Although regulations are enforced to ensure that health supplements meet the manufacturing standards, they don’t always guarantee that they’re safe or effective.
Many supplements promise health benefits and report good effects, but they’re frowned upon because the results are based on anecdotal evidence with no sufficient scientific proof to back them up.
From CBD oil for joint inflammation to dietary supplements for weight loss, before you choose to incorporate one of the many health supplements in your treatment, make sure you do enough research and proceed at your own risk. Here’s a brief introduction to some of the most increasingly popular supplements.
CBD Oil
CBD is one of the active ingredients of cannabis that’s directly extracted from the hemp plant. CBD oils are commonly used to manage sleep disorders, treat anxiety and depression disorders, as well as reduce joint inflammation and alleviate chronic pains. User testimonials claim that CBD oil-driven products can balance your energy, improve your mood, strengthen your immune system, and reduce body aches.
CBD oil is increasing in popularity and has gained a reputation for its alleged numerous health benefits, however, those advantages are not supported by enough scientific research. The potential side effects of CBD-based supplements can vary from nausea and fatigue to irritability.
The fact that CBD is primarily marketed as a supplement and not a medication are raising safety concerns because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) isn’t currently regulating the safety and purity of those health supplements so you can’t be sure that the active ingredients listed on the products’ labels are true to the mentioned dosage.
Adding to the lack of regulation, the potential benefits and uses of CBD as an antidepressant or sleep aid have been mostly studied in animals and the ones that featured humans have either been case reports or are insufficiently supported.
Without sufficient high-quality evidence in human studies and because CBD is currently mostly available as an unregulated supplement, we don’t know the most effective therapeutic dose of CBD for any particular medical condition.
Some studies on CBD have raised concerns about possible interactions with other drugs causing fluctuation in blood levels and an increase in liver enzymes which can possibly result in liver damage.
If you decide to try CBD oils or supplements, talk with a health care provider who knows your medical history and understands how CBD works and always make sure to monitor and manage your doses.
Diet Pills
Diet pills are commonly consumed by those who are looking to lose or maintain their weight. The manufacturers of these supplements make extravagant promises about the properties of their drugs and paint them to be a magical solution, but most of these claims aren’t backed up by sufficient clinical research.
In fact, the supplements that promise to help you lose weight or burn fat can hold hidden dangers to your health. In spite of the risks of using dietary supplements, the demand for these products continues to rise.
Over-the-counter diet pills, herbal supplements, and prescribed diet pills can increase your risk for eating disorders and digestive problems. Unless you’re using weight-loss drugs for legitimate medical reasons under a doctor’s supervision, you may be putting yourself in harm’s way by using these products.
The most popular weight loss pills may contain one or more active ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes, botanical products and herbs, and organic products such as caffeine and green tea extract.
Many of these pills claim to be harmless and promise to be effective at creating a sense of fullness, curbing your cravings, increasing fat burning, boosting your metabolism, reducing fat absorption.
While their benefits are certainly attractive, many consumers are unaware that most products marketed as dietary supplements aren’t subject to examination by the FDA. Just because a supplement is marked as “natural” doesn’t mean it’s safe.
Some of the common ingredients in these supplements can cause harmful side effects such as increased heart rate, high blood pressure, agitation, insomnia, diarrhea, kidney problems, and liver damage, while others may not be proven to result in weight loss.
Before taking any supplements for weight loss, it’s best to talk with a doctor or other healthcare professional and remember that although some of these diet supplements may contribute to weight loss, their effects are usually modest.
Green Tea Supplements
Green tea has been used for medicinal purposes in China and Japan for thousands of years. Because it’s high in antioxidants, green tea extracts are currently used as dietary supplements.
The claimed benefits of green tea supplements include improving cognition and mental alertness, relieving digestion problems, speeding up metabolism, promoting weight loss, reducing risks of heart disease, and decreasing inflammation and swelling.
Although many studies have been done on green tea-extract supplements, definite conclusions haven’t been reached yet and we can’t be sure that green tea is effective for most of the purposes for which it’s used.
The popularity of green tea extract as a weight loss supplement has skyrocketed in the past few years, but when consumed in high doses, the supplement can be toxic and may cause liver failure.
Additionally, green tea extracts contain substantial amounts of caffeine. Too much caffeine can make people jittery and shaky, interfere with sleep, and cause dehydration.
They can also be dangerous when combined with certain drugs, like amphetamines or over-the-counter medications including antibiotics, which interact with the natural caffeine in the green tea extracts to overstimulate your body, causing nervousness and headaches and increasing blood pressure.
The biggest point to take away is that all of the supplements listed need more research and better evidence before they can be solidly recommended. Talk with your doctor before adding a new supplement to your health care plan to ensure that there are no side effects or interactions that you’ll want to avoid.
Even if a supplement shows promise, be sure to set the right expectations for its effectiveness and always stick to the recommended dose. And if in doubt, always contact a medical professional!
References
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320646.php
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/supplements/wiseuse.htm
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/greentea
https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20180507/cbd-oil-all-the-rage-but-is-it-safe-effective#1