dietary supplement

noun

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of dietary supplement

: 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

Recent Examples of dietary supplement from the Web

Often, preliminary studies fuel irrational exuberance about a promising dietary supplement, leading millions of people to buy in to the trend.

— liz szabo, chicagotribune.com, "Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they work," 6 Apr. 2018
Often, preliminary studies fuel irrational exuberance about a promising dietary supplement, leading millions of people to buy in to the trend.

— liz szabo, USA TODAY, "Are you over 65 and take vitamins? They don't usually help — and sometimes they harm," 4 Apr. 2018
On Monday, Hoggwatch pushed users to Natural News’ sprawling network of sites, where Adams sells dietary supplements, water defluoridation devices and doomsday preparation materials.

— NBC News, "As mainstream pundits apologize, fringe sites cash in on attacking Parkland teens," 2 Apr. 2018
Overall, a 2015 study led by scientists at the CDC estimated that dietary supplements are behind 23,000 emergency room visits each year in the US.

— beth mole, Ars Technica, "Supplements are a $30 billion racket—here’s what experts actually recommend," 20 Feb. 2018
In 2014, Guarente co-founded Elysium Health, which, for $40 to $60 per month, sells a dietary supplement that boosts NAD+ levels and activates SIRT1.

— sharon begley, STAT, "A dietary supplement makes old mice youthful. But will it work in people?," 22 Mar. 2018
Later that month, the makeup artist and wellness enthusiast Rose-Marie Swift released RMS Beauty Within, a pair of dietary supplements that includes probiotic and digestive enzymes, after fielding complaints on set from constipated models.

— julie schott, The Cut, "If You Want Clear Skin, Look at Your Poop," 19 Mar. 2018
Kratom is sold as a dietary supplement in the form of pills, powders, capsules and tea made of ground-up leaves from the plant.

— debra goldschmidt, CNN, "47 more cases of salmonella linked to kratom," 15 Mar. 2018
The Food and Drug Administration regulates dietary supplements such as melatonin, according to the National Institutes of Health, but rules are less strict than for prescription or over-the-counter drugs.

— cleve r. wootson jr., chicagotribune.com, "Oregon day-care worker gets 21 years for drugging children so she could go tanning, do CrossFit," 11 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dietary supplement.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of dietary supplement

1967

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Medical Dictionary

dietary supplement

noun

medical Definition of dietary supplement

: 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, 4 Oct. 2011

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, 2 Oct. 1996

… 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, 31 Aug. 1990