What Are Dietary Supplements?

What are dietary supplements?

Biologically active additives – compositions of natural or identical to natural biologically active substances intended for direct intake with food in order to enrich the diet with individual food or biologically active substances and their complexes. Biologically active food supplements are obtained from plant, animal or mineral raw materials, by chemical or biotechnological methods. For example, protein supplements, ready-to-use or as powders to mix with water, are marketed as aids for people recovering from illness or injury, those hoping to prevent sarcopenia of the elderly. Biologically active food additives cannot be identified with food additives, which are a group of substances of natural or artificial origin used to improve technology, preserve or impart to food products the necessary properties, increase stability or improve organoleptic properties. Biologically active supplements are categorized into three groups: nutraceuticals, parapharmaceuticals, and eubiotics. 

Nutraceuticals – biologically active food supplements used to correct the chemical composition of human food (additional sources of nutrients: protein, amino acids, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber). The ultimate goal of using nutraceuticals is to improve a person’s nutritional status, promote health and prevent a number of diseases. 

Parapharmaceuticals – biologically active food supplements used for prophylaxis, adjuvant therapy and support within physiological limits of functional activity of organs and systems. 

Eubiotics – biologically active food supplements that contain live microorganisms and (or) their metabolites, which have a normalizing effect on the composition and biological activity of microflora and motility of the digestive tract; eubiotics sometimes include a substrate that promotes the growth of friendly flora, but is not assimilated by the human body. 

According to the origin of the main components, dietary supplements are divided into:

• plant extracts, whole plant parts;
• bee products;
• seafood
• animal extracts;
• mineral components;
• fermentation products;
• biotechnology products;
• synthetic analogs of natural food substances. 

So what are dietary supplements for?

• to compensate for the insufficient intake of protein and certain essential amino acids, lipids and certain fatty acids (in particular, polyunsaturated higher fatty acids), carbohydrates and sugars, vitamins and vitamin-like substances, macro- and microelements, dietary fiber, organic acids, essential oils, extractive substances, etc. ;
• to reduce caloric intake, regulate (decrease or increase) appetite and body weight;
• to increase non-specific body resistance, reduce the risk of disease and metabolic disorders;
• for realization within physiological limits of regulation of body functions;
• for binding in the gastrointestinal tract and excretion of foreign substances;
• to maintain normal composition and functional activity of intestinal microflora. 

Biologically active additives are used as an additional source of food and biologically active substances, to optimize carbon, fat, protein, vitamin and other types of metabolism in various functional states, to normalize and/or improve the functional state of organs and systems of the human body, including products that have tonic, mild diuretic, tonic, sedative and other types of action in various functional states, to reduce the risk of disease, as well as for the normalization and improvement of the functional state of organs and systems of the human body, including products that have a tonic, mild diuretic, tonic, sedative and other types of action in various functional states, to reduce the risk of disease, as well as for normalization and improvement of the functional state of organs and systems of the human body.