2) My last job (before retirement) was in clinical HIV research in women. The interviewers told me that some study participants were taking all kinds of supplements (some discussed that w/ me as well, & I warned them about risks, esp. wt. loss products). Any many of these women had Hep. B, C, or both!
One day I overheard that a participant coming in the following day was planning some detox something-or-other. So I went through my files to find my dangers of detox handout. When she came in I told her that I had a handout on the subject, would she like it? She said yes, & I gave it to her -- folded up, so she wouldn't see what it said till later...
Thank you for this helpful info -- I had been taking turmeric for a while to help with joint pain, but I stopped since I found HRT to help a lot more with that, and started reading about the dangers of unregulated turmeric. However, I do still take a pretty basic 50+ multivitamin, mainly to cover my bases for vit D, etc. Do you recommend something like that? Are multivitamins from legit vitamin manufacturers (with like GMP certification) considered safe, or do you recommend avoiding vitamins/supplements generally?
My rheumatologist has BANNED all supplements sans one: Vitamin D3 (capped at 2,000 international units, per day). I have a complicated medical cocktail, and I'm NOT going to do anything to 1) screw up my cocktail that as worked since 2013, or 2) Risk my liver, which is key to handling these meds. I despise the supplement industry because they promise great/improved health, but they have no real data. Meh. Thank you so very much for this post. I really appreciate it!
Turmeric also causes bleeding and I see this every day when I do injections in my practice. It’s on my list of “do not take” before injections and I am shocked at how many people ALSO take Advil or aleve as well, compounding their risk of bleeding problems.
Exactly! It's clever marketing designed to misrepresent what the supplement will do... It like a magician's sleight of hand, redirecting your attention to where they want it to go.
There is quite a bit of evidence supporting turmeric and its active compound curcumin as potent anti-inflammatories, since they do work via mechanisms similar to many popular anti-inflammatory medications. Here's a good piece from the national library of medicine that gives a ton of support for its effectiveness (if you're interested): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8572027/
I am going to disagree and say the evidence for turmeric for anything is very poor. That review article doesn't provide solid RTCs to support the product and many people think it is a poor candidate molecule for the reasons I explain in the article.
“Between 1995-2003 there were no men with supplement-related liver failure on the transplant list, and by the last time block (2013-2020), men accounted for 49% of supplement-related liver failure.”
These numbers are shocking yet unsurprising at the same time. I started high school in 1995, and as a chubby fourteen-year-old, I turned to bodybuilding magazines to whip myself into shape.
The supplement ads in the popular magazines weren’t just pictures of ripped guys and gals holding a bottle of powder or pills—they were cleverly marketed multi-page age that read like medical research and studies. They were so convincing and effectively done that nearly everyone I knew who read those magazines wanted or was using these supplements (as high school-aged kids).
These ads contained charts, graphs, and often times real doctors supporting their claims. The marketing was genius, and it got people to buy, but as you’ve stated here, their unregulated nature exposed millions of people, myself included, to several potentially life-threatening risks.
One of the most popular supplements of those days was Hydroxycut, an effective fat burner that contained ephedra—which was banned by the FDA in 2004 due to cardiovascular risks.
They removed ephedra and re-branded the formula, but cases of liver injury started popping up. Most of them were self-limited viral hepatitis-like syndromes, but some were far worse, including at least one reported death.
Unfortunately, as with all unregulated industries, it tends to attract world-class marketers whose primary goal is sales, not customer safety and wellness.
Several posts ago, you said something to the effect of 'never trust a doctor on the internet selling supplements' - not a. direct quote. Seems like this. is truer than ever. Thanks. for highlighting this. Hard to know as a lay person what 'clinical studies' even means, if it means anything.
Collagen also seems super popular as a supplement for better hair, nails, skin etc. Have you done posts on this? Whether it works or not, is there harm ingesting it?
1) Yes, please do more posts on supplements.
2) My last job (before retirement) was in clinical HIV research in women. The interviewers told me that some study participants were taking all kinds of supplements (some discussed that w/ me as well, & I warned them about risks, esp. wt. loss products). Any many of these women had Hep. B, C, or both!
