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The health supplement industry is an unregulated goldmine worth crores of rupees. It capitalises on people afraid of illness, doctors, surgery and the side effects of allopathic medication. They swallow supplements — labelled dietary, nutritional, health, sports and body-building — in an effort to tackle diseases. Advertisements and coaches also con youngsters into taking such supplements to improve performance. The athletes do not realise the dangers of this “doping” and are convinced that the supplements are what they claim to be — products obtained from natural sources that are free of chemicals and side effects.
There are many plant products that really have medicinal properties. From ancient times the fox glove plant, the cinchona bark, ma hung and extracts from many other plants have been used to treat diseases. Today, the active ingredients in these plant products have been identified. They are now extracted specifically, or chemically synthesised in factories. This purified form makes dosing easier and helps tackle side effects. Drug interactions are also known and can be predicted.
Health supplements often use the same substance used in allopathic medicines. A widely advertised “herbal tonic” for sexual dysfunction contains high concentrations of thiosildenafil, which is a precursor of sildenafil citrate or Viagra.
The obesity epidemic has led to a huge market for easy weight loss solutions. One of which is natural herbal weight loss “shakes” that claim to help you lose weight without dieting or exercising. Consumers do lose weight but some became jittery and develop sweating and tremors. Almost all regain the lost weight once the expensive supplements were discontinued. A chemical analysis of the product showed that it contained plant alkaloids with high concentrations of ephedrine, thyroxin and caffeine. These increase the metabolism rate and produce these side effects when ingested by people who do not need them.
Body builders use protein supplements — usually whey, casein, soy protein and cysteine — to bulk up. Often the supplement contains male hormones such as testosterone or androgens. Sometimes they contain prohormones — precursors to hormones that are converted to testosterone in the body. Testosterone derivatives may help you develop a six pack quickly but long term use is associated with dangerous side effects such as changes in liver and kidney function, sterility, precipitation of diabetes, aggression and even frank psychosis.
In fact, the perception that body builders need a lot of protein is wrong. While normal persons need 0.8g protein / kg / day, body builders need 0.90g / kg / day, those undergoing strength training need 1.4-1.8g / kg / day and endurance athletes 1.2-1.4 g / kg / day. Excess dietary protein supplements can lead to obesity, dehydration, increase in liver enzymes and kidney problems.
Nutritional requirements should primarily be met naturally through the diet. Certain diets, however, are inadequate because of dietary restrictions due to disease or religious beliefs (see box).
Natural food is superior to supplements because it contains trace minerals and anti oxidants that are needed for proper functioning of enzymes and to fight disease.
Before you take a supplement, check the label. That food supplement you drink is enriched with minerals, vitamins and calcium and if you take the same in pill form too, you may overdose. Similarly if you are on medication, that herbal tonic may contain the same ingredients in a more natural form, resulting in toxicity and side effects. You may not be able to glean all this information from the salesperson.
Also, check the expiry date. If there isn’t any, do not buy it. Also, think whether the supplements are worth the price you pay. You may get the same benefits just by tweaking your diet.
Dr Gita Mathai is a paediatrician with a family practice at Vellore. Questions on health issues may be emailed to her at yourhealthgm@yahoo.co.in
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