the supplement for some extra kick) or having a drug/drug or drug/herb interaction. Regu- lar FDA alerts on fraudulent and adulterated or contaminated supplements can be found at the
fda.gov/ website designed to help consumers buy and use medicine safely. If the marketing sounds like it’s too good to be true and if you are watching the trailer at 2am or on the web, then it probably is!
To put this into perspective, every year there are well over 100 notifications and/or recalls of potentially dangerous supplements, including the following selected products marketed for:
1. Sexual enhancement: Triple Green Cap- sules (contained Viagra), Big Penis Male Sexual Stimulant (contained Viagra), Black Mamba (contained Viagra), African Viagra (contained Viagra), Duramaxxx (contained Viagra), and My Steel Woody (contained Viagra).
2. Weight loss: Queen Slimming Soft Gel (contained fluoxetine and sibutramine), Skinny Bee Diet (contained desmethylsi- butramine), ABX Weight Loss (contained sibutramine), Ultimate Lean (contained sibutramine), Dream Body Extreme Gold, (contained sibutramine, fluoxetine and sildenafil) and 3. Sports /fitness: one company alone,
BODYBUILDING.COM, conducted a voluntary nationwide and international recall of 65 supplements because they may contain steroids marketed as “Superdrol,” “Madol,” “Tren,” “Androstenedione,” and/ or “Turinabol. Use a common sense ap- proach by avoiding these categories and focusing on maintaining healthy diet, stress reduction, proper sleep, exercise and good relationships.
Clinical Applications Recent research suggests that safely utilizing dietary supplements in 4 major areas (coronary artery disease, diabetes, age-related eye disease and osteoporosis) with 10 ingre- dients could hypothetically reduce medical costs by over $50 billion in the US in the period of 2013-2020. Information changes rapidly. Whenever possible engage in straight forward discussions with your physician and entire health care team and review all supple- ments regularly. Five years ago hardly anyone knew their vitamin D blood levels. Today it’s common to determine D levels and adjust the dosage, seasonally or when medically necessary. If appropriate to your health care plan, test nutrient levels (B12, folate, homo- cysteine, DHEA, Iron, pregnenalone, zinc, magnesium, calcium, CoQ-10), before taking new supplements or considering a major dose adjustment. Also, as the number of prescrip-
tion drugs used increases with age, consider the potential for Herb/Drug and Herb/Herb interactions such as induction or inhibition of Cytochrome P450 enzymes or “CYPs.” The goal is to use supplements to help prevent future health problems. Next to avoiding the “troublesome three” categories mentioned above, testing levels and determining interac- tions are additional steps to ensure you are maximizing supplementation and minimizing unwanted effects.
In summary, with the popularity, demand and continued growth of the supplement industry, be an educated, safe consumer and use common sense when selecting and dos- ing. Discuss all items with your healthcare team (family, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, and Integrative medicine providers). Choose supplements on the most appropriate ingredients for your indication and always choose from reputable companies who meet the regulatory requirements and are willing to provide quality control testing information. I’ll leave you with “tips” the Council for Responsible Nutrition provides to all consumers:
1. Manage your expectations. 2. Don’t look for quick fixes. 3. If it sounds too good to be true… 4. You want products that are legal. 5. Look for nationally recognized brands or store brands from a trusted retailer. 6. Look for quality seals or third-party certifications.
7. Look for membership in an industry trade association.
8. Visit the company’s website. 9. Look for product labels and ingredient lists. 10. Be careful of companies that regularly undergo name changes.
Eric R. Secor, Jr. PhD, ND, MPH, MS, LAc, Dipl Ac, is currently the Associate Medical Director for Integrative Medicine within the Hartford Healthcare Cancer Institute. Eric grew up in the Farmington Valley working in restaurants and health clubs where his interests in wellness and prevention began. His NIH postdoctoral research (Pulmonary Immunology with Dr. Roger Thrall, UConn) investigated natural products such as Brome- lain, a pineapple extract and established its role in treating allergic asthma and modulat- ing the cellular mechanisms of allergic sensi- tization. In addition to clinical care, research and administrative duties, Eric enjoys lectur- ing for patient groups, medical professionals and consults for the NIH on educational and research grants focused in Integrative Medi- cine. He lives in the Farmington Valley with his wife, Dr. Mary Markow, two girls, cats a dog and some fish. Visit https://hartfordhospi-
tal.org/EricSecor. See ad on page 5.
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