Supplement Dangers: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

The staggering truth about the supplement industry will make you think twice before swallowing those pills. With over $30 billion in annual sales and more than 85,000 products flooding the market since deregulation in 1994, what's actually in those bottles might shock you.

Dr. Craig Keever and Amy dive deep into the disturbing reality of supplement safety, revealing how up to 90% of herbal supplements contain contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides, while half hide unlisted pharmaceutical drugs. The New York Attorney General's investigation found four out of five supplement bottles don't even contain what's on the label. Behind these alarming statistics are real people suffering serious consequences – from the woman who experienced liver enzymes 70 times above normal after taking turmeric supplements to children receiving nine times the labeled dose of melatonin.

Not all supplements deserve such scrutiny, however. The hosts identify science-backed options worth considering: omega-3 fatty acids for reducing inflammation, vitamin D for those with limited sun exposure, vitamin B12 (especially for plant-based eaters), and magnesium glycinate for supporting the body's enzymatic functions. They explain why prebiotics may be more beneficial than probiotics and why whole food sources should always be your first choice for nutrition.

Before reaching for that bottle, learn how to protect yourself with third-party certifications (look for USP or NSF on labels), understand when supplementation might actually be necessary, and recognize red flags like "proprietary blends." With liver failure cases from supplements increasing eightfold and over 50,000 annual ER visits linked to these products, this episode provides critical knowledge that could save your health.

Ready to take control of your supplement safety? Listen now to become a better advocate for your own health in an industry where 70% of manufacturers violate good manufacturing practices. Remember: what you don't know about your supplements really can hurt you.

Thanks for listening to Roots To Health!

 The information provided in this video is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have seen or heard in this video. Dr. Craig Keever is a licensed pediatrician, but the content shared here is general in nature and may not be applicable to your individual health needs. 

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Transcript

Introduction to Supplement Concerns

Speaker 1 0:00

Well, good afternoon, but I don't know what time you're listening to this, so greetings Wherever you are. This is Dr Craig Kiever. I'm your host to the podcast Roots to Health. You're in the right place If you're looking for any information on plant-based eating and how it can help you. There you go. We have a very interesting topic this afternoon and I'm recording. So sorry, where is my brain? He forgot me. No, I never forgot you, baby. So this is my lovely wife, amy. She's a vegan chef licensed by the Food for Life Program of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine there you go.

Speaker 1 0:43

And my co-host.

Speaker 2 0:44

There you go.

Speaker 1 0:47

Holy cow, I'm not going to live that one down. So our topic this afternoon, because we are recording in the afternoon regardless of what time day you're watching this.

Speaker 2 0:56

You can say that. You can say that we have people from all over the world that tune in Supplements.

Speaker 1 1:04

Oh boy, big topic.

Speaker 2 1:10

Wow. Why do we use them, do we?

Speaker 1 1:11

need them. Do you know what's in them? Do you know what's in them? Yeah, so, chronic pain, autoimmune issues, fatigue, sleep, stress these are some of the reasons that people seek out supplements.

Speaker 2 1:26

you know, dietary supplements, and, and one thinks that, oh, it's just a dietary supplement, that's what I always thought they would say okay, the fda doesn't, you know, oversee it, but it's like okay, but it's basically what it is, and it's benign as well my mom was on so many supplements sent me off to college with, like you know, 20 of them oh, yeah, well, and it, and it points to this culture's desire for a quick fix.

Speaker 2 1:56

Yeah, pill for nil but it also does reach out to people who are really desperate for some kind of change and I was definitely that person is like you are desperate to figure. When it's an unknown chronic thing, you cannot figure it out, you're, you fall prey you know it's, it's. It becomes a fear thing on them.

Speaker 1 2:16

So a couple of interesting facts as we dive into this, because I'm not antilement, right. Okay, I've got a couple that I take myself, all right, but cautious cautious, okay, we need to know what we're doing is not benign, that's right for the. You know as you'll see as we get into the story here today. So um fun fact the um the supplement industry is a more than $30 billion a year industry.

Speaker 2 2:49

And who's making those?

