In 2019, US sales of dietary supplements rose by 5% over the previous year. After the pandemic hit, however, sales increased by 44% during the 6 weeks before April 5, 2020, compared with the prior-year period. The demand for multivitamins hit a high in March 2020, with sales rising by 51.2%—this translates to 120 million units.

Lordan R. Dietary supplements and nutraceuticals market growth during the coronavirus pandemic – Implications for consumers and regulatory oversight. PharmaNutrition. 2021;18:100282.

 

Despite their rising popularity, supplements are viewed with skepticism because of safety and efficacy concerns, as well as a lack of regulation and oversight by the FDA.

 

Vitamin A

 

A review published in Nutrients highlighted conflicting results with regard to the effects of dietary supplements on lung cancer risk and mortality in adult smokers and non-smokers.

Alsharairi NA. The effects of dietary supplements on asthma and lung cancer risk in smokers and non-smokers: a review of the literature. Nutrients. 2019;11(4):725.

Among current smokers, vitamin D/calcium supplementation plus high vitamin A and calcium/magnesium intake yielded significant increases in lung cancer risk.

 

Patients with cancer commonly use dietary supplements with the hope that these supplements will somehow help fight cancer. Multivitamins, N-acetylcysteine, retinyl palmitate, and vitamin D/calcium are unhelpful for preventing lung cancer in current or former smokers and shouldn’t be recommended, per data gathered from prospective studies.

“The high intake of vitamin A or calcium/magnesium together with vitamin D/calcium supplements is not advocated,” wrote the Nutrients author.

“This review suggests caution in recommending long-term, high-dose supplements that contain β-carotene, retinyl palmitate, vitamin E, B, vitamins (B6, B12) for patients with lung cancer, especially current and former smokers,” they added.

 

It is important to evaluate safety and effectiveness of dietary supplement use by adult smokers and non-smokers before, during, and after lung cancer treatment.

 

Capsaicin

 

Recently, a teenage boy died after taking the Paqui One Chip Challenge, popularized on TikTok. The chip contains potentially dangerous levels of capsaicin, according to Poison Control (the National Capital Poison Center).

Johnson-Arbor K, Amirshahi M. Is the One Chip Challenge dangerous? Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center). 2023.

 

 

The consumption of large amounts can cause life-threatening esophageal damage from repeated vomiting. 

“Because of this, people should use caution when consuming foods or products that contain capsaicin. The One Chip Challenge is not recommended for children or teenagers, people that have food allergies, sensitivity to spicy foods, medical problems such as heart and lung disease, or who are pregnant,” per Poison Control.

Individuals should seek medical care immediately if they experience chest pain, severe headache, difficulty breathing, or other symptoms after ingesting capsaicin-containing products.

 

Vitamin K

 

Typically, clinicians don’t test for vitamin K status, with the only indicator being prothrombin time (PT). Quotidian changes in vitamin K intake rarely impact PT, according to the NIH’s Fact Sheet.

Vitamin K. Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes of Health. March 29, 2021.

 

 

Warfarin antagonizes vitamin K activity, vis-à-vis prothrombin, and thus patients taking such anticoagulants need to strictly monitor their vitamin K intake.

“People taking warfarin and similar anticoagulants need to maintain a consistent intake of vitamin K from food and supplements because sudden changes in vitamin K intakes can increase or decrease the anticoagulant effect,” according to the NIH.

 

 

Ginkgo biloba

 

Dietary supplements like ginkgo are often adulterated with a mixture of chemicals, and it’s unclear which chemical does what in the body. For instance, ginkgo products can be comprised of more than 70 ingredients.

Mei N, Guo X, Ren Z, et al. Review of Ginkgo biloba-induced toxicity, from experimental studies to human case reports. J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2017;35(1):1–28. 

 

 

Other potential adverse effects of ginkgo include spontaneous bleeding and arrhythmia—but such issues have been cited only in individual case reports or contradictory studies.