Overview

Are you looking for a healthy body? Quick weight loss with no dieting? Top athletic performance without breaking a sweat? Websites, infomercials, magazine ads, and celebrity tweets make an astonishing array of claims about the improvement to health and performance that will come from using dietary supplements. If you take supplements, you're not alone. The majority of Americans take at least one dietary supplement every day. Consumers have tens of thousands of supplements to choose from, spending an estimated $32 billion each year on such products. By law, the US Food and Drug Administration has limited regulatory powers over dietary supplements. Many supplements are manufactured overseas in nations with loose quality-control standards. Scientific evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of supplements is minimal, and in some cases, supplements have led to serious illness and death. Registered nurse Connie Goldsmith takes an in-depth look at the wide world of dietary supplements—vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements, weight-loss products, performance-enhancing products, energy boosters, and more. What do doctors, dieticians, and other experts have to say? Is it ever safe to take a supplement? What are the red flags to watch for when considering these products? Goldsmith gives teens the tools to be smart consumers, urging all readers to consult with a qualified medical professional when considering any supplement.

Full Product Details

Author:   Connie Goldsmith
Publisher:   Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint:   Lerner Publishing Group
Dimensions:   Width: 15.90cm , Height: 1.00cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.367kg
ISBN:  

9781467738484

ISBN 10:   1467738484
Pages:   96
Publication Date:   01 August 2015
Recommended Age:   From 13 to 14 years
Audience:   Young adult ,  Primary & secondary/elementary & high school ,  Teenage / Young adult ,  Educational: Primary & Secondary
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Reviews

"""[A] balanced exploration of a timely topic. Equally apt for research projects and as a single go-to source of information.""―Kirkus Reviews ""With this well-written and solidly researched title, health writer Goldsmith...makes the subject compelling.....A useful resource, ideal for health class reports.""―School Library Journal ""Written by a nurse . . . this guide to dietary supplements is packed with scientifically documented, research-based information. . . . The topic is timely and provides the facts for the savvy consumer.""—VOYA"

With myriad dietary supplements available in the largely unregulated market, this effort explores the value vs. the potential danger of these products. For a teen eager to lose weight, to increase athletic ability, to stay alert while studying for exams, or perhaps just to improve health, this readable exploration of dietary supplements would be a useful offering. Goldsmith devotes considerable detail to such hot-button topics as: vitamin and mineral supplements; herbal products, both those proven moderately effective and those that are dangerous; and weight-loss and sports supplements, legal and banned. Some of the chapters begin with a brief cautionary tale: Maggie used a weight-loss product and became violently ill; a mother and daughter both took what they thought was a multi-B vitamin supplement that turned out to be laced with anabolic steroids, causing disastrous side effects. These tales provide graphic evidence of the issues presented by a wide-ranging group of products that are either untested or tested only infrequently. Information is straightforward and accurate, presented on eye-catching, blue-bordered pages and illustrated with a smattering of color photographs. Each chapter also includes advice on healthy substitutes for supplements, such as improving dietary and exercise habits. Excellent, detailed endmatter rounds out a balanced exploration of a timely topic. Equally apt for research projects and as a single go-to source of information. Kirkus Reviews -- Journal Written by a nurse who has published fifteen nonfiction books for teens, this guide to dietary supplements is packed with scientifically documented, research-based information about the usage of vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements, weight-loss supplements, and sports supplements in order to lose weight and/or enhance athletic performance. Adolescents focus on immediacy, and they provide an easy, gullible audience for infomercials, websites, and celebrity endorsements that tout these miracle cure-alls. The lack of government regulations for nearly all of these products presents a real challenge for potential users, particularly when the supplements are so accessible. The chapter on healthy eating and lifestyle choices gives teen readers the alternatives to potentially dangerous supplements, while the other chapters present the risks and dangers of taking untested and unregulated dietary additions of any kind. If used, they should be ingested only under a doctor's careful guidance, despite the facility of purchase. The glossary provides a handy reference; additional books, videos, and organizations offer the opportunity for more research. The topic is timely and provides the facts for the savvy consumer before he/she heads for the vitamin shelves or clicks on a colorful site.--VOYA -- Journal With this well-written and solidly researched title, health writer Goldsmith follows the same accessible format of many of her other works. Each chapter begins with a personal narrative on the topic, followed by a few pages of material, helpfully broken up by photos, graphics, and charts. Basic facts and background information on these substances are mixed in with suggestions on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Topics include dietary, herbal, weight loss, and sports supplements, as well as information on vitamins and minerals. The design is colorful and eye-catching, and Goldsmith makes the subject compelling. VERDICT: A useful resource, ideal for health class reports. School Library Journal -- Journal

