Dietary Supplements: Hype or Help for Good Health

Can dietary supplements really make you healthier? Some may be beneficial, but the key to vitamin and mineral success is eating a balanced diet.

There are many options for dietary supplements that may sound great, but there are also many questions: Which ones really work? 它们到底有多有效? 它们值这些钱吗?

These are good questions for anybody who wants to live healthier. But before you start buying everything from Vitamin A to Zinc, remember there’s only one way to be sure you’re getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs: Eat a variety of healthy foods.

Talk with your primary care provider about your personal needs. 

食物的第一!

“Registered Dietitians recommend food first because foods provide a variety of vitamins and minerals and also dietary factors that are not found in a vitamin or mineral supplement,佩妮·克里斯-埃瑟顿说, Ph.D., R.D., and Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at the Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development.

例如, she points out that foods provide many bioactive compounds and dietary fiber that typically aren’t found in supplements. And some supplements don’t allow for full absorption of vitamins.

如果空腹服用，没有任何食物, some of the fat-soluble vitamins will not be absorbed as well as they would if the supplement was consumed with a food that provides fat,克里斯-埃瑟顿说, who also is a volunteer with the 美国心脏协会.

咨询你的医疗保健提供者

膳食补充剂有助于身体健康, but are not replacements for a diet of nutrient-dense foods. Vitamin and mineral supplements should be only taken in addition to a healthy eating pattern, and only with the recommendation of your physician or dietitian.

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) recognizes that for some people, dietary supplements are useful when it is not possible otherwise to meet the needs for one or more nutrients, 例如, 在特定的生命阶段，比如怀孕. But, the DGAs also state that foods provide an array of nutrients that benefit health, so nutritional needs should be met primarily through foods.

“A [dietary] supplement will generally provide 100 percent of the daily recommended allowance for all vitamins and minerals,克里斯-埃瑟顿说. “因此, many nutritionists will agree that a supplement is OK if nutrient needs are not being met by a healthy food-based diet.”

什么对你最好

美国心脏协会建议

• 整体心脏健康的饮食模式. Limit excess calories, added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium. 包括各种水果和蔬菜, 全谷物, 蛋白质的精益来源，如植物蛋白, 鱼或海鲜, 低脂或脱脂日记, 坚果和豆类.
• Fish intake has been associated with decreased risk of heart disease. 美国心脏协会建议 that patients without documented heart disease eat a variety of fish – preferably omega-3-containing fish – at least twice a week. Examples of these types of fish include salmon, herring, trout, halibut, and albacore tuna.
• Avoid antioxidant vitamin supplements such as A, C and E. Scientific evidence does not support their benefit to blood pressure, 降低血胆固醇或戒烟. Rather, 多吃水果, 蔬菜, 全麦, 植物油, and other plant-based foods for sufficient vitamins and minerals with beneficial antioxidant properties.
• 不要只依赖补充剂. There isn’t sufficient data to suggest that healthy people benefit by taking certain vitamin or mineral supplements in excess of the daily recommended allowance.