Dietary supplement

Flight through a CT image stack of a multivitamin tablet "A-Z" by German company Abtei.

A dietary supplement (or food supplement or nutritional supplement) can be a pill, powder, or a liquid form that helps enhance food that a person or animal may eat. The supplement can provide nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids. People may want to take supplements because they may not have enough nutrients in their body or may want to get more healthier. Some countries define supplements as food. Others define them as drugs or natural health products.

Bodybuilding supplements are dietary supplements for those involved in bodybuilding and athletes. These supplements can help with weight gain or weight loss, or to improve their performance.

Other websites

• Dietary Supplements: General Resources for Consumers (PDF|131 KB), Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library. List of resources that provides an overview of herbal and dietary supplements, including use, regulation, research, and cautionary information.
• Questions to Ask Before Taking Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, Nutrition.gov.

Books

• Natural Standard Research Collaboration
• Dietary Supplements Labels Database, from the United States National Library of Medicine
• International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements database from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements and USDA National Agricultural Library
• Dietary Supplement Information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• What's in the Bottle? An Introduction to Dietary Supplements, from the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by the American Public: A report of the Institute of Medicine
• EPC Evidence Reports on Dietary Supplements