As a student, it is hard enough to keep up good grades, get enough sleep and try to keep a semblance of a social life, but when we consider how hard it is to also keep a balanced diet a lot of students are left without a clue. Many students turn to dietary supplements and daily vitamins to make up for what may be lacking in their diets.

Dietary supplements are a good idea at school because of the constant affront to our immune systems. Emily Rellis, a sophomore philosophy, politics and law major, said she takes a daily vitamin because it’s too hard to be sure she is getting all she needs in her diet.

“I take vitamins because I feel up at school it’s easier to get sick since you’re in constant contact with people so I hope they boost my immune system,” Rellis said. “And maybe it’s only my personal opinion, but the food isn’t the best at any college and I hope the vitamin provides the necessary nutrition that may be missing in the food.”

But are vitamins effective?

The trouble with dietary supplements and vitamins is that they are not tested and approved by the FDA. Lina Begdache, a nutrition professor at Binghamton University with a master’s degree in nutritional science and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology, said that due to their lack of regulation, some over-the-counter products may be dangerous.

Begdache said that the best thing to do is to try to get all of your vitamins through your diet.

“The best foods are fruits and vegetables, meat and low-fat or fat-free dairy,” Begdache said.

For students, however, a balanced diet is hard to come by. The next best thing is a daily multi-vitamin that contains nearly 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance for each vitamin. The multi-vitamin is the better choice because many of the single-substance vitamins contain mega doses of vitamins and there may be a risk of toxicity.

“These products are not approved for efficacy, safety or purity. Not all of them are pure, and some can be toxic,” Begdache said. “It is only when they are on the market and are causing known side effects that the FDA starts to look at substances.”

This doesn’t mean that all vitamins and supplements are dangerous, however.

“It is better to go with well-known companies on the market because they have no known side effects,” Begdache said.

There are some ways to ensure that you are getting a safe product, even without an FDA approval. The United States Pharmacopeia is a public standards-setting organization that looks into the safety of dietary supplements and vitamins. It is better to use vitamins with the USP seal because they have been studied and their compositions are approved.

Do the research, know the facts.

Healthy U, a local health food store and pharmacy, understands the needs of the BU student body and tries to only sell the best products. About 30 percent of its business comes from students and around 50 percent of its sales come from diet supplements, whether they be weight loss products or vitamin supplements.

Brett Foreman, the grocery manager at Healthy U, said that their company looks extensively into the research behind the products to ensure that they only put quality supplements on the shelves.

“Most advertised products are scams. Oprah has a new weight loss product every week, and if it worked she wouldn’t have a show because she wouldn’t need to find a new one,” Foreman said. “Also, there isn’t one product that will do it all.”

Because supplements are not FDA-approved, Healthy U makes sure that the claims that are made by a company can be backed up by research.

“We are really big on the research to make sure we have the best products,” Foreman said. “We will not put a product on the shelf if a company cannot back up the claims. We follow up and we research the companies. And companies do try to get away with false claims. That’s where our knowledge comes in.”

On a practical note, with all these illnesses going around campus, it is very important to keep our immune systems in good condition. Begdache said that while the multi-vitamin is better than single-substance vitamins, vitamin C is one good exception.

“Vitamin C can be consumed at a higher dose,” Begdache said. “It is the least toxic known vitamin and helps with the immune system. It’s okay to go over the RDA for vitamin C, but don’t go beyond one gram. The best thing to do is take 500mg in the morning and 500mg in the evening.”

The most important things to keep in mind when looking for a vitamin or supplement are: how long it has been on the market — if it has been selling for many years there are not going to be any known side effects; percent of daily intake for each vitamin or mineral — some substances, like vitamin A, can be very toxic in high doses — and that the research behind the health claims can be verified.