Trends in dietary supplement use among U.S. adults between 2011 and 2023

Recent trends in dietary supplement use, particularly non-vitamin, non-mineral products, are not well characterized. We assessed patterns of dietary supplement use among U.S. adults from 2011 to 2023.

We used data from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2011-2023, n = 29,216). Dietary supplement information was collected with in-home or telephone interviews by asking participants whether they used any dietary supplements in the preceding 30 days. Survey-weighted prevalence of overall and individual supplement use was calculated to be nationally representative of U.S. adults aged 20 years and older. We evaluated trends across cycles and conducted subgroup analyses by age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, body mass index, and self-reported health status.

The overall use of any dietary supplements increased from 51.8% in 2011-2012 to 61.4% in 2021-2023 (Ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence intervals: 1.10, 1.27; Difference = 9.6% [5.6%, 13.5%]; P _trend < 0.001). Use of four or more supplement products increased from 10.0 to 16.2% between 2011-2012 and 2021-2023 cycles (Ratio = 1.63 [1.35, 1.96], Difference = 6.3% [3.9%, 8.6%], P _trend < 0.001). The observed increasing trend was consistent across different groups of age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, body mass index, and self-reported health status. There has been a steady rise in the use of ten supplements: biotin, vitamin B1, B12, C, D, zinc, co-enzyme Q10, fiber, ginger, and probiotic.

Dietary supplement uses among U.S. adults increased significantly during the last decade, with notable growth in the use of specific products like fiber and probiotic.