How Should We Take Care of Food Supplements?

Although food supplements are not as premium as the COVID19 vaccine, they have become the most interesting product of the year. At the time when everyone was closed to their homes, the most protective shield was the foods that regulated the body's immune system.

Do you prefer olive leaf tea or oregano oil to protect against COVID? My preference is for propolis… Everyone has a list and many think that the reference point is solid. Fortunately, we live in a geography rich in medicinal and aromatic plants. And every day a new herbal product or food supplement comes out on the market.

Many people around me say they learned the lesson from the pandemic: "Nutrition is more important than medicine." It certainly is. I hope that in the medium and long term, we will bring our monotonous eating habits to a more balanced diet on this occasion.

The research conducted by EIT Food, Europe's leading food innovation initiative in 10 European countries, revealed that the curfew had a profound effect on food purchasing and consumption during the pandemic period. Almost half of consumers (49 percent) stated that protecting their health is more important as a result of the pandemic, while one third (35 percent) said they bought more local products, and almost nine out of 10 (87 percent) said they will continue to do so in the future.

Source: Medium

The most interesting product of the year; food supplements

Although food supplements are not as premium as the COVID19 vaccine, they have become the most interesting product of the year. At the time when everyone was closed to their homes, the most protective shield was the foods that regulated the body's immune system.

On the one hand, the evaluation of the potential in our country, which is rich in medicinal and aromatic plants, on the other hand, the food supplements that are very open to abuse and offered like medicine… There are many uncertainties… Our health is too valuable to be left uncertain.

The unknowns in the field of food supplements!

Personally, I have criticisms about this area, questions about the functioning of the system are in my mind and I need to find new information about its economic value. Argivit brand, a food supplement and vitamin producer, and Hekim İlaç Founder Dr. I wanted to meet with Murat Doğan and talk about both what he did and what was happening in the sector.

As you know, there are pandemic bans. Where will we meet and where do we sit and consider the issue in detail? Finally, we decided to talk while hiking in Belgrad Forests.

It was good, we had a socially distant meeting on a sunny winter day, in an environment where the leaves of the trees showed the beauty of autumn.

Source: Medium

**The pioneer of the market is by far North America!
**
The clear pioneer of the food supplement market is North America. In America, with the increase of chronic diseases and obesity problems, the consumer turns to the food supplement market and prefers healthy foods.

Chronic diseases are also on the rise in China and India, causing the demand for food supplements to increase in this region. The food supplement market is growing faster in the Asia Pacific region than in the rest of the world outside of the USA.

FAO and WHO's view of food supplements

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) consider food supplements as one of the main strategies to promote food enrichment and reduce malnutrition in underdeveloped countries.

The global food supplements market size was estimated at $ 45.75 billion in 2018, the size of the market is expected to reach $ 74.14 billion by 2026. An annual growth of 6.34 percent is expected between 2019-2026.

According to the report by Grand View Research, food supplement market is expected to exceed $ 230 billion by 2027. In other words, an annual growth rate of 8.2 percent is expected. These predictions were made before the COVID19 pandemic. You can predict the long-term consequences of the exponential growth experienced this year.

Source: Medium

Spice is an important food supplement raw material. According to a study, European Union countries import 380 thousand tons of spices, exceeding 14 billion dollars every year.

Source: Medium

It is not medicine, but it is treated like medicine!

Food supplements are not drugs. As the name implies, "food" and "supplement". But it is treated like a medicine both by the public and by the administrative authorities. This is one of the risks. For dietary supplements, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that these products should be consumed after consulting a healthcare professional.

The increased awareness of calorie reduction and weight loss in major markets such as the USA, China and Italy is expected to stimulate the implementation of the health and wellness segment and therefore have a significant impact on the industry. In addition, due to the implementation of new advertising campaigns for brand promotions by companies such as Amway and Pfizer, the increasing importance of protein intake in the emerging markets of China and India is expected to remain a driving force throughout the forecast period.

