Types of Dietary Supplements and Various Sources ?

A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or amino acids, that are missing or are not consumed in sufficient quantity in a person's diet.

In the US for instance, a dietary supplement product is considered to supplement the diet and contains dietary ingredients, viz. a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical, an amino acid, or a dietary, substance for increasing the total dietary intake. It could be a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, extract, or combination of the above constituents. Additionally, it is meant for ingestion in pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form.

In the European Union dietary supplements must be demonstrated to be safe, in quantity as well as quality to be approved as dietrary supplements

Types Of Dietary Supplements

There exist a wide range of substances labeled as dietary supplements, some of the common ones are described below.

Amino Acid Supplements

Amino acid supplements are amino acids, which are considered essential or indispensable for humans. Further, since they cannot be produced (synthesized) inside the body from scratch, they must be supplied in the diet. Examples of essential amino acids for humans include phenylalanine, methionine, threonine, valine, isoleucine, tryptophan, lysine and leucine.

Fiber Supplements

Fiber supplements are the indigestible portion of plant foods that assist in moving food through the digestivefiber-supplement.jpg system by absorbing water and easing defecation. Dietary fiber usually comprises non-starch polysaccharides viz. cellulose in addition to several other plant components such as dextrins, inulin, lignin, waxes, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans and oligosaccharides.

Herbal Supplements

A herbal supplement is any green, leafy plant, or its parts, used to flavor food or used for medicinal purposes or is valued for other qualities. Often a distinction is made between culinary and medicinal herbs. In medicinal use, for instance any of the parts of a plant viz. leaves, roots, seeds, berries, resin, flowers, root bark, inner bark (cambium) and sometimes the pericarp or other portions, might be considered as a herb.

Mineral Supplements

Dietary minerals or mineral supplements are the chemical elements considered essential for living organisms to maintain optimal health. Although, minerals are best considered to be supplied by consuming foods rich in the required minerals. However, sometimes minerals are also ingested as dietary supplements. Some, examples of dietary minerals include Cobalt - vitamin B12, Copper, Calcium, Fluorine, Chloride, Magnesium, Iodine, Zinc, Selenium and Sodium.

Nutraceuticals

Nutraceutical is a portmanteau of the words 'nutrition' and 'pharmaceutical' and refers to neutraceuticals.jpg extracts of foods supposed to have a medicinal effect on human health, when taken in certain quantities. Nutraceuticals are available in several forms viz. capsule, tablet, powder in a prescribed dose. Examples of nutraceuticals and their usage includes resveratrol, which is derived from red grapes is an antioxidant, psyllium seed husk is soluble dietary fiber and supposed to help in preventing heart disease, sulforaphane found in broccoli supposedly works as a cancer preventative, etc.

Vitamins

Vitamins are essential compounds needed by the body in trace amounts for smooth running of the body's processes and good health. A compound is termed a weight-loss-supplement.jpg s a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by the body and must be sourced from the diet. Humans need vitamins A, C, D, B series, E and K. A vitamin deficiency may make a person susceptible to disease.

Weight Loss Supplements

Weight loss supplements are herbs or substances that may help an overweight person lose weight. Some examples include herbs viz. Bitter orange which supposedly increases the number of calories burned, Chitosan is claimed to block the absorption of dietary fat, Ephedra is thought to decrease appetite, etc.