Speaker 1 2:50

$30 billion a year. Industry Okay Right, who's making those? Many of the companies that are in the supplement industry are big pharma, so not only are they racking it in for from all the normal prescription stuff, but they've tapped into this. Yeah well, why is this such a big deal? Well, interestingly, I found out today that prior to 1994, there was some amount of regulation with all the supplements and were they even really doing a lot of supplements before then?

Speaker 1 3:28

that's a good question. I haven't haven't dived into the research on that that's what they were saying.

Speaker 1 3:32

It's like that it really wasn't that many there that may be true, I'm not sure about that, but in 1994 there was a federal law passed that basically deregulated Go to town, do what you want. And there are now over 85,000 different dietary supplements on the market. Man, we'll get to why that's problematic in a little bit. Really problematic. Yeah, 85,000 supplements on the the market how do you regulate that? And then, when you do start to regulate that, you've got these big companies that are screaming about the regulation. Yeah, how do you get past that?

Speaker 2 4:19

hmm, interesting, you know well, and it's not a deal where you're like, oh yeah, we'll get into it. It's like that. Some of them like yeah it's just no, it's just plain scary, it's just really scary this was an eye-opener for me yeah just when we think we've kind of studied it all and we've I mean not that we know it all, but we kind of have a general idea of like plant-based nutrition and things like this, and then this is like woo. Then this is like woo, Natalie.

The Unregulated Supplement Industry

Speaker 1 4:45

This is like so what are the supplements that we're in favor of, and by in favor of, what I mean is where is the scientific evidence to support the use of these supplements? Okay, I think that's a really good place to start. Omega-3 fatty acids we've talked in several podcasts about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. I think taking some kind of supplement is not a bad idea, right? If you understand what's in the supplement you're taking, right, and that it really is what it says it is, I think those have definite benefits. Having said that, before we go into the rest of these, I would like to note that, for the most part, I think a highly nutritious, whole food, plant-based diet where you eat the rainbow and have lots of variety, you're going to get almost everything you need, right? Okay, so keep that in mind as we go through these supplements that have scientific evidence behind them. Yeah, the bottom line from my perspective is, if you can get it from your diet, you need it from your diet.

Speaker 2 6:07

Yeah, I mean Well and if you're going somewhere where someone's recommending you be on about 20 supplements, you better be careful, because the likelihood of it's really low that they are actually what they are.

Speaker 1 6:20

That's right.

Speaker 2 6:20

So to put 20 of them out there.

Speaker 1 6:22

That's right.

Speaker 2 6:22

That's a red flag to me, right off the bat.

Speaker 1 6:24

That's right. So, in terms of omega-3 fatty acids, why are they good for us? They reduce our total body inflammation. They can ease joint pain and stiffness.

Speaker 2 6:37

So we get those in whole foods.

Speaker 1 6:39

Yes, I mean, there's a lot of whole foods that we get that from. So I think the only reason to supplement the omega-3s is if, for whatever reason, you're unable to get enough in your whole food diet. Yeah, okay, so that would be one possibility. Turmeric it's an anti-inflammatory shown to reduce joint pain. There is science behind that. Ok, it needs black pepper to help the absorption of it. But do we want to talk a little bit now?

Speaker 2 7:17

Let's talk about it because we've seen several studies. I, we've seen several studies. We saw one or not studies, several cases where a woman was taking turmeric and had only been on it for like a month and she was only taking 2000 milligrams, which the point is she probably wasn't taking 2000 milligrams. They are so unregulated, they you're so like. We've seen so many, we've got I've got some things that I'm going to bring up. And she was in liver, she was having liver failure. Her enzymes were what? 70 times?

Speaker 2 7:50

Yeah, I think you said 70 times 70 times what they were supposed to be. Another case I saw where a woman was like her husband was just taking a turmeric supplement and his eyes started turning yellow and he was in full liver failure. So one of the liver specialists had said they're seeing an eight times fold on the cases of liver failure.

