Dear Sender,

Your question is an important yet challenging one to address since there are many important nutrients and nutraceuticals to consider as nutritional supplements.  However, not all supplements are supported by the same level of credible scientific evidence.  Hopefully, my perspective below sheds the proper light on the subject matter.

First, it is important to properly define the purpose for taking a nutritional supplement.  Nutritional supplements serve two purposes; one, to supplement a person’s diet with essential or key nutrients or nutraceuticals that are difficult to find in a normal diet, and two, when science suggests that the recommended intake level should be higher than what is available through a normal diet.

In order to determine if a nutritional supplement has any real value, a number of different aspects must be thoroughly evaluated.  The first aspect to address is to fully understand the function the supplement supports in nutrition.  Specifically, what health condition does the supplement support, and what function does it play in that role?  For example, adequate levels of CoQ10 help to support heart health by its role in helping to maintain healthy blood pressure and heart rhythm.  Although CoQ10 is not a nutrient, since the body makes it, its level in the body declines with age and may need to be supplemented.

Once the function of the nutritional supplement is understood, the next important aspect to evaluate is whether the currently available scientific evidence fully supports the function or claim.   Is the available science supporting the claim valid?  What is the strength of the science supporting the function or claim?  Is the scientific evidence supporting the function or claim from a credible source?  There are a number of sources that can provide the answers to these questions.  PubMed.gov (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed), which is supported by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, is an excellent source of scientific citations supporting numerous health studies for those persons with more of a science background.  This approach does require one to understand and carefully evaluate the quality of the studies to determine if the claims are justified.  However, for those individuals looking for an interpretation of the available science on the function of a particular nutritional supplement, the Linus Pauling Institute (www.lpi.oregonstate.edu), Life…supplemented (www.lifesupplemented.org), and WebMD (www.webmd.com) are all excellence sources of credible information.

So, in the end, the answer is yes, many nutritional supplements do have value as long as the function or claim is supported by credible and efficacious science.  It is important to note that not all supplements are supported by the same level of scientific evidence, and that the nutrient under consideration needs to be thoroughly evaluated for its true value as a nutritional supplement.