One day I overheard that a participant coming in the following day was planning some detox something-or-other. So I went through my files to find my dangers of detox handout. When she came in I told her that I had a handout on the subject, would she like it? She said yes, & I gave it to her -- folded up, so she wouldn't see what it said till later...
Thank you for this helpful info -- I had been taking turmeric for a while to help with joint pain, but I stopped since I found HRT to help a lot more with that, and started reading about the dangers of unregulated turmeric. However, I do still take a pretty basic 50+ multivitamin, mainly to cover my bases for vit D, etc. Do you recommend something like that? Are multivitamins from legit vitamin manufacturers (with like GMP certification) considered safe, or do you recommend avoiding vitamins/supplements generally?
My rheumatologist has BANNED all supplements sans one: Vitamin D3 (capped at 2,000 international units, per day). I have a complicated medical cocktail, and I'm NOT going to do anything to 1) screw up my cocktail that as worked since 2013, or 2) Risk my liver, which is key to handling these meds. I despise the supplement industry because they promise great/improved health, but they have no real data. Meh. Thank you so very much for this post. I really appreciate it!
Turmeric also causes bleeding and I see this every day when I do injections in my practice. It’s on my list of “do not take” before injections and I am shocked at how many people ALSO take Advil or aleve as well, compounding their risk of bleeding problems.
What annoys me lately is products advertised pointing to a study of one of the ingredients.
Like, “studies show placebotol cures 99% of problems, buy my cream with placebotol (also includes green tea, turmeric, soma and raw water)”
Ok, great, but does THIS PRODUCT use placebotol the same way the study did? Is there any evidence this product works??
It’s like… borrowing credibility from real science.
Exactly! It's clever marketing designed to misrepresent what the supplement will do... It like a magician's sleight of hand, redirecting your attention to where they want it to go.
I just read a report on a study that showed no benefit for taking turmeric for joint pain.
There is quite a bit of evidence supporting turmeric and its active compound curcumin as potent anti-inflammatories, since they do work via mechanisms similar to many popular anti-inflammatory medications. Here's a good piece from the national library of medicine that gives a ton of support for its effectiveness (if you're interested): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8572027/
I am going to disagree and say the evidence for turmeric for anything is very poor. That review article doesn't provide solid RTCs to support the product and many people think it is a poor candidate molecule for the reasons I explain in the article.
Noted!
Do you recommend any supplements like vit D, zinc, probiotics, or is it all not worth the risk in your opinion?
“Between 1995-2003 there were no men with supplement-related liver failure on the transplant list, and by the last time block (2013-2020), men accounted for 49% of supplement-related liver failure.”
These numbers are shocking yet unsurprising at the same time. I started high school in 1995, and as a chubby fourteen-year-old, I turned to bodybuilding magazines to whip myself into shape.
The supplement ads in the popular magazines weren’t just pictures of ripped guys and gals holding a bottle of powder or pills—they were cleverly marketed multi-page age that read like medical research and studies. They were so convincing and effectively done that nearly everyone I knew who read those magazines wanted or was using these supplements (as high school-aged kids).
These ads contained charts, graphs, and often times real doctors supporting their claims. The marketing was genius, and it got people to buy, but as you’ve stated here, their unregulated nature exposed millions of people, myself included, to several potentially life-threatening risks.
One of the most popular supplements of those days was Hydroxycut, an effective fat burner that contained ephedra—which was banned by the FDA in 2004 due to cardiovascular risks.
They removed ephedra and re-branded the formula, but cases of liver injury started popping up. Most of them were self-limited viral hepatitis-like syndromes, but some were far worse, including at least one reported death.
Unfortunately, as with all unregulated industries, it tends to attract world-class marketers whose primary goal is sales, not customer safety and wellness.
This is such important information to get out to the public - thank you!
Like Valerie, I am curious what is safe. I use whey protein and glucosamine/chondroitin.
Several posts ago, you said something to the effect of 'never trust a doctor on the internet selling supplements' - not a. direct quote. Seems like this. is truer than ever. Thanks. for highlighting this. Hard to know as a lay person what 'clinical studies' even means, if it means anything.
Collagen also seems super popular as a supplement for better hair, nails, skin etc. Have you done posts on this? Whether it works or not, is there harm ingesting it?