ARE YOUR SUPPLEMENTS HELPING OR HARMING?
Supplement Safety: when healthy becomes hazardous
A few years ago, I had a health crisis that really got me worried. When none of the doctors and specialists I saw could help me find an answer, I resorted to alternative medicine, which included taking a lot of natural supplements and vitamins. And I mean, a lot.
During this crisis, I was seeing a holistic nutritionist who also had decades of experience as a nurse, in addition to lots of medical professionals. I also did extensive research on my own. And things still went wrong. Trying to fix my problem, I actually started feeling worse. My health issue involved major digestive distress and malabsorption that led to massive weight loss in a short period of time, and taking an excess of natural products increased that distress; especially since a lot of these products came in capsules that were hard to digest. They also caused all kinds of side effects.
At a certain point, upon checking in with myself, I decided to stop taking most of the supplements and medications that seemed to just make me feel worse, giving my body a chance to recover and reset on its own. After that, I began to rebuild with a very small and basic amount of supplementation. I started feeling better fairly quickly, and eventually was able to slowly recover.
Of course, I don’t recommend such a drastic change for everyone, especially without supervision by a healthcare professional. In my case, however, I was at a point of desperation, feeling so sick and weak that I didn’t believe I would ever be able to bounce back. The meds I was prescribed were just for temporary relief, and not only were they not helping, but they were making it worse. The same was happening with the supplements that were supposed to help my body heal.
How Do We Know?
There are many situations when taking prescribed medications is the appropriate option, as the benefits outweigh the side effects and potential risks. However, we can still do our best to exercise discernment in relation to the available options, and we can still be careful about what we choose to add to the mix.
It’s bad enough that we have become dependent on prescription drugs for our well-being without having much knowledge or information about what they are doing to our systems. But what happens when we add natural products to the mix, knowing even less about their potential effects?
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with going the holistic route and taking natural supplements. Many of the products out there are created and used based on knowledge from wisdom traditions that have been around for thousands of years, and they can be very helpful under the right circumstances.
The problem is, how do you know when they’re helping… or harming?
A lot of these products may be effective on their own, but can interact badly with other medications, supplements and vitamins you’re taking. They might work well for many people, but not for you. You might have allergies and sensitivities you’re not aware of, and these products may trigger them. They might be good for you, but not in the high dosages often recommended in the packaging instructions. And so forth.
Does Research Help?
Part of the issue is that it’s become practically impossible to find factual and conclusive information about natural products these days (or everything else you research, for that matter). You often find inconsistent information, contradictory or conflicting reports, incompatible data and discrepant facts about these products. More than ever, it can also be quite difficult to pinpoint the biased interests behind the information that’s being disseminated. Commercialism rules.
But even if we were able to filter through the information overload and access reliable information, most of us don’t have enough knowledge to ask the right questions and cover all or most possible risks involving interactions with medications and other supplements, among other eventualities. Unfortunately, in my experience, most healthcare and holistic practitioners don’t have enough information about the medications and supplements they prescribe or recommend to identify every possible interaction or risk, either.
A Few Related Facts:
• A 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open estimated that 15.6 million U.S. adults had used at least one of six botanical products known to carry liver liabilities within the previous 30 days, including green tea extract, black cohosh and ashwagandha.
• Poison control data revealed an approximately 1,200% increase in kratom exposure reports from 2015 to 2025. A 2026 CDC analysis found that multiple-substance exposures were associated with more hospitalizations and serious outcomes, and 79% of the reported kratom-associated deaths involved multiple substances.
• The American Society of Pharmacovigilance projected in a 2025 analysis that ADEs (adverse drug events), which encompass prescribing errors, pharmaceutical drug-to-drug interactions and supplement-drug interactions, may account for more than 250,000 deaths annually in the United States.
These numbers may still underestimate the risks associated with natural products, since the use of herbal and dietary supplements is frequently not disclosed to healthcare providers. A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis found that only about one-third of patients disclosed their use of biologically based complementary medicine to medical providers.
For example, Ginkgo biloba can increase the risk of bleeding when taken with anticoagulant medications such as warfarin. If a patient suffers a fatal complication, such as severe internal bleeding caused by mixing Ginkgo biloba with pharmaceutical blood thinners, the herb-drug interaction may not be recognized as a contributing factor.
So What Now?
In addition to doing your due diligence and proceeding with caution when it comes to trying new natural products, part of the answer is to start paying more attention to how you’re feeling on a physical, emotional and mental level. For instance:
• A body scan meditation is an excellent way to connect with your body, release physical tension, and practice mindfulness. It involves systematically focusing your attention on different parts of your body, from your toes all the way up to your head.
• Self-hypnosis is one of many useful tools that can help you connect with yourself through your subconscious. While a body scan focuses on mindful awareness, self-hypnosis uses deep relaxation to make your mind highly open to positive suggestions or behavioral changes.
• The best nutrients come from food. A good-quality, nutrient-rich diet can go a long way toward providing what you need and keeping you healthy!
You know yourself better than anyone… unless you have become disconnected from your body, mind and spirit. But the path back to yourself is always available; you can choose to reconnect at any time. Like, right now.
Have you been paying attention to how you really feel after taking your natural supplements and vitamins, among other things you consume? Share in the comments :)
Gisele Marasca; 09/25/26
References:
Estimated Exposure to 6 Potentially Hepatotoxic Botanicals in US Adults
Safety Evaluation and Concerns of Natural Products in Traditional Medicine
New Analysis Suggests Adverse Drug Events Are the 3rd Leading Cause of Death in the USA
Disparities and trends in drug-related adverse reaction mortality in the United States, 1999–2020
Increases in Kratom-Related Reports to Poison Centers — National Poison Data System, United States, 2015–2025
Disclosure of complementary medicine use to medical providers: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Factors Related to Disclosure and Nondisclosure of Dietary Supplements in Primary Care, Integrative Medicine, and Naturopathic Medicine
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