Are supplements necessary? Can they help you attain better health? Can they be used in place of, or in addition to healthy eating to help you stave off illness and live longer? If you think the answer to any (or all) of these questions could be yes, then there are other important questions: Can some harm you (even if they are not contaminated)? Which ones are safe & effective?
This report is only a brief overview and is not comprehensive. It is also not meant to substitute for the personal advice of your healthcare provider.
The original version of this report (written in 2014) about how to get supplements that are not contaminated is still accurate. It is included below.
But before you read that, it’s important to understand the limits and hazards of thinking that all supplements can be lumped into one group or that supplements can substitute for what we don’t get in our diet.
Broadly speaking, for this purpose, I’d like to group supplements into 4 groups: (1) whole food-based supplements (2) herbs (3) isolated nutrients. (4) Everything else.
The safety information in the original article below covers all these in a broad sense.
But I want to cover some basic information about Categories 1, 2, & 3 first:
- Whole food-based supplements such as fruit & vegetable juice powders, capsules or gummies, like Juice Plus+, differ from vitamins. As whole food-based products, they have all the micronutrients of whole food in natural proportions. So they are better absorbed and are more likely to contribute positively to your health.
However, here’s an important point: It’s the totality of your diet that confers wellness or sickness. A whole food supplement is a great place to start but a tablespoon or 2 of fruit & veggie powders, a few capsules, or gummies won’t negate a poor diet.
I highly recommend whole-food supplements for those with poor appetites, those who have had gastric surgery, or other issues that limit their whole-food consumption.
I also acknowledge that there is no upper limit on the amount of fruit and veggie nutrition considered healthy. Because I don’t always get 9 servings of fruits & veggies daily, I take Juice Plus+ in addition to my healthy diet. (Some people with other health conditions might benefit from specific supplements so be sure to check with your practitioner when appropriate.)
Because Juice Plus+ has over 30 years on the market, over 40 clinical trials comparing it to placebo, published in journals, and I know the rigorous testing it goes through, it is the only whole food supplement I recommend & the only one I take. - Herbs are in a different category. Many herbs, like turmeric, ginger, garlic, and others can help decrease inflammation and are a great addition to your diet. They can be added for additional anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant qualities and/or because they make food taste better. It is worth mentioning that people living in the healthiest cultures of the world cook with many of these herbs. Most people add these herbs because they like them but the health benefit shouldn’t be overlooked.
Other herbs; used therapeutically, should be used with caution. Just as you would consult with a doctor, read the literature and more regarding a medication, you should do the same before taking an herb for therapeutic reasons. Much like medication, herbs used therapeutically are often best reserved for short-term use for specific conditions. It’s likely that there is NO single substance that, by itself, will result in a measurable change in health status. Many herbs and many drugs DO have the ability to change bio-markers but those changes may not necessarily result in a change in health status. - Isolated nutrients, like Vitamin E and calcium: There are reports that some single-source nutrients can produce adverse reactions and/or may not confer real measurable health benefits.
Concerns about calcium and heart issues, vitamin E and cancer risk and more appear in the literature. The bottom line is that our bodies evolved to consume lesser amounts of nutrients combined into whole food. It’s important to carefully research both the substance and the source before deciding to take isolated single vitamins or minerals .
There are a couple of additional facts worth noting here: Vitamin B12 should be supplemented by all adults over 50, by children under 12 and by vegetarians and vegans of all ages. This is now highly necessary because sanitation has changed our ability to get enough B12 from our dietary and water sources.
Omega-3 fats may be helpful for some.
There are many health conditions that may be cause for individual recommendations. Again, confirm with your provider.
Are Your Supplements Safe?
Do you remember this headlines? “Spike in Harm to Liver Is Tied to Dietary Aids” (NY Times 12/21/13). In this report, you will learn the simple checks you can do BEFORE you buy any supplement to be assured of its safety.
But first some background:
Anyone that knows anything about me knows these 3 things: (1) My perspectives of health are scientifically based; after all, my first career was as a Medical Laboratory Scientist. (2) I believe in the power of supplementation because virtually none of us, myself included, eat the way we should all the time. (3) I am adamantly opposed to any additional governmental regulation of the supplement & nutrition industry.
At the outset, to some, these positions may seem contradictory. Today, I will explain why they are not and more importantly for you, how to shop for supplements and read labels to be sure you are getting a safe product. (I devote additional articles to effectiveness and understanding what types of supplements might be necessary.)
