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Dietary supplement information offered For more information about dietary supplements and to enter a drawing for a free pedometer, visit the Wellness Wednesday booth from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 28 in the Children’s Hospital lobby to raise awareness during National Nutrition Month. by Kelley Martin Registered dietitian More doesn’t always mean better, and that’s the case with dietary supplements. Many times taking more than the recommended amount of a dietary supplement just means expensive urine without additional benefits. It can be difficult to know where to turn for accurate and reliable information on these products since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate dietary supplements until after they reach the marketplace. Manufacturers are only given the responsibility to ensure their product is safe and effective before marketing it to consumers.    Although there are no strict rules for supplement manufactures, they do have to follow a few FDA regulations. Dietary supplements cannot legally claim to cure, treat or prevent any diseases, but can claim to reduce the risk of a disease. The FDA does not evaluate the claims made by manufacturers, so the supplement containers will often contain the disclaimer “This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”    For more information on dietary supplements, visit the following Web sites: FDA’s MedWatch site. A Web site that both consumers and health professionals can report and view serious adverse effects or problems with the quality of a dietary supplement. Visit http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety.htm for more information. FDA/Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have a Web site dedicated to providing warnings and safety information related to dietary supplements, as well as general supplement information. Visit http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ds-warn.html National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements has a user-friendly site with general information and very informative fact sheets for many of the dietary supplements. For more information, visit http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/.     Friday, March 23, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.