service members typically take More
dietary supplements than the general
population self reported . Probably
about 75% of service members Cape
one or more dietary supplements at
least once a week . It's really a big
deal in the D . O . D . Because it's a
potential readiness of the force issue .
Unfortunately we do have documented
cases of adverse events and also
positive drug tests . So we want to
make sure our service members remain
healthy of course and safe
service members are actually very
vulnerable because their goal is to be
as strong and as fast and as smart as
they possibly can be . Also weight loss .
We have body composition standards .
They may be taking weight loss
supplements . And I think that one of
the truisms is if if it's a weight loss
supplement and it works . It's probably
a drug . There are some supplements
that are considered high risk . The
Food and Drug Administration found that
some products and certainly in the
categories of bodybuilding and weight
loss and sexual enhancement are tainted .
And what that means is they could
contain unapproved drugs , prescription
drugs and ingredients , synthetic
ingredients that really shouldn't be in
a dietary simple and they are not
supplements that anybody should be
taking . Just because a dietary
supplement product is on a shelf
doesn't mean it's safe . Service
members ask us a lot am I gonna pop
positive because of this dietary
supplement and we really can't answer
that definitively . The only way to
know for sure what's in a dietary
supplement product is to have it tested
in an approved lab and unless it has
that third party certification seal ,
then we don't know necessarily . We've
found that a lot of products don't
contain what's on the label . And
that's a problem . If they're taking
several products that have several
stimulants , there's no way to know
what's going to happen in the body .
Some supplements could have side
effects . It may not be a problem when
you're training , but if you're
deployed it could be a very serious
problem . Say if you're taking in way
too much caffeine , you may have
palpitations , your heart's beating too
fast . You may not be able to shoot a
weapon when you need to because your
fingers are shaking . So there's a lot
of things that could happen that could
compromise your ability to perform your
mission . So as a service member , you
want to really be informed and we would
first recommend that you go to h p R C
dash online dot org or dot org and look
up information . If you go to either
one of the two websites , what you'll
have is it ask the expert button and
you could submit any question that you
want . We really hope that service
members connect with us so that they're
getting all the updated information