Nutritional supplements and conventional medicine; what should the physician know?

Article


Webb, Geoffrey P. 2007. Nutritional supplements and conventional medicine; what should the physician know? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 66 (4), pp. 471-8.
AuthorsWebb, Geoffrey P.
Abstract

Almost anything that is swallowed in pill or potion form that is not a licensed medicine is, by default, legally classified as a dietary supplement. The present paper is an overview of supplement use and is intended to provide a logical framework for their discussion. Five major supplement categories are identified: essential micronutrients; other metabolites that have vitamin-like roles; natural oils; natural plant or animal extracts; antioxidants, which span the other categories. Supplement usage is also classified into broad categories. Examples of each supplement category and usage are briefly discussed. Some potential hazards of supplement use are also outlined; many substances in supplements are either not found in normal UK diets or consumed in much greater amounts than would be found in food. Much of the research on supplements is reductionist, commercially sponsored or has other weaknesses; so, despite decades of use and research there is still uncertainty about their efficacy in many cases.

Keywordsdietary supplement; micronutrients; metabolites; antioxidants; nutrition; British diet
JournalProceedings of the Nutrition Society
Journal citation66 (4), pp. 471-8
ISSN1475-2719
Year2007
Publisher's version
License
CC BY-ND
Web address (URL)http://hdl.handle.net/10552/245
Publication dates
Print2007
Publication process dates
Deposited10 Aug 2009
Additional information

Citation:
Webb, G. P. (2007) ‘Nutritional supplements and conventional medicine; what should the physician know?’ Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 66(4)471-8.

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