A dietary supplement, or food supplement or nutritional supplement as they are sometimes called, is intended to provide nutrients that are missing or not adequately provided in a person’s normal diet. Such nutrients include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids or lipids.

A dietary supplement is defined as a product that is intended to supplement the diet and contains one or more of the following dietary supplements: a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical excluding tobacco, an amino acid, a dietary substance for use by people looking for weight loss, or a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract of any of the above.

The all natural vitamins must also be intended for ingestion via pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid form; it must also be labeled as a dietary supplement and not be represented as conventional foodstuff nor the sole item of a meal or diet.

When looking to buy multivitamins or discount dietary supplements, you should remember a few things. First, pursuant to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the Food and Drug Administration regulates all natural vitamins and herbal dietary supplements as food, and not as drugs.

Manufacturers of nutritional dietary supplements are not required to provide proof of the safety or effectiveness of their products. Those that buy dietary supplements must make their own decision about the herbal dietary supplements they intend to buy. The latest rule from the FDA requires that by 2010 all nutritional dietary supplements and multivitamins be manufactured in accordance with good and fair practices regarding to their quality. This is a vague rule though with several loopholes.

Also, products like weight loss dietary supplements or all natural multivitamins can not claim to cure, mitigate, or treat a disease. Dietary supplements are only allowed to make structural claims such as “glucosamine supports healthy joints” or “melatonin establishes healthy sleep patterns”.