10.4 Health Products

Active Ingredients in Health Products

• Health products may be in the form of pills, powders or lotions.
• Each contains an active ingredient that produces an effect on the product user.
• An active ingredient is a specific component in a product that has an effect on curing or preventing disease.
• An active ingredient gives the same effect or purpose even when used in products of different brands.
• Two or more active ingredients sometimes cannot be used together because they may react and harm health.

Use of Health Products in the Market

Reasons for use

• Supplements are sometimes taken to recover from disease and maintain health.
• Good health products ensure normal growth and increase disease-prevention ability.
• Example: Multivitamins improve children’s growth process.
• Busy lifestyles and unbalanced diets make health products a means of maintaining health.
• Example: Vitamin pills complement an unbalanced diet.

Safe selection

• Obtain advice from a medical doctor before using a health product.
• Always check the label before buying or using the product.
• These steps help prevent unwanted effects.
• Refer to the official Ministry of Health Malaysia portal to identify a product’s active ingredient and its effects on health.