If you’re getting cancer treatment, taking supplements can interfere with your treatment or cause adverse reactions. Certain supplements can increase skin sensitivity, and chemotherapy patients may ingest antioxidants that can interfere with cancer-killing treatments. Most cancer medical professionals recommend abstaining from dietary supplements while undergoing treatment.
Because many people self-medicate with supplements, they may tend to overdose, using the old “if one is good, two is better” approach. There are also quack scientists who recommend megadosing, which was popular in the early 1990s with antioxidants such as Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta carotene. There is no research indicating that megadoses of these supplements can prevent colds or have any other disease-fighting value and can actually cause problems by interfering with the body’s ability to absorb such vital minerals as calcium. You can reach toxic levels of Vitamins K, D, and A if you try megadosing, with adverse reactions for your heart, liver and other vital organs.
THE DIRTY DOZEN
Consumer Reports magazine came up with a list of what it termed “the Dirty Dozen” supplements or ingredients that can cause harm to those taking them in any quantity. These include:
1) Aconite: Known as aconite tuber, aconitum and radix aconite, this is used to fight inflammation, joint pain and gout. But it can also induce nausea, vomiting and heart arrrhythmia.
2) Bitter Orange – Touted as a weight-loss wonder and known as aurantii fructus, zhi shi and aurantium, this supplement contains synephrine, which is a compound that mimics the effects of ephedrine, banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004.