Dietary supplement ingredients containing vitamins, mineral mixtures, carotenoids, and omega-3 are also used to reduce the risk of malnutrition in adults and infants. The high birth rate, the increasing geriatric population, and the increase in the number of preterm births and the increase in the number of patients treated for malnutrition should encourage the use of clinical nutritional products throughout the forecast period.

Dietary supplements market

North America emerged as the largest dietary supplements market in 2019. At the macro level, the increasing awareness of nutritional enrichment in the region may increase the demand for the product in the coming years. In addition, the growing demand for sports as an academic curriculum activity in education systems in major markets such as the USA, Russia, China and Japan is expected to encourage the introduction of dietary supplements among children in the coming years.

It is pointless to insist that "pharmacy" is!

I think differently. Amazon, the world's largest marketing company, started selling prescription medicine online. In the near future, it will start online sales in the UK. In an environment where the process has reached this point, I believe that it is meaningless to insist that “pharmacy necessarily”. More common inspection and instant checks can be done by using the data matrix.

Source: Medium

Medicinal and aromatic plants market

The total sales value of all products in these categories in the first 6 months of 2017 increased by 21 percent compared to the same period of 2016 and reached 861 million TL. Consequently, these figures are the data of those released on the market and invoiced. It is said that the size of herbalists, sales in marketplaces and unrecorded data in the sector is several times that.

There is also a market for medicinal and aromatic plants, which are the raw materials of these products.

Source: Medium

These plants, which became more common all over the world after 1990 and were collected wild from nature, are now cultured and widely produced and consumed. With the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for medicinal plants continues to increase exponentially.

Source: Medium

Active ingredients of food supplements

These natural products offer great potential for the agricultural sector and rural development. However, when it comes to food supplements and permits, the pharmacological problem arises: The proportions of active and active ingredients in the products of every valley and every region are not the same. In this respect, both preparation and presentation can cause serious problems. Also, the importation of active ingredients used in food supplements can pose another problem. Because most of these active ingredients are not defined in the food codex. The probability that a Chinese propolis you take is propolis may not be more than 5 percent.

In such a comprehensive and complex environment, people may be hesitant about which food supplement to use. The issue of safety is not only limited to supplements, but also for all kinds of food and many non-food products.

Vitamins should be taken under the supervision of a doctor!

Recently, the use of vitamins has become widespread. Dogan recommends consulting a physician for vitamin needs and warns about the vitamins that are deficient in the diagnosis and their dosages. She emphasizes that sometimes eating a tangerine and an orange may be better than taking a vitamin C supplement, and that should be determined by a doctor.

Reminding that vitamins are a kind of chemical substance, Doğan reminds that: Each vitamin assumes a different role in the body. High doses can damage body organs and functions. If we use drugs, it may interact and reduce the effect of the drug or, conversely, increase its effect and cause negative side effects.

Is it fake or is it real?

The questions I have been facing the most lately are which food supplements are correct and which are fake. Murat Doğan gave the following information on the subject:

Content and active ingredient safety may be in non-standard applications, especially when the finished product is produced and offered for sale. Pharmaceutical active ingredients can be added and sold as food supplements. In general, the same agent may not be found in the bottle or in the tablet with the active ingredient parts on the box. Generally, there is an incompatibility between the doses. We even hear that the labels of the expired products are changed and re-boxed.

It is not possible to visually detect fake vitamin supplements. But some clues may give us doubt. These tips; being sold well below its value in the market, not being available in pharmacies while being sold on the internet, not being recommended by doctors, or not being able to reach the manufacturer when investigated with the manufacturer's address, etc. In some products, their manufacturers cannot be found, and they do not have official websites.

The COVID19 process teaches us the way to a balanced diet while teaching us to take care of our health, as well as many social facts. Food supplements will now remain a part of our lives. I hope that the food supplement standards are determined as soon as possible and we will find the opportunity to consume with more peace of mind.