So, according to the headline & the article, there’s been a sharp rise in cases involving liver toxicity; the result of contamination in ‘unproven’ supplement formulas.
Now HOW, you ask, could a scientist NOT be in favor of FDA regulation of the supplement industry in light of this? The simple answer to that is because of the history of the FDA. It’s well-known and well-documented that much like most of our public agencies, the FDA is a revolving door where big mucky-mucks from Big Pharma come in and serve on the FDA, then go back into the private sector and return again. The FDA regulators are people with vested interests in the drug companies and often even when drugs are noted to be dangerous they are approved anyway. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine several years ago showed that properly used drugs kill an estimate 104,000 people every year. Yes, you read that right: Properly Prescribed and properly administered drugs (the right drug, for the right reason, in the right dose without mitigating circumstances) STILL caused over 100,000 deaths every year in this country. By contrast, through a Google search, I could not find a single case of ANYWHERE of death caused by a reputable supplement. Yes there have been occasional issues with contamination (and that is the reason for this article) but I could find NO case anywhere where even a single person died from a supplement unless it was a contamination issue and understanding who you’re buying from eliminates almost all the possibility of that.
So how do you assure yourself that the supplements you’re taking aren’t contaminated?
Contrary to what the media would have you believe, it is rather easy. The supplement industry is actually doing a fairly good job of policing itself. First of all, I wouldn’t necessarily go with the opinion of companies like Consumer Reports or Reader’s Digest. They are subject to their own bias and often are very medically oriented and conservative.
There are at least 2 organizations in the supplement industry whose purpose is self-regulation. Both the Natural Products Association (NPA) and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) work with the FDA to be sure their members are adhering to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as defined by the FDA and are also avoiding unsubstantiated claims. GMP dictates that testing must be done to be sure products are not contaminated. Therefore, one method to use to check about product safety would be to see if a particular company is a member of either of these groups. You can find CRN’s member companies here: and you can find NPA’s supporters here:
In addition to companies being members of organizations that support appropriate practices, many use independent laboratories to test and certify their products. Often products carry the symbol of their certifying lab on the label of their products. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, others don’t. This puts a little more of the responsibility on the consumer to be sure the product is safe. NSF, the National Safety Foundation, is probably the best known of these labs. NSF is a non-profit and independent organization that certifies the safety of a huge number of products across many industries. Their supplement division is the company that is responsible for certifying supplements for the Olympic Games. Basically an NSF certification means there is no measurable contamination (including herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals, bacteria, drugs, etc.) and that everything that is on the label is in the bottle in the said amount.
Because there is so much in the media about the ’dangers’ of the ‘unregulated’ supplement industry, the reputable players are anxious to belong to organizations that promote safety and efficacy and they are anxious to show the public they are safe by having the appropriate testing data available. Thus it’s a lot easier than the media would have you believe to ascertain that your product is safe. Here are the simple steps you can take: (I’m listing these in order of simplicity.)
- Read the label: does it have a GMP or NSF label on it?
- If it’s not on the label (which it may not be due to space constraints) check their website and see what they say about quality control & their manufacturing process. Do they belong to one of the companies listed? Do they do testing?
- Check the website of CRN or NPA (links above) to see if the company is listed as a member.
- Check NSF’s website to see if the particular product is listed.
- If at least ONE of these doesn’t net a positive result, don’t buy the product.
- If you want a particular ingredient and the product/company doesn’t participate in voluntary regulation (eg. Many of the companies that advertise weight-loss supplements on TV, radio & the internet) get the product/ingredient from another (reputable) company. –I’m happy to provide you a list of the companies I use.
- Be aware that many products on the shelves of grocery stores, drug stores, wholesale warehouses, and on many internet sites have been found to be contaminated or not have the claimed ingredients.
- The products I have access to in my online store meet or exceed GMP standards. Most are available only to practitioners who want to assure their clients/patients can get high-quality supplements.
Using this stepwise process is not a guarantee that your product isn’t contaminated; just as buying from a well-known drug manufacturer is not. Most people reading this will remember recalls of drugs produced by Johnson & Johnson, Bayer and other big pharmaceutical companies. There are few true guarantees in life but using the cautions outlined above will greatly reduce the likelihood that you get a contaminated supplement.