discomfort and anxiety

Curcumin & turmeric remain hot botanicals, and a study published at the start of 2021 found that a daily 500 mg dose of DolCas branded Curcugen ingredient was associated with greater improvements in digestive complaints and anxiety levels in adults with self-reported digestive complaints.

Data from the eight-week study were published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies.

7. Patients with more omega-3s in blood less likely to die from COVID-19, pilot study finds

This pilot study focused on analyzing blood samples from 100 patients treated for COVID-19 at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The samples were analyzed using the OmegaQuant test for the Omega-3 Index, with the results showing that people with highest levels of EPA and DHA in their blood were 75% less likely to die compared with those in the lower three quartiles.

The data was posted on the medRiv portal, and was not peer-reviewed.

Lead author Arash Asher, MD, Director of Cancer Survivorship & Rehabilitation at Cedars-Sinai, said the results are strongly suggestive, and promising.

While not meeting standard statistical significance thresholds, this pilot study along with multiple lines of evidence regarding the anti-inflammatory effects of EPA and DHA strongly suggests that these nutritionally available marine fatty acids may help reduce risk for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Larger studies are clearly needed to confirm these preliminary findings, he said.

8. Study: Vitamin D levels associated with depressive symptoms

Vitamin D made another appearance in our most-read article list, this time with a study from the summer indicating that higher levels of the sunshine vitamin may be associated with fewer symptoms of depression.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work examining the role of inflammation in the relation between depressive symptomatology and serum vitamin D levels using mediation and moderation analyses in a community sample. We found negative correlations between vitamin D levels and depressive symptomatology (assessed by CES-D Score) and three inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, WBC), which were in turn positively associated with depressive symptomatology, wrote the researchers.

9. Review concludes magnesium relieves diabetes symptoms

More science in the top 10, with results of a systemic review and meta-analysis of data from 25 placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials indicated that oral supplementation with magnesium may improve glucose parameters in diabetics.

Writing in Nutrients, scientists from Italy, Sudan, and the UK also reported that magnesium supplementation could also improve glucose and insulin sensitivity markers in subjects at high risk of diabetes.

10. ABC article highlights purslanes long history of use as Chinese researchers uncover additional constituents of plan

Closing out the top 10 was our coverage of an article published in HerbalGram about purslane, a succulent ground cover plant with fleshy, oval leaves.

The plants medicinal potential has been a subject of interest since antiquity, with modern research focusing on purslanes benefits in cases of asthma and diabetes. Other studies have focused on its neuroprotective effects. It may even have anti-tumor activity and antimicrobial properties.

Thank you!

The team at NutraIngredients-USA would like to wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season.

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NutraIngredients-USA's Top 10 most read articles of 2021 - NutraIngredients-usa.com

Cancer, Lee Brush concluded, would be preferable to this.

At least a brain tumor would be a definitive diagnosis with a potential cure, and his family and friends would understand what he was up against, he thought.

Instead, Brush struggled with unexplained headaches, light sensitivity, trouble focusing. He kept losing his keys, his phone, his train of thought absent-minded "brain farts," he joked, while privately worrying that his memory lapses were a harbinger of something worse. At first, he blamed job stress and family pressures, but over time he began to wonder if his problems were more serious than that.

"Things that started to scare me were the ringing in the ears," said Brush, 47, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. "I call it 'electric Southern crickets.' Like, if you were to sit on the patio at night and hear all the crickets going, but imagine those electric. Well, I'd never had that before."

His work performance was slipping. He felt anxious, angry and depressed. Outwardly, life was good: Athletic and physically fit, Brush is a husband, father, homeowner and trained engineer, gainfully employed. But something was wrong, and no doctor could say why.

As his symptoms worsened, this was his creeping fear: Could the head injuries he'd had over the years from skiing and skateboarding, a bad car crash and countless helmet-to-helmet collisions while playing Division I football at Purdue University be the source of his problems?

If they were, could he have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the Alzheimer's-like fatal brain disease believed to be caused by repeated hits to the head? That possibility, along with the knowledge that CTE is untreatable and diagnosable only by autopsy, left him inconsolable.

