Supplements for weight loss, muscle mass, and energy increase the likelihood of medical complaints in adolescents and young adults. The risk of severe medical complaints is three times higher than when using vitamins, according to researchers at Harvard.
Control on Supplements
If you are prescribed a medicine by your doctor, you can expect to use it safely. Research, first on animals and then on humans, must have demonstrated its safety. Any side effects and the severity of these should also be evident from such research. In addition, you can expect the manufacturing process to meet the necessary quality standards, so you actually get what you expect to get. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must approve medication before it can appear on the market. But this does not apply to supplements. The FDA does not have the authority to regulate them. Manufacturers must ensure the safety of their products themselves. In the Netherlands as well, the NVWA mainly acts reactively. For example, when multiple people report complaints.Self-regulating
If a new, unknown ingredient is added in the U.S., the manufacturer is obliged to report this to the FDA. The FDA then assesses this ingredient only for safety, not for effectiveness. If there is an incident that shows that the safety of consumers may be compromised, the manufacturer must report this to the FDA themselves. For example, if it is determined that contamination occurred during production or if customers report complaints. The entire responsibility is therefore placed on the manufacturer, which may naturally face conflicting interests. It also requires consumers to have the necessary knowledge and caution. They must assess for themselves to what extent supplements do what manufacturers promise by conducting their own research. Also, in terms of safety, consumers bear a great responsibility themselves. However, consumers are often not able to assess this. After all, how does the consumer know whether the production process is free from contamination? We already know enough examples of supplements containing substances not listed on the label. It’s not surprising that this can lead to problems.Supplements for weight loss, muscle mass, and energy
Researchers from Harvard wanted to know how many problems there are and how serious they can be. They compared the use of supplements for weight loss, muscle mass, and energy with the use of vitamins. The chance of serious medical complications in young people was found to be three times higher than when using vitamins.“The FDA has issued countless warnings about supplements sold for weight loss, muscle building or sport performance, sexual function, and energy, and we know these products are widely marketed to and used by young people. So what are the consequences for their health? That’s the question we wanted to answer,” -Flora Or, Harvard Chan School’s Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders.
Serious Medical Complications
The researchers examined reported medical complications (‘adverse events’) registered in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System between January 2004 and April 2015. They analyzed the relative risk of serious medical complaints in people aged 0 to 25 years. They discovered 977 cases of medical complications where the cause could be linked to a single supplement (including deaths and hospitalizations). Of these, 40 percent were severe. Supplements for muscle building, weight loss, and more energy resulted in a three times higher risk of serious complaints than people using vitamins. In the case of supplements for sexual performance and colon cleanses (fiber preparations?), the risk was twice as high as with vitamins. According to the senior author of the study, S. Bryn Austin, many doctors would not recommend this type of supplements. Many would be contaminated with prescription medication, banned substances, heavy metals, pesticides, and other dangerous chemicals. He points to previous studies that have shown a link between supplements for weight loss and muscle building and the risk of stroke, liver damage, testicular cancer, and even death.“Playing Russian Roulette with Supplements”
“How can we continue to allow manufacturers of these products and the sellers who profit from them to play Russian roulette with the youth?” Austin said. “It is high time for policymakers and retailers to take meaningful action to protect children and all other consumers.” Of course, this all sounds very exciting and scary. The criticism is certainly justified. We have also written articles here more often following supplements being withdrawn from the market, sometimes enforced by warnings from the NVWA. Not entirely coincidentally, these were often pre-workouts, the type of supplement that is probably meant by supplements for energy. But fat burners have also often been exposed, for example, for containing amphetamine-like substances.Use What You Need and What Works
If you use supplements, there is a chance that they contain substances that could pose a health risk. It is difficult to completely rule out this chance without having everything tested by an independent lab. However, you can reduce the chance by avoiding products that you already know will not be very effective. As mentioned, it is no coincidence that it is often pre-workouts and fat burners that have been taken off the market in the Netherlands. These are supplements that, in practice, may contribute less than we would like to believe. Let alone compared to what the manufacturer wants you to believe. To meet such unreasonably high expectations, a manufacturer sometimes makes strange leaps.Fat Burners
Fat burners are supposed to help people lose weight. There are substances that can slightly increase metabolism. Think for example of caffeine. However, this increase usually does not outweigh the lifestyle that has led to overweight/unwanted weight. For that, you would need substances that cause a fairly extreme increase in your metabolism. Substances that actually make your body inefficient with energy. For example, the earlier stackers caused a high heart rate, even at rest. Your body remained in a kind of action mode. Handy for burning extra energy, but problematic in other areas. Ultimately, they were banned. When it comes to losing weight, there are supplements that can greatly compensate for major lifestyle mistakes. If you have a supplement that does this, you can rightly be concerned about the content. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t good.Pre-Workouts
With pre-workouts, it also happens that manufacturers want to deliver more to their customers than is actually possible. After all, they advertise that after two scoops you turn into the Hulk, your veins bulge, and you can’t wait to break barbells. However, the problem is that there are substances that can give you a boost, but that this boost is limited. There is nothing wrong with that per se, except that sometimes the expectations are much higher. Partly due to the manufacturers’ own advertising, sometimes due to bro-science (“Man, I went hard on that PWO, you gotta try it!”).Which Supplements?
In the article where I discuss supplements, I try to explain under what circumstances supplements can offer an advantage. I also explain the added value compared to a good diet. Also, that mistakes in the diet cannot always be compensated for by supplements. In the second part of that article, “supplements that work,” I go into more detail. In that part, I try to explain and substantiate which supplements you can really expect something from. As soon as you look at other types of supplements, the chances are quite high that you are paying for something that adds little to nothing. Especially when you compare it to the costs. You can never completely eliminate risks with supplements. However, you can limit it to the supplements that really work for you and avoid unnecessary risks with supplements that add little. The expression: “If it doesn’t help, it doesn’t hurt,” does not necessarily apply here.References
- Flora Or, Yongjoo Kim, Juliana Simms, S. Bryn Austin. Taking Stock of Dietary Supplements’ Harmful Effects on Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults. Journal of Adolescent Health, June 5, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.005
