Why I’m Careful With Supplement Claims

If you haven’t heard this before, it’s worth taking a moment to discuss why supplements are regulated differently from prescription drugs and how that impacts the products available to you.

The truth is, while many supplements are absolutely capable of improving various aspects of health, supplement manufacturers and even practicing physicians are legally required to be careful in how they talk about their capabilities.

Perhaps you’ve noticed this before…

You see a bottle that says “supports immunity,” “promotes sleep,” or “helps maintain healthy blood sugar,” and wonder why it doesn’t just say “will keep you from getting sick,” or “guaranteed to give you better sleep.”

The truth is that reputable companies that want to comply with regulations and provide accurate information to consumers must be very careful about the claims they make.

This may not make sense to us when a supplement has research showing it can positively impact health, but why can’t we just say that?

I mean, why wouldn’t it just say it treats insomnia, diabetes, anxiety, arthritis, or hormone problems?

It’s a good question, and something I’ve never addressed directly.

Let’s dig into it…

Should This Even Be Legal?

When I first started selling supplements, I saw tons of other supplement manufacturers making very hard-and-fast claims about what their products could do.

And it had me wondering, “Should this be legal?”

I understood that supplements can help people, but when manufacturers say an X supplement will cure X disease, I wondered how they could make that claim.

Especially when I understand that the claim wasn’t true.

At the same time, I know supplements can be game-changers. Especially when we’re talking about bio-identical hormones (which is how our clinic started - offering HRT to patients).

Frankly, as an integrative and functional medicine physician, I would love to speak plainly.

I want patients to understand what nutrients, herbs, lifestyle tools, and therapeutic supports may do in the body. I also want to avoid the kind of vague language that makes everything sound softer than it feels in real clinical practice.

But there are two reasons we cannot say certain things.

The first reason is regulatory. The FDA draws a clear line between supplements and drugs. A supplement may help support normal structure or function in the body. A drug is intended to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease. Once a product is marketed as treating a disease, it has to be regulated as a drug.

That is why wording matters.

“Supports healthy inflammatory balance” is different from “treats rheumatoid arthritis.” 

“Helps maintain healthy blood sugar already in the normal range” is different from “treats diabetes.”

And “supports relaxation” is different from “treats anxiety disorder.”

Those may sound like small wording differences. 

They aren’t.

They are the difference between a structure-function claim and a disease-treatment claim. They are the difference between continuing to do business and being shut down by the FDA.

FDA guidance explains that structure-function claims may describe the role of a nutrient or dietary ingredient in supporting the normal structure or function of the human body. 

For example, calcium can “build strong bones,” and fiber can “maintain bowel regularity.” These claims do not require FDA preapproval, but they must be truthful and not misleading. Dietary supplement labels using these claims also require the familiar disclaimer that the FDA has not evaluated the statement and that the product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

There is also a notification requirement. A company that markets a dietary supplement with certain structure-function claims must notify the FDA within 30 days of first marketing the product with that claim.

Citation: FDA, “Notifications for Structure/Function and Related Claims in Dietary Supplement Labeling” — Official source: https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods/structurefunction-claims

The second reason I cannot always say “this supplement treats this condition or disease” is simpler.

Supplements Can’t Do This…

Many times supplements can’t treat a disease or a condition.

And to say they can when the contrary is true isn’t just disingenuous - it’s dangerous

• A compound may have a plausible mechanism.

• It may have animal data. It may have small human studies. 

• It may have a long history of traditional use. 

• It may help some patients feel better. 

But that does not automatically mean it treats a disease in the same way a medication with strong clinical trial evidence and double blind studies does.

This is where I think patients deserve honesty.

Supplement makers, as well as practitioners in the Integrative medicine space, should not practice sloppy medicine under the guise of natural branding.

A supplement can be useful and still not be a cure. A nutrient can support a pathway without replacing medical care. An herb can have meaningful effects and still have risks, interactions, and limits.

The FDA has separate guidance on substantiation for dietary supplement claims.

Meaning companies need hard evidence to back up what they say. The strength of the claim should match the strength of the science. A broad wellness claim may not require the same level of evidence as a strong disease-related claim, but it still must be supported.

The Federal Trade Commission also plays a role, especially with advertising. Its health products guidance says health-related claims should be truthful, not misleading, and supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of disreputable brands out there that ignore this just to make money.

And when people are swimming in mixed messages, being sure the claim is accurate is as important as ever.

One website says a supplement “supports detox,”  while another says it “kills cancer.”

A social media video says a mineral deficiency explains every symptom. And with AI today, the video may even appear to be from someone they consider trustworthy. Then a patient walks into my office confused, hopeful, and sometimes scared. 

That doesn’t make people any healthier and, in some cases, may encourage them to ignore real treatment alternatives.

My job is to be clear, accurate, and helpful.

When I talk about supplements, I try to use language that reflects both biology and evidence. If I didn’t, I’d be what you call a “quack”  or a “snakeoil salesman.” And believe me, people still accuse us of being those exact things despite our commitment to only using evidence-based options.

If research suggests magnesium may support muscle and nerve function, I can explain that. If omega-3 fatty acids may support triglyceride levels or inflammatory balance, I can discuss the evidence and limitations. If vitamin D is low, I can talk about repletion and why testing matters. If someone has a diagnosed disease, we have to talk about medical care, monitoring, and appropriate treatment, not just supplements.

Saying that doesn’t mean supplements aren’t worth considering. It makes the conversation honest and accurate.

In functional medicine, I care deeply about root causes.

I want to know why someone is inflamed, fatigued, insulin-resistant, hormonally imbalanced, not sleeping, or struggling with digestion.

Sure, supplements may support the plan, but they are usually not the whole plan (that’s why they’re called supplements - "Supplemental" functions as an adjective describing something added to improve, complete, or make up for a deficiency in something else. It refers to extra or auxiliary components, information, or resources that are not part of the core entity but support it. Merriam-Webster). 

Other factors like food quality, protein intake, fiber, sleep, stress physiology, movement, toxin exposure, medication history, infections, nutrient status, blood sugar, and community support all matter.

Supplements Are Tools…Not “Cures.”

This is especially important because “natural” does not mean harmless. 

…some supplements can interact with medications

Some are inappropriate during pregnancy, before surgery, or with kidney or liver disease.
 
And many products are poorly manufactured or contaminated, with some containing ingredients that do not match the label and others simply unnecessary.

That is why I would rather be careful and responsible with our claims.

When you see wording like “supports,” “promotes,” or “helps maintain,” that language is partly shaped by regulation. But in many cases, it is also the most honest wording. It tells us that the product may support a normal biological function without pretending it has been proven to treat a disease.

I think you deserve that distinction.

You deserve to know when evidence is strong, when it is early, when it is traditional, and when it is mostly marketing. They also deserve clinicians who can explain the difference without talking down to them.

So if I sound careful when I write about supplements, you bet it’s intentional. I hope this explanation can also assist you in knowing when a company has gone too far and, therefore, may not be a reputable brand that you want to purchase.

I want to help people use them wisely. I want to protect patients from exaggerated claims. I want to stay within the rules. And I want to preserve trust.

Because the goal is not to make supplements sound more powerful than they are, it’s really about making sure people understand where they fit, where they don’t, and how to use them in a way that supports real health over time. As always, our primary goal is your health.