CTE is largely an NFL story, with prominent players like Junior Seau, Aaron Hernandez and, just this month, Phillip Adams making tragic headlines for taking their own lives and later being diagnosed with the degenerative condition. Last week, the family of another NFL player, Vincent Jackson, who died in February at age 38, announced he had CTE.

But Brush is part of a quiet population of everyday men and women who never played professional sports yet fear they have the disease. Frantic for a cure, they often turn to dubious treatments, controversial doctors or health care providers with financial stakes in the products they recommend and the loosely regulated brain health industry is profiting.

NPR has interviewed nearly three dozen people who were not professional athletes but believe they may be experiencing symptoms of CTE, as well as a dozen brain specialists who routinely see patients convinced they have the disorder and willing to try almost anything that might help ease symptoms. Some have spent tens of thousands of dollars on fruitless therapies.

"There is this captive audience of incredibly vulnerable people," said Robert Stern, a neuroscientist who co-founded Boston University's CTE Center, which studies the brains of people whose families donate them after they die. "They feel like they've got this disease, or they've been told they have this disease, and they want a treatment and desperately want to be better. And you've got a lot of folks out there who want to take advantage of that."

There are no Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for CTE, yet numerous products and services are marketed as possibly able to ease its symptoms, from craniosacral therapy to a type of light therapy known as photobiomodulation to a wide range of dietary supplements. They are often expensive and not covered by insurance, and many doctors question their value. Brain health supplements alone are projected to reach nearly $6 billion in annual worldwide sales by 2023, according to the AARP-affiliated Global Council on Brain Health, which calls them "a massive waste of money."

Brush said several of his former football teammates who share his CTE concerns have tried a variety of recommended antidotes, from cannabis to neurological chiropractors. "There's people that just grasp at everything," he said, "and they spend the money until something shinier and newer comes along."

Brush, who has been managing his CTE fears for more than a decade, now feels relatively healthy, thanks to an antidepressant and therapy sessions with his pastor. He tries not to dwell on what he cannot control and believes calming his fears has improved his well-being. He even wonders if his dread of the disease caused psychosomatic symptoms. But his disquiet is still there.

"You hear, 'You may have something that's terminal, but we can't diagnose you and there's no drug we can give you,' " Brush said. "You hear there's nothing they can do, and you go insane."

If there's anything more frightening than the prospect of losing your mind in old age, it's losing it while you're still young.

That's what CTE can do: gradually erode the brains of people in the prime of their lives, sometimes damaging their memory and mental capacity and causing dementia-like symptoms. It can also change their personalities, making them moody and depressed, even violent and suicidal.

Scores of elite athletes from sports including football, hockey, boxing, wrestling, rugby and bobsledding have been diagnosed with CTE after they died. But fear of the disease, and of deteriorating from it, extends far beyond pro athletes and Olympians. Many people who have played amateur sports or who suffered head trauma from military service, falls, auto accidents or domestic violence also harbor this concern.

"I've had scenarios where people fill out a new-patient form and ... we ask, 'What's the main reason you're here today?' They write in, 'I have CTE,' " said Dr. Vernon Williams, a sports neurologist at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

Such patients are typically men in their 20s to 60s, but also women and children, who complain of headaches and forgetfulness; difficulty planning, focusing, multitasking and making decisions; aggression, impulsivity and poor judgment; and other troubling changes in mood, behavior and cognition, Williams said.

It's impossible to quantify how many people might have CTE, or CTE concerns, because the potential pool is so massive: It could include anyone who has ever played a contact sport or suffered multiple head injuries. What's more, some people who worry they have CTE say they are reluctant to share their fears because they don't want to compromise their employment, health insurance or relationships with family and friends.

Many doctors consider CTE a rare disorder and believe widespread fear of it is unjustified. They say the same symptoms could be caused by a curable condition, such as a vitamin deficiency, a hormone imbalance, depression or even normal aging. And as awareness of CTE has grown through a prominent movie and the NFL's massive concussion settlement, some people have become "more hypervigilant, more aware, more worried that that headache they have is a symptom that they're developing CTE," Williams said.

