Did you know that more than half of Americans take some form of a dietary supplement? In fact, Americans spend about $30 billion on dietary supplements each year. Many people take dietary supplements because they are often marketed as safer than prescription drugs due to being made from natural products. But how safe are they?

Supplements contain more than 1100 known ingredients including herbs, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids. Many people are drawn to these products because they are told that they can help with various health conditions, such as heart disease, low libido, weight loss, arthritis, high cholesterol, and many, many other conditions. What many people don’t realize is that these supplements are legally sold without their safety and effectiveness having been proven.

Ever heard of the Dietary Supplement Health and Educational Act of 1994? This is an act which allows dietary supplements to go unregulated by the FDA. That’s right. The FDA does not regulate any any of the dietary supplements that many of us collectively spend billions of dollars on each year.

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, supplements can be marketed and sold without any evidence of being safe or effective. DSHEA now requires supplement manufacturers to provide the FDA with evidence that any new ingredients added to new supplements are safe. Unfortunately, this has not yet been enforced by the DSHEA.

Supplement ingredients need to be regulated more strictly because there are a number of supplement ingredients that may cause and have caused health risks such as heart, liver, and kidney problems. What’s scary is that the majority of products with these ingredients in them are easily accessible in stores and online.

Although dietary supplements are generally used for health and wellness, they actually fall under the category of foods or nutrients by the FDA. This puts everyone who purchases these products at risk of being exposed to the potentially harmful ingredients within them. It is crucial for the safety and health of consumers to understand what they are buying when purchasing dietary supplements. It is essential to know the risks and benefits of these products in order for people to avoid some of the potentially dangerous and toxic reactions dietary supplements have caused in the past.   

Fortunately, Consumer Reports Health investigates and researches the use of dietary supplements in order to provide consumers with accurate information to help them identify and prevent using dangerous supplements. This helps people understand which supplements are safe and effective, which have benefits that are supported by scientific evidence, and find trustworthy advice and resources regarding which dietary supplements to buy.

A recent study of the dietary supplement industry found that supplements have many hidden ingredients in them as well. Some of them even contain ingredients only meant for prescription drugs, not over-the-counter use. The study tested 27 of the 274 supplements recalled by the FDA from 2009 to 2012 due to the products being illegally marketed.

Among the 27 supplements, six weight loss products contained sibutramine or a substance similar to the diet drug removed from the U.S. market in 2010 after it was linked with heart attacks and strokes; two contained the active ingredient in Prozac; ten body-building products contained anabolic steroids or similar compounds, which have been linked to prostate cancer, aggression and infertility; and one sexual enhancement product contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, which is not recommended for people taking certain heart medications.

According to Consumer Reports Health, the following are some of the most dangerous supplements that clinical research has found to be linked to serious side effects and health conditions:

1.    Kava

Purported uses: anxiety and insomnia. Possible dangers: liver damage. The FDA warned about using Kava in 2002. Kava is now banned in some countries, including Canada, Switzerland, and Germany.

2.    Bitter orange

Purported uses: weight loss, nasal congestion, allergies. Possible dangers: Fainting, heart-rhythm disorders, heart attack, stroke, death. Contains synephrine, which is similar to ephedrine, banned by the FDA in 2004. Risks might be higher when taken with herbs that contain caffeine.

3.    Colloidal silver

Purported uses: fungal and other infections, Lyme disease, rosacea, psoriasis, food poisoning, chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV/AIDS. Possible dangers: Bluish skin, mucous membrane discoloration, neurological problems, kidney damage. Silver has no known function in the body. Taking it can lead to a buildup of silver in the liver, spleen, kidney, muscle, and brain. The FDA has ruled this product as neither safe nor effective.

4.    Aconite

Purported uses: inflammation, joint pain, wounds, gout. Possible dangers: toxicity, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, respiratory system paralysis, heart-rhythm disorders, death. Aconite is a plant whose root contains toxic chemicals. In Hong Kong, aconite is the most common cause of severe herbal poisoning.

5.    Comfrey

Purported uses: cough, heavy menstrual periods, chest pain, cancer. Possible dangers: liver damage, cancer.