Science-Backed Supplements Worth Taking

Speaker 1 8:16

Not just injury, but complete failure Because of supplements. Because of supplements. And I think what I have heard recently, what I see have heard recently Along those lines, is this has dramatically increased Since 1994. Yes, yes, when that federal law was passed Deregulating the supplement industry. Because, oh, that's just a supplement, it's benign.

Speaker 2 8:38

Yeah, and so one of the ones that I was looking up. It had said let's see, I've got several of them. Up to 90% of herbal supplements are contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins and about 50% have hidden pharmaceutical drugs in them, so they don't have to claim that. So you actually could be taking some pharmaceutical drug and not know it. So they did a New York State Ag investigation, did 78 supplements and they went into wherever you get your supplements Walmart, costco, target, gnc and they found that four out of five bottles contained none of the listed herbs. And then we saw one case where think about if a child is given melatonin. We saw that the melatonin had nine times the amount of melatonin it was supposed to have. Can you imagine the toxicity of like if you took 10 milligrams?

Speaker 2 9:32

and it's you know that's right a hundred these are the effects of deregulation of this how that's really concerning very concerning amazon has a thing on their uh statement that it's like a disclaimer that says it can always supplement something. If they don't have the exact fulfillment, they can resolve it as available with something else.

Speaker 1 9:56

So what you're saying with that is, we're at Amazon, in their warehouse, and somebody orders a particular brand of Tryptophan. Tryptophan in their warehouse and somebody orders a particular brand of Tryptophan Tryptophan, and if they don't have that particular brand, they can go anywhere else on the counter.

Speaker 2 10:12

Yes, they could look like something that's not even. It won't even flag that it's not the brand that you ordered.

Speaker 1 10:19

Well, my understanding is, these companies can duplicate a label yes, and it can come from someplace completely different, for sure, and look exactly the same.

Speaker 2 10:30

Exactly. Yes, I mean this is news and so it's like. So their point was order directly from that retailer. Don't go through some I mean even pulling things at Walmart and Target and see, you know, like that's pretty. Yeah, that's pretty crazy, and so it's one thing for them not to sell you the herb and it's just some kind of like placebo kind of effect. But it's another thing to get something where you may be giving your child nine times the amount of.

Speaker 1 10:58

I think there's a spot on the agenda here. We'll get a little bit more into that too. But getting back to some of the science-based supplements, vitamin d, I mean, that is a really big deal that one, I mean yeah I mean this culture. We're um somewhat sun phobic and in many respects now, because of the potential effect, rightly so. Uh, we do need some sun.

Speaker 2 11:26

We are very careful to get sun.

Speaker 1 11:27

Yeah, we do need some sun, but it's hard to find that line and I don't have a defined answer for that in terms of how much sun exposure is good, you know, because the problem is of the link to skin cancer and UV exposure, and you don't know until it's a little bit too late Right.

Speaker 1 11:47

And then the problem with that is our bodies need sunlight to generate vitamin D. You know so, I think. Because of that, I think taking a vitamin D supplement is an excellent idea. That's one of the three that I take that I, hard nose definitely recommend Vitamin B12, particularly as a plant-based person.

Speaker 2 12:11

But they've said that both standard diets seem to be just as deficient in it.

Speaker 1 12:16

I would definitely offer that. Vitamin B12 is something that probably everybody in the country should take, whether you're omnivorous or plant-based.

Speaker 2 12:27

I think people think that b12 is something that animals make and it's a bacteria.

Speaker 1 12:31

Right, yeah, the bacteria makes the b12 and it's the bacteria on the meat.

Speaker 2 12:35

We've kind of sterilized our food.

Supplement Dangers and Contamination

Speaker 1 12:36

Yeah, yeah, and the third supplement that I take so I take D and B12 and the third one is magnesium, and that's a an element that used to be found in, for instance, our water supply and various other places that, because our water supply needs to be so cleansed and filtered, well, they pretty much filter out all the magnesium, and so taking a supplement is a really good idea for that, because our bodies need magnesium to perform all the various enzymatic reactions that it does. It's a little confusing because there are a lot of forms of magnesium. Most of them are either not well absorbed or apply to something like the most common help is to help us have more regular bowel movements. But again, that type of magnesium, magnesium citrate tends to stay in within the lumen of the intestine and helps our bowel movements be softer, but that doesn't. The magnesium citrate does not get well absorbed into the bloodstream and help us with the rest of our body reactions.

