Dietary Supplements Carry Potential Risks and Provide Little Benefit: Report

Dietary supplements appear to do little to help healthy adults and should probably be avoided for the most part, according to recommendations from the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen. 

In the October edition of the group’s Worst Pills, Best Pills newsletter, Public Citizen looked at a study published in March, which found that very few dietary supplements provide any benefit for adults who are already healthy.

About half of all Americans take dietary supplements regularly, despite the fact that they are not generally regulated by the FDA. There is also no evidence that they are safe or effective, and manufacturers of dietary supplements do not have to report serious or adverse events, Public Citizen stated in the report.

The study that was highlighted in the Public Citizen newsletter was published in the Journal of Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition. Researchers found that the only dietary supplements that may actually be of benefit were Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. However, many of the supplements reviewed may actually be harmful, researchers concluded.

The study looked at 63 randomized controlled trials involving dietary supplement products, and determined that five of the trials showed that some caused harm to consumers. Vitamin A, B6 and B12, as well as beta-carotene and folic acid all showed increased cancer risk in some trials. A total of 10 supplements showed possible links to other forms of harm or injury that were not statistically significant.

The FDA does not regulate dietary supplements as long as they make no claim to cure or treat a condition. The only time the FDA intervenes is when the ingredients actually include an FDA-controlled substance or there has been a health problem linked to the use of the supplement.

Public Citizen defines dietary supplements as “products intended to supplement the diet that contain a vitamin, a mineral, an herb or other botanical; an amino acid; or ‘a dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake.’” This can also include enzymes or tissues from animal organs or glands, Public Citizen notes.

The prominent consumer advocacy group criticized the dietary supplement industry for making vague claims that products promote good health without supporting evidence, and claims that some suggest heavily that their products treat certain medical conditions without saying so directly.