Americans have become more conscious about their health over the last couple of decades. We join gyms, and read up on the latest diet fads that promise to give us more energy and help us to get into better shape all the way around. Since most of us have grown up taking a daily vitamin, we take an assortment of supplements in our quest to live longer healthier lives. The problem with this is of the forty million people in this county taking vitamin supplements, less than ten percent of them do so after consulting their physician.



So where are they getting their information?

Most get information on these concoctions from advertisements that disguised themselves as articles. You should beware of these, as they are normally written by the very people who are trying to sell you their product. Some just walk up to the vitamin section of their pharmacy or supermarket and read the labels on the bottles to get information. But like the publications, these are also written by the ones trying to make a sale. So what you need to do is go out and do you own research. Consult a doctor and look into independent sources that have a proven track record.

There are several government and health agencies that provide information about vitamin supplements. Most have websites that are full of information on the different vitamins on the market today. The United States Department of Agriculture, better known as the USDA, has compiled quite a bit of helpful information about nutrition, and this does include dietary supplements.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, classifies vitamins as a food not a drug. Basically this means that some supplement manufactures have not been evaluated by the FDA. If this is the case, something should be noted on the label of their product. Even so, the FDA does offer information on fraudulent claims made by some of the so called wonder pills, along with other important information about vitamins and minerals.

There are other independent organizations that offer very comprehensive information on dietary supplements. The Mayo Clinic for one, and the National Institutes of Health, NIH, for another. Also, since cancer patients are common targets of sales people and advertisers, the American Cancer Society has also issued information about those who make false claims about their products.

We are constantly being bombarded every day with marketer's claims that their vitamins can give us more energy, or make us healthier, or help us become thinner. What we as consumers need to do it educate ourselves so that we do not fall prey to those who are just trying to make a quick buck. The best way to do this would be to consult our doctor. They may prescribe a daily supplement, or recommend something over the counter.

Also, with the amount of information available on the web, we need to use the resources available to us and our research skill, and go out and get information from independent sources. This way if a product claims to be able to do everything from make us live longer to feeling twenty years younger, we will know if they can live up to their promises.