But Dr. Ann McKee a neuropathologist who directs the VA Boston Healthcare System/Boston University School of Medicine/Concussion Legacy Foundation brain bank, which since its founding in 2008 has diagnosed 700 cases of the disease, including 315 in former NFL players said many doctors are too dismissive of CTE fears.

"A lot of players I've talked to who have headaches and maybe depression and some memory loss don't get evaluated seriously if they think it might be related to their football," she said. As a result, they need open-minded physicians who will consider all possible causes of their symptoms, including past head injuries, McKee added, "to determine if maybe, maybe, this represents a case of CTE."

But if medicine is equal parts art and science, the dilemma over how to help people who fear they have CTE tests the limits of both. Mainstream doctors, unable to provide an official diagnosis or FDA-approved treatment, can do little except try to alleviate symptoms, often with medication. That leaves many patients feeling like pharmaceutical guinea pigs, put on one prescription drug after another, frequently with little or no improvement.

In search of relief, potential answers and health care they see as more respectful, some patients resort to unproven, unconventional options that flourish in a gray zone between medical care definitively proved to be effective and what detractors call "pseudomedicine."

As a result, scientific debate has arisen over how to treat people who fear they have CTE yet cannot be diagnosed during their lifetimes. Many brain specialists disagree on what remedies may help them feel better and whether the cost of those treatments is reasonable in light of their potential benefit. Meanwhile, frightened patients sit in the middle, left to wonder and worry.

T.J. Abraham understands that desperation.

He was an OB-GYN for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, working at a health center in Erie, Pa., when he became concerned about his ability to do his job.

"Surgeries were taking me longer," said Abraham, 44. "I felt like my hand-eye coordination was off, and I would get flustered because I didn't know what was wrong."

He started having to look up basic information on birth control and antibiotics drugs he prescribed routinely and used to know by heart and would blank out during surgical consultations. He also became uncharacteristically moody and angry.

"I was just turning into this monster," Abraham said. "Not violent, but I'd get mad or frustrated or lose my patience. My wife would always say, 'You're not the guy I married. You're just not the guy that I married.' "

Abraham had begun wondering in his 30s if he was experiencing mental decline. But a disturbing professional turning point came when he was in an operating room about four years ago, performing a hysterectomy, and "I couldn't remember what to do to finish the last couple of steps," Abraham recalled. "So I made up some excuse, told the nurses I had to go to the bathroom, went out, got on my phone and looked it up."

After that incident, Abraham left his job and embarked on a lengthy medical odyssey to try to determine what was wrong with him. He saw many doctors, tried multiple prescription drugs, went to several treatment centers and underwent extensive testing. He was told he may be bipolar or have a brain tumor, a personality disorder or CTE, but none of that was certain and he often felt brushed off or misdiagnosed.

"I was dismissed so many times," Abraham said. "I don't think the mainstream I don't think these big academic institutes have a clue what to do with people that maybe, possibly, have CTE."

So eventually he flew to a controversial private brain clinic in Southern California that's part of a nationwide chain called the Amen Clinics. Founded by Dr. Daniel Amen, a televangelist-like psychiatrist and self-described brain health expert, the company touts its nontraditional method of treating brain conditions. It attracts thousands of people who are afraid they have CTE or other kinds of brain problems and are dissatisfied with conventional doctors.

An Amen Clinics visit can cost several thousand dollars, not including travel costs, and patients pay out of pocket. In return, they get a lengthy one-on-one consultation and the promise of an "innovative brain-body approach." That typically includes a SPECT scan, short for "single photon emission computed tomography," a type of nuclear imaging test that measures blood flow in bodily organs.

SPECT is a central feature of the Amen approach. In an interview with NPR, Amen said his company uses SPECT to get a glimpse inside patients' brains, an atypical practice in mainstream psychiatry.

"Why are psychiatrists the only medical doctors that never look at the organ they treat?" said Amen. "How does that make any sense at all in 2021?"

The Amen Clinics, with nine locations across the U.S., says it treats nearly 50 types of brain conditions, has seen 100,000 patients and has built a database of more than 200,000 brain scans.

Based partly on those scans, the company says it designs customized treatments, which can be an added expense. Amen said that by using SPECT to identify areas of low blood flow in patients' brains, which could indicate areas of damage, his clinics are able to motivate patients to improve their brain health through what he calls "brain envy."

