Alert.
When vitamins and minerals occur naturally in foods, they exist in amounts that your body can easily manage. Many vitamins are water-soluble, and thus if you take excess amounts, your body will flush them out naturally when you urinate. Vitamins A, D, E, Calcium and K, however, are fat soluble and stored in your body. Because your body does not naturally excrete them, they can build up to toxic levels.
A friend told me recently of her neighbor who used some severe weight loss tablets and had irreparable kidney damage as a result. Concerns for wisdom in use of products is a personal need for us all to share what we find. So sharing this with you in the hope that we do not have these problems to deal wi
Alert on selenium
Some trace minerals can also have toxic side effects. Selenium is an essential trace element that can be toxic in large amounts. In 2010, the amount of selenium in a liquid dietary supplement resulted in an outbreak of selenium toxicity, which led to serious symptoms of:
- hair loss,
- fatigue, and
- joint pain
- mental stress
Alert on COQ10.
Some herbs interact with certain medications. CoQ10 (co-enzyme Q10) has potential reactions with the following:
- diabetes medications,
- ACE inhibitors,
- beta blockers,
- blood thinners.
Alert on Melatonin
The common sleep aid, melatonin, can interact with multiple medications including diabetes and blood thinning meds and birth control pills. It can also cause dopiness during the day.
When you visit your health care provider, it is essential you always include vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other supplements you take in your list of current medications.
women need to be very careful about any herbal supplements they take during pregnancy, because it could affect fetal development.
Alert on Ephedra.
2003 our concerns were raised about ephedra’s negative health effects after the death of Mark Hughes of Herbalife. A study found a potential link between ephedra and the following:
- heart attack,
- stroke,
- psychiatric symptoms,
- seizures.
Alert for contaminants in cheap products.
Many over the counter supplements have been tested and found to contain all kinds of dangerous contaminants including heavy metals, chemicals, and even prescription drugs!
Pieter Cohen, M.D. of Harvard Medical School, tested some herbal weight loss pills and discovered they contained prescription medications such as amphetamines, antidepressants, and tranquilizers. These contaminants can cause a whole host of problems, ranging from mild symptoms to sever conditions such as kidney failure and heart attack.
Alert from Consumer Report
Consumer Reports in USA compiled a list of ingredients commonly found in dietary supplements that can cause severe health issues such as heart problems and kidney damage. The top ingredients they found that were the most dangerous were:
- Aconite caused heart arrhythmia, respiratory paralysis, and even death.
- Bitter orange is linked with heart attack, stroke, and syncope among others.
- Chaparral is linked to kidney and liver issues.
- Colloidal silver can cause kidney damage, blue skin, and neurological problems.
- Coltsfoot is linked to cancer and liver damage.
- Comfrey is linked to cancer and liver damage.
- Country mallow has been linked to heart problems up to and including death.
- Germanium is linked to kidney damage.
- Greater celandine is linked to kidney damage.
- Lobelia is linked with fast heart beat and coma.
- Yohimbine is linked to high blood pressure and death
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