This document discusses dietary supplements. It defines dietary supplements as products intended to supplement the diet that contain ingredients like vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, or other extracts. Dietary supplements come in many forms including tablets, capsules, powders, and liquids. There are natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic supplements. Some common supplements include calcium, fish oil, ginseng, and multivitamins. Dietary supplements are regulated as foods rather than drugs and labels must include the product name, manufacturer information, list of ingredients, and net contents.

1. DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
Dr. T.Sakthika
Assistant Profesor of Zoology,
A.P.C.Mahalaxmi College for Women,
Thoothukudi.

2. Dietary supplements: A dietary supplement is a product that is intended to
supplement the diet that bears or contains one or more ingredients like, vitamin,
mineral, a herb, an amino acid, metabolite, extract, or combinations of these.
Unlike drugs, supplements are not permitted to be marketed for the purpose of
treating, diagnosing, preventing, or curing diseases.
Forms
Dietary supplements can be in the form of tablets, capsules, lozenges, chewables,
powders, solutions or syrups, nutrition bars.
Nutrient supplements other than dietary supplements are available in the form of
skin patches or creams, eye drops, nasal sprays, intravenous and intramuscular
injections and rectal suppositories.

3. Types
Natural supplements are extracted from plants, animal tissues or inorganic
material, such as seawater and rocks.
Semi-synthetic supplements are extracted from natural sources and then
chemically changed.
Synthetic supplements are completely artificially produced.
Some Common Dietary Supplements
Calcium, Echinacea, Fish Oil, Ginseng, Glucosamine and/or, Chondroitin Sulphate,
Garlic, Vitamin D, Ginkgo, Green Tea, Minerals, Fiber, Prebiotics, Aminoacids,
Proteins, Phytonutrients, Omega-3 fattyacids, Conjugated Linoleic acids
Multivitamin and multimineral supplements and supplements that include various
combinations of nutrients, herbal extracts or drugs also exist.

5. Regulation
Dietary supplements are regulated as foods, not drugs.
The label of a dietary supplement needs to include.
•A descriptive name of the product stating that it is a “supplement;”
•The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor;
•A complete list of ingredients;
•The net contents of the product.
FDA does not analyse dietary supplements by consumers’ requests. Consumers can get
detailed information about supplements from the producers or private laboratories.