Dietary supplements increased popularity

Over the past few decades, the use of natural products as drugs and dietary supplements has raised an increasingly important question What impact does it have on biodiversity The widespread popularity of some natural products has resulted in their rapid destruction in the environment. One of the best-documented examples of this pattern is the decimation of wild echinacea resources throughout the United States. Sales of the plant in 2002 amounted to more than 32 million, and manufacturers are eager to obtain as much as they can from American sources. As a result, the plant is rapidly being depleted from its natural habitat, which ranges across large parts of the Midwest. 

Sales of Ca supplements alone were 875 million in the United States in 2002, and comprised 60% of all mineral supplement sales (Anonymous, 2004). In 2004, sales of Ca supplements increased by 9.3% (Uhland et ah, 2004), possibly to some extent in response to the Surgeon General s report on bone health that was issued that year. More recently in 2006, it was projected that dietary supplement sales in the United States would approach 5 billion (Anonymous, 2006). While Ca derived from a balanced diet is preferable, Ca supplements are a popular noncaloric alternative for increasing daily Ca intake. There are a vast number of oral Ca supplements available in the market place in the form of capsules, tablets, chewable tablets, effervescent tablets, liquids, powders, suspensions, wafers, and granules. However, not all Ca salts are equally soluble or bioavailable and the dose of Ca on the label of a supplement may not necessarily be reflective of the relative amount of available Ca once consumed. Furthermore, the same Ca salt may be more or less bioavailable depending on the production process and materials used to manufacture the supplement. 

Women use herbal and dietary supplements at higher rates than men do. This rise in use of alternative therapies places women at increased risk of significant drug interactions, specifically drug-herb and drug-nutrient interactions (83 9). For instance, St. John s wort, a popular antidepressant, contains at least seven groups of chemical compounds. These include naphthodianthrons (hypericin and pseudohypericin), flavonoids (quercetin, hyperoside, and rutin). 

Chelation of chromium with amino acids or other compounds which maintain its solubility in the gastrointestinal tract increases absorption (Mertz and Roginski 1969). Chromium picolinate, a popular dietary supplement, is a chelated compound that is better absorbed than CrClj but is rapidly excreted (Stoecker 2001). 

The use of food or dietary supplements has increased enormously in the last years among the different products present on the market, consumers show a special interest in those containing herbal ingredients. Some herbal products are emerging as popular drags for recreational abuse. Plant and herbal... 

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