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the dangers of supplements

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/21/2016 11:22 AM (GMT -5)
This was an interesting program on Frontline about what is really in our supplements. To sum up, there are a lot of sad stories of people who ruined their livers taking supplements that were not what they claimed to be and the FDA has found far too many companies are not even manufacturing supplements with the ingredients they claim to use.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/supplements-and-safety/

This kind of scared me because I confess I am probably guilty of taking way too many supplements.
Posted 1/21/2016 12:15 PM (GMT -5)
I was going to watch that tonight. I'm a bit terrified of what I will learn. Between probiotics, curcumin, fish oil and psyllium I take my fair share.
Posted 1/21/2016 2:31 PM (GMT -5)
Well fish oil can't hurt you. Except when it has other things in it. Not being properly processed I guess. This is why you should get a higher quality brand. There is actually a study on this.
Posted 1/21/2016 4:17 PM (GMT -5)
I saw the Frontline expose. Definitely biased, e.g. they said we should not take more than the RDA for vitamin D which is 600 IU per day. I got my blood levels of vit D checked and in order for me to get into the optimum range of 40-60 ng/dl I need to take 3,000 IU per day. Yes vit D can be overdosed, 100 ng/dl is approaching the danger level but most people aren't anywhere near that, especially in winter. One day at the beach without sunscreen will give you 25,000 IU.

If you are so concerned about taking supplements you can get your blood levels measured for many nutrients such as omega-3 (fish oil), iron, B12, folic acid, etc. Most people will find that they are deficient. Some on this forum need 5-10,000 IUs to have adequate blood levels of vit D.

Supplements have helped me beyond ulcerative colitis. My blood triglycerides were higher than I wanted but after taking daily fish oil they plummeted down to the ideal range.

Another thing that bothered me about Frontline was that they said most supplements don't contain the ingredients on the label or contain extraneous junk. E.G. they said only PREscriptION fish oil is safe, otherwise you will get rancid oil. Maybe some fly-by-night companies are guilty but a major supplement manufacturer will not risk its reputation and go out of business by selling junk.

I check most of my supplements with ConsumerLab.com. They analyze the pills to make sure they are safe. E.G. they found most fish oil capsules, but not all, are safe and do not contain rancid oil. ConsumerLab is especially useful for evaluating good probiotics since they found that most contain far fewer CFUs than is shown on the label, (probably because they lose potency on store shelves). It seems the refrigerated probiotics keep their potency longer.
Posted 1/21/2016 6:16 PM (GMT -5)
Ya, I was confused about the Vit D recommendations. Thanks for clarifying. I really don't want to stop taking that supplement. It is one of the ones that I feel I really need. I constantly get low on it during the winter months. (not much sun here).

And fish oil is another one that I feel actually improves my mood.

just recently found ConsumerLab.com doing a very paranoid search on one of the manufacturers of my green tea extract. I do notice that my multivitamin turns my pee a very strange yellow color sometimes. I understand that this is the B vitamins or riboflavin? I can't remember but it kind of makes me wonder if my liver is working overtime to get rid of some of this stuff. Plus, they are expensive and when I see that bright yellow color....well I wonder if I am peeing out what I just spent in vitamins.
Posted 1/21/2016 6:41 PM (GMT -5)
Perhaps fish oil not all that good, new mouse study,colitis study.

I really don't like where it says impairs mucus layer integrity.

I did not do well on it myself.

Old Mike

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26297475

Posted 1/22/2016 12:24 AM (GMT -5)
I have been taking daily 3x Swisse 333.33g Wild Krill(NKO) and 1x Swisse Men's Ultivite Multivitamin tablets for the last 3 years.

I have recently been diagnosed with UC. Stopped taking them 2 months after diagnosis. I figured I was wasting money.
Posted 1/22/2016 5:22 PM (GMT -5)
uh oh. I guess I should lay off the fish oil. See this is what I mean....for every supplement that I feel helps, I may be taking one that is killing me.
Posted 1/22/2016 7:57 PM (GMT -5)
i've been gradually easing off the supps with no problems -

i think we are better off eating our supplements and keeping a close eye on our levels via annual blood work -
isn't this part of the problem, eating industrialized/manufactured food ? i seriously am going to start looking at greenhouse options - i really prefer to know where my food, vitamins and minerals come from -

at this point i know where my beef, salmon, eggs, and milk come from - just need to get my veggies on board -
Posted 1/23/2016 9:07 AM (GMT -5)

juststud said...
i've been gradually easing off the supps with no problems -

i think we are better off eating our supplements and keeping a close eye on our levels via annual blood work -
isn't this part of the problem, eating industrialized/manufactured food ? i seriously am going to start looking at greenhouse options - i really prefer to know where my food, vitamins and minerals come from -

at this point i know where my beef, salmon, eggs, and milk come from - just need to get my veggies on board -

My philosophy too now after bad experiences with too many supplements. I often found they helped at first and then had adverse effects.
Posted 1/23/2016 11:34 AM (GMT -5)
I used to take lots. I have cut down too. I take curcumin/turmeric. I take it for my hands, I think it's helping with arthritis. Sometimes I wake up and it takes a bit to open and close they are so stiff.

So that's about it and tart cherry for good measure when I am feeling flush. :-)
Posted 1/23/2016 5:57 PM (GMT -5)
I've tried many, many supplements and most were either negatory or duds. I'm keeping the ones that work now that I know which manufacturers I trust. No, I don't buy anything at the local store. That reminds me to order more Orega Supreme capsules from Canada, only used every now and then but very useful.
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