Some Dietary Supplements May Be More Than a Waste of Money

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People taking dietary supplements may, in some cases, be paying to make themselves sick. This video covers folic acid, beta carotene, and green tea supplements.

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A triad of new studies showing once again that those taking dietary supplements may, in some cases, be paying to make themselves sick. They’re all pretty self-explanatory. “High Intake of Folate from Food Sources [like beans and greens]…Associated with Reduced Risk of Esophageal Cancer…In contrast, high intake of folic acid from supplements was associated with a significantly elevated risk of [Barrett’s Esophagus with precancerous changes].”

Dietary…Intakes of Carotenoids and Vitamin C [like eating carrots, sweet potatoes, greens, broccoli, citrus] Are Associated with Decreased Odds of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Men.” But not supplemental intakes. Those taking nutrients in pill form, in fact, got worse. Unless your pills look like this.

Green tea good; green tea supplements bad. “…there no longer can be a reasonable doubt that ingestion of concentrated extracts of Chinese green tea poses a real and growing risk to liver health.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Serena.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

A triad of new studies showing once again that those taking dietary supplements may, in some cases, be paying to make themselves sick. They’re all pretty self-explanatory. “High Intake of Folate from Food Sources [like beans and greens]…Associated with Reduced Risk of Esophageal Cancer…In contrast, high intake of folic acid from supplements was associated with a significantly elevated risk of [Barrett’s Esophagus with precancerous changes].”

Dietary…Intakes of Carotenoids and Vitamin C [like eating carrots, sweet potatoes, greens, broccoli, citrus] Are Associated with Decreased Odds of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Men.” But not supplemental intakes. Those taking nutrients in pill form, in fact, got worse. Unless your pills look like this.

Green tea good; green tea supplements bad. “…there no longer can be a reasonable doubt that ingestion of concentrated extracts of Chinese green tea poses a real and growing risk to liver health.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Serena.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Doctor's Note

This is the final video of a three-part series with the latest information on the safety of dietary supplements. For the first two, see Dietary Supplement Snake Oil, and Heavy Metals in Protein Powder Supplements. For more on avoiding esophageal cancer, see Poultry and Penis Cancer; Coffee and Cancer; and Bacon and Botulism. For how to boost your absorption of carotenoid phytonutrients (like beta carotene), see Raw Food Nutrient Absorption. Pretty scary about green tea supplements, but green tea has a variety of health-promoting properties. Check out my other videos on tea.

For further context, check out my associated blog posts: Plant-Based Workplace Intervention; Avoid Cooked Meat Carcinogens; and Probiotics and Diarrhea.

To see all of my newest videos on supplements, visit the topic page.

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