Despite The Hype: Metro Manilans are not wild about ‘nutraceuticals’

Metro Manilans are not gullible consumers of "nutraceuticals" and similar dietary supplements after all, a government nutrition survey showed.

The "promise of good health and miracle cures for almost all illnesses" is a regular blend flaunted by peddlers of such products.

Yet the "level of awareness and extent of usage" of such supposedly potent food complements are "surprisingly low" among residents of Metro Manila, Food and Nutrition Research Institute’s Celeste Tanchoco and Arsenia Cruz concluded in the survey.

Nutraceuticals have "evolved to mean food supplements taken in the form of pills, capsules, tablets or liquid." Locally available nutraceuticals include pito-pito, banaba tea, garlic capsules and the recently popular noni juice.

The survey followed the sampling design used in the last National Nutrition Survey conducted in 1998. It covered 82 barangays in Metro Manila and 502 randomly selected adult-respondents aged 20 and above (55.7 percent female).

The survey showed 62.5 percent of all respondents were "not aware," and only 37.5 percent said they were aware of nutraceutical products. A lower 23 percent of the "aware" group consumed nutraceuticals and were classified into "regular users (11.6 percent) and "sporadic users" (11.2 percent).

Among the confessed users of nutraceuticals, 52.4 percent of "sporadic users" belonged to the 40-59 age group, while 40.9 percent of "regular users" belonged to the 20-39 age bracket. Both user categories were dominated by "females, high school graduates, and with low income" of less than P10,000.

"Between the two user groups, there were more young adults, females and college graduates among regular users than among sporadic users," the survey showed. There were also predictably more college graduates in the "aware" group.

Fish oil turned out to be the "most popular" of the 16 nutraceuticals and dietary supplements cited, taken by 40 percent of all user-groups.

"Vitamin and mineral mixes are the second most popularly used, followed by B-complex vitamins" for combination nutrients. On the other hand, vitamin C stood out among single nutrient reinforcements.

About 71 percent of all survey respondents agreed that "dietary supplements are needed if a person feels tired and rundown" and "dietary supplements make one feel better physically." Another 53 percent also agreed that "dietary supplements usually improve a person’s appearance."

Some 46 percent of non-users and 40 percent of users disagreed that "body fat can be lost by taking certain types of dietary supplements," and 67 percent of all respondents did not believe that "one can skip meals and just take dietary supplements."

In all, the survey induced a curious menu of reasons for taking nutraceuticals such as "they make me healthy" (32.3 percent), "someone influenced me" (32.3 percent), "gave me more energy" (16.2 percent), "for curiosity" (8.8 percent), and "helped me perform better in school" (7.4 percent).

"But if some maintain a well-balance diet," Cruz said, "nutraceuticals are not needed."

Cruz said the survey focused only in Metro Manila where residents are assumed to be more exposed to information on nutraceuticals and dietary supplements.

Tanchoco holds a rank of scientist, while Cruz is a science research specialist at FNRI, an agency of the Department of Science and Technology.

Their joint study – "Survey on awareness, perceptions, and extent of usage of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements in Metro Manila" – also appeared last year in the Journal of Medicinal Food (Vol. 3, No. 4) in New York.