by Randall Phelps

It seems as if we are constantly being bombarded with advertisements for the latest dietary supplements: "Amazing new herbs boost athletic performance!", "Take these antioxidants to prevent cancer!", "Special protein formulation yields maximum muscle growth!", "Alleviate your ailments with new super-absorbable vitamins!", or "Lose weight with breakthrough discovery!". We are then told that some ingenious doctor has discovered the miracle substance that will make us thinner, stronger, smarter, or better at whatever we do. Best of all, we are told, this supplement works without any real effort and has absolutely no side effects. All we have to do is dig deep into our pockets, hand over our money, and then swallow the miraculous elixirs.

Additionally, doctors and many health and fitness magazines would have us believe that without the benefits of supplemental vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, botanicals or some concentrate, extract or mixture of these, it is not possible to succeed with our health and fitness goals. Even the die-hard skeptic may find himself wondering if he should take a sulfur-based supplement for the worn cartilage in his knees, or the latest green powder for his receding hairline.

So, are we to assume these products are safe and effective? Should we take them as "insurance" against deficiencies, as many do? In many cases, no one really knows. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not check on the safety or effectiveness of dietary supplements before they are put on the market. The FDA must wait until it receives reports of problems caused by a supplement before it can investigate and ban it. This process can take years. Meanwhile, those who take dietary supplements are volunteering, even paying, to be the manufacturer's guinea pigs at the risk of their own health.

Each supplement is taken for specific reasons, and while some ailments may improve, the side effects and nutritional imbalances eventually make them "detriments" instead of "supplements", as Dr. Douglas Graham, President of Healthful Living International, has said.

What side effects? According to the New England Journal of Medicine, lead poisoning, impotence, lethargy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abnormal heart rhythms top the list of disorders resulting from taking powerful herbs and vitamin pills. These supplements often contain toxic contaminants and even potent drugs and hormones in products that are labeled as "all natural" and "drug free". In one study, 83 of 260 supplement samples were found to contain poisonous heavy metals such as lead, arsenic or mercury, or drugs not listed on the label. All of this doesn't even begin to take into account the long-term nutritional imbalances that are inevitably created by favoring certain nutrients in abnormally heavy doses.

In spite of all these problems, according to a 2002 survey, 75% of American adults are confident in the safety, quality, and effectiveness of dietary supplements, and 94% of consumers trust doctors or other health care professionals for reliable information on supplements.

Health experts agree that the best way to get all the nutrients you need is to get them from your foods, as has been done from time immemorial. Nutrients must be present in specific, complex ratios with other nutrients in order to perform their functions. Too much of one nutrient will interfere with the effectiveness of another nutrient or may even build up to toxic levels in body fat. There are many more substances in our foods besides those that we have managed to name, measure, and isolate. Those nutrients that we have not discovered are already present in our foods, just waiting to synergistically interact with just the right proportion of other nutrients to nourish our bodies optimally.

Our nutritional needs are easily met by basing our diet on fresh fruit, green vegetables, and small amounts of nuts and seeds. These fresh organic foods most closely mirror the nutrient ratios that our bodies thrive on. Anything less than whole foods disrupts our bodies' nutritional balance to our long-term detriment, even if it does help one specific ailment short-term.

Now is the time to decide. Are we going to be gullible guinea pigs supporting supplement companies, on the gamble that we will somehow benefit, or should we trust in the time-tested science of natural history?

Randall Phelps studied at Heidelberg College and New Mexico State University and has been competing as a runner and triathlete for over 20 years. His supplement-free diet has evolved through many years of study and experimentation.