Critical 'organ function' warning from experts! The food supplement craze has reached a new level: They are both using and selling them...

Aslı AĞIRDİL- 12punto.com.tr

Especially in recent years, people all over the world and in Turkey have been using food supplements, vitamins, and certain alternative medicines to stay fit, lose weight, and strengthen their immunity. These products include teas, capsules, and powder mixtures that replace meals.

These products frequently find their way into herbalists, markets, and even pharmacies. So, what is the reason for this interest in food supplements? Why are people turning to alternative methods? Here are the details...

THEY OFFER RECOMMENDATIONS!

The food supplement sector's export target for 2023 is at the 500 million dollar level. The increasing use of food supplements in Turkey has turned citizens into both producers and consumers.

These products are sold as powders, tablets, capsules, meal replacements, and teas to people suffering from excess weight and obesity as a "miracle treatment method."

The people who use and market these products also give themselves titles such as 'distributor', 'trainer', 'life coach', and 'entrepreneur' to sell to other individuals. While sales proceed through social media, especially Instagram, slimming methods presented as 'miracles' are marketed.

'Meal replacement' powders are used as shakes (mixtures), and these life coaches provide usage recommendations for the relevant products.

While housewives are the primary users of these products, money is earned per product sold or based on targets. While commissions are deposited into bank accounts, the system highlights that individuals who build a network also earn commissions through the people they add to the system.

Murat Tülü, a pharmacist and board member of the Istanbul Pharmacists Association, and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Altun, a medical pharmacologist and deputy dean at Cumhuriyet University, evaluated the issue for 12punto.

WEAK OVERSIGHT

Explaining that the oversight of food supplements is not sufficient, Tülü pointed out that the uncontrolled production of these products poses a threat to public health.

"THEY ARE BLIND TO EVERYTHING"

Drawing attention to the marketing style of the products, Tülü said, "Consultants, coaches, and influencers who fuel consumption are making uncontrolled advertisements for these products on social media, as well as in print and visual media. They exploit people's weaknesses with price campaigns in the form of packages divided into certain months. This is such a weakness that they are blind to everything."

CAN CAUSE IMPAIRMENT OF LIVER AND KIDNEY FUNCTIONS

Tülü also warned, "Long-term use of products in the form of powders, teas, meal replacements, or pastes used unconsciously is very dangerous for health. It causes liver and kidney dysfunction. Allergic complaints can be seen. Digestive system disorders are among the most common problems, and another side effect is that it causes vitamin and mineral loss."

"EVERYTHING TAKEN UNNECESSARILY IS A BURDEN ON THE BODY"

Stating that an individual who eats a regular and balanced diet does not need to resort to alternative methods, Tülü said, "Some non-scientific and evidence-free practices have begun to find serious supporters. Naturalness and organic products have become a center of attraction. Treatment with herbal products is at the forefront of these. Fish oil (omega-3), glucosamine, echinacea, flaxseed, black elderberry, black cumin, etc., which have a significant market share, are consumed heavily as herbal and animal-based food supplements. At first, many people think it will be protective. They prefer to resort to traditional methods instead of going to a doctor. The consumption frenzy has engulfed every area. Everything taken unnecessarily is a burden on the body."

LACK OF EDUCATION AND UNCONSCIOUSNESS IN SOCIETY LEAD TO SUPPLEMENTS

Sivas Cumhuriyet University Deputy Dean and Medical Pharmacologist Ahmet Altun stated in his evaluation of the issue that individuals' awareness and consciousness levels regarding nutritional support products need to increase.

Altun stated the following:

"As a result of our society's general habits, it is more prone to using herbal products instead of taking medicine. There is a lack of education and unconsciousness in society. People use supplements as an easy way out during the process of losing weight or getting into a certain shape. Since oversight is weak, products like capsules and tablets can be easily advertised and used. When these types of advertisements, the failure to explain medicines properly, the very effective advertising of herbal products, people's tendency to use these products due to lack of education, and the desire to obtain things the easy way all come together, people prefer life coaches and consultants instead of going to a doctor. We are facing a society that turns to food supplements when there is safe medicine available."

WE NEED TO ESTABLISH INSTITUTES TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC

"Although healthcare is free in Turkey, people with low income levels try to use expensive food supplements and vitamins that the state does not cover by exhausting all their resources. They do this while there are cheap and free options. In the face of this situation, as positive scientists, we need to establish institutes to enlighten the public. We need to create the infrastructure for how to conduct research on these products, how to turn them into safer, medicine-like forms, and how they can be used in a healthy way without harm."

SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS CARRY A RISK OF PERMANENT DAMAGE, ESPECIALLY IN YOUNG PEOPLE DURING DEVELOPMENT

Touching on the worrying results of supplements used by bodybuilders, Altun made the following assessment:

"Especially with the activation of social media, there are many accounts on social media that share a lot about fitness and bodybuilding in gyms. These posts contribute to people going to gyms. However, bodybuilders are largely people who use substances. They use substances like steroids, protein powders, or food supplements to increase muscle mass. Unfortunately, fitness instructors in gyms also direct young people by selling them these products. These products have both the potential to be addictive and a very high probability of harming the bodies of people, especially those in the young development period. One needs to be very careful about food supplements used for bodybuilding."

IN WHICH SITUATIONS ARE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS USED?

Listing the situations in which doctors recommend food supplements, Altun said; "We, as physicians, recommend these food supplements to our patients when they have had a serious illness, cannot be fed orally, their eating and drinking habits are impaired, or when they have vitamin deficiencies or malabsorption disorders in their intestines due to certain diseases."

News Source: Aslı Ağırdil