This article was originally featured on The Conversation. Americans seem to have quite a positive view of dietary supplements. According to a 2023 survey, 74% of U.S. adults take vitamins, prebiotics and the like. The business of supplements is booming, and with all the hype around them, it’s easy to forget what they actually are: substances that can powerfully affect the body and your health, yet aren’t regulated like drugs are. They’re regulated more like food.
” Using the word artificial to describe other products and natural to describe a specific supplement is intended to make you feel like that product will be superior to the competition and that you need it to be healthy. To be clear, “natural” does not equate to “better,” but that’s what the marketing wants you to think. 2.