Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Gwinnett Medical Center - (Page 16)

Supplementary A Nutritional supplements can help balance your diet, but get the facts on what works, what doesn’t—and when they could be downright dangerous Dan Fabricant, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s dietary supplements division, cautions that because supplements aren’t regulated as closely as drugs, consumers should be “particularly wary” of claims made on supplement labels. The Ofﬁce of Dietary Supplements, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), sponsors dietary research and summarizes scientiﬁc literature about supplements for health professionals and consumers. Free consumer fact sheets at ods.od.nih.gov run through the beneﬁts of, recommendations for and warnings about dozens of supplements, including these popular ones. bout half of all Americans take dietary supplements, whether to patch nutritional holes in their daily diet or in an attempt to bolster their brainpower, boost their mood or keep the spring in their step. Popping a pill with breakfast is far easier than preparing three square meals a day, but experts like Carol Haggans, a scientiﬁc and health communications consultant for the U.S. Ofﬁce of Dietary Supplements, emphasize that the products are called supplements for a reason—they’re best used as an addition to a well-balanced diet, not a replacement for one. “We’ve learned that you can’t necessarily isolate a compound from a food and expect it to have the same effect in the body,” Haggans says. “Plus, many foods have phytochemicals and compounds that may work best synergistically.” PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHOTOLIBRARY By Sam Mittelsteadt 16 Vim & Vigor · W I N TER 2 011 http://ods.od.nih.gov

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Gwinnett Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Gwinnett Medical Center
Contents
Phil's Feature
New Hip, New Life
Building Better Heart Care
Back in Action
Supplementary Knowledge
Keys to Survival
Clearing the Air
Mark Harmon of NCIS fame makes 60 look good
This One's For the Girls
Life After a Loss
Do Your Diabetes Homework
Healthy Returns
Prime Time Health
The Future of Breast Health
Growing Generosity
Out of the White Coat
Transforming Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - Gwinnett Medical Center