“If your product has a branded ingredient … you have something to follow up on,” Dr. Hecht said. If a supplement has a branded ingredient, with a trademark or registered trademark symbol on the label, you can look at the product’s website to see what types of independent testing have been done to prove that ingredient’s efficacy. You can also search the National Institutes of Health PubMed to see what studies have been done publicly about the product’s efficacy, including dose size.Look for products that have a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) certification seal on the label. The FDA issues guidance on current good manufacturing practices.While the United States does not regulate supplements’ efficacy, Canada and Europe do. You can look up a product or an ingredient on Health Canada’s Licensed Natural Health Products Database to see if it has been shown to do what the product claims.“Health Canada does review and approve health claims,” Hecht said. “They don’t let supplements put a health claim on the bottle unless the science has been reviewed and approved by Health Canada first, and they approve the wording.” Note that you can only look up brands or ingredients, not the word “prebiotic.”
One possible drawback to supplements is that they can be expensive. “If you’re specifically looking to rebalance the bacteria in your gut, you get more bang for your buck through whole foods,” Petitpain says. “Consumers should aim to consume the recommended number of fruits, veggies, and whole grains before adding supplements.”