"Freud was wrong penis envy is not the cause of anybody's problem," Amen said. "It's when you see your scan and it's not healthy, you want it to be healthy. So you care. So you're more likely to lose weight. You're more likely to eat better. When you see your brain, you fall in love with it, and then you're more compliant."

Amen calls himself a pioneer, one who is shaking up the "psychiatric status quo" and questioning the traditional way of treating brain ailments, with its dependence on powerful psychiatric drugs that often come with unpleasant side effects.

Rebuffing his critics, Amen insists he is "practicing psychiatry in an exciting new way."

"What we're trying to do is change how psychiatrists practice by adding imaging," he said. "Am I ahead of my time? Yes, and that's irritating."

SPECT's value in diagnosing brain injuries is unsettled science and the subject of voluminous research, with some peer-reviewed studies contradicting the findings of others. Amen points to numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles promoting the use of SPECT in psychiatry, including some he authored himself. The American Psychiatric Association, the main professional organization of psychiatrists in the U.S., has published a paper stating that SPECT is not recommended for the diagnosis or treatment of psychiatric disorders, and cautioning that it exposes patients to radiation.

In addition, many neuroscientists note that blood flow in the brain can vary based on which parts of the organ are active at any given time, so an area showing low blood flow is not necessarily problematic and even if it is, there could be a variety of causes, some of them possibly treatable.

"That same pattern of decreased blood flow can also result from countless clinical conditions that aren't CTE, such as depression, ADHD, anxiety and Alzheimer's," said William Barr, director of neuropsychology at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine.

Dr. Steven Hyman, director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, as well as a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said these scans can be interpreted differently by different doctors and have little value in diagnosing or treating CTE.

In the view of Barr, Hyman and other brain specialists, technologies viewed in some medical circles as potentially helping people with CTE, such as SPECT or hyperbaric oxygen therapy, lack sufficient evidence for that use.

At T.J. Abraham's first Amen Clinics appointment, in Costa Mesa, Calif., in 2018, he was told by the company's medical director, Dr. Robert Johnson, that his scans showed troubling findings, particularly for someone his age: low blood flow in parts of his brain involved in mood and memory. Johnson said that this could help explain Abraham's mood and memory problems.

During the two-day appointment, which included testing and consultations, they discussed other possible causes of symptoms like Abraham's, from herpes to gluten sensitivity to recreational drug use to Lyme disease. One by one, they eliminated most of them, and Johnson reached a conclusion: Although a diagnosis of CTE requires an autopsy, he said, Abraham's past head injuries are probably a major cause of his problems.

That was plausible to Abraham, because he has a history of head trauma: He once had a bad fall that knocked him unconscious, and he was on the football team at Division I Duquesne University. During his years playing contact sports, which also included ice hockey, he lost track of how many times he was hit so hard he saw stars.

"When I was in high school, we had a coach who wanted us to head-butt every play," Abraham told Johnson, recalling that "getting your bell rung" was then a euphemism for what today would likely be called a concussion. "The coach would say, 'Don't be a sissy! Get back in there!' "

(Abraham taped his Amen Clinics appointments so he could relisten to them later, and he and Johnson gave NPR permission to use those recordings, so all quotes from Abraham and Johnson's meetings come from those taped conversations.)

In an interview later with NPR, Abraham said his SPECT scans had been validating.

"When you see that your personality has changed drastically and you are now doing things that are not characteristic of you," he said, "and then you see a brain scan that shows damage in the areas that you know are causing this, it all made sense. It kind of, for me, wrapped it up."

After determining that head trauma is the likely cause of Abraham's symptoms, Johnson recommended multiple ways Abraham could make his brain healthier. Among them: an improved diet, more exercise, omega-3 fatty acids, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, yoga, meditation, prayer, a mindfulness app, neurofeedback, transcranial magnetic stimulation, the spice turmeric and a prescription stimulant to "wake your brain up," Johnson said.

