Dangerous Supplements You Should Avoid

Americans spend more than $25 billion a year on dietary supplements because we believe they will keep us healthy, lose weight, make us better athletes in and out of the bedroom, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

But Consumer Reports warns that many of these supplements are dangerous because  “manufacturers routinely, and legally, sell their products without first having to demonstrate that they are safe and effective.

“The Food and Drug Administration has not made full use of even the meager authority granted it by the industry-friendly 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).”

“* We have identified a dozen supplement ingredients that we think consumers should avoid because of health risks, including cardiovascular, liver, and kidney problems. We found products with those ingredients readily available in stores and online.

* Because of inadequate quality control and inspection, supplements contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, or prescription drugs have been sold to unsuspecting consumers. And FDA rules covering manufacturing quality don’t apply to the companies that supply herbs, vitamins, and other raw ingredients.

* China, which has repeatedly been caught exporting contaminated products, is a major supplier of raw supplement ingredients. The FDA has yet to inspect a single factory there.”

The Wall Street Journal last year wrote a story with similar cautions. It listed the following web sites for consumers to check if they have concerns about their supplements:

To check the research into effectiveness and safety of herbal products, try the National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus at medlineplus.gov, under Drugs & Supplements: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

You can also go to two other National Institutes of Health sites, one for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (http://nccam.nih.gov/) and one for the Office of Dietary Supplements (http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers background on vitamins here: http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/vitamins/

There’s a paid subscription service at www.naturaldatabaseconsumer.com.

The supplements industry backs a site called Life Supplemented at www.lifesupplemented.org.

For a safety-oriented focus, here’s a Consumers Union report: http://www.consumerreports.org/health/natural-health/dietary-supplements-to-avoid-1-08/overview/risky-supplements-ov.htm

SOURCES ON PRODUCTS

If you are looking into a specific brand, here are some places to check.

You can start with the FDA’s site, at www.fda.gov, where you can search to see if your product has been the subject of a warning letter or consumer alert. Another federal agency web site that may be worth checking is the Federal Trade Commission’s, at www.ftc.gov. Look under Internet Fraud and Safety, then click on Health.

You can look at the prohibited-substance list of the World Anti-Doping Agency at www.wada-ama.org, under “Resources for Athletes.”

Certification services can provide some outside verification that a product is safe. Here are their Web sites.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia’s list is at: http://www.usp.org/audiences/consumers/#Dietary

NSF International lists those it has certified for sport at nsf.org. Click on “NSF Banned Substances Program.”

HFL Sport Science’s list is at www.informed-choice.org

ConsumerLab.com LLC charges for access to its reports, at www.ConsumerLab.com.

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