Speaker 2 13:48

Magnesium does like 300 different things in the body, oh yeah lots yeah.

Speaker 1 13:53

And so the form that I have found most effective is magnesium glycinate. My understanding with the research that I've done so far is that that's the best absorbed, most bioavailable. That helps us. Magnesium can help us with reduction in headaches and cramps and nerve pain and help people with chronic stress. Helps you sleep better all kinds of things, yes.

Speaker 2 14:24

And you can get into foods. That's why I love Chronometer, because you really can. I've been really kind of. I went to it for a while. I went away from it just because I didn't want to really mess with it, but it's been pretty fascinating to me to see Like those greens boy they have it, they have it. They are so nutritionally dense.

Speaker 1 14:46

And lastly, but maybe not leastlyly, is the whole topic of probiotics and prebiotics. Uh, what I've recently I say recently, in the last few months have come to understand is a lot of the probiotic I'm not gonna, I'm gonna stop short of saying all of them Probiotic products have a little bit of antibiotic resistance built into the bacteria. What are probiotics? They are the actual germs that live in our intestinal tract, that live in symbiosis with us and help us digest. All right, so they're very important.

Speaker 2 15:24

They're a huge part of our body makeup.

Speaker 1 15:26

Right, and so on the surface, it would seem that if those germs that we have in our intestinal tract are a little bit resistant to antibiotics, that seems like it might be a good thing, but in reality, what happens? The research is bearing out that when these products are used, typically, you think about wanting to use them more, like after a round of antibiotics, right, where you've messed up your gut flora and you want to replace it, right. Well, what they found is that it actually takes longer for the gut to heal when these bacteria have this type of antibiotic resistance built into them. Well, now we're hosed. What's the answer? The answer is prebiotics. Okay, what are prebiotics? They're the foods that keep our microbiome happy. We're feeding those products, we're feeding those. So the trick with, for instance, we find prebiotics.

Speaker 1 16:27

Yeah, yeah, the trick to do this. Let's say you're you know, okay, I got strep throat, I got to take a course of antibiotics, but I don't want to damage totally my microbiome. Well, you start some prebiotics Now. Sadly, right now I don't have any evidence on when to start that. You start it when you're taking the antibiotic or you wait till after the antibiotic. I don't have information on that yet, but suffice it to say that the prebiotics will be the answer to more rapidly helping your gut microbiome return to normal.

Speaker 2 17:00

Which is why plant-based is so great, because it's continually doing that. Fiber is where that's at. Yes, so absolutely yes.

Speaker 1 17:07

And other good places for the prebiotics and whatnot, and probably some probiotics too. Good places for that are going to be in fermented foods Kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 17:25

Miso yeah miso. And miso is great for cooking, especially because it has a salty flavor, but it does not affect your blood pressure at all, so it's a really good way to get a salty. I love miso soup.

Speaker 1 17:36

I love miso in anything.

Speaker 2 17:37

I use it a lot. Sourdough bread Yay, although I kind of question like I want to love that and I want to know that sourdough is great, but you cook it. So I'm like how do those bugs survive?

Speaker 1 17:50

that I don't know. I want to think Maybe it's the prebiotics that are, maybe I don't know. Anyway, maybe that's wishful thinking, I don't know. So the next segment to tackle, then, is what are the supplements to be cautious with?

Speaker 2 18:07

Everything else I was going to say that's exactly where I was headed. I everything else I was gonna say that's exactly where I was headed.

Speaker 1 18:14

I I think my outline has kind of the other 97.

Speaker 2 18:16

That's right, yeah, my outline yeah, well more than that, because there's 85,000 percent, percent, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, so we've got three or four supplements that are good, three or four percent of that whole, no, no, this is percent total of 3 or 4. Well, right, yeah, versus 85,000. That's right, okay, maybe it's way lower than that 0.0000.

