In the race to feel and look good, an alarming number of women are ‘popping pills’ without a full understanding of the efficacy or safety of the supplement, according to new research.
In a nationally representative sample of 2,000 women over 30 in the UK, eight out of 10 admitted to taking vitamins, minerals and supplements for their health and wellbeing without fully understanding how or if they are regulated.
Less than half of those surveyed read the packaging closely, and over 60 per cent do not know the appropriate dosage required, according to the data firm Mortar Research.
The vitamins and supplements industry is booming and estimated to be worth £1.5bn in revenue in 2022 and is set to grow globally by 9 per cent between 2023 and 2030.
However, current supplement legislation keeps consumers in the dark, so they are unable to make informed decisions about the most effective ingredients to take to help live a healthier life.
Lifting the lid on your supplements
- A total of 61 per cent take supplements, vitamins and minerals daily
- Two-thirds have little understanding of the difference between vitamins, minerals and supplements
- Over half do not feel they get the required vitamins and minerals through their diet
- ‘Clinically proven’ or ‘clinically tested’ is the phrase that provides consumers with confidence.
In reality, it’s a vague claim that requires no hard evidence and is not easy to disprove. Less than 10 per cent look for the phrase ‘backed by science’ and only 2 per cent recognise the phrase ‘peer-reviewed’ which means that it has had the gold standard of testing by the scientific community.
Dr Paul Clayton, is senior scientific advisor to the UK government’s Committee on the Safety of Medicine and a clinical pharmacologist at LYMA, a science-backed supplement company.
He said: “Current legislation allows unscrupulous supplement companies to ‘steal’ claims from evidence-based nutrition. Despite being proven in peer-reviewed medical journals to reduce the chances of becoming ill, evidence-based nutrition isn’t allowed to communicate benefits to consumers.
“If we were based in the United States, we could show consumers the peer-reviewed evidence to prove how this new class of supplementation can transform health, but in the UK the government only allows this proven science to be discussed at a business level, with a glass wall between proven data discussed by industry, and information deemed suitable for consumers.”
Lack of supplement regulation
The supplement industry is regulated by food law, supplements are checked for safety only, and not whether they are proven to deliver a health benefit, formulated or dosed correctly.
Because of this, from a regulatory point of view, no supplement brand can tell customers about their potential, or proven health benefits.
Food supplements are regulated under food law, which is based on the principle that products must be safe for consumption and not misleadingly labelled. Food law does not permit any food to make any claim or imply that it can treat, prevent or cure any disease or adverse medical condition.
Reasons to use supplements include:
- For joints
- For bones
- To promote healthy ageing
- For skin
- For hair
- To improve mood
- Adding missing nutrients from diet
- To aid brain function
- To help with sleep
- To aid digestion
What to look for in a supplement
Research has shown that many consumers don’t understand what they’re buying and so here is what they should look out for.
If all you want is a nutritional foundation, your basic vitamins and minerals are legitimate. Make sure they are presented in the right form, dosed at the right level and bought from a reputable supplier.
Effective nutritional products
Select nutraceuticals that use patented, trademarked extracts. Go for transparency. If you’re interested in improved functionality then go for the supplements or nutraceuticals which have used genuinely validated extracts.
These are extracts that have been intensively researched, they’re expensive so the company involved should patent their extracts.
Look for products which contain trademarked compounds like these, where there is peer-reviewed literature behind them that proves their preclinical and clinical functionality.
