Updated: 03.09.202010:52
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fromPamela Dörhöfer
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conclude
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Dietary supplements often do not adhere to the maximum recommended amount of their ingredients. This can be harmful to health.
- Food supplements are becoming more and more popular.
- Does a lot help a lot? Not necessarily: some Minerals and vitamins can harm the body in excess
- With many Nutritional supplements will the recommended maximum amount For vitamins and Minerals exceeded
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A lot helps a lot: It seems that numerous manufacturers and consumers of Nutritional supplements to think. But the opposite can be the case, especially with permanent high dose intake: In excess, at least some can Minerals and vitamins harm the body. Nonetheless, many preparations contain too much of it Micronutrientsas scientists from the Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Education have discovered. Accordingly, more than half of those examined by them exceeds Food supplements the maximum amount recommended by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment 2018 for vitamins and minerals in these products.
Dietary Supplements Increasingly Popular – Analysis of Over-the-Counter Preparations
That is all the more worrying there Food supplements become more and more popular. More than a third of women and almost a quarter of men in Germany take it regularly. The research team from Schwäbisch Gmünd had 106 over the counter for their study, which was published in the journal “Current Nutritional Medicine” Food supplements under the microscope – including 30 preparations that contain a single vitamin (e.g. vitamin C), eleven preparations that contain a single mineral, eleven multivitamin preparations and ten preparations that contain both a multivitamin and a multi-mineral mix. The products came from one Reformhaus, one Convenience store and two Drugstores, Preparations from pharmacies were not included. For their analysis, the scientists compared the nutrient information on the packaging with the maximum quantities specified by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment for the vitamins and minerals it contains.
The result: the recommended values for all nutrients were met in only 48 percent of the preparations, 52 percent exceeded them for at least one ingredient. The front runners were the multivitamin and multi-mineral supplements. Here 80 percent of the products exceeded the recommended maximum quantities. Depending on the micronutrient, the relative deviations from the recommended maximum amount were between an excess of 20 percent (potassium) and 700 percent (vitamin B12).
Many dietary supplements override maximum amounts for vitamins and nutrients
“The investigation shows that more than half of the investigated Food supplements exceed the maximum quantities recommended for vitamins and minerals from stationary retail, ”says Petra Lühmann, professor at the Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Education. This is “questionable”, since the use of high-dose vitamin and mineral preparations can “be associated with health risks” – especially if they are taken frequently.
Rising demand
The pharmacies alone In Germany, according to a list by the Iqvia statistics service, food supplements turned over around 2.2 billion euros in 2019.
The highest increase booked with a plus of eight percent preparations for the bladder and the reproductive organs, as the “Ärzteblatt” reports. It is followed by vitamins and probiotics, each with a plus of seven percent.
The corona crisis caused a boom in funds that advertise to strengthen the immune system. According to “Ärzteblatt”, sales of vitamin C in the first quarter of the year should have increased by 94 percent compared to the previous year.
Grown is also the market for nutritional supplements targeted at children. Here too, according to the “Ärzteblatt”, the wish to “strengthen the immune system” came first. Also in demand: means that are supposed to promote concentration and attention as well as growth and bone development. pam
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High-dose dietary supplements: indication of possible risks
The scientist therefore sees it as important that consumers are made aware of the possible risks. Petra Lühmann advocates “EU-wide uniform guidelines for maximum amounts of micronutrients in Food supplements“. To date there are no binding rules in the European Union Maximum values for the ingredients in dietary supplements.
Dietary supplements often do not adhere to the recommended limit values: Schwäbisch-Gmünd – The dietary supplements offered in health food stores, supermarkets and drugstores are often overdosed – they consider the maximum amount suggested for … https://t.co/1XeOrkNRow pic.twitter.com/LD8SiTEeMQ
– Deutsches Ärzteblatt (@Dt_Aerzteblatt) August 27, 2020
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Doctors have been warning against doses that are too high for years Vitamins and Minerals from the laboratory and appeal, nutrient prefer to consume them in their “natural” form in food. In this way, vitamins and minerals work better than if they were in the form of Capsules, Effervescent tablets and or Direct Pellets (Powder in sachets) can be swallowed. It is very unlikely that you will consume excess nutrients through your normal diet.
Vitamins and minerals: Too much can be unhealthy
Too much can be unhealthy for some of the essential vitamins and minerals: For example, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment recommends avoiding an excessive intake of beta-carotene – a precursor of vitamin A. An overdose can increase the risk of lung cancer, especially in smokers, as a 1994 study showed. Long-term regular use of Betacatorin can also damage the bones; People with cardiovascular diseases should also be cautious about it.
Too much vitamin E and folic acid have dangerous effects
Magnesium and Vitamin C – especially popular with consumers – high doses can cause diarrhea, more dangerous effects can be too much Vitamin E such as Folic acid have: you increase the risk for Prostate cancer. In pregnant women, however, an additional administration of folic acid may be indicated. In the event of an overdose of Vitamin D there is a risk of vomiting, diarrhea and headaches, with long-term high-dose use kidney damage and calcium deposits. High gifts of Selen can put the risk to one Diabetes disease increase.
Potassium can be in overdose a headacheCause fatigue and diarrhea, in the worst case even Cardiac arrhythmias. However, it is not clear from which values exactly it becomes critical in each case. The Vitamin B12, which according to the study exceeds the maximum recommended amount in some products by up to 700 percent, is considered harmless even in high doses: excess is absorbed through the intestinal wall or excreted through the kidneys.
Only take extra vitamins if there is a deficiency
In general, medical professionals recommend additional vitamins or Minerals only to be consumed when a defect was established. Thus, gastric mucosal disorders can cause the body no Vitamin B12 can absorb, even with many older people this is a problem. They also often suffer from one Vitamin D deficiencybecause they are seldom outdoors and their body is no longer able to absorb through the skin as well.
For older people there may also be a Combination preparations make sense because their appetite often decreases and they then eat less. (By Pamela Dörhöfer)
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