Speaker 1 18:37

So specifically broad topics to look at Megadose antioxidants, okay, for instance, like I think, the turmeric.

Speaker 2 18:49

Well, and they said you can cook with the turmeric. But my thought is, the reason why this happened was not that it was actually pepper added or whatever. I think there was something in it that was highly toxic, that was highly elevated. I have to think with what these statistics show.

Speaker 1 19:04

Yeah, yeah. So vitamin E. Vitamin E is actually something I've kind of struggled with because at the points that I have done chronometer and really documented on the app what I'm eating, I typically showed my vitamin E intake as being a little low and the best place. Yeah, it's tough, it's tough. It's a fat-soluble vitamin and primarily the source that I could find was nuts. I believe bell peppers have it too.

Speaker 2 19:44

If they're fresh I mean, if something happens when they cook them that it's not as potent. Oh right, well at least Dr Greger says, the bell pepper itself. It loses a lot of goodness once it's cooked. Yeah.

Speaker 1 19:59

Well, and the sad thing is then oh well, I should just take a supplement, right? Well, apparently the science behind vitamin E supplementation has shown, if I remember this correctly, an increase in all-cause mortality. When you take vitamin e, they don't have what. What I hear that saying is a lot of these are chemicals, though that they're trying to.

Speaker 2 20:26

Yeah, like it doesn't really make sense to me.

Speaker 1 20:28

Right, I mean. What I hear them saying is they don't specifically link vitamin E supplement use to a specific reason for death. It's all over the board. Yeah, so it's a little bit nebulous to say, but people that take vitamin E supplements have a higher risk of dying than your average person in the population, so it's really not recommended to take vitamin E supplements. Have a higher risk of dying than your average person in the population, so it's really not recommended to take vitamin E as a supplement.

Speaker 2 20:58

And all these suggestions are really based on, if everybody's telling the truth about what that supplement is that's very true. That's a huge variable to deal with.

Speaker 1 21:07

Another big red flag would be collagen supplements. These are often derived from bovine or fish sources. There is just no real scientific evidence to support that it has any effect on chronic pain or inflammation.

Identifying Safe Supplements

Speaker 2 21:31

Well, and I saw another report today where a girl was in liver failure and in the hospital and saying it was something that she was taking for her hair collagen-like, something like that that was supposed to be, you know. And the doctor said are you taking so-and-so? And when they got her blood work back, she's like, yes, she had no idea.

Speaker 1 21:51

Yeah, yeah, crazy Herbal blends and what are termed proprietary formulas Proprietary Okay.

Speaker 2 22:01

Which we're going to hide this.

Speaker 1 22:03

So yeah, so this basically means your snake oil.

Speaker 2 22:08

Yeah. Okay, this is the one that said 90. It said up to 90 of herbal supplements are contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins. Yeah, 90 90 and 50. I can't get over that. They can hide a pharmaceutical drug in that.

Speaker 1 22:27

So how do we protect ourselves? Okay, because what we're seeing here in an unregulated industry is that these companies, big pharma companies, knowingly use things like rice powder, other kinds of fillers, other kinds of medications, of fillers, other kinds of medications, yeah Um or it's like no, they have no degree of like what it really is. And they're not accountable Is it five?

Speaker 2 22:59

Is it five milligrams? Is it 50? Well, you're right.

Speaker 1 23:02

So then, yeah, then yeah, you get into all these things that can be used. You get into other contaminants like heavy metals and things that are known to be bad for you. And then you have the question of well, it says it has three milligrams in it. Does it have 0.3 milligrams or 300 milligrams? You don't know.

Speaker 2 23:24

And it'd be so hard for you to nail down like any kind of illness that you're dealing with. I mean, it is true that taking away things, whether it's elimination, diet or whatever, it's really been empowering for me to go oh, I didn't think about. I had so much lemon juice that I was doing in my water. I think that was kind of not helping me and things like that. It's like little things like that.

