Have you experienced the struggle of which supplements to take or if you should be taking them? It is easy to feel a sense of overwhelm, especially when your health status is compounded with a gastrointestinal or autoimmune condition.

The information in this post can likely help any reader better distinguish if supplement use is right for them, however, our article’s aim is catered to those hoping to heal their gastrointestinal (GI), GI-related conditions, or autoimmune (AI) spectrum conditions through a balance of healthy dietary supplement use. As we learned from our research on “Immune Supporting Foods”, food and specifically the vitamins and minerals found in food, can help protect our bodies from invaders and allow our bodies to heal and recover from damage.

Note: We will be using “GI” and “AI” as abbreviations of these health conditions in the sections below.  

Disclaimer: Before starting any supplement, consult your physician and healthcare team to see if it is appropriate for you

If you can get your nutrients by eating a healthful diet, that is almost always the optimal choice. However, research has shown us that there are times in our lives where body functions lag or requirements can’t be met by normal means. This can occur in situations such as inflammatory bowel disease or other GI conditions where absorption of nutrients may be an issue. Combine that with medicine, life events, and genes and you can see why supplements fill a void.

What do I need to know as a consumer?

General Consumer Information

First of all, what is a supplement? Supplements generally are products containing dietary ingredients, such as vitamins, minerals, protein (or the building blocks of protein, called amino acids), botanical or herbal products (plants), or enzymes (complex proteins that catalyze reactions in the body). They are intended to supplement a balanced diet (1). It is important that we stop here and emphasize this point: Supplements are not replacements for a well-balanced diet. They are intended to enhance the good that you are already doing and expand the longevity of the lifestyle choices and medications that can improve your life. Similar to a healthy diet, appropriate supplement use can be a powerful tool in your nutritional arsenal.

*It is important to note that the FDA does not regulate supplements but oversees them as food products. Straight from the FDA-

“Dietary supplements are regulated by the FDA as food, not as drugs…many dietary supplements contain ingredients that have strong biological effects which may conflict with a medicine you are taking or a medical condition you may have. Products containing hidden drugs are also sometimes falsely marketed as dietary supplements, putting consumers at even greater risk. For these reasons, it is important to consult with a health care professional before using any dietary supplement.” Visit
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/dietary-supplements for more information.

It is for this reason that I only recommend supplements when beneficial (i.e. in the setting of proven deficiency) and have minimal risk involved for an individual’s unique situation. Supplements can be powerful, and I make sure, just as a doctor would before prescribing medication, that the supplement I am recommending is helpful to your individual conditions, circumstances, and concerns.

**Third party testing is a great way to know that the supplement you are taking has been thoroughly vetted for safety. Read more about Third Party Testing in the section below! 

What you should know as a consumer with GI/AI concerns or conditions

The FDA recommends consulting with a healthcare professional  before beginning any dietary supplement regimen. Especially with certain health conditions, you can be putting yourself at risk and should discuss with a dietitian or other qualified professional to make sure that a particular product and brand is right for you (1). Your healthcare team can ensure there are no contraindications between your medications and supplements as well.

Some general guidelines for supplement use for consumers with GI/AI conditions include the following:

• Though they may be helpful in reducing the risk of disease or recurring episodes, dietary supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or alleviate the effects of disease. Some are authorized to make label claims about their uses, such as folic acid reducing the risk of birth defects. It is important to consult with a healthcare professional, particularly a dietitian, to ensure that label claims are valid (1).
• Improper use of supplements can cause harm rather than help. This is another reason why it is important that you involve your healthcare professional(s) in the development and evaluation of your supplement regimen. Possible harmful effects can come from taking an improper amount, taking a harmful combination, or taking them in combination with or as substitution for prescribed medication without consulting a professional (1).
• If you are having surgery or have been recently newly diagnosed with a condition, be sure to report supplement use to all involved members of your healthcare management team. During surgery or initial diagnosis of a disease, your body’s normal conditions are upset by a number of factors. Dosing changes, abnormal or emergency medication administration, and simply stress can cause unwanted effects when combined with supplement use (even supplements you normally tolerate). Certain supplements and dietary ingredients can cause an increase in your potential to bleed or resist the effects of anesthesia. This can have serious or even life-threatening consequences for you, but can easily be avoided by being proactive and responsible about reporting your supplement use to the appropriate professionals involved in the management of your health (1).
• If you have GI/AI conditions, you know how the mountain of paperwork and documentation can grow quickly. It may be helpful to organize your health information, and include a section with printed copies and/or digital copies of your supplement use. Appropriate documentation may even help you qualify for insurance reimbursement in some cases. Instead of trying to remember it all in your head, it is a lot easier to have a folder hold the information for you. Bonus points if you duplicate it in a digital file that you can access almost anywhere!

What is Third Party Testing? How can I know if a Supplement has been third-party tested?

Since the FDA can only oversee supplement production, and the supplement producers can’t always be trusted to vouch for the safety of their own products, third party testing is a great way to know your supplement has passed through multiple safety checkpoints.

The “third-party” part of this testing process refers to the separate entity that tests the quality and safety of the product. Since they are not the FDA, they are not bound by the limits of what a governing body can do, and because they are not the producer of the supplement, they shouldn’t have any vested or biased interest in whether or not the supplement passes their testing standards. In other words, the FDA and the producers are players in the supplement game, and third-party testing takes on the role of referee to ensure rules are being followed and the players are playing in a way that keeps everybody involved safe.

The following three organizations offer third-party testing (click on the linked text to take you to their websites to learn more):

I have trusted supplement brands that I recommend for patients that I see. These brands use best practices, the cleanest/purest ingredients, have proven the test of time (i.e. help resolve a lab-based deficiency), and are 3rd party tested when able! The fewer ingredients used on the label the better as we do not know the true impacts of food additives.

Disclaimer: I am not sponsored or affiliated with any of these companies, I just like their products. Below are a few of my favorites

How can supplements support your immune system?

As mentioned above, in general a blanket statement cannot be made about one supplement for an entire population. However, a wealth of growing evidence is getting us closer to understanding just how (a.k.a. mechanisms) and exactly which supplements may be appropriate for individuals and their respective conditions. Review the article for more information. This table focuses on immune function and GI/AI conditions:

Probiotics, which we talk about in these two posts (click here for part 1,  “Probiotics-some background”) are also considered supplements. Additional information and reference links from the FDA about supplements can be found here: https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplements .

There will be more on supplements coming soon! It’s a vast and deep topic, and at times, controversial. We want to make sure we divide it into easily digestible portions, so stay tuned!

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