Food supplements: useful or a waste of money?

Some swear by it, others roll their eyes: opinions differ when it comes to food supplements. And that is no wonder, considering how large and opaque this market is. Even we at ASPRIVA cannot recommend pills and powders without hesitation. We will explain why this is the case in this article – so that you can make healthy and sensible decisions for yourself.

Between marketing and profit maximization

The market for food supplements in Germany continues to grow. Last year, sales amounted to around 1.78 billion euros, which corresponds to an increase of 4.8 percent. The challenges begin with the search for a good product: the market is highly fragmented, which means that there are a very high number of brands - especially since Amazon is playing an increasingly important role as a sales channel. However, high margins can only be achieved with the lowest possible production costs. This can be achieved in various ways, for example by using cheap raw materials or by (too) low dosages. Depending on the positioning of the product, however, manufacturers often advertise particularly high dosages to imply effectiveness - "more is better" is the motto.

However, current product tests by the Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry (IPBP) at the University of Münster show that you cannot blindly rely on the manufacturer's information: missing ingredients, incorrectly stated dosages, problematic and, in the worst case, harmful ingredients were not the exception in the study, but rather the sad rule. For example, in more than 50% of the broccoli extracts examined, significant quality problems were found. The specific glucosinolates, which are supposed to protect against the development of cancer, were present in less than half of the samples in the declared amount or in some cases were not detectable at all.

Regulation as food

The EU regulates food supplements like food. However, food is less strictly regulated than, for example, animal feed (sounds strange, but it's true). Before a product can go on sale - this is called "placing on the market" - it only has to be registered with the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). The person placing the product on the market is responsible and liable for the safety and harmlessness of the product. But here comes the next challenge: no food supplement has to be tested by a laboratory for purity or the presence of the declared ingredients before it is placed on the market. The so-called marketability certificate is also only optional in the registration process. As a manufacturer, you could simply register a product with the BVL that looks good on paper but is produced to a poor standard. Unfortunately, it also happens regularly in Germany that quality problems are only discovered when the product is already on the market. These can be, for example, contamination of the raw materials or incorrectly declared ingredients. That's why we advise you to take a close look at every product and every provider and do a little research before you buy. And yes, of course this also applies to our own products - to make it easier for you to find out more, we have included the relevant certificates and laboratory results on the respective product page.

Permitted health claims: What can you say?

Advertising is not allowed to do everything, even if it sometimes seems that way. There are strict rules for medicines, food and food supplements in particular: In the interest of consumer safety, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) determines which health claims are permitted for food and food supplements. These so-called “EFSA Health Claims” are health-related statements that have been scientifically tested and approved. They are intended to ensure that only scientifically proven advertising claims are made.

For example, as a manufacturer of a food supplement, you cannot claim that vitamin B12 cures sleep disorders, but only that "vitamin B12 helps reduce tiredness and fatigue." The aim of this strategy is to protect consumers from misleading statements. Promises of healing or effectiveness are always prohibited. Reputable manufacturers also adhere to these guidelines - dubious providers prefer to risk warnings in order to generate good sales with promises in the meantime. So if you read something like "Our product fights arthritis" in the future, you will be able to better assess the trustworthiness of the provider after reading this article.

Identify untrustworthy providers

There are a few more points that can help you filter out questionable products and suppliers: For example, if there is talk of allegedly patented combinations of active ingredients in nutritional supplements, then this is very likely a rather borderline marketing strategy.

Food supplements are foodstuffs and not pharmaceutical products, so you cannot register a patent for them, only a trademark. You should also be cautious with suppliers who are not based in the EU (you can tell by looking at the imprint). They rarely adhere to the EFSA guidelines on promises of effectiveness and can claim all sorts of things without providing evidence. If a product sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. There are no miracle cures.

More is better? Not necessarily.

Some food supplements deliberately advertise (very) high dosages, but this is not automatically beneficial. What sounds like you are getting a lot for your money is useless at best and dangerous at worst. Not all active ingredients are harmless even in high dosages, especially when taken regularly. The dose makes the poison, which means that any substance, even water, can be harmful in too high a quantity. Too much water can actually lead to dangerous water poisoning, which disrupts the body's electrolyte balance. When consuming selenium, for example, you have to remember that it only breaks down over a period of around 48 hours and can therefore accumulate in the body if too much is consumed.

Hyper, Hyper, the “miracle cure” Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body, mainly in the pineal gland, that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. The body's own production is normally around 0.1 to 0.3 mg per day, and it can also be taken exogenously to treat sleep disorders or jet lag. While melatonin is freely available as a food supplement in Germany, it is only available as a prescription drug in Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, for example. In Germany, melatonin is literally on everyone's lips: it can now be found in all kinds of products, from gummy bears to sprays.

Many people will therefore be very surprised to learn that melatonin regulates other hormones, can also influence the timing of puberty and is not simply the "sleep hormone". In addition, melatonin is not particularly effective; a recent meta-analysis found that melatonin only increased sleep duration by 3.9 minutes and sleep efficiency by only 2.2%.

A relatively small benefit is offset by potentially significant risks, especially when taken regularly. Melatonin therefore does not meet our requirements for the required benefit-risk profile of an ingredient. Too little benefit compared to possible risks, especially for young people.

So, a certain amount of knowledge is expected when you buy nutritional supplements, and the fact that it is an over-the-counter food does not relieve you of your responsibility to inform yourself beforehand.

Why ASPRIVA does not offer multivitamins

At first glance, multivitamin products seem to make sense - they seem to contain everything that a human body needs. All the important vitamins, minerals, and often trace elements, and all of that in a single tablet or capsule. It sounds practical, but in our opinion it is really not recommended. Because a multivitamin product cannot be adapted to your needs. You always get all the ingredients, whether you need them or not. In addition, many multivitamins are not dosed sensibly.

How do you recognize high-quality products?

If you're looking for a food supplement with a specific ingredient, you'll usually end up with a confusing selection. And because gut feeling isn't the most useful guide when making a selection, we've put together the five most important points for you here that can help you choose a safe and good product.

• Production : Are high-quality, laboratory-tested ingredients from reliable sources used? Are they in a form that can be ideally absorbed by the body? Also find out about the place of manufacture: products from Germany or the EU are subject to stricter legal minimum requirements.

• Certification : Does the product have quality reports from independent laboratories regarding the purity and quality of the ingredients? These reports should go beyond simply testing for heavy metals.

• Labelling : Are all ingredients, additives and potential excipients transparently and fully declared? The manufacturer should clearly indicate all ingredients, their origin and the exact quantities on the packaging or website.

• Claims on effectiveness : Are there scientific studies and clinical data that support the effectiveness of the products? Are the claims EU-compliant and reputable? Be careful of exaggerated claims that are not supported by the EFSA.

Some good news at the end

Before we leave you to your research, we would like to emphasize one thing that is very important to us: The best nutritional supplement will not replace a healthy lifestyle. That is why we always recommend behavior-based measures and dietary adjustments as the first steps for a holistic approach. But, and this is a big but: high-quality nutritional supplements tailored to your needs have their place in this approach and can be a valuable addition to your routine. Make sure that production is transparent and that the dosage is scientifically sound, and you can benefit noticeably from a nutritional supplement in terms of your health.