Speaker 1 23:46

So yeah, and these are supplements that you purchase off of your favorite store counters. Okay, reputable, I'm not knocking anybody for selling them, but these are. It's everywhere at Walmart, at Walgreens, at Costco, at Target, at all. The major players are selling these things and there is no control and nobody's saying I say no, there was almost no control and no way to verify. Does this label, is this accurate? That's so scary. Does this label tell me really what's in here?

Speaker 2 24:22

And there are certain I'm not going into it, but there are certain doctors that will recommend 10 to 15 to 20 supplements.

Speaker 1 24:30

Well, and this is the scary part to me about, Functional medicine.

Speaker 2 24:37

Functional medicine, I wasn't gonna say it.

Speaker 1 24:39

Yeah, that truly is, it is it goes hand in hand. Yeah, it goes hand in hand Functional medicine doctors as opposed to lifestyle medicine doctors. For the most part, yeah, and I don't wanna use that as a blanket statement, because I'm sure in any field there are going to be people that are ethical and reputable and all that. But when I base my income off of selling supplements, that's a problem. Well and or like it's a conflict of interest on my part.

Speaker 2 25:09

Right, and do you have the nutritional background to really understand? If, do you really know what's in that supplement? That's right. I mean, there's just so many unknowns that even if someone is of good intentions, there could be a lot of foul, foul little things that could happen.

Speaker 1 25:25

So are there any ways to tell by looking at a label yes, this has exactly that in it and I know there is, is there. There are a couple, thank goodness. I wish I knew the words behind these abbreviations, but always look for third-party testing.

When to Consider Supplements

Speaker 1 25:47

Of course that was another thing no-transcript labbing there, just say it so don't believe that if the label just says third-party testing done right, specifically, you have to have one of two that I know of markers on the label. One marker is usp, so there's usp, and the other one is nsf. If you've got that on the label, um, assuming the unethical company didn't forge that stamp on the label, right? If?

Speaker 2 26:50

If the label is marked, United States Pharmacopoeia is the USP.

Speaker 1 26:55

Okay, usp, and then the other one is NSF. If it's USP or NSF certified, then those have been tested and documented to have in their product. What they say on the label is in their product.

Speaker 2 27:09

National Sanitation Foundation.

Speaker 1 27:11

National Sanitation.

Speaker 2 27:12

So they have websites and you can go. It's my understanding. I played it with it a little bit, but it's my understanding. You can go on the website and say what are you looking for, b12. And it will give you those recommendations of these are the ones Because we were challenged to not find a couple on Amazon and again, after we found out what we know, we don't want to do this on Amazon anymore because you could have a duplication of that.

Speaker 1 27:37

Sure Well, and the next topic is probably at least a while back, not too long ago, a few years ago, it might've been a hotter topic than it is now. Cbd products, totally unregulated, I know, for a while, and I don't know if that craze is still going on now.

Speaker 2 27:56

I think so.

Speaker 1 27:57

Yeah, the use of CBD products is again, just like the rest of the supplement industry, totally unregulated, so we don't know what's actually in there.

Speaker 2 28:10

Well, and what I want to say on that is not in with us, but think about your dogs. They're recommending so many of those products. Our dogs are 7 pounds and 8 pounds. If some kind of level was off, the toxicity could be just unbelievable.

Speaker 1 28:25

Well, and just the fact that it is so unregulated, and the quality and the variability of dose, it's just all over the board.

Speaker 2 28:34

Or you could be paying a lot of money for, you know, rice paper. I mean, you know like rice powder.

Speaker 1 28:40

Rice powder. Yeah, exactly. So what are the points that, as we move along, I should consider this kind of supplement. Move along, I should consider this kind of supplement. What are the things that we need to kind of think about in terms of when is it right to buy a supplement? For me, and I think the first point is, if you ever go to your doctor and get tested for vitamin B and you're low, or vitamin D, absolutely, that's very clear you need to be on some kind of supplement and or, in combination with that, figure out dietary sources and increase those foods in your diet.

Speaker 2 29:20

And you know, I mean you can speak to that, I'm sure. But like B12 is one where, even if you, they do have a recommended dosage, but it's not really scary if you get a little bit more B6 and B, what is it? One or two, I think?

Speaker 1 29:33

it was two.

