Supplements: The Scoop on Safety, Quality, and Efficacy

Dietary Supplements are products we all have likely all encountered at some point in our lives. It is an industry with over 50,000 different types of products and one that has surpassed over 40 billion dollars in revenue.It is also an industry with some regulation issues and therefore brings about some inherent health risks to using these products. Knowing that risk exists, making informed decisions when purchasing and taking any dietary supplements is important. Have you ever wondered about supplement safety, quality, and effectiveness? Today, we have Sports Pharmacy Network's Director of Human Performance and registered dietitian, Sean Casey, to review supplement safety, quality & effectiveness. What we cover in this episode What are dietary supplements?How are they regulated and different from pharmaceuticals or foods? What are certifications bodies like NSF, IC, and Clean Label Project What does this mean for drug-tested athletes and military personnel (Supplement 411, OPSS for military, etc.) Tricky areas as consumers such as determining serving size vs effective dosage, "proprietary blends", concerns for safety, ingredient amounts, etc Possible interactions with other supplements or medications The direction of supplement safety and how can you be an educated consumers Links OPSS - Provides a DOD-prohibited ingredients list to help military members be aware of ingredients to avoid when considering dietary supplement products. https://www.opss.org  Supplement411 - https://www.usada.org/athletes/substances/supplement-connect/high-risk-list/ NSF www.nsf.org Informed Choice https://choice.wetestyoutrust.com/