Rant on Supplement Advertising

I apologize for always taking about supplements, but... I'm going to just a little bit.

Working at The Vitamin Shoppe, I am constantly learning about nutrition, supplements, supplement manufacturers, industry standards, and new products being introduced to the market. So by now I have a pretty good eye for the things that are worthwhile (i.e. do what they should for you) and those that are not (i.e. BS).

Every single commercial I see on television for vitamins or weight loss supplements make me really angry, because they are SO misleading. They basically just hype the product up, but don't inform consumers about why they need to take it and what the effective dose should be. For example, in order for your body to benefit from an antioxidant like CO-Q10, you should be taking 50-100 mg per day, not 5 mg. It's simply a waste of money--and the 2 seconds it takes you to swallow the pill every morning.

My biggest pet peeve right now are the commercials about krill oil, glorifying it as the best source of omega-3 fatty acid. Wrong WRONG. Your body needs about 20 times more omega-3's than this source offers, so you really need to take regular fish oil (or flax if you're a vegetarian). The only reason for taking krill oil is the antioxidant value, which you could just buy separately for half the price.

This bothers me so much, because marketers are misleading consumers into needlessly spending their money. And the worst part is, they aren't flouting the rules of DSHEA, the legislation that regulates the industry. I would really like to see an amendment to the rules of DSHEA requiring companies to at least mention the RDA for supplements so they know whether they are buying a good product or not. Especially now that people are beginning to really take an interest in their health, they deserve to be fully informed.