Johnson also suggested a sleep study and possibly stem-cell therapy, noting that "I have a friend who runs a stem-cell company down in Florida and Mexico." He also recommended Memory Powder, a dietary supplement made by Amen's company that basically has the ingredients of a multivitamin. Amen describes it as "a spectacular multiple vitamin with a brain boost in a combination you're not going to find anywhere else." Memory Powder costs about $115 for roughly 6 ounces, and Johnson told Abraham it helps with "memory permanence."

Johnson told Abraham the Amen Clinics also sells a "really super-pure" version of turmeric. Some studies show turmeric could be beneficial for the brain. Turmeric is sold relatively inexpensively at most grocery stores, but the Amen Clinics' version, which the company says is substantially different from spice-rack turmeric, is priced at about $45 for a 60-capsule bottle.

Johnson also noted that a full regimen of hyperbaric oxygen therapy can take dozens of sessions. At a typical clinic, a single session can cost several hundred dollars, but Abraham was undeterred by the potential expense of the recommended treatments.

"I would be willing to pay any money to get somewhat of my life back," he told Johnson.

Amen's various business entities sell a wide range of products, from books, videos and supplements at his online retail store BrainMD to online courses at Amen University. Amen confirmed a previous media report that his company had been grossing about $20 million a year, although he declined to provide updated revenue figures to NPR.

"I've no interest in sharing those numbers," he added, "and I wish I hadn't done it then."

Hyman, of the Broad Institute, said of Amen's extensive product line: "In the academic psychiatry community, it's perceived as overselling, as just inappropriate."

But Amen and Johnson defend the company's sale of products and merchandise and say the Amen Clinics' dietary supplements cost more than grocery store versions because they are more pure, potent and easily absorbed by the body.

"You can't just get what we create at Costco," Amen said. "I mean, yes, you can get some of the ingredients, but not in the combinations we make."

He added: "I often say, 'If there's no margin, there's no mission,' and we're very proud of everything we sell."

"You have to make money in order to float the boat in order to be able to push the field forward," Johnson said in an interview with NPR. "Our mission is about changing the face of psychiatry."

In the world of CTE and psychiatry, Daniel Amen and his Amen Clinics are highly controversial, yet they've become a health care destination for many people who fear they have CTE and feel forsaken by mainstream medicine.

Johnson, the company's medical director, told NPR that "maybe 30% of the nonprofessional athletes that we see who are concerned about brain health as it relates to prior head injuries have specific questions about their CTE risk."

"So many CTE sufferers or people who think they have CTE need a place to go, and they need an empathetic, knowledgeable, experienced psychiatrist, and that's him," said Dr. Julian Bailes, a prominent neurosurgeon and CTE researcher at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Ill., "so I admire the work he's done."

Hyman disagrees. "People who are desperate are vulnerable to snake oil," he said, "and this has all of the look and feel of a clinic that's preying on people's desperation."

What the Amen Clinics does may not be illegal, Hyman said, but it exploits frightened, vulnerable people and regulatory loopholes, including that dietary supplements, unlike drugs, are not reviewed or approved by the FDA based on their safety and effectiveness.

Referring to the lengthy summary reports that patients of the Amen Clinics receive at their end of their consultations, Barr, of NYU, said: "Our group considers it kind of a joke when we get those reports," adding that, based on his review of the published research, "when you look at them from an informed clinical angle, there's nothing that's really scientifically supported in them. It's slick, it's nice, but there's not scientific support."

And while some of Amen's recommendations are likely to make patients feel better, Barr notes that they're common-sense tips for healthy living.

"It's not like he invented the Mediterranean diet," said Barr, who is part of a nationwide research project studying CTE. "Good life habits like sleep, good diet and exercise those are free" and, he added, shouldn't require an expensive consultation. "Unfortunately, in what I call the concussion industry, there are a lot of opportunists looking for the quick money," Barr said, "and people who are feeling hopeless will go for anything."

Many patients concerned they have CTE spend time and money in the brain health industry on questionable treatments for a disease that has no approved remedies, from chelation therapy to plasma infusions to overseas stem-cell therapy. "But equally as problematic," Hyman said, "is they're not getting diagnosed with potentially treatable, more common illnesses, like depression, that might be posing in their minds as CTE."