With this well-written and solidly researched title, health writer Goldsmith follows the same accessible format of many of her other works. Each chapter begins with a personal narrative on the topic, followed by a few pages of material, helpfully broken up by photos, graphics, and charts. Basic facts and background information on these substances are mixed in with suggestions on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Topics include dietary, herbal, weight loss, and sports supplements, as well as information on vitamins and minerals. The design is colorful and eye-catching, and Goldsmith makes the subject compelling. VERDICT: A useful resource, ideal for health class reports. School Library Journal --Journal Written by a nurse who has published fifteen nonfiction books for teens, this guide to dietary supplements is packed with scientifically documented, research-based information about the usage of vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements, weight-loss supplements, and sports supplements in order to lose weight and/or enhance athletic performance. Adolescents focus on immediacy, and they provide an easy, gullible audience for infomercials, websites, and celebrity endorsements that tout these miracle cure-alls. The lack of government regulations for nearly all of these products presents a real challenge for potential users, particularly when the supplements are so accessible. The chapter on healthy eating and lifestyle choices gives teen readers the alternatives to potentially dangerous supplements, while the other chapters present the risks and dangers of taking untested and unregulated dietary additions of any kind. If used, they should be ingested only under a doctor's careful guidance, despite the facility of purchase. The glossary provides a handy reference; additional books, videos, and organizations offer the opportunity for more research. The topic is timely and provides the facts for the savvy consumer before he/she heads for the vitamin shelves or clicks on a colorful site. --VOYA --Journal With myriad dietary supplements available in the largely unregulated market, this effort explores the value vs. the potential danger of these products. For a teen eager to lose weight, to increase athletic ability, to stay alert while studying for exams, or perhaps just to improve health, this readable exploration of dietary supplements would be a useful offering. Goldsmith devotes considerable detail to such hot-button topics as: vitamin and mineral supplements; herbal products, both those proven moderately effective and those that are dangerous; and weight-loss and sports supplements, legal and banned. Some of the chapters begin with a brief cautionary tale: Maggie used a weight-loss product and became violently ill; a mother and daughter both took what they thought was a multi-B vitamin supplement that turned out to be laced with anabolic steroids, causing disastrous side effects. These tales provide graphic evidence of the issues presented by a wide-ranging group of products that are either untested or tested only infrequently. Information is straightforward and accurate, presented on eye-catching, blue-bordered pages and illustrated with a smattering of color photographs. Each chapter also includes advice on healthy substitutes for supplements, such as improving dietary and exercise habits. Excellent, detailed endmatter rounds out a balanced exploration of a timely topic. Equally apt for research projects and as a single go-to source of information. Kirkus Reviews --Journal

Author Information

Connie Goldsmith is a registered nurse with a bachelor of science degree in nursing and a master of public administration degree in health care. She has written numerous books for YA readers and nearly two hundred magazine articles. Her recent books include Kiyo Sato: From a WWII Japanese Internment Camp to a Life of Service (2020), a Junior Library Guild selection; Running on Empty: Sleeplessness in American Teens (2021); Understanding Coronaviruses: SARS, MERS, and the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021); and Bombs Over Bikini: The World's First Nuclear Disaster (2014), a Junior Library Guild selection, a Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year, an Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California Distinguished Book, and an SCBWI Crystal Kite Winner. She lives in Sacramento, California. Visit her website at http://www.conniegoldsmith.com/.

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