Almost everyone has experience with supplements—taking them, or watching others take them, to treat a variety of ailments or achieve other goals like improving their energy levels. People often take supplements to promote weight loss, improve their overall health, increase sexual performance, or to help ease specific medical conditions. Supplements can indeed be helpful for treating some ailments.
Occasionally, people make the mistake of treating supplements more like food than medication. Some are under the impression that supplements don’t have side effects, and happily mix multiple different types of supplements and ignore or are unaware of the possible interactions. Supplements, however, have side effects just like medication, and consuming too many of them can lead to disaster. Consuming too much Vitamin A, for instance, may actually decrease bone thickness, increasing the risk of bone fracture. It has also been linked to liver damage, headaches, and birth defects. Consuming supplements acting as diuretics together with supplements acting as anti-inflammatory agents can cause renal failure.
Too many hydrosoluble vitamins make for a very expensive urine.
Annually, supplements are responsible for an average of roughly 23,000 visits to the emergency department per year. Weight-loss products accounted for one-fourth of all single-product visits, while energy-boosting products accounted for 10%.
Something I find particularly distressing in my medical practice is the fact that many of my patients do not hesitate taking several supplements pills per day, but balk at taking an extra needed prescription medication.
A few supplements have been demonstrated to be useful:
• Vitamin D3 helps promote bone health, while helping prevent high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease
• Calcium supplements can help prevent bone thinning
• Fish oil is probably beneficial for cardiovascular disease.
• Indian spices such Turmeric have been shown to help some neurological problems.
Unfortunately, several supplements generally assumed to be beneficial, such as Vitamin C (often used to boost immunity and prevent colds), did not stand the test of clinical trials.
My point is not to warn people away from supplements. When used correctly, they can be a wonderful tool for improving your life or boosting your health. When used incorrectly, they can be harmful. You should always take care to read the warning labels, follow directions for how to take supplements, and talk to your doctor about health problems or concerns before trying to treat them yourself.
