Those who are not suitable for dietary supplements include

In addition to people who are taking specific medications, people with allergies, people at special physiological stages, patients suffering from specific chronic diseases, and people with congenital or acquired damage to liver and kidney function, healthy people without obvious nutritional deficiencies are not suitable for taking additional dietary supplements.

I met a 62-year-old aunt a while ago. She has atrial fibrillation and has been taking warfarin. She listened to a community lecture saying that Coenzyme Q10 protects the heart, so she bought half a year's supply. Within three weeks of taking it, her gums bleed and her body became inexplicably bruised and purple. When she went to the hospital, her prothrombin time was twice the safe value, and she almost had to be hospitalized for observation. Regarding the interaction between dietary supplements and drugs, there are actually two schools of thought in the industry: One group believes that as long as the dosage of supplements is controlled within 1/3 of the recommended daily intake, it will not have a significant impact on the efficacy of the medicine; the other group believes that as long as there is a clear interaction record - such as coenzyme Q10 and fish oil, they will affect the effect of anticoagulant drugs, and should be stopped first regardless of the dose. If people taking medication want to take supplements, they must first seek evaluation from a doctor or clinical nutritionist, without exception.

Don’t think that “naturally extracted” supplements are safer. On the contrary, the risk of allergy may be higher than synthetic ones. I once had an old customer who suffered from hay fever in spring and autumn. When the seasons changed, he wanted to supplement with VC to enhance his resistance. He specially selected the expensive "Acerola Natural VC". After two days of taking it, his rhinitis did not go away. Instead, he developed a red rash on his arm, which disappeared after it stopped. Later, he found out that the extraction process of that VC did not completely filter out the pollen and peel allergens of acerola, and people who are allergic to pollen are easily affected by it. Oh yes, I can also mention here that there has been an ongoing debate about who is better, natural or synthetic supplements. At least in terms of the risk of allergy, synthetic ones are more pure and safer. Don’t blindly pay a premium for the word “natural”.

When it comes to special physiological stages, such as pregnant women, lactating women, and children, don’t believe the saying “it’s better to take supplements than not”. I received a consultation before. Pregnant women have a balanced daily diet. They eat salmon two or three times a week, and they also eat dark green vegetables. They also supplemented with twice the dose of active folic acid and DHA. As a result, the serum folic acid concentration exceeded the standard during the second trimester, which actually affected the absorption of zinc. When the baby was born, the weight was more than half a kilogram lighter than that of the same gestational age. Nowadays, many maternal and child bloggers are promoting various pregnancy supplements, but the conclusion of evidence-based nutrition has always been: only people in special stages who are confirmed to have nutritional deficiencies through examination need additional supplements. If people who are not deficient take supplements indiscriminately, it may break the nutritional balance in the body.

People with underlying chronic diseases should be more careful. For example, gout patients should not blindly use high-purine protein powders, especially whey protein powders and animal-derived collagen peptides, which have problems with uric acid metabolism. Taking too much can easily induce acute gout; and patients with kidney stones should not follow the trend of taking calcium citrate and vitamin D. Taking too much calcium will increase the concentration of calcium in the urine, which will accelerate the growth of stones. Oh yes, and diabetics, be sure to read the ingredient list when buying supplements. Many effervescent tablets and gummy supplements add a lot of white sugar and fructose syrup, which will cause blood sugar to rise.

The people who are most likely to get into trouble are actually those with impaired liver and kidney function. Many people think that supplements are "skin care products" and do not harm the body. In fact, whether they are vitamins, minerals or plant extracts, they must be metabolized by the liver and kidneys. When I was rotating in the nutrition department, I met a patient with chronic hepatitis B. I heard that curcumin protects the liver and grape seeds are antioxidant, so I bought several of them and ate them together. Within a month of taking them, the transaminase tripled, and it took me a week to be hospitalized to bring it down. His condition, which was originally good, suddenly became unstable.

When I usually make nutritional plans for clients, the first thing I ask is never "What do you want to supplement?" but "What underlying diseases do you have, are you taking medicine, do you have any allergies, and are there any abnormalities in your recent physical examination report." Don't believe the propaganda that "it can be taken by men, women, and children." The core of supplements is "supplementation." Your daily diet can cover all nutritional needs, and there is nothing abnormal about your body. There is really no need to join in the fun.

Oh, by the way, if you are really not sure whether you can take it, don’t ask the host who is selling the product, and don’t blindly check the fragmented notes on social platforms. Go to the hospital and register an account in the clinical nutrition department. An ordinary account only costs ten or twenty yuan, which is much more cost-effective than buying supplements worth thousands of yuan and cheating.