Mass merchandisers, warehouse clubs and foodstores are all making bigger inroads into this market, says Peter Elgersma, business manager for ACNielsen. And as consumers are increasingly choosing herbals over vitamins these days, health food stores are also taking their chunk of the pie. One way pharmacists can increase their share in their own community is to lure existing users of these products back to the drugstore. The challenge for us is to reach heavy users, the ones who do the bulk of the spending. She's especially wary now that a growing body of evidence shows adverse interactions between prescription drugs, herbals and nutritionals.
Many herbal medications have their place in therapy.
The growth of herbals, vitamins, nutritionals and nutraceuticals means that pharmacists just have to know more about how these drugs work, and that means a commitment to ongoing education to the scope of the category. Counselling wisely is one key way, she advises, to keep ahead of far less knowledgeable competition, who are unfamiliar with the chemistry and possible contraindications of these products. Health and diet experts stress that most people who take vitamins and dietary supplements have no idea how these substances work in the body, or what doses are appropriate. It's known that an excess of vitamin or mineral intake offers no benefit over smaller doses. In fact, large amounts of one can cause imbalances between other nutrients, which can lead to health problems.