If you’re like most Americans, you have some supplements in your medicine cabinet or kitchen cupboard right now.
More than three-fourths of American adults took a dietary supplement last year, according to the Center for Responsible Nutrition’s 2017 Annual Survey on Dietary Supplements. That’s more than ever before.
“People are becoming increasingly focused on health,” explains Holly Herrington, a registered dietitian in the Northwestern Medicine Center for Lifestyle Medicine. “People are paying more attention to their food choices, improving their diets and trying to improve their health and longevity.” Plus, to do so, they are increasingly reaching for solutions that they perceive to be natural or DIY-friendly, she says.
[See: 7 Diet Mistakes Sabotaging Your Weight Loss.]
And while taking the right dietary supplement (under the right circumstances and in the right doses) can certainly help supply your body with the nutrients it needs for optimal health, misconceptions are common. Below, experts bust five of the most pervasive nutritional supplement myths and share how to stay healthy and benefit from the supplements you need.
Myth 1: The Food and Drug Administration approves all dietary supplements. “Supplements do not need to be proven safe by the Food and Drug Administration,” says Dena Champion, a registered dietitian at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. “In fact, the FDA’s role takes place after the supplement is on the market. Dietary supplement companies are required to report adverse events to the FDA, and then the FDA may take action. An example is ephedra, which was taken off the market after serious adverse events were reported.”
According to a 2004 article published by Harvard Health Publishing, in the case of ephedra, a once-popular ingredient in weight-loss supplements, consumers reported more than 16,000 cases of adverse health effects — including roughly 155 deaths — from taking products containing ephedra before the FDA ultimately banned it in 2004.
“People assume that supplements are safe because all bad supplements have been removed,” says registered dietitian Wesley Delbridge, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “As a whole, supplements might be safer than they were 20 years ago, but that doesn’t guarantee that there won’t be products introduced that are damaging over time or in you individually.”
Myth 2: Most people need to take supplements. “Most adults can get all their needs through a well-balanced, healthy diet, full of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains,” Herrington says. However, in cases of deficiency that cannot be solved through food alone, taking the specific vitamins and minerals in which you’re deficient can help fill the gaps.
“Supplementation should be tailored and personalized to your bloodwork, to your medical history, to your family medical history,” says registered dietitian Jaime Mass, owner of Jaime Mass Nutritionals supplements. “For example, many cholesterol medications lower the levels of an incredibly important antioxidant known as CoQ10 in our bodies.” She explains that doctors are beginning to suggest supplementation in patients taking a drug that can lead to deficiencies or lower the body’s ability to absorb a given nutrient.
“Before taking any supplements, you should check with your doctor,” Herrington says. “I encourage my patients to have their nutrition labs drawn (B12, Vitamin D, potassium and more) before taking any supplements. If you are deficient in a vitamin or mineral, you may need to add supplements. However, if you are in the normal ranges, there is no need to spend money on supplements.”
[See: 9 Ways to Boost Your Immune System.]
Myth 3: More supplementation is always better. With supplements, the adage “too much of a good thing” applies. “Toxicity can occur with water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins and minerals,” Champion says. “Fat-soluble vitamins, vitamins A, D, E and K, have the ability to be stored [in the body] in the largest amount, so they pose the biggest threat as far as toxicity. Water-soluble vitamins B and C are typically excreted in the urine when they are ingested in excess. However, it’s still possible to develop a toxicity, and tolerable upper limits exist for many of these for that reason. Toxicity is usually as a result of too much supplementation, and the exact reactions differ, depending on the nutrient. For example, a toxicity of Vitamin C can cause upset stomach or diarrhea, whereas a toxicity of vitamin B-6 can cause neuropathy.” Neuropathy, a form of nerve damage, most often results in weakness, numbness and pain in the affected areas.
How much you need of any given vitamin or mineral should be determined by your health care provider. Typically, patients don’t require taking any more than the recommended daily amount of that nutrient. However, in some cases, taking more than 100 percent of the recommended daily amount may be required and perfectly safe, Champion says.
“Vitamin D is a great example of a fat-soluble vitamin that you might need more of, as most Americans actually have insufficient levels of Vitamin D if not deficiency,” Mass says. “It’s also a great example of making sure to supplement based on your bloodwork results and retesting your levels, let’s say, three months after supplementation and then twice a year after that. Some doctors will do it once a year, and this is fine as well as long as it is being monitored.”
Myth 4: Supplements never interact with drugs. “There are some supplements, especially herbal supplements, that can interfere with medications, making your medications more or less effective,” Herrington says. She also explains that taking some medications and supplements together could cause unwanted side effects.
For example, if you are on the blood thinner warfarin, Vitamin K, which promotes blood clotting, can interfere, Champion says. Meanwhile, Mass notes that when taking antibiotics at the same time as probiotics, the antibiotics will kill the probiotics. “And you essentially did nothing but take a cellulose capsule,” she says.
To avoid interactions, Herrington recommends always consulting your physician as well as your pharmacist before taking any supplement. “You can also read the label and packaging that comes with your medication prescription for potential interactions,” she says.
However, Delbridge warns that comprehensive drug interaction information does not exist for all supplements. So if you plan to start any supplements while on medication, introduce one supplement at a time so that you can isolate the cause of any interactions, he says.
Myth 5: Supplements always contain what their labels say. “A supplement can claim it contains 100 percent of your RDA needs, but in fact it can contain as little as 10 percent,” Herrington says, advising that, when choosing supplements, you opt for ones that have undergone third-party testing.
“Third-party testing involves a company that is not associated with the supplier or manufacturer of the product testing the supplement to make sure it contains what the label states,” Champion says. It can also ensure there is nothing in the product that is not listed on the label, such as heavy metals and other potentially harmful contaminants.
The most common organizations that perform third-party testing include NSF International, United States Pharmacopeia, Informed-Choice, ConsumerLab and Banned Substances Control Group. NSF International’s Certified for Sport certification also ensures exercise-specific products do not contain banned ingredients such as performance-enhancing drugs.
Finding supplements that are third-party tested is doable, but it can prove challenging. In one 2012 Military Medicine study, only 12 percent of supplements investigated were certified by an independent scientific agency. Any product that has undergone third-party testing will say so on its label. Keep in mind that organizations that perform third-party testing also have online directories of the supplements they have certified.
Myth 6: Supplements always do what they say they do. Supplements can improve health in those with deficiencies, but not every available supplement carries the benefits it claims. Currently, dietary supplements cannot lawfully claim to treat or prevent a disease, according to the FDA. However, some supplement companies skirt the line of what is allowed.
[See: Pharmacist-Recommended Vitamins and Supplements.]
“Claims of improved energy, decreased risk of cancer, better immune function and weight loss are all very enticing. Who wouldn’t want those things?” Champion asks, noting that “if the claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Seeing such claims on a supplement advertisement or pill bottle doesn’t mean they are supported, and the label should explain that these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.
“There is no magic pill for good health,” she says.
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6 Myths About Nutritional Supplements You Must Know originally appeared on usnews.com
