Dietary supplements unnecessary for healthy people

More than two-thirds of the German population have taken dietary supplements or can imagine them in the future. This is the result of an online survey by the market research institute YouGov, in which more than 1,000 people aged 18 and over participated. Those who buy the products primarily want to promote their health (61%), prevent colds (36%), improve their body functions (39%) or improve their physical fitness (33%).

Pills instead of fruits: unnecessary! (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

When consumers supplement their diet, they primarily use magnesium and vitamin C. This has been confirmed by a recent market analysis by Insight Health, commissioned by the Food Law and Food Science Association. Overall, in Germany, from April 2017 to March 2018, a proud 225 million packs of nutritional supplements went over the counter - 12 million more than in the same period of the previous year. Vitamin C was the leader in vitamins, with 29.2 million packs, followed by multivitamins with and without minerals (24.7 million), vitamin B12 (5.7 million), vitamins A and D (5.7 million). and vitamin B supplements (4.2 million). Among the minerals, magnesium is by far the most popular preparation (36.8 million), followed by calcium (16.4 million), other mineral supplements (11.1 million), products for the regulation of the acid-base balance (3 , 3 million), zinc (3.0 million) and potassium (1.9 million).

Dietary supplements are foods that contain nutrients in concentrated form and are dosed in capsules, ampoules or tablets. Although the market is booming, the preparations are unnecessary in most cases. "Dietary supplements are simply superfluous for healthy people," emphasizes nutritionist Harald Seitz from the German Federal Center for Nutrition. "Usually, a balanced and varied diet is sufficient to meet the needs for micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals."

For certain nutrients such as iodine, vitamin D and folic acid, the average supply in Germany is not optimal. "However, deficiencies can usually be remedied with targeted food selection," explains Seitz. For certain groups, however, dietary supplementation makes sense, since they have a higher requirement and are not sufficiently supplied with food. These include the elderly, pregnant women, nursing women and babies. "But even in these phases of life, it's all about individual nutrients, which should be supplemented specifically and only on medical recommendation," said Seitz. Heike Kreutz, bzfe