Dietary supplements can be unnecessary
Consult your doctor before use, says UCI Health expert
IN THE NEWS: More than half of the American population takes dietary supplements, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Unless a dietary supplement is being used to correct a known vitamin or mineral deficiency, doctors tend to be skeptical regarding effectiveness and advise of potential health hazards.
UCI Health neurologist Dr. Brian Hitt recently spoke to the New York Times about what people need to know about dietary supplements and safety.
“The supplement industry is essentially unregulated, so you’re basically taking a gamble any time you’re taking one of those products; if the bottle does not tell you the amounts of everything that’s in it, then that’s one to get rid of.”
Hitt added that even when dietary supplements aren’t harmful, they may do nothing at all. He says across the board that many science-based providers don’t recommend them.
Learn more about supplement safety from the National Institutes of Health.
Hitt is a board-certified UCI Health behavioral neurologist who specializes in the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive and memory disorders. He is also an assistant professor of neurology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. Hitt has conducted extensive basic research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases. His current research interests include bench-to-bedside translational studies to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic ways to target the tau protein, which is involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's and several other neurodegenerative diseases.
About UCI Health
UCI Health is one of California’s largest academic health systems and the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Established on July 1, 1976, UCI Health has grown into a 1,461-bed health system that includes UCI Health — Orange, UCI Health — Irvine, four Community Network hospitals and a growing network of ambulatory care centers across Orange and Los Angeles counties. As Orange County’s only academic health systems, UCI Health is home to the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in the county, the region’s only American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, American College of Emergency Physicians Gold Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department and a nationally recognized regional burn center verified by the American Burn Association. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people across Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County through excellence in patient care, research and medical education. Follow UCI Health on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.