NUTRITION: HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS- EFFICACY & SAFETY by Dominique Hall Biology 1310 Professor Lang

WHAT ARE HERBS? An herb (also called botanical) is a plant or plant part used for scents, flavor, and/or therapeutic properties. An herb can be any form of a plant product including: leaves, stems, flowers, roots, and seeds. Herbs have been used for centuries in many traditional medicine systems and as sources found in plants that have notable effects in the body. These plants can either be raw or extracts mix with water, alcohol, or other solvents to extract the chemical. The results then contain many chemicals as in fatty acids, sterols, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, and others.

HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS? Herbal Supplements are a type of dietary supplement that contains herbs, either singly or in mixtures. Herbal supplements are added to the diet for both nutritional and medicinal purposes. They can supplement the diet to aid in overall health or to stimulate healing for specific conditions. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 classifies herbs as dietary supplements. This law defines supplements quite broadly as "anything that supplements the diet."

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS In the United States, herbal and other dietary supplements are regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as foods. This means that they do not have to meet the same standards as drugs and over-the-counter medications for proof of safety, effectiveness, and what the FDA calls Good Manufacturing Practices. Dietary supplements were defined in a law passed by Congress in A dietary supplement must meet all of the following conditions: It is a product (other than tobacco) that is intended to supplement the diet and that contains one or more of the following: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, or any combination of the above ingredients. It is intended to be taken in tablet, capsule, powder, soft-gel, gel-cap, or liquid form. It is not represented for use as a conventional food or as a sole item of a meal or the diet. It is labeled as being a dietary supplement.

WARNING!!! "NATURAL" DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN SAFE Sometimes they contain drugs that aren't listed on the label, such as steroids or estrogens. They may even contain toxic (poisonous) substances such as arsenic, mercury, lead, and pesticides. Many herbs have drug-like effects on the body, which can cause unwanted side effects and drug interactions if not used correctly or taken in large amounts. Herbs can also have a bad reaction with anesthesia or other medicines commonly used in surgery causing surgical complications. The many chemical components in herbal products may have varied strengths based on plant genetics, plant parts, and growing conditions. They may also have many components that may work together differently based on harvesting, processing, or packaging.

REQUIREMENT FOR SUPPLEMENTS LABEL:

SUPPLEMENT FACTS:

HOW TO READ A VITAMIN LABEL:

KNOW YOUR LABEL The active ingredient(s) in many herbs and herbal supplements are not known. There may be dozens, even hundreds, of such compounds in an herbal supplement. Scientists are currently working to identify these ingredients and analyze products, using sophisticated technology. Identifying the active ingredients in herbs and understanding how herbs affect the body are important research areas for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Published analyses of herbal supplements have found differences between what’s listed on the label and what’s in the bottle. This means that you may be taking less—or more—of the supplement than what the label indicates. Also, the word “standardized” on a product label is no guarantee of higher product quality, since in the United States there is no legal definition of “standardized” (or “certified” or “verified”) for supplements.

EFFICACY OF HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS However, a recent survey identified the ten most commonly used herbs in the United States and found that 18.9% of the adult population reported the use of an herb to treat a medical illness within the past year. The evidence for efficacy for the most common uses for each herb is shown in Table 1 and discussed below in the following Link: es/PMC / Many studies have been done of herbal medications. Unfortunately, they often lack good documentation, quality, and suffer from not having analyzed the substance studied. Because of the lack of quality control and regulation, it is difficult to assess what the effect of many herbs is, or even what people may be taking given the label often fails to match the content.

SAFETY Herbal supplements are regulated by the FDA, but not as drugs or as foods. They fall under a category called dietary supplements. The rules for dietary supplements are as follows: Manufacturers don't have to seek FDA approval before putting dietary supplements on the market. In addition, companies can claim that products address a nutrient deficiency, support health or are linked to body functions — if they have supporting research and they include a disclaimer that the FDA hasn't evaluated the claim. Manufacturers must follow good manufacturing practices to ensure that supplements are processed consistently and meet quality standards. These regulations are intended to keep the wrong ingredients and contaminants, such as pesticides and lead, out of supplements, as well as make sure that the right ingredients are included in appropriate amounts. Once a dietary supplement is on the market, the FDA is responsible for monitoring its safety. If the FDA finds a product to be unsafe, it can take action against the manufacturer or distributor or both, and may issue a warning or require that the product be removed from the market. These regulations provide assurance that herbal supplements meet certain quality standards and that the FDA can intervene to remove dangerous products from the market. The rules do not, however, guarantee that herbal supplements are safe for anyone to use. Because many supplements contain active ingredients that have strong effects in the body, these products can pose unexpected risks. For example, taking a combination of herbal supplements or using supplements together with prescribed medications could lead to harmful, even life- threatening results. For this reason, it's important to talk with your doctor before using herbal supplements.

WORKS CITED alSupplements.aspx alSupplements.aspx depth/herbal-supplements/art