Got Food? - the Scientia Review

Vitamin Supplements
In many cases, whether it is due to dietary habit or location, people can have vitamin deficiencies.
Some vitamins, like vitamins C, B 12 , and D, are necessary for very important functions and can cause
devastating effects for deficient individuals. To combat these effects, people usually choose to take
vitamin supplements. There are many different forms of these supplements, the most popular being the
pill. Another difference between different vitamin supplements is the purpose that each one serves.
Today, companies have specifically targeted vitamin supplements to particular groups of people or
deficiencies. For example, One-A-Day Products markets vitamins that are targeted at specific stages of
life and genders ranging from vitamins for teenage girls to vitamins for men over the age of 50. Vitamin
supplements ensure that the consumer lives their life to the fullest without any vitamin deficiencies.
However, the process of accepting a supplement is very intricate and involves many organizations.
One of the most involved parts of the supplement discovery and distribution process is the
specification and regulation of the product itself. Organizations like the United States Pharmacopeial
Convention (USP) and the U.S Food and Drug Administration are highly influential in setting the
standard for vitamin supplements; industrial companies that look to manufacture supplements utilize this
benchmark. The full list of standards can be found in the USP Dietary Supplements Compendium (DSC),
an amalgamation of different monographs that specify identity, strength, quality, and purity of various
dietary supplements. Again, manufacturers that hope to utilize these dietary supplements look to the DSC
to make sure that their product conforms to the standards set by the USP‘s compendium (Dietary
Supplements Compendium, 2009).
Vitamins supplements, as previously stated, come in many different forms. Some come for
singular vitamins; supplements for simply vitamin C can be found on the shelf for those who do not think
they consume enough of this essential vitamin. However, the most popular vitamin supplement has
quickly become the multivitamin. This supplement variant is specifically designed to supply consumers
with enough vitamins such that the consumer does not have any deficiencies. These vitamins cannot
completely substitute for the vitamins in food because they are usually created for the purpose of
accommodating a healthy diet. As noted above, companies like One-A-Day and Centrum are widely
known for supplying multivitamins that serve very specific purposes. Some of the specialized formulae
that do not apply to sex or age include vision, heart, energy, and prenatal support. Each multivitamin is
specially formulated to ensure that the consumer is correctly treated (One-a-day Multivitamins, n.d.;
(Centrum Multivitamins, n.d.).
Vitamin supplements can be beneficial,
but their misuse can cause harm.
20