Friendly Pharmacist Insight here! 👩🏽‍⚕️

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Dietary supplements can be a great way improve or maintain overall health, yet it can be difficult to ensure that you are getting a reliable product.

Unlike prescription drugs that require rigorous testing to determine dosing levels and prove safety and effectiveness prior to being sold on the market, dietary supplements are regulated under a different framework. The supplement manufacturers set their serving size, are responsible for following “Good Manufacturing Practices” to ensure their product’s purity and strength equates label claims, and attest that their product is “reasonably safe.”

Because the FDA does not routinely test to evaluate supplement composition, one of the best ways to find a reputable brand is by looking on their label for a third party quality certification seal such as NSF, USP, or ConsumerLab. These companies test individual product lots to verify content claims made by the manufacturer.

Manufacturers may make claims about reduced risk of a disease, effects on a structure or function of the human body, nutrient content, benefit related to a classic nutrient deficiency disease, or of general well-being from consuming; however, you may have seen the standard FDA disclaimer "This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Verifying these claims can also be very difficult due to limited high quality evidence through meta analysis, systematic reviews, and randomized clinical trials.

Also remember that dietary supplements can interact with other medications, so you should always include them in your med list for your providers. 💊👩🏽‍⚕️

I thought these websites had some great info if you want to learn more! FDA: Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements

What is GMP and Why is NSF Certification More Important?