Are Your Vitamins and Supplements More Harmful Than Helpful?

As an integrative provider who works in the field of oncology, I often see patients who are very ill. It's not uncommon for at least one patient a week to come into my office with shopping bags full of different vitamins and supplements purchased from infomercials, Amazon, Costco, or local drug stores. Although I fully support my patients' intentions for better health and healing, watching this happen over and over again is concerning, especially because many products really aren't what they claim to be.  Because vitamins, herbs, and natural supplements aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), many products that are available over-the-counter (OTC) are poor quality and in some cases, can even be more harmful than helpful. In addition, many labels have ambiguous instructions concerning dosage, such as "take 1-2 capsules, 2-3 times per day, or as instructed by your health care provider.” 

When considering different supplements to support your health, here are a few things to think about...

1. Just because a product is labeled “natural,” it doesn’t necessarily mean it's safe or that the recommended dose is the right dose for you.  Although most vitamins and supplements have a Recommended Daily Intake (RDI), a supplement should really be dosed according to therapeutic intention.  Some vitamins and minerals, (such as vitamin D, vitamin B6, and iron, to name a few) should only be taken based on the level that can already be detected in your blood.  Consuming these in doses higher than you need, can be harmful and cause a variety of unpleasant side effects just like pharmaceutical medications.  Therefore, “doubling up” on B vitamins just because you need a boost of energy isn’t always a good idea.

2. Mixing various vitamins, supplements, medications, (and even foods), without knowledge about how they will react or interact, can be dangerous.  Do you remember mixing baking soda and vinegar in science class when you were a child, and then waiting for the reaction?  Using this example, we can see that even the most benign substances can create a strong chemical reaction.  Did you know that grapefruit juice interacts with a variety of different pharmaceutical medications because it inhibits the production of Cytochrome p450, an enzyme responsible for drug metabolization? If taken within 24 hours of certain medications, grapefruit juice can cause elevated levels of those medications in the blood, making them much more potent than intended.

3. Timing of consumption is also something to consider. All vitamins, supplements, and herbs have a mechanism of action, a describable manner in the way they work. For example, some supplements are anabolic and cause a building-up effect in the body.  Other supplements are catabolic and cause a breaking-down effect in the body. It is important to avoid taking supplements that have two opposing mechanisms of action at the same time. Doing this can negate the effectiveness of each supplement and can make you very ill. 

4. Despite appealing product labels and clever marketing tactics, many products do not contain the high-quality ingredients that they claim they do. Vitamins, supplements, and herbs are not regulated by the FDA. While there is a regulatory standard called the Current Good Manufacture Practices (CGMP) and a number of labs that measure quality, efficacy, and safety, many OTC supplements do not go through external methods of quality control. In addition to poor quality ingredients, OTC products can contain various contaminants, artificial fillers, preservatives, heavy metals, and/or toxic agents. Also, in the past couple of years, there have been numerous accounts of different online retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, selling counterfeit supplements.  

Words of Advice…

It's easy to get overwhelmed when trying to choose supplements that are safe, effective, and high-quality.  As a healthcare provider who uses vitamins and supplements as a core component of treatment, I do not recommend that patients try to manage medications, vitamins, and supplements on their own. If you're taking more than a multivitamin and one medication per day, I strongly recommend consulting with an integrative medical provider who has extensive knowledge about vitamins, supplements, and interactions. Although most medical doctors (MDs) have a strong knowledge of pharmaceutical medications, many are not extensively trained in vitamins, supplements, or nutrition. If you’re seeing multiple doctors for different complaints, it’s not uncommon for medications and potential interactions to get overlooked. Having a specialist help you create a medication and supplement chart with dosage, time of day to be taken, and special instructions can be helpful. 

In addition, it’s extremely important to use only the best quality products available, known as “professional-grade” products. These products go through stringent quality control measures regarding processing and purity, established by the US Pharmacopeia (USP). All ingredients must be verified by an outside agency to be at least 99% pure. Random samples are tested throughout the year to ensure that quality control and purity are maintained over time. Professional-grade products are only sold by healthcare providers so that patients can be monitored and expected therapeutic outcomes can be achieved. 

In practice, I only use professional-grade products with my patients. There are a number of manufacturers I recommend depending on the specific vitamin or supplement. I use a variety of sources to cross-check the highest-rated ones so that I’m confident when prescribing them. If you are concerned about the quality and/or administration of the vitamins and supplements you’re taking, seek the help of a licensed professional to assist you. Don’t let the vitamins and supplements that are supposed to be optimizing your health, cause more harm than good.