More people are taking vitamins and supplements in the UK than ever before. Whether you see them as a weight-loss staple or a waste of money, worst case scenario is they’re a placebo in fancy packaging. No harm done, right?
(Related: 5 foods you should eat instead of taking probiotic supplements)
Maybe not. Research from the California Department of Public Health has revealed that hundreds of dietary supplements sold over the counter in the US contain unapproved and “potentially harmful” drugs. Between 2007 and 2016, a whopping 776 products contained unregulated ingredients, the researchers found.
The research was based on a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database that identifies “tainted” supps, those which contain ingredients not actually listed on the label. Worst of all, the FDA had failed to issue a product recall for more than half of them.
(Related: Has the supplement world gotten out of hand?)
Around 45 per cent of the dodgy products were marketed for sexual enhancement, while around 41 per cent targeted weightloss, and 12 per cent claimed to bolster muscle-building. So, what were these imposter ingredients?
The sexual enhancement products were found to contain active ingredients in prescription medications intended for erectile dysfunction, which can cause serious damage to blood vessels if overused. And almost all of the muscle-building supps contained synthetic steroids or steroid-like ingredients – the long-term side effects of overuse include liver, kidney, and mental health issues to name just three.
(Related: Can you survive by only eating supplements?)
Many of the weightloss products, meanwhile, contained appetite suppressant sibutramine, which has been withdrawn from sale across the globe after studies linked the drug with increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
“These products have the potential to cause severe adverse health effects owing to accidental misuse, overuse, or interaction with other medications, underlying health conditions, or other drugs within the same dietary supplement, wrote the authors of the study,” which was published in JAMA Network Open.
Maybe there’s no such thing as a safe supp after all.