But the suggestion they're simply depressed makes many people who fear they have CTE give up on standard doctors. Furthermore, Amen said, diagnosing depression, which the Amen Clinics does, is just the beginning. Many medical practitioners, he said, are too quick to prescribe antidepressants without also trying to identify and treat the cause of that depression which, he noted, could range from grief to a hormone deficiency to incipient CTE due to head injuries.

Amen said he and his team of doctors will suggest almost any treatment if they think it might help, from medicine to marital therapy. By the time many patients arrive at the Amen Clinics, he noted, they have consulted with multiple doctors, received multiple diagnoses and tried multiple medications, all to no avail.

"They often say, 'You are my last hope,' " he said.

Amen is well aware of his reputation in many medical circles. "A long time ago, I just stopped listening to the haters," Amen added. "And the fact that standard medicine doesn't love me well, I don't much love them. So it's sort of fair."

Private companies such as the Amen Clinics are only part of a sprawling brain health industry. It also includes a vast array of minimally regulated dietary supplements boasting brain-boosting qualities.

Memory Powder, for example, is labeled as a "powerful brain nutraceutical" and described as "our most advanced memory-directed supplement formula that you can drink! Just one glass daily is all it takes to fuel your brain with crucial vitamins and minerals to help you feel energized, focused, and mentally sharp all day long."

Historically, a key target audience for supplement manufacturers has been anyone frightened of developing Alzheimer's disease. CTE anxieties have broadened that potential customer base.

"There are people who are making a lot of money off of individuals' concerns about their brain health," said Dr. Joanna Hellmuth, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco's Memory and Aging Center. Due to lax regulation, she added, "there are supplement manufacturers who are legally able to make very dubious claims."

The FDA regulates dietary supplements and their ingredients as foods, not as drugs. Because of that distinction, the FDA does not review or approve dietary supplements based on their safety or effectiveness. Instead, manufacturers and distributors are responsible for evaluating the safety and efficacy of their products.

As a result, dietary supplements do not need FDA approval before they are marketed. Once they reach the market, the FDA can take regulatory action if it determines they are adulterated, misbranded or mislabeled. An example of mislabeling is promoting a dietary supplement as able to treat, prevent or cure a specific disease, since only drugs can make such claims.

In recent years, the FDA and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have tried to strengthen their regulation of dietary supplements and crack down more aggressively on alleged bad actors.

The FTC and New York attorney general, for example, sued the makers of the widely advertised dietary supplement Prevagen over alleged false claims that it improves memory and brain function. The company that makes Prevagen has denied the allegations and called the case "another example of government overreach."

Another brain health supplement, Neuriva, which claims to help "fuel focus, accuracy, memory, literacy, learning and concentration," agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging deceptive advertising, but admits no wrongdoing.

Yet with the FDA estimating that at least 50,000 types of dietary supplements are on the market, chasing individual offenders is a futile game of whack-a-mole for regulators.

Hellmuth, of UCSF, who co-authored a 2019 paper titled "The Rise of Pseudomedicine for Dementia and Brain Health," noted that "there are people who are spending, if not hundreds of dollars a month, thousands of dollars for particular interventions or studies or tests that are not scientifically backed," and said her research was motivated by a "sense of despair."

"It's already heartbreaking to see someone with Alzheimer's disease or CTE," Hellmuth said, "so I think 'despair' is the right word to describe seeing someone swoop in and make money off of people's vulnerable state and their hope for the situation to be made better."

Further complicating the brain health landscape and making it hard for patients to know where to place their trust, some medical professionals can benefit financially from the treatments they recommend.

Dr. Julian Bailes, the NorthShore University HealthSystem neurosurgeon who got a taste of Hollywood fame when he was portrayed by Alec Baldwin in the movie Concussion has fielded criticism for having had financial stakes in brain health products.

An expert in brain injury, a former team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a vocal advocate for player safety, Bailes helped develop a dietary supplement called Brain Armor that is marketed as being "designed for the sole purpose of building strong, healthy brains." Its primary ingredients are omega-3 fatty acids, which some research suggests could help with brain health and brain injury recovery.

At its online store, Brain Armor offers products ranging from $14.99 for 15 single-serve sticks of Gut Brain Formula to $649.99 for 250 servings of Pro Brain Nutrient Formula, which is labeled as "formulated for pro athlete brain health" and comes in a lime-mango-flavored "vegan liquid concentrate."

