You may have turned to using nutritional supplements for some perfectly good reasons. 

When you've been diagnosed with a condition, such as heart disease, it's normal to want to do all you can to ease your symptoms.

Sometimes you may even feel medical science doesn't have the answers you need, so supplements seem like a very viable solution

There is certainly research to suggest that supplements can be helpful.  For example, probiotics to relieve intestinal problems,  ginger to ease nausea, and coenzyme Q10 to lower blood pressure. 

However, you need to be aware that supplements lack many of the safeguards in place for prescription drugs. That is why you need to take care to avoid potential health risks. 

A simple internet search for "nutritional supplements" will return a whole host of products available to purchase, so you can easily find yourself totally confused.

However, with a few hints and tips, you will be able to make informed choices.

Choosing Nutritional Supplements

Here are three ways to find nutritional supplements that will be beneficial to you, and also how to protect yourself from those that may cause harm.

1. Be Cautious

There are some dietary supplements, which are potentially so dangerous that experts say they should not even be sold.

Other supplements can be dangerous for certain people, such as those who are pregnant. Others are are dangerous when taken in large doses, or when combined with certain prescription drugs. 

On the other hand, some supplements don't do very much at all. So, you are basically wasting your money by taking them.

It's important to realize that the FDA do not ask that dietary supplements are proved safe and effective before they go on sale, and there is very little overseeing of them once they are on sale. 

So, don't assume that just because a supplement is on sale, that it has been through some kind of stringent testing. It may not have been, and you could be putting your health in danger as a result.

Much of what you read on the internet, and even what you are told by sales clerks in health food stores, is inaccurate information. So do be careful.

For information on how safe dietary supplements are, here are some website you may find useful:

• Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (available by subscription)
• The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements
• The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• The National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus

2. Go With Your Gut

I often find that my immediate reaction to a supplement is pretty accurate.

Labels which sound too good to be true, probably are! I'm thinking of statements like, "rapid weight loss," or "cancer cure." 

However, you should also be wary of more plausible statements, such as "supports the immune system," for example. It may sound good, but what does that actually mean in real life?