For my wellness, not just my illness: North Americans’ use of dietary supplements

Abstract

Passage of the DSHEA in 1994 created a new "liminal" category for the FDA: dietary supplements are regulated as neither food nor drugs. However, there appears to be a significant disconnect between the "official" discourse surrounding dietary supplements and supplement users' actual practices. Despite this discrepancy, and the inadequacy of surveys to capture the dynamics of pharmaceutical practice, there is little ethnographic information available on the ways that Americans think about or use dietary supplements. We offer some preliminary observations from a pilot ethnographic study of Americans' use of dietary supplements in which we consider not only the reasons why people are using supplements, but how they are using them, and how their experimentation has been influenced by the information they seek and receive from a variety of sources. We illustrate how anthropological studies of supplement related practice can help us better understand Americans' attraction to and use of dietary supplements, and suggest that anthropology can contribute to a more balanced perspective on supplement use-one that moves the study of supplements beyond surveys and randomized controlled studies of efficacy to considerations of patterns of use in context, user expectations, and measures of perceived effectiveness.

Prevalence and characteristics of vitamin or dietary supplement users in Lausanne, Switzerland: the CoLaus study

“…Although the consumption of VMS or DS as a preventive measure actually lacks strong scientific basis (Anonymous, 2006;Hsia et al, 2007;Huang et al, 2007;Traber, 2007;Fairfield and Stampfer, 2007), still many users feel so strongly about the potential health benefits of VMS or DS that they would continue to take them even if they were shown to be ineffective in scientifically conducted clinical studies (Blendon et al, 2001;Nichter and Thompson, 2006). Further, as an increased number of fortified foods enter the Swiss market annually (Wälti and Jacob, 2007), information should be provided to the lay public on their effectiveness and to prevent vitamin or mineral intoxication due to (un)voluntary excessive consumption of VMS or DS (Mallory et al, 2003;Penniston and Tanumihardjo, 2003;Waskiewicz et al, 2003;Ford et al, 2005;Murphy et al, 2007).…”

Demographics and Factor Associated With Food Supplements Use Among Yogyakarta Population

“…Women were two times more likely than men to use an iron supplement, and participants aged<30 y were more likely to use vitamin and multivitamin due to high activity. The difference of vitamin and mineral use by age and sex may be influenced by the recognition that there are different nutritional requirements for different sexes and at during different life stages [3,8,9]. Alternatively, these differences could be due to targeted marketing of specific dietary supplements [8][9][10][11].…”

Provider and Patient Expectations for Dietary Supplement Discussions

“…[9][10][11] This is problematic because patients procure supplements without a prescription, and may seek information about supplements on their own, instead of turning to their providers for advice. 12,13 But these other sources of information may often minimize supplement risks, 14 make unsubstantiated health claims about supplements, 15,16 or provide harmful inaccurate information. [17][18][19] Primary care providers know about their patients' medical conditions and medications, and are well-positioned to identify and advise patients about supplementdrug interactions and other potential supplement risks.…”