Supplements Sound Like An Easy Solution. They’re Really Convenient. But Do They Work?
You can watch the video, or read the article below – your choice!
Supplements. Everyone seems to be taking some sort of supplement these days. But do they work? From multivitamins to protein powders and everything in between, they are more popular than ever before. It seems as if there isn’t a medical condition or symptom you can name that doesn’t have a supplement you can take to treat or prevent it.
Are supplements an easy way to make sure you get the nutrition you need? They’re certainly easy and convenient. But the truth is that if you’re taking a handful of supplements each day, you’re simply asking for trouble.
The CARET Disaster
In the mid-1980s, scientists knew about the benefits of beta-carotene and vitamin A. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant found in green and orange-yellow vegetables, and vitamin A was shown to reduce cell division and the proliferation of cancer cells.
This looked like a great combination for cancer prevention!
A clinical study called CARET was started with people who had a high risk of lung cancer. Its aim was to reduce instances of cancer by using supplements containing beta-carotene and vitamin A.
The results of CARET were so disastrous that the trial had to be stopped almost two years early. Not only were the supplements not reducing cancers, they were actually increasing the number of cases!
The researchers were horrified.
Scientists hadn’t yet understood what the human body does with supplements. It seems you CAN have too much of a good thing.
But perhaps that was just a bad combination? No. A later trial used vitamin E and selenium supplements to see if they reduced prostate cancer. Again, the study had to be ended early because cancer rates increased.
Supplements and Cancer?
The point here is NOT that supplements give you cancer. The point is that we all assume that supplements are safe. But when you take a pill with concentrated amounts of a vitamin or nutrient, you don’t know for sure what’s going to happen.
For example, heavy doses of vitamin A can promote bone pain or swelling, headaches, and skin problems. Taken during pregnancy, large doses of vitamin A can cause birth defects.
Suppose you’re taking several supplements? They probably have overlapping ingredients. Let’s take a real-life example. Perhaps you’re taking an immune-system booster, something to help your eyesight, something for your hair, something for your skin, and perhaps a multivitamin as well. That means you could easily be taking huge doses of, for example, vitamin A. And that’s a problem.
Supplement Overuse
Too many supplements can cause liver toxicity, nausea and bloating. But if you visit your doctor with these symptoms, it’s unlikely they’ll diagnose supplement overuse, because those symptoms could be from many causes.
Even though we think they’re safe, nearly all supplements come with some level of risk — including some of the most popular pills on the market today.
What’s Really Inside All Those Supplements?
Not every country regulates the ingredients in supplements. And in the US, the FDA has admitted that they are overwhelmed and cannot cope with the huge growth in supplements that don’t meet standards.
They say there are supplements on the market that
- Contain ingredients not shown on the labels (a JAMA report found unapproved pharmaceutical ingredients in hundreds of products).
- Make misleading claims
- Contain heavy metals
- are not tested for safety
- are not tested to see if they actually work
Some supplements are more risky than others.
Take fish oil / omega-3 supplements for example. It’s very difficult and expensive to preserve the goodness of the fatty acids and to put it in capsules. Plus, if fish oil is not properly preserved, it can become oxidized and potentially harmful — a bit like old, stale, over-used cooking oil. Yeuch.
If you or a loved one have ever had a brush with cancer, you’ve probably been told to avoid heavily processed foods (including junk food) as much as possible. It’s good advice. And if you think about t, supplements are, by definition, processed foods.
It’s So Big, It’s Impossible To Regulate Properly
The supplements industry has changed. In the US for example,
- It used to be $4 billion industry which sold about 4,000 unique products
- Now it’s worth more than $40 billion, with more than 50,000 — and possibly as many as 80,000 or even more — different products available to consumers.
- Even the names have been changed to make them sound more appealing. Supplements and multivitamins are now often called “biohacking” and “nutraceuticals”
And yet, there’s still huge demand for supplements, with pill use among every age group at an all-time high in the US and in many other countries too. (Take a look in your local chemist or pharmacy and see how much shelf space is devoted to supplements and protein powders).
Are Supplements Totally Bad?
NO! Some people absolutely need a supplement to cover a specific deficiency that could be caused by disease or by poor eating habits. Pregnant women and the elderly may also benefit from specific supplements.
But you can’t assume they’re safe. You shouldn’t take them indefinitely. And you shouldn’t take several at once. They are not a cure-all, and they could be dangerous.
What Does the Research Show?
Time and again, research has shown that taking concentrated doses of food-derived or plant-derived nutrients (i.e. supplements) does not give you the same benefits as eating the foods or plants themselves.
It’s often harder for the body to metabolize a vitamin or nutrient on its own. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain a whole pile of different nutrients which work together – you don’t get that same effect when you just take one vitamin in a supplement, for example. That combined effect of all the nutrients working together in fresh whole foods gives you the best health benefits with the least amount of risk.
Supplement makers simply can’t duplicate Mother Nature.
Plus, many manufacturers spend far more of their budget on marketing than on product research and development.
Here’s what often happens. A small, low-cost study links a certain plant chemical with a potential health benefit. The media reports on this finding, and then a supplement maker rushes to manufacture a supplement using the relevant chemical, which they’ll claim is “science-backed.” But it isn’t really.
And remember, the barrier of entry into the marketplace for supplements is very low.
Supplements Don’t Need To Be Tested!
When you buy prescription drugs, you know they’ve been through some form of testing before they’re allowed to be sold.
But in the US and some other countries, supplements are classed as food. Which makes them more affordable – but also more risky.
Do You Trust Big Pharma?
There’s a lot of distrust of the drug industry. Modern medicine has brought us huge benefits – but sometimes it’s not all good.
Some people trust supplements more because they see them as ‘natural’ and not made by the drug companies. But it’s ironic that the recent explosion in supplements has been driven by Big Pharma!
“It’s Chic!”
About three out of four Americans now take some kind of supplement on a regular basis. It seems like such an easy option – health from a simple pill or drink or powder. (Sounds like the old snake-oil salesmen, doesn’t it?).
So many people want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Taking pills to do that is marketed as being very chic.
But taking untested pills, particularly several at once, can lead to serious health issues.
So, What Should You Do?
There are basically 2 things you should do.
There is a place for supplements. Supplements can certainly help people who have a diagnosed medical condition or deficiency. Prescription drugs can also help people with a diagnosed problem. But drugs AND supplements all come with side-effects and risks.
So, the first thing you need to do is to treat supplements with the same respect as you treat prescription medicine. And you should recognise that, if you are a healthy adult, supplements offer more risks than benefits. They might simply be a waste of money which are just flushed through your system – or they might accumulate and cause you actual harm.
The second thing to do is to realise that you already know the secret to good health and longevity – there is no “magic pill”.
Instead – and no, this isn’t fancy or high-tech or glamorous or even chic – eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds, getting a good night’s sleep, and exercising – will benefit you far, far more than any supplement can ever do.
The research just keeps on showing it. Over, and over, and over again.
Please Share this post – it’s easy – sharing buttons below and right!
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.
