Behind the Labels: The Risks Behind Your Favorite Supplements
The supplement aisle in your local drugstore may be covered in various options—with a plethora of different forms, colors, textures, sizes, and prices. They look great—and taste even better—while having huge claims of health benefits. With promises to make you glow, reduce bloating, help digestion, sleep better, and more, it can get confusing what is good for you and what can be harmful.
While it's always best to leave it to your doctor or physician to advise you on what to take, here is a deep dive into the potential risks of taking too many supplements and why you might want to avoid the big supplement trends.
Physicians provide traditional multivitamins when our diet is low on certain intakes. When our diets are deficient in certain vitamins, we must take multivitamins. However, this new trend of taking various supplements to help your gut health may be causing more harm than good.
American media personality Kourtney Kardashian, big on gut health, founded Lemme, a supplement gummy brand. They sell products promoting anything from focus to vaginal microbiome health and pH levels. Although these gummies supposedly taste great, there is very little regulation or actual proof that they do what they claim to.
A recent lawsuit claims they violate consumer rights by deceptively marketing its products. It reveals that the Lemme Curb which claims to support healthy blood sugar, has extremely low doses of the two main ingredients have extremely low doses—which is not enough to provide any result.
Women's Health Magazine reported that the Lemme Purr, which claims to support vaginal odor, has no ingredients that can change one’s vaginal odor. The products from Lemme have gone viral across social media platforms, but this serves as a reminder to check with your healthcare provider first to ensure what you are taking is best for you.
Another popular supplement brand is Bloom Nutrition, which went viral on TikTok last year. Many influencers promote this product, and many consumers want to try it. The Bloom Nutrition Superfoods have various flavors, including mango, strawberry, kiwi, and berry. They claim to provide your daily greens in one scoop while helping with bloating, supporting gut health, and promoting energy.
However, a year later, many realized that the product doesn’t claim to do much of what it says and tastes plain bad. Bloom Nutrition is not third-party tested, nor is it FDA-approved. There aren’t any proven results that this powder works, and influencers on TikTok could just be saying it works without evidence.
Like these two viral brands, multiple other brands are selling supplements that claim to dramatically improve your health. Many of these brands have not been properly tested to see if they do what they claim. So, the best thing to do is ensure you fully understand what you are purchasing, speak with your doctors, and avoid watching too many videos!
What are your thoughts on the skyrocket of supplement brands being advertised online? Leave a comment below!