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People tend to think that because vitamins and supplements are ‘natural,’ that means they’re always safe. But while it may be true that the majority of vitamins and supplements carry less side effects and risks than the majority of pharmaceutical drugs, herbal products are far from harmless. Like ‘normal’ drugs, herbal medicines alter your body’s physiology, and anything that alters your physiology can lead to adverse effects, or be dangerous when combined with other substances. And yet the majority tend to omit crucial safety information from their labels or packaging.
According to new research published in the journal BMC Medicine, most over-the-counter herbal products don’t contain the minimum info required for safe use. Researchers looked at five commonly-used supplements sold: St. John’s wort, Asian ginseng, echinacea, garlic and ginko. The written info provided with these products (on the labels, package, etc.) was evaluated for inclusion of the key safety messages recommended by the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), things like precautions (such as that ginseng might not be suitable for people with diabetes), interactions (i.e., St. John’s wort can alter the effectiveness of contraceptive pills) and side effects.
Three-quarters of the supplements studied contained none of the key safety messages associated with them. This included:
- ¼ of St. John’s wort products,
- Nine out of 13 echinacea products,
- Six out of seven Asian ginseng products,
- 20 out of 21 garlic products, and
- all ginkgo products.
Research was conducted on products sold in the UK, not the United States— though given the EU’s generally-stricter standards for these sort of things than America’s, I doubt we could expect to fare much better with a look at U.S.-sold supplements. A 2008 study of St. John’s wort products sold in the U.S. found the vast majority lacked info on relevant safety concerns.
I’ve often scoffed at the ‘talk to your doctor before taking’ this or that vitamin or supplement warning, but if we can’t rely on the products themselves to carry adequate warnings, this may be better advice than I previously thought. At the least, you should probably consult Google M.D. before adding any vitamins or supplements to your regime. The NCCAM provides also provides a good deal of information on various herbal products and their safe use.
Photo: Highlight Health
