Ten Terrifying Things You Need To Know Before You Swallow Another Supplement Pill

Supplements are back in the news, and once again the news is not good. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a press release demanding a massive recall of supplements found in major retail stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and even GNC. This was in response to an ongoing investigation which has?profound implications for everyone who takes supplements. So before you pop another Ginseng or Saint John’s Wart, here is what you need to know:

1. Supplements are not like prescriptions or even milk – NO ONE is checking to be sure that what it says on the bottle is actually contained in the pill.
2. Every time that you take a supplement, you are trusting that the manufacturer behaved ethically, of its own accord, and without anyone checking up on it.
3. In most cases, the corporation that you are trusting is a big pharmaceutical company. You may think that you take supplements to get away from Big Pharma, but you are actually giving them unregulated access to your body.
4. We have no real idea where your supplements are manufactured because they do not require any authenticity in country of origin labeling.?But we think that most?supplements are made in China. This means that even if you think that you can trust Big Pharma to act ethically even?when?it knows it is not being watched, you still have to be willing to believe that the quality control problems with Chinese manufacturing will not extend to supplements.
5. When the New York Attorney General’s office tested supplements, four out of five supplements sold in these major retailers did not have ANY of the advertised substance’s DNA in them. You have?a better chance winning with lottery scratcher tickets. They at least pay off about 30 percent of the time.
6. Most supplements tested by the Attorney General?were contaminated. Instead?of the advertised herb, they?contained ground-up houseplants or rice flour.
7. The recall ordered this week only applies to New York, so if you live in any of the other 49 states, these same products are still on store shelves.
8. This is not the first time that supplements sold by major manufacturers have been found to contain?none of the ingredients advertised on the label. A study in 2013 showed the same thing (and found the same houseplants/rice flour concoctions, too).
9. To make their products seem effective, supplement manufacturers frequently lace them with prescription drugs.?Two-thirds of dietary supplements are contaminated with other substances, including prescription medications like Viagra. If you take body-building supplements, the contamination rate leaps to 85 percent, and the contaminations get even more dangerous, including things like steroids.
10. One in five liver injuries in the United States are caused by supplements according to researchers.?Think about that. People are having liver transplants or dying of liver failure because of supplements.

There are two things that you should take away from all this. The first is that for the time being there is no such thing as a safe supplement. The second that you need to know is that you don’t need supplements. In fact, some ?studies have shown that they do more harm than good.

For now, the only safe way to take your vitamins is the way that your grandparents did – eat them in real food.