Three Myths About Dietary Supplements … and How Knowing the Right Answers Is Good for Your Integrative Medicine Practice.

The use of safe and beneficial dietary supplements remains an important part of your patients' healthy lifestyle-and supplements are likely an important part of your integrative medicine practice. Although issues surrounding potency, ingredient identification, adulteration, and the enforcement of existing laws are legitimate concerns for medical professionals and consumers, the responsible industry is actively working to raise quality standards for its products through a number of self-regulatory measures. These include education about and adoption of additional quality assurance initiatives, such as GMPs for botanical ingredients; better supply-chain management; adoption of improved identification and testing methodologies; an industry-wide product registry; the use of accredited third-party certifications and seals; and initiatives to promote widespread membership in the industry's trade associations, which is a reliable indicator of a company's support of and adherence to strict quality guidelines. Also, industry support of appropriate enforcement actions against problem players and products from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and states' attorneys general continues in an effort to rid the market of unsafe and mislabeled products.