Trend and Pattern of Herb and Supplement Use in the United States: Results from the 2002, 2007, and 2012 National Health Interview Surveys

Table 3

Specific types of herb and supplement use among the US adult population in 2007 and 2012.

Herb and supplement use	2007		2012
	Est.	%^a	Est.	%^a
Taken herbal preparations and dietary supplements, past 30 days (2007, 2012)	28,059,181	100.0%	30,113,788	100.0%
Acai pills or gelcaps	na	na	1,169,912	3.9%
Androstenedione	57,402	0.2%	na	na
Bee pollen or royal jelly	na	na	1,054,869	3.5%
Black cohosh	827,675	2.9%	na	na
Bladder wrack/kelp	na	na	1,169,912	3.9%
Carnitine	404,001	1.4%	na	na
Chasteberry	127,391	0.5%	na	na
Chondroitin	3,389,911	12.1%	2,815,929	9.4%
Coenzyme Q-10	2,691,440	9.6%	3,264,650	10.8%
Comfrey	164,047	0.6%	na	na
Conjugated linolenic acid (CLA)	334,340	1.2%	na	na
Cranberry (pills, gelcaps)	1,560,383	5.6%	1,934,165	6.4%
Creatine	843,385	3.0%	na	na
DHEA	645,179	2.3%	na	na
Digestive enzymes (lactaid)	na	na	1,639,041	5.4%
Dong quai/don gui tong kuei	na	na	na	na
Echinacea	4,848,163	17.3%	2,261,040	7.5%
Ephedra (Ma huang)	314,161	1.1%	na	na
Evening primrose	555,303	2.0%	na	na
Feverfew	146,723	0.5%	na	na
Fiber or psyllium (pills or powder)	1,791,164	6.4%	na	na
Fish oil/omega 3/DHA	10,922,801	38.9%	18,848,204	62.6%
Flaxseed oil or pills	4,416,216	15.7%	na	na
Garlic supplements (pills, gelcaps)	3,278,373	11.7%	1,926,964	6.4%
Ginger pills/gelcaps	847,658	3.0%	na	na
Ginkgobiloba	2,977,104	10.6%	1,619,090	5.4%
Ginseng	3,345,357	11.9%	1,751,717	5.8%
Glucosamine	6,132,094	21.9%	5,521,173	18.3%
Goldenseal	825,015	2.9%	na	na
Guarana	498,254	1.8%	na	na
Grape seed extract	1,214,475	4.3%	na	na
Green tea pills (not brewed tea)	1,527,759	5.4%	na	na
EGCG (pills)	97,369	0.3%	na	na
Green tea pills or EGCG pill	na	na	1,502,627	5.0%
Hawthorn	307,645	1.1%	na	na
Horny goat weed	136,747	0.5%	na	na
Kava kava	356,802	1.3%	na	na
Lecithin	903,188	3.2%	na	na
Lutein	1,046,629	3.7%	na	na
Lycopene	821,468	2.9%	na	na
Melatonin	1,295,762	4.6%	3,065,428	10.2%
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane)	1,311,824	4.7%	1,050,502	3.5%
Milk thistle	1,000,750	3.6%	987,957	3.3%
Prebiotics or probiotics	865,092	3.1%	3,857,228	12.8%
SAM-e	212,233	0.8%	414,563	1.4%
Saw palmetto	1,681,668	6.0%	988,070	3.3%
Senna	185,671	0.7%	na	na
Soy supplements/isoflavones	1,362,529	4.9%	na	na
St. John’s Wort	933,060	3.3%	na	na
Valerian	877,107	3.1%	800,946	2.7%

Data source: National Center for Health Statistics 2007 and 2012 NHIS Adult Complementary and Alternative Medicine File [21, 22].
^aWeighted estimates of column percentage in taken herb and supplement in past 30 days.
na: the names of the herbal preparations and dietary supplements were not listed in the survey questionnaire.