Medical associations are calling on the public to replace dietary supplements with natural food, in a new position paper published Wednesday morning, Kan News' Reshet Bet reported.
The position paper, published for the first time, is signed by the associations of pediatricians, family doctors, and clinical nutritionists of the Israel Medical Association.
According to them, there is significant consumption of dietary supplements in Israel, not always for justified reasons. The paper also cited Health Ministry data showing that 71% of the population takes dietary supplements.
The doctors also explained that fortifying food as part of public health policy is a vital strategy for closing nutritional gaps, but industrial fortifications, such as probiotic yogurt or snacks and cereals enriched with protein, are not necessarily beneficial. In fact, they can mislead the public into thinking they are healthy products when, in reality, they are processed foods.