Another version of Brain Armor is labeled as "formulated for youth brain health" and says it can "specifically meet the needs of young students and athletes."

But critics of Brain Armor's past advertising including former Sen. Claire McCaskill, who while in office investigated supplements claiming to stave off cognitive decline say it came dangerously close to making unfounded health claims.

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Everyday people fear they have CTE. A dubious market has sprung up to treat them - ideastream

Between 2005 and 2009, EFSA carried out a comprehensive assessment of substances that are permitted to be used as sources of vitamins and minerals in food supplements in the EU. The assessment included both the evaluation of the safety of a nutrient source at the intake levels suggested by the applicant, and the bioavailability of the nutrient from the source i.e. the effectiveness with which the mineral or vitamin is released into the body.

Companies wishing to market a nutrient source not included in the permitted list have to submit an application to the European Commission. Under Directive 2002/46/EC, EFSA then prepares a scientific opinion to support the European Commissions evaluation of the request. Based on EFSAs work, the European Commission reviews and updates the list of vitamin or mineral substances that may be used in food supplements.

If a substance intended to be used in food supplements does not have a history of safe use in the EU before 1997, EFSA is requested to provide a scientific opinion on its safety according to Regulation (EC) No 2015/2283 on novel foods.

Moreover, EFSA has performed a comprehensive evaluation of the possible adverse health effects of individual micronutrients at intakes exceeding the dietary requirements and, where possible, established tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for different population groups. ULs represent the highest level of chronic daily intake of a nutrient that is not likely to pose a risk of adverse health effects to humans. The ULs defined by EFSA and by the former Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) are used as a reference in EFSAs evaluations of the safety of nutrient sources added to food supplements. Throughout this work EFSA provides support to the European Commission in establishing maximum limits for vitamins and minerals in food supplements and fortified foods.

For all substances added to foods, including food supplements, that are claimed to have an effect on the nutritional or health status of consumers, EFSA carries out an assessment in line with Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims.

Under the circumstances described in Art. 8 of Regulation 1925/2006, i.e. where a substance other than vitamins or minerals is added to foods under conditions that would result in the ingestion of amounts of this substance greatly exceeding those reasonably expected under normal conditions and/or would otherwise represent a potential risk to consumers, EFSA may be requested by the European Commission to assess the available information to support a decision on the safety of the substance. Based on EFSAs assessment the European Commission may decide to include the specific substance in a list of substances whose use in foods in the EU is prohibited, restricted or under scrutiny (see Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006).

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Food supplements | EFSA

As an addition to a normal diet, food business operators market food supplements, which are concentrated sources of nutrients (or other substances) with a nutritional or physiological effect. Such food supplements can be marketed in dose form, such as pills, tablets, capsules, liquids in measured doses, etc.

The objective of the harmonised rules on those products in Directive 2002/46/EC is to protect consumers against potential health risks from those products and to ensure that they are not provided with misleading information.

With respect to the safety of food supplements, the Directive lays down a harmonised list of vitamins and minerals that may be added for nutritional purposes in food supplements (in Annex I to the Directive). Annex II of the Directive contains a list of permitted sources (vitamin and mineral substances) from which those vitamins and minerals may be manufactured.

This list has been amended by the following Regulations and Directive to include additional substances:

The trade of products containing vitamins and minerals not listed in Annex II has been prohibited from the 1st of August 2005.

Directive 2002/46/EC has been aligned with the new Regulatory Procedure with scrutiny by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008.

Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements envisages the setting of maximum and minimum amounts of vitamins and minerals in supplements via the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee) procedure.

The Commission has issued a Discussion Paper on the setting of maximum and minimum amounts for vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs, which identified the main issues to be considered in this exercise and originated a set of Responses.

Although the Commission has consulted extensively with EU countries and interested stakeholders on the issue, no proposal has not yet been presented due to the complex nature of the issue and the divergent views that were expressed. All the available data on the potential effects on economic operators and consumers of the setting of maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals in foods, including food supplements, will be taken into account. Every effort will be made to ensure that the maximum amounts set will take into account the concerns expressed by all interested parties.

