Health and Dietary Supplements

Lambrini Kourkouta, Christos Iliadis, Ekaterina Frantzana, Alexandros Monios, Alexandra Dimitriadou, Ioanna V. Papathanassiou

Introduction: Nutritional supplements provide nutrients, which may not ingest in sufficient quantities. Dietary supplements may be vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids or other substances, and are present in the form of pills, tablets, capsules and liquids. Purpose: The purpose of this review is to present the correlation of nutritional supplements to the human body through food, in order to protect and promote health. Review Methods: The methodology of this study included search of review studies and research in leading databases such as PUBMED, MEDLINE and IATROTEK. The criterion for the selection of the articles was the Greek and English language, with keywords: nutrition, food supplements, health. Results: It is true that today our diet is much richer than before. On the other hand, the abundance of processed food and ignorance of the basic principles of nutrition have led much of the population to an unbalanced diet. Thus, the phenomenon of a very rich food in calories and fat and poor in proteins, vitamins and minerals. So sometimes recommend the consumption of food supplements to meet these human needs. Nutritional supplements help in improving performance, physical appearance, to avoid making dangerous drugs and meet the increased needs of the organization or deficiencies in nutrients caused by and which cannot be met by normal diet. Conclusions: Consumption of food supplements should be done in moderation because their excess consumption can cause various side effects in the person's body.