Unmasking the Truth: The Importance of You Researching Supplements
[Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 54 seconds.]
A couple of weeks ago, I discussed visceral fat and how you need to understand where you are on that continuum to stave off serious disease. I received an offline question on supplements to combat visceral fat and weight gain.
In this post, I cover my experience with supplements as well as eye-opening results from a study courtesy of the Vajenda, a publication by best-selling author Dr. Jen Gunter (recommend checking it out).
I wrap with how you can take control through your own research.
This is my experience. Yours may differ.
In late 2019, I was having problems with sleep and dealing with hot flashes. My RA was flaring up. I was having trouble staying at my current weight.
Desperate for a solution, particularly for sleep. I went to a functional medicine doctor. I liked the preventative aspect as opposed to the reactive nature of most US medical care. I took a bunch of tests not covered by insurance but cost me ~$600. I was prescribed a bunch of supplements that promised everything.
They did nothing to help my symptoms or fix the root cause.
They caused some unwanted side effects, some of which were obvious if I had done some research. I trusted. MISTAKE! Later, I conducted research on one of the supplements I was prescribed - magnesium. My functional doctor didn’t warn me about this very well-known side effect or any other side effects I experienced.
Did I mention they cost hundreds of dollars per month? Your money can be better spent elsewhere on things known to work. Like food. Like exercise.
Does this mean all functional doctors are bad? No. But when they start pushing supplements, probe.
Actual cap in in my cap collection.
What did I do next?
When COVID started almost 4 years ago (holy fuck, has it been that long?), I did what many others did - ate loads of takeout from local restaurants and drank a boatload of wine.
I weighed myself on July 4th and said, “yeah, no.” I made serious changes to my diet (limited red meat and booze to 1x/week). I stopped the supplements by mid-July because I wanted to see what would happen.
I was already exercising throughout COVID. Making changes to my diet reversed the negative body composition trajectory. The supplements had nothing to do with it.
Want to chat with someone who has ‘been there, done that’ and made all of the mistakes when
improving their health?
I take a calcium and vitamin D supplement. Your body’s ability to make vitamin D decreases as you age. It isn’t something easily found in food. Given my osteoporosis risk and menopause status, I need calcium. I get some through food, but also supplement.
Don’t make the same mistakes
Read the labels and do your homework. Most supplements contain multiple ingredients. I apply the same rules to supplements I do to food. The more ingredients I see on a label, the more difficult to check what I’m consuming. Bonus for ingredients I cannot pronounce.
From the Vajenda:
Researchers tested 57 products that were marketed as “sports enhancers” that either claimed to have stimulant or muscle-building effects, often advertised with nebulous claims such as “fat burners,” “thermogenic,” “preworkout”, or “metabolism booster.” The researchers focused on supplements that claimed to contain one of the following active ingredients: Rauwolfia vomitoria, methylliberine, halostachine, turkesterone, and octopamine, and they tested the products to see if the supplements contained the advertised ingredients and if the dose matched the labeling. They also tested for banned ingredients.
Of the 57 products evaluated, here’s what was found:
40% didn’t contain the active ingredient listed on the label. Yes, 40%.
Of the 60% that did contain the active ingredient, the amount ranged from 0.02% to 334% of the dose listed on the label.
Only 11% had accurate labeling and contained the active ingredient and the advertised amount within a 10% margin of error. Another way to look at this is that 89% had inaccurate labeling in some manner.
12% contained an ingredient banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One supplement contained four banned ingredients, and one contained a substance that has never been approved for human use in any country!
The FDA does not regulate supplements in a way to to protect consumers. They trust manufacturers to make their products safe and label them accurately. No research or peer-reviewed studies are required before releasing to market. What could go wrong?
It’s possible you might feel better taking a supplement. It also could be because of other ingredients doing the work. You don’t know.
This button literally exists in my home. And it is used liberally.
I LOL’ed when Dr. Gunter talked about words like “proprietary” and “blend”. It took me my back to my winemaking days. It’s marketing bullshit that translates into different grapes from various vineyards to make a wine. They generally don’t even put varietal percentages on those bottles. Be skeptical when you see those words on a supplement bottle.
How to get educated (again, thank you Dr. Gunter)
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements - are the ingredients on the packaging on here? If not, why?
Department of Defense - lists what is banned by the military.
Consumer Lab - this costs $30/year BUT your public library may have FREE online access. For example, Seattle Public Library (SPL) has access, so dust off your library card!
Consumer Reports - gold standard for many years on household purchases. Access online through SPL for free. Online subscription is $39/year.
Taking supplements? Please get educated on the ingredients so you know what you’re ingesting!
I realize this is an opinion many will not agree with. That’s ok. Let’s agree to disagree. This is my experience working with a functional medicine doctor and following their advice. Supplements are different than medicines such as Wegovy and Ozempic. I’ll cover those in another post.
And as always, you should be getting medical advice from your doctor.