Speaker 2 29:33

Those can get. Really you've got to be kind of careful about.

Speaker 1 29:36

A little more careful about taking mega doses of those. Yeah, I would say. A second specific reason to go for some kind of supplementation is if you're dealing with a chronic health, like we've already addressed with the chronic inflammation. I don't know if we addressed that on this one or another episode, but if you're dealing with a specific health issue like chronic inflammation, you need more omega-3s. That's a very reasonable point to say okay, I need to try and boost my omega-3s.

Speaker 2 30:06

Of course, we would always recommend doing omega-3s with whole foods.

Speaker 1 30:10

With whole foods.

Speaker 2 30:10

I really feel like that would be the way to supplement. No doubt about it you can't get too much omega-3s by whole foods. That's right yeah.

Speaker 1 30:17

That's right. Another reason to maybe seek out some form of supplementation is if because of specific allergies or ethical reasons or things like that, or health conditions. Or ethical reasons or things like that, or health conditions?

Speaker 2 30:35

you know my dietary intake is limited, so I need to do some kind of supplement to replace what I'm limited in. And we've read a little bit about what is the and I don't know enough to speak on it, so I'm not speaking on it but the MTHFR, whatever that is. I mean some people don't or are not able to take in regular B12 like other people, and so there are mutations that you kind of have to be and bottom line, go to your doctor.

Speaker 2 30:58

This is just us. You know we always have a disclaimer that this is not medical advice. This is just us telling that blood work is your key.

Speaker 1 31:06

You know, like work with your doctor on it all. Yeah, absolutely. But I think the bottom line with all of this too, or another bottom line, is that, um you, we cannot look at supplements as a magic silver bullet.

Speaker 2 31:20

As food. It really can't replace what your body needs in a whole food.

Speaker 1 31:25

That's exactly right, the best way.

Speaker 2 31:27

Unless, you need additional, you know. Right yeah, the best way we have to get any of this into us is through a good, healthy diet and you know, I think turmeric is wonderful, but I will say I saw many cases of this liver failure going on, so be careful with that one. You know that's all, that's all to say about that.

Speaker 1 31:47

Yeah.

Speaker 2 31:47

Turmeric is a great thing. I know that we have. I cook with it a lot. I think it's a different animal. Oh yeah, you know I mean.

Final Thoughts on Supplement Safety

Speaker 1 31:55

So, once you've decided you've needed a supplement, how do you go about getting this? Well, I think your safest bet, as opposed to going to Walmart.

Speaker 2 32:06

Which is hard, it's hard.

Speaker 1 32:08

It's so easy to say oh yeah, it is One click, but Amazon is one click as well. Yeah, you're even not guaranteed Amazon, oh okay, so going right to.

Speaker 2 32:21

They suggest not to do it that way.

Speaker 1 32:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:23

They suggest to go to the actual.

Speaker 1 32:24

To the actual company.

Speaker 2 32:27

Because that's the thing about the NSF If you know a company is backed by that and you go to their website, you don't have to worry about any kind of. That's right, Switch, you know bait and switch kind of thing, bait and switch. Yeah, switch and bait. Leave it to me to go backwards.

Speaker 1 32:43

I would say too to the point earlier made avoid any kind of product that has a proprietary and specific exact dose, you know thing that they're marketing as.

Speaker 2 33:00

That's like 38-terra, dr Will Bolschewitz, I take his. It's like kind terra, dr will bulschewitz, I take his. It's like a kind of a multivitamin for your microbiome. It's really just giving those prebiotics that you need. He is fully, disclaims what's in it and has all kinds of testing behind it to, to you know, prove that it's pure and clean, yeah, yeah, and just really avoid random online.

Speaker 1 33:24

I mean bottom line be an advocate for your own health.

Speaker 2 33:27

And so if something doesn't feel right, kind of assess what you've got going on and this is something to be. This is not like I had no idea it was this bad. This is not something to ignore.

