Table 3

Dietary supplement usage patterns of long-term users of multiple dietary supplements (Multiple Supp users).

Dietary supplement type

Average daily usage

% of women who were daily users

% of men who were daily users

Multivitamin/mineral (with or without iron)

*

89.5

84.7

B-Complex

^†

87.7

79.5

Vitamin C

1000 mg/d

86.4

80.3

Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol and mixed tocopherols)

800 IU/d

79.0

74.4

Carotenoids

^‡

79.6

74.4

Flavonoids (from a variety of sources)

362 mg/d

86.4

52.1

Calcium with vitamin D

^§

81.5

68.4

Zinc

15 mg/d

48.2

55.6

Lecithin

3.1 g/d

71.6

66.7

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, leaf)

2.85 g/d

75.9

70.9

Garlic (Allium sativum, clove)

1 g/d

49.4

54.7

Omega-3 fatty acids (from fish oil)

1000 mg/d

81.5

73.5

Coenzyme Q10 with resveratrol

^#

69.8

64.1

Soy protein isolate

14 g/d

46.9

55.6

Glucosamine hydrochloride

1500 mg/d

59.3

57.3

Saw palmetto extract (Serenoa repens, berry)

320 mg/d

1.9

67.5

Gamma linolenic acid (from borage seed oil)

180 mg/d

62.4

35.0

Probiotic supplement (from Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus)

^††

50.0

32.5

Herbal immune supplement

^‡‡

60.5

58.1

*35–200% of the Daily Value for 25 vitamin and minerals and also includes 5 trace minerals.

^†200–2700% of the Daily Value for 8 B vitamins.

^‡5000 IU/d vitamin A as beta carotene, 5 mg/d lycopene, 5 mg/d lutein, 1.5 mg/d alpha carotene, 200 mcg/d zeaxanthin, 400 mcg/d astaxanthin.

^§1500 mg/d calcium, 600 IU/d vitamin D, 600 mcg/d vitamin K, 600 mg/d magnesium, and <15% of the Daily value for zinc, copper, and manganese.

^#30 mg/d coenzyme Q10 and 640 mcg/d resveratrol.

^††250 million/d Bifidobacterium longum and 250 million/d Lactobacillus acidophilus.

^‡‡500 mg/d plant extracts from pumpkin seed (Curcubita moschata), safflower flower (Carthamus tinctorius), asian plantain seed (Plantago asiatica), Japanese honeysuckle flower (Lonicera japonica).

Block et al. Nutrition Journal 2007 6:30   doi:10.1186/1475-2891-6-30