Do you take any supplements / vitamins without a prescription from a healthcare professional? Do you know anyone who claims to use some medication claiming that it is “natural” and that it is good for your health? If you answered yes to any of the questions, check out what the evidence shows about self-medication.There are many reasons that lead a person to use any supplement without prescription, among them: indication of a friend, advertisements, social media, beliefs, among others. The general thought is that because it is “natural”, it is not harmful, but this is not true. Any excess nutrient is as much a problem as its deficiency.
Glutamine for example, a case study published this year: Glutamine powder-induced hepatotoxicity: it is time to understand the side effects of sports nutritional supplements, was the first that brought a report on glutamine-induced hepatotoxicity. The clinical case patient, aged 35, was taking glutamine powder (10 g of powder / day equal to 170 mg of pure glutamine) – use for three weeks – the supplement contained only glutamine. With no clinical history of other diseases, the liver injury presented was a possible side effect of the exacerbated use of glutamine. Please note that most physical activity practitioners, with the intention of increasing performance and obtaining faster results, end up opting for the indiscriminate and excessive use of some supplements.
It is important to make it clear that these adverse effects usually happen when consuming high doses. Unfortunately, what I observe most is the indiscriminate use of these supplements, which are increasingly disseminated by influential people who are often sponsored to propagate the product itself. The current challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of liver damage induced by anabolic steroids, green tea extract and nutritional supplements with various ingredients, were the focus of a research symposium sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and and the National Institutes of Health.
Drinking green tea is unlikely to cause problems, but nowadays people consume capsules concentrated with green tea extract in a disorderly way – that is the problem. Patients with liver damage attributed to green tea extract had a characteristic disease of the type acute hepatitis occurring within 1 to 3 months after the use of the product began. The disease was generally controlled, but fatal cases were reported in up to 10% of cases, usually in those who had acute hepatocellular injury and jaundice. I brought the example of green tea, but I could mention others that like this one, the damage caused to health by consumption attributed to self-prescription is already proven.
As well as meal replacements, various supplements and herbs are used in an attempt to lose weight by most people, new products are gaining space day after day.