Speaker 1 33:38

Well, it's not something to ignore. And in closing I'll say I went and and donated blood today and the nurse that I was talking with we got to shooting bull about all kinds of different things. And then I'm plant-based and you know, I've come off of five medicines and on and on, and on, and, and I only take three supplements now. And she said oh yeah, I'm on 12 supplements and I'm like well, how do you approach that one? Because to her I'm just some random Joe.

Speaker 2 34:10

That's right.

Speaker 1 34:10

But I said I did offer that if you eat a well-rounded diet you can probably get everything you need, with a couple of exceptions. That's not a popular thing. It's not a popular opinion.

Speaker 2 34:22

It's kind of the same thing. It's like if you, if you can come off the standard diet, that's not a popular, that's not a popular thing either.

Speaker 1 34:28

So yeah, it's. It's tough to kind of rework our minds, but yeah, when we hear stories about people getting sick and liver damage and all kinds of other issues just from eightfold supplements yeah not in liver problems, liver failure, that y'all. That is a wake-up call well, not just that, but uh, what was the statistic I read over? So over a hundred thousand deaths per year from pharmaceuticals. And these are prescribed medicines. Whether it's been the side effect or whatever, that doesn't count the supplements. So at this point there's over 50,000.

Speaker 2 35:12

And I would dare say, I guarantee you there's so many that aren't registered that way. That's right. You can't pinpoint.

Speaker 1 35:18

Yeah, there's well over 50,000 cases of ER visits for things that have been tracked down to supplement use.

Speaker 2 35:27

Yeah, Cause it said the FDA found that 70% 70% of supplement manufacturers violate the good manufacturing practice. Do you want to take the risk of your health? I mean, and watching this woman, this woman that had liver damage from the turmeric, she was like healthy, she was doing this for a little inflammation, she was doing everything right and it almost cost her her life. She had seen something on the news and they talked about this problem and she said that's when I clued in and I was like maybe this is what this is, because she was starting to feel real she might have not ever found it out and it would have been too late.

Speaker 1 36:04

And didn't you say that? More than two thirds. If you just randomly go into a store right now and pick something off the shelf, you've got a one in three chance of it being what they say it is.

Speaker 2 36:17

I've seen two different posts where it says two-thirds and some say 80%, as high as 80%. I mean, you know, for me, if it's 10%, I don't want to take that risk.

Speaker 1 36:26

I know right. You know it's not worth your health. So 67 to 80% of the time when you reach for something on the supplement counter, you're not getting what you think you're getting, unless they're verified anywhere.

Speaker 2 36:40

Yeah. You're not getting what you think you're getting, unless they're verified anywhere.

Speaker 1 36:43

Yeah, I mean that's really so great, yeah, unless it has USP or NSF on it.

Speaker 2 36:46

Yeah, and I mean I go back to that melatonin report that just has stuck in because, you know, my sleep doctor had said to me well, you're taking too much melatonin, and it was just like 30 or 40 milligrams, maybe 30, maybe 30. And I was supposed to take 10, 15, 15 or 20. I don't know. And he was like that lowers your threshold for seizures. Well, what if your small child takes a melatonin and it's nine times that is really scary.

Speaker 1 37:18

Well, our hope here is that we've opened some eyes.

Speaker 2 37:19

We sound maybe doom and gloom? Yeah, it's not doom and gloom, it's just being an advocate for your own health. It's being an advocate.

Speaker 1 37:22

Yeah, this is very much. Let's open our eyes, people. Let's not just blindly trust oh, the government's going to take care of us. Yes, because in 1994, they specifically passed a law that said we're not taking care of you.

Speaker 2 37:39

Right. Right, that said we're not taking care of you. Right, right, we are not going to regulate the supplement industry, and not only are we not going to. I mean, it makes sense that we're this. What?

Speaker 1 37:46

80 billion you said $30 billion a year. Industry.

Speaker 2 37:49

I mean where that is, where money is. You know that people aren't going to regulate it.

Speaker 1 37:52

That's right.

Speaker 2 37:53

You know, of course, if they could hide that.

Speaker 1 37:55

Of course it's going on, Yep of course it's going on, so take very small steps on that. Yeah Well, god bless you all and thank you for listening and we'll hope to see you next time. All right, take care.