Fueling your best self: What to know before you spend on supplements

March 30, 2026 - Defence Stories

Estimated read time - 2:20

What you eat-and what you choose to supplement -shapes how you feel and how you perform. Strengthening the Forces is here to give you the information you need to make informed nutritional choices. Eating a variety of nutritious food remains the most important way to fuel your energy and reduce the risk of illness. As Canada's Food Guide recommends, fill half your plate with vegetable and fruits, and divide the rest between whole grain and protein paired with plenty of water to stay hydrated.

At the same time, many Defence Team members find themselves wondering which dietary supplements are useful, which are necessary, and which might not be worth their money.

Strengthening the Forces promotes informed, responsible self-care by helping you understand what supplements are, and what they are not. Optimizing nutrition and performance means knowing how to choose wisely: understanding what to use, how to use it, and when supplementation is warranted.

Dietary supplements, supplemented food, fortified food: What's the difference?

Fortified foods contain an added essential nutrient to help fill common nutritional gaps. For example, milk is fortified with vitamin D. Despite this effort, many Canadians remain deficient and still need vitamin D supplementation.

Dietary supplements, on the other hand, are not food items. They include vitamins, minerals, protein, and other products like electrolytes that can be sold as pills, gels, powders, or other forms. These products are meant to fill specific nutritional gaps, not replace whole foods.

Supplemented foods or drinks contain one or more supplemental ingredients that are added for reasons other than basic nutrition. Examples include drinks with added caffeine or bars and cereals with added vitamins. These products are often marketed to appear beneficial, but there is not reliable evidence that this always translates to health advantages. What reliable evidence does support is that a diet rich with the micro and macro nutrients found in a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grain and proteins best contribute to better health.

In fact, new labeling and safety requirements for supplemented food now exist because supplemented foods have added ingredients that can pose a risk to your health if you eat or drink too much of them, are pregnant, or are a child or a member of another vulnerable group.

It is key to:

• read the label carefully,
• understand what you are taking,
• critically review the product claims, and
• make sure the product comes from a credible and certified source.

Remember, while supplements may help fill nutritional gaps, they cannot replace a balanced, healthy diet. Continue learning, stay vigilant, and make every nutritional choice count.

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Leith Fermin-Rix and Dr. Veronic Clair

STF is the CAF/DND's health promotion program, offering expert information, guidance, training, tools, and leadership support to enhance CAF members' health and wellbeing.