Do You Need to Take a Supplement?

Knowing whether you need to take a dietary supplement is obviously the first question to answer. The notion that it “can’t hurt,” that a supplement is “like an insurance policy” or “your body can eliminate what it doesn’t need,” is a myth perpetuated by companies making supplements, and is simply untrue. In addition, some athletes take supplements because their training partner takes them, or because they saw ads for them.

A more individual determination of your nutritional needs is the first step in determining that you might need a dietary supplement. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. One way is with the help of a healthcare professional who may determine this through a variety of methods, including a good history, blood and urine tests, and other evaluations. However, with some exceptions, blood and urine tests are generally not the best ways to determine nutritional needs. While they can uncover the more obvious and serious deficiencies, they won’t show many other needs that may be more subtle or indicate that your diet is deficient.

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Other ways to determine your potential needs for supplementation include experimentation, diet analysis, and symptom surveys. Let’s consider each of these.