Does it really work?

They are everywhere! To grow hair, nails, help sleep, tan or have less imperfections, the food supplement market has become more democratic. In capsules and now popularized in the form of gummies (candies), they claim to contain the ingredients capable of helping us to compensate for a deficit. But what is it really?

Beware of scams

For Fabienne Malyesson, journalist at What to choose, you have to be careful. According to the journalist, some food supplements “claim to be rich” in quantity of active ingredients, while the contents and claims are not necessarily displayed or authorized by the General Directorate for Consumer Competition and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF ). His article on dietary supplements specifies that “during their survey of food supplements sold on online marketplaces: 60% of operators were out of the loop”. Due to the lack of checks and therefore evidence of effectiveness.

How to separate the true from the false

For the presence of an ingredient in a dietary supplement to be truly effective, it must be ensured that the brand has clinical studies but also the endorsement of professionals. The dietary supplement brand Mium Lab works for example with a scientific committee which validates (or not) the active ingredients selected. Others like Isispharmawork with dermatologists and make the results of their studies and the content of ingredients available on their website to reassure them of their effectiveness.

David Gueunon, founder and president of Mium Lab, explains for example that melatonin, well known to promote sleep, must appear between 1 and 5 mg in the compositions to have impact. Below, it is therefore useless to buy… In case of doubt, He also advises to buy in a trusted pharmacy. Because your pharmacist also guarantees the quality of the products he sells and will make sure to scrutinize the formulas upstream, since a food supplement will be sold on the same counters as his medicines.

It works, yes, but under what conditions

First, you must use the food supplement as a cure and respect the prescribed indications. For nutri-cosmetics (hair, nails, skin) a cure of about three months is ideal before seeing results. Conversely, a course of 3 weeks will suffice for supplements influencing vitality, sleep or digestion because the body can react more quickly.

Second, you have to choose a trusted laboratory, monitored by the authorities by checking the claims on the product boxes. And finally, last but not least: the relevance of their use. “If you don’t need it, don’t take it,” insists the founder of Mium Lab.

A complement, not a substitute

To see results, you must accompany your supplement with the care or lifestyle that goes with it, at the risk of being disappointed… Victoria Zon, International Marketing Director of the IsisPharma laboratory also shares this opinion: “The food supplement is used to complement and in no way replace a drug or cosmetic product. It is not enough on its own but is used in prevention or as a booster from the inside”. It is therefore a question of putting the role of the food supplement back in its place of background and not as a main role to reach Rapunzel’s hair or regain the Hulk’s energy after a sleepless night.

source site