Supplements try to reduce food "to a single component, such as one nutrient or one antioxidant," said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, but no study or test has proved what exactly makes food, such as fruits and vegetables, so healthy. "It may not be one thing; maybe it's the combination."

Others see dietary supplements as a type of insurance: "There is a big discrepancy between what people think they eat and what they actually are eating," said Kelly Dorfman, a nutritionist in North Potomac. "Taking nutrients just makes good sense."

And for certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, supplements are highly recommended. Benjamin Caballero, a professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said he does not think any "healthy person with a healthy diet" should take dietary supplements, with a few exceptions: "pregnant woman; children under the age of 6 months who are being breast-fed, as breast milk is not rich in vitamins A, C, and D; and people with gastrointestinal problems." And, in those cases, he believes a doctor would have already been consulted.

This is an interesting - but thin - opinion piece to which I believe there are some grains of truth. Diet should be the foundation of any desire for health. However, I think the point that the quoted experts in this article are missing, is that from a population-level Americans are not getting the nutrients they need from our diets (there is a reason the SAD is the acronym for the Standard American Diet). Secondly, would most providers know how to assess a patient's diet, their need for functional nutrients and their need to supplement with macro/micronutrients and herbs? Doubtful. That kind of training and education is missing from standard biomedical curriculum. Naturopathic Physicians (http://www.aanmc.org/) are well-placed to provide patient care in this arena. And hopefully, we'll continue to see outcomes-based literature providing evidence for some of these interventions.

Food for thought.