berries from the coyotillo plant (
Karwinskia humboldtiana
) cause paralysis; and the ackee fruit (
Blighia sapida
) causes a severe lowering of blood sugar (âJamaican vomiting sicknessâ). Mother Nature can kill you. âJust because something is natural it does not mean that it is good,â write Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst in
Trick or Treatment
, âand just because something is unnatural it does not mean that it is bad. Arsenic, cobra poison, nuclear radiation, earthquakes, and the ebola virus can all be found in nature, whereas vaccines, spectacles, and artificial hips are all man-made.â
The possibility of harm caused by natural products sold in health food stores isnât theoretical. Blue cohosh can cause heart failure; nutmeg can cause hallucinations; comfrey, kava, chaparral,
Crotalaria
,
Senecio
, jin bu huan,
Usnea
lichen, and valerian can cause hepatitis; monkshood and plantain can cause heart arrhythmias; wormwood can cause seizures; stevia leaves can decrease fertility; concentrated green tea extracts can damage the liver; milkweed seed oil and bitter orange (
Citrus aurantium
) can cause heart damage; thujone can cause neurological damage; and concentrated garlic can cause bleeding. Indeed, one of the worst dietary supplement disasters in history occurred in 1992, when about a hundred people developed kidney failure from a âslimmingâ mixture found to contain the plant aristolochia; at least seventy patients required kidneytransplants or dialysis, and many later developed bladder cancers. In 2008, more than two hundred peopleâincluding a four-year-oldâwere poisoned by massive doses of selenium contained in Total Body Formula and Total Body Mega. The products were supposed to contain 200 micrograms of selenium per serving; instead they contained 40,800 micrograms. Herbal remedies can also cause harm: two infants died from a tea containing pennyroyal and another from a decongestant containing capsaicin. Because the dietary supplement industry is unregulated, only 170 (0.3 percent) of the 51,000 new products brought to market since the 1994 Supplement Act have documented safety tests.
And itâs not just the supplements themselves that might be harmful, but whatâs contaminating them. In 2004, researchers at Harvard Medical School tested Indian (Ayurvedic) remedies obtained from shops near Bostonâs City Hall. They found that 20 percent contained potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. Between 1978 and 2004, herbal medicines caused fifty-five cases of severe or fatal heavy-metal poisoning. In late 2009, Kirkman Labs, a supplement manufacturer popular among parents of children with autism, recalled fifteen thousand bottles of zinc because they contained undeclared antimony, a heavy metal.
These problems arenât rare. Between 1983 and 2004, poison-control centers in the United States received 1.3 million reports of adverse reactions to vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements, of which 175,268 required treatment in hospitals and 139 resulted in death. In 2012, the FDA estimated that approximately 50,000 adverse reactions to supplements occurred every year.
Worst of all: most people donât realize whatâs happened. A Harris poll found that 68 percent believe that the government requires herbal manufacturers to report side effects, 58 percent believe that the FDA must approve herbal products before sale, and 55 percent believe that manufacturers of vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements cannot make claims about safety or effectiveness without scientific evidence. All these beliefs couldnât be further from the truth. Serious problems caused by dietary supplements are the industryâs dirty little secret. Because of the Supplement Act, theyâll remain a secret.
I n 2007, as problems with the industry continued to mount, FDA regulators were finally granted permission to supervise the way supplements were made.
Karwinskia humboldtiana
) cause paralysis; and the ackee fruit (
Blighia sapida
) causes a severe lowering of blood sugar (âJamaican vomiting sicknessâ). Mother Nature can kill you. âJust because something is natural it does not mean that it is good,â write Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst in
Trick or Treatment
, âand just because something is unnatural it does not mean that it is bad. Arsenic, cobra poison, nuclear radiation, earthquakes, and the ebola virus can all be found in nature, whereas vaccines, spectacles, and artificial hips are all man-made.â
The possibility of harm caused by natural products sold in health food stores isnât theoretical. Blue cohosh can cause heart failure; nutmeg can cause hallucinations; comfrey, kava, chaparral,
Crotalaria
,
Senecio
, jin bu huan,
Usnea
lichen, and valerian can cause hepatitis; monkshood and plantain can cause heart arrhythmias; wormwood can cause seizures; stevia leaves can decrease fertility; concentrated green tea extracts can damage the liver; milkweed seed oil and bitter orange (
Citrus aurantium
) can cause heart damage; thujone can cause neurological damage; and concentrated garlic can cause bleeding. Indeed, one of the worst dietary supplement disasters in history occurred in 1992, when about a hundred people developed kidney failure from a âslimmingâ mixture found to contain the plant aristolochia; at least seventy patients required kidneytransplants or dialysis, and many later developed bladder cancers. In 2008, more than two hundred peopleâincluding a four-year-oldâwere poisoned by massive doses of selenium contained in Total Body Formula and Total Body Mega. The products were supposed to contain 200 micrograms of selenium per serving; instead they contained 40,800 micrograms. Herbal remedies can also cause harm: two infants died from a tea containing pennyroyal and another from a decongestant containing capsaicin. Because the dietary supplement industry is unregulated, only 170 (0.3 percent) of the 51,000 new products brought to market since the 1994 Supplement Act have documented safety tests.
And itâs not just the supplements themselves that might be harmful, but whatâs contaminating them. In 2004, researchers at Harvard Medical School tested Indian (Ayurvedic) remedies obtained from shops near Bostonâs City Hall. They found that 20 percent contained potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. Between 1978 and 2004, herbal medicines caused fifty-five cases of severe or fatal heavy-metal poisoning. In late 2009, Kirkman Labs, a supplement manufacturer popular among parents of children with autism, recalled fifteen thousand bottles of zinc because they contained undeclared antimony, a heavy metal.
These problems arenât rare. Between 1983 and 2004, poison-control centers in the United States received 1.3 million reports of adverse reactions to vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements, of which 175,268 required treatment in hospitals and 139 resulted in death. In 2012, the FDA estimated that approximately 50,000 adverse reactions to supplements occurred every year.
Worst of all: most people donât realize whatâs happened. A Harris poll found that 68 percent believe that the government requires herbal manufacturers to report side effects, 58 percent believe that the FDA must approve herbal products before sale, and 55 percent believe that manufacturers of vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements cannot make claims about safety or effectiveness without scientific evidence. All these beliefs couldnât be further from the truth. Serious problems caused by dietary supplements are the industryâs dirty little secret. Because of the Supplement Act, theyâll remain a secret.
I n 2007, as problems with the industry continued to mount, FDA regulators were finally granted permission to supervise the way supplements were made.
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