The EC commissioned a study on the use of substances with nutritional or physiological effects other than vitamins and minerals in food supplements.

Taking into account this study and other available information, the Commission - in accordance with the requirement set out in Article 4(8) of Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements - has prepared a report to the Council and the European Parliament on the use of substances other than vitamins and minerals in food supplements.

The report is accompanied by two Commission staff working documents.

EU countries may, for monitoring purposes, request notification to their competent authority of the placing on the market in their territory of a food supplement product in accordance with Article 10 of the Directive. The list of competent authorities may be found here:

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Food supplements - Food Safety

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There are many health benefits associated with taking nutritional supplements that will be discussed later on in this article. Nutritional supplements can also help reduce the risk of certain diseases and may even improve the quality of life. Without further ado, here are six health benefits of taking nutritional supplements on a daily basis:

Although it is easy to get our required nutrients from food alone, many of us do not eat a balanced diet every day. Nutritional supplementation ensures that you are getting recommended doses of vitamins and minerals each day without having to change your current diet or lifestyle. For example, B12 shots, Designs for Health B Supreme, and other specially formulated B-complex vitamins have been shown to help with energy production, mood stabilization, and cognitive function. Additionally, a deficiency in magnesium can lead to feelings of fatigue and tiredness. Supplementing with magnesium can help to combat this issue.

When youre physically active, your body demands more oxygen and energy. This is where nutritional supplements can help as they improve the flow of oxygen to the working muscles. In addition, they also help maintain blood sugar levels, which is important for peak performance. Supplementing a healthy diet with sports nutrition products can help to improve performance.

Also, taking nutritional supplements regularly promotes accelerated recovery rates after exercise or injury. Inflammation can last up to 72 hours, and taking an anti-inflammatory supplement, such as fish oil or glucosamine, can reduce the swelling and pain during this time period. Coconut oil is also an excellent option for reducing inflammation and pain, especially when taken in combination with turmeric or oregano oil for enhanced effectiveness.

A healthy immune system is essential for keeping us healthy and fighting off infection. Nutritional supplements such as probiotics, vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea can boost our immune system and help us stay healthy all year long. Elderberry extract is also a great option for bolstering the immune system; it has been shown to shorten the duration of colds and flu when taken regularly.

Many people suffer from poor sleep quality that results in tossing and turning all night long or waking up feeling unrested. This can be due to a number of factors, such as stress, noise pollution, or an unhealthy diet. Adding nutritional supplements that support sleep health can help to improve the quality and duration of your sleep. Iron deficiency is a common cause of restless leg syndrome and other sleep disturbances. Supplementing with iron can help to resolve this issue. Additionally, magnesium plays a role in the promotion of deep, restful sleep. Taking a supplement containing magnesium before bedtime can help you get the good nights sleep you need.

Certain vitamins and minerals have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer when taken regularly. For example, vitamin D has been linked with a decreased risk of colon cancer, while selenium may help to prevent lung cancer. Additionally, a number of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage, contain compounds that have been shown to inhibit the development of cancer cells. Incorporating these cancer-fighting foods into your diet is a great way to reduce your risk of this deadly disease but adding a nutritional supplement that contains them can provide an added layer of protection.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. There are many things that you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and avoiding stress. Adding a cardiovascular supplement to your daily routine can further reduce your risk of heart disease. Fish oil is a great option for improving cardiovascular health, as it helps to lower bad cholesterol levels and triglyceride counts while raising good cholesterol levels. Additionally, CoQ10 is an important nutrient for heart health; supplementing with CoQ10 can help to improve blood flow and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Nutritional supplements provide a variety of health benefits that can improve our overall well-being. By taking a daily multivitamin, probiotic, omega-3 supplement, and other individual supplements as needed, we can ensure that our body is getting the nutrients it needs to function at its best. Not only are we providing our bodies with essential vitamins and minerals, but we are also supporting our health in a variety of other ways. So, the next time you are at the grocery store, be sure to pick up a few bottles of nutritional supplements to help keep you healthy and happy!

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6 Health Benefits of Daily Intake of Nutritional Supplements - River Journal Staff