dietary supplement

noun

: a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins or amino acids) that are intended to supplement one's diet and are not considered food

Examples of dietary supplement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Grapefruit, a type of citrus fruit, can be consumed as food, juice, or a dietary supplement. —Ross Phan, Pharmd, Bcacp, Bcgp, Bcps, Verywell Health, 1 Nov. 2024

The only potential downside to magnesium intake would come from a magnesium dietary supplement. —Audrey Noble, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2024

Pure Body Extra is a dietary supplement featuring natural zeolite to support the body’s detoxification systems. —David Gilbert, WIRED, 3 Oct. 2024

Products containing the herb berberine offer only a few pounds of weight loss, while many dietary supplement weight loss products contain stimulants such as sibutramine and laxatives such as phenolphthalein, which increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cancer. —C. Michael White / The Conversation, Quartz, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

dietary supplement

noun

: a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, or amino acids) that are intended to supplement one's diet and are not considered food

The study is looking at whether taking daily dietary supplements of vitamin D₃ or omega-3 fatty acids reduces the risk for developing cancer, heart disease and stroke.

—Mary Brophy Marcus, USA Today

A hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain, melatonin also occurs naturally in some foods. It therefore may be sold as a dietary supplement in the United States under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, without premarket approval from the FDA.

—Lynne Lamberg, The Journal of the American Medical Association

… batches of a dietary supplement L-tryptophan that have been implicated in a mysterious disease were produced by a genetically engineered organism.

—Leslie Roberts, Science