Plan
The layout of this paper comprises five main parts. The first part, which is the introduction, entails a short explanation that highlights the importance of nutrition in the human body and a mention of where dietary supplements fit in. This section also provides an overview of the paper’s content in general. The topic ‘Dietary supplements’ forms the second portion of the paper and it mainly involves an explanation of the topic in detail in order to create a concise understanding of the rest of the discussion in the paper. The third and fourth portions of the paper discuss the advantages and disadvantages of consumption of dietary supplements, respectively, while the last portion covers the control of distribution and consumption of dietary supplements by government agencies.
Living organisms often exhibit certain complexities in the way they come into existence and maintain such existence, especially in environments that experience constant changes. For plants and animals to exist, attention to nutrition is always an important element to consider. Nutrition involves the intake of essential nutrients in order to ensure that the organism’s metabolic processes occur at optimum capacity. Lack of such nutrition often causes deficiencies, thus resulting in anatomical alterations in a plant or animal’s structure and sometimes causing inefficiency and eventual death (Mason 2011). This paper singles out a study of human nutrition, particularly regarding dietary supplements. The paper contains a discussion of what nutrients entail and their application in the body coupled with some of their advantages and disadvantages. The discussion culminates in a discussion of some of the ways in which governments control the production and consumption of dietary supplements, especially in the UK and parts of the US.
Dietary supplements
A nutrient is a chemical component that an animal or plant needs to live and develop into maturity. Human beings, as part of the categories of living organisms on the planet, apply the intake of nutrients to metabolic processes, which ensure factors such as temperature and energy remain at optimal levels. Nutrients also play a crucial role in facilitating the growth and repair of tissues in the body and they fall under several classifications. One such classification is organic nutrients, which mainly constitute essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and some minerals, which the body cannot synthesise on its own. Macronutrients underscore the nutrients needed in large amounts for metabolic purposes, while micronutrients are those that the body requires in considerably small amounts. Some nutritionists argue that elements such as water, minerals, and oxygen fall under inorganic nutrients while others argue against the notion. Nevertheless, such elements are important in the body. Although the importance of nutrients in the body is undeniable, it is important to know that they are dose-dependent (Talbott 2002). This assertion means that their effect in the human body depends on the amount consumed at a time. Having too much of a specific nutrient may cause problems in metabolism just like having too little of any essential nutrient in the body.
Dietary supplements perform the function of providing the body with nutrients that do not occur in the body in sufficient amounts for a variety of reasons. For instance, the thyroid gland is a part of the endocrine gland that produces various hormones to ensure that metabolic functions happen in moderation depending on the body’s needs. The gland is also responsible for the secretion of calcitonin, which regulates calcium levels in the bones. However, due to various reasons, the gland sometimes produces insufficient amounts of calcitonin, thus resulting in lower calcium levels in bones and subsequent bone weakness. Such situations require prescriptive calcium supplements in order to compensate for the deficiency (Jamison 2003). In some instances, people choose lifestyles that result in negligent intake of some essential nutrients, thus leading to prescriptive measures in order to restore the body’s equilibrium. A good example is people that choose to be vegan and forego animal products. Foods such as eggs, meat, and milk provide some of the highest amounts of essential proteins and drastically maintain the body’s health if taken in moderation. However, people who adopt vegan diets forego such foods, and thus they require alternative sources such as supplements.
On rare occasions, the reasons why people choose to forego some of the foods that provide essential nutrients are health related. People with allergies to some foods such as nuts require alternative sources of minerals and soluble fats that nuts provide. In consideration of the above examples, it is important to state that dietary supplements are neither curative nor preventative. As the name suggests, they mostly aim to supplement insufficiency in the intake of nutrients that people receive from the foods they choose for their diet. The availability of dietary supplements should thus not replace or negate the need for people to observe some balance in their diets and ensure moderation in most of the foods that they eat. The economic demands in today’s society have made it difficult for people to maintain balanced diets and resulted in the popularity of such supplements in a bid to keep the body functioning at optimal capacity.
Advantages
One of the main advantages of dietary supplements is that they provide a workable solution for people who suffer nutritional deficiencies, especially when such deficiencies are not avoidable. This aspect ensures that such people remain healthy despite their conditions (MacWilliam 2003). For instance, as mentioned earlier, calcitonin is essential in maintaining good levels of calcium in the bones. In its absence, calcium supplements are necessary in ensuring that bones do not become brittle and susceptible to fractures, especially in old age when healing takes longer. Another advantage with supplements is their availability to consumers. Most people access supplements via drug stores. In addition, such accessibility allows people to buy the supplements in efficient dosages according to their earnings and their budgetary spending. This option is both cheaper and financially sustainable. Thirdly, their packaging into tablets, capsules, and gelcaps makes it easy for people to consume them in the precise dosages required as opposed to ingestion through food where one has to estimate what s/he needs and often fails (MacWilliam 2003). Lastly, unlike most other medications, supplements are rarely addictive, thus diminishing the possibility of abuse.
Disadvantages
One of the main disadvantages of dietary supplements is that they contain neither preventive nor curative properties, and thus they create little need for most people who would want to use them. People usually associate pills with medication, both preventative and curative. Therefore, it makes sense that people would confuse dietary supplements with medication (Jamison 2003). Secondly, the availability of the supplements over the counter in drug stores often leads to self-medication practices that may result in abuse of the supplements through lack of adherence to appropriate dosages. In most cases, such behaviour results in further health problems such as liver damage and the development of heart-related illnesses. Multivitamins are an example of some of the supplements that cause heart complications.
In some cases, the supplements may cause negative reactions in the body when their consumption happens concurrently with that of other medication or various foods (Jamison 2003). Thirdly, supplements often have no visible effects for healthy people. Although supplements such as Omega 3 fatty acids have a reputation of boosting cognitive functions and boosting the body’s energy levels, scientists are yet to prove such effects on healthy individuals. Consumption of supplements for such individuals often leads to a build-up of the chemical substances in the body, thus causing the liver to work harder than required, which may culminate in liver damage. The fourth disadvantage is that dietary supplements do not match up in terms of quality to the nutrients that people obtain from food. One of the main reasons for such deficiency is due to contamination and lack of proper composition in the mixture of chemicals that make up the supplements. Hence, supplements should never replace dietary benefits that people derive from direct consumption from food (Webb 2011).
Control of distribution and consumption
In most regions in the UK and the US, the production and distribution of dietary supplements is the responsibility of private companies and proprietors. Although the governments govern the standards by which the supplements must comply, the oversight of the processes and distribution often lies with private individuals, thus creating a risk in terms of poor manufacturing standards for the consumer. In the UK, as of October 2010, the Department of Health handled legislation on food supplements, but it went no further in ensuring safety to the consumer. Therefore, supplements may pose a greater risk to consumers than the anticipated benefits.
Reference List
Jamison, J 2003, Clinical Guide to Nutrition & Dietary Supplements in Disease Management, Churchill Livingstone, Oxford.
MacWilliam, L 2003, Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, Northern Dimensions Publishing, New York.
Mason, P 2011, Dietary Supplements, Pharmaceutical Press, London.
Talbott, S 2002, A Guide to Understanding Dietary Supplements (Nutrition, Exercise, Sports and Health), Routledge, London.
Webb, G 2011, Dietary Supplements and Functional Foods, John Wiley & Sons, Upper Saddle River.