What You Don’t Know About Dietary Supplements

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According to Consumer Reports, many fashionable dietary supplements claiming to be natural actually contain ingredients that can cause cancer and heart, liver, and kidney damage. Manufacturers and retailers sell and promote the products without hesitation because Americans are spending billions of dollars yearly on them.  The Nutrition Business Journal claims that the “supplement market” was worth $26.7 billion dollars in 2009.   

There are over 54,000 dietary supplements in the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Yet, only a third have any scientifically supported evidence related to a safety level and effectiveness. Supplements coming from factories in China are not even inspected by the FDA.

The report pointed out serious problems with the FDA’s lack of power to regulate the supplement market, and an absolute failure to use what little power they do have. The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) essentially prevents the FDA from regulating supplements like it regulates prescription medications. The Act does more to protect the manufacturer than the consumer. Although the FDA has gently persuaded some companies to pull certain products off the shelf, the only ingredient that the FDA has banned is ephedrine alkaloids. 

The Federal Trade Commission ends up being the consumers primary line of defense against the dangers of supplements, but all the agency does is regulate the marketing aspect of herbal supplements (a product can not claim that it treats a medical condition.) However, the agency does not even do that very well. In May, the Government Accountability Office found that sellers of ginseng, Echinacea and other herbal and dietary supplements were telling consumers that their product could “cure cancer” or “replace prescription medications.”

Another problem that the report pointed out was the “natural” labels placed on many supplements.  First, many products are simply contaminated. The report claimed that the FDA actually found synthetic prescription drugs, metals and pesticides  in some supplements. Secondly, just because something is “natural” does not mean that it is good for you or should be used regularly. For example, wild mushrooms are natural…some are eatable and good for you, others are not. Consumer reports named 12 supplement ingredients that could cause liver and kidney damage, heart rhythm disorders, and unhealthy blood pressure: aconite, bitter orange, coltsfoot, chaparral, colloidal silver, comfrey, country mallow, greater celandine, germanium, kava, lobelia, and yohimbe.

In conclusion, the report called for Congress to give the FDA more power to regulate supplement products and to use the same strict standards to regulate supplements as it uses for drugs.

My Two Cents:

I think supplements are a wonderful component in the  medicinal arsenal to maintain health. However, they are not always harmless, they are not always safe, and purported benefits are not always factual.  They are often alluringly, untruthfully, and  misleadingly marketed with all the lure of days of old snake oil. A realtor can not legally mislead, omit,  or falsify information when selling a home. I find it quite disturbing that we know more about the homes, cars, and appliances that we buy than the substances we ingest. So, just proceed with caution and always educate yourself before using any supplement.