Australian dietary supplementation practices: Health and dietary supplements

Abstract

A random mail survey of 726 adults living in the Adelaide metropolitan area was carried out to determine the prevalence of dietary supplementation and its relationship to health. In the month before the survey, 37% of the men and 53% of the women took some form of supplement. The most popular supplements were bran, multivitamins, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C and wheat germ. Most supplementation was used regularly (daily or almost daily) and over a prolonged period. Although the subjects who took supplements did not use medical facilities more often than those who took none, they reported having more bouts of minor illness in the preceding year. They also reported the more frequent occurrence of minor symptoms, and took more unprescribed medications than did those who did not use dietary supplements.