I applied and was accepted to attend the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplement’s (ODS) Supplement Practicum. This is the third year the ODS had held the practicum. Here is what the ODS Practicum website states as the purpose/goals:

This 5-day intensive practicum will provide a thorough overview and grounding about issues, concepts, unknowns, and controversies about dietary supplements and supplement ingredients. It will also emphasize the importance of scientific investigations to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and value of these products for health promotion and disease prevention and treatment as well as how to carry out this type of research.

I’m excited to be on of 80 – 100 individuals selected to attend. It starts bright and early in the morning, and is held at the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Tomorrow will cover:

• Who takes what for why, and how do we know?
• Its the law: Rules and regulations

I’m interested in the discussion about the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) as well as the discussions about the different groups that regulate supplements. Did you know there are two groups that regulate supplements? The FDA and the FTC. I’m also interested in the last session about “supplement and label claims.”

I’ll post a bit each night about what we covered. I’ll also be tweeting about it, if you want to follow me on Twitter.