What you don’t understand May and Pam is that the supplements can kill you and most of them have the same side effects or even worse side effects as prescription medications. But supplements don’t have to notify you of those threats because they’re not involved with the FDA, the DEA, nor the EPA. SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT MONITORED, REGULATED, TESTED, NOR HELD ACCOUNTABLE IN WAY. Every prescription medication, by contrast, is! Prescription medications are ALL monitored for consistency of dose, regulated, tested, and held accountable. So just because something like a supplement doesn’t have a warning doesn’t mean it’s safe. In fact, when something doesn’t have a warning with it, like a pesticide or a supplement, that’s when you should really worry!!! You should always read up extensively online about the supplements you’re taking and the potential side effects it’s giving you. Yes, absolutely, check with your doctors before you start or stop any supplements. For instance, if you take 5-HTP for depression, but don’t check with your doctor who is prescribing you a real antidepressant, the supplement can be canceling out the prescription and the combo of the two can even kill you. Bet you didn’t know that, did you? No, you didn’t, because supplements don’t carry any kind of warnings of death or side effects! Its a no-brainer! Why would anybody take something as risky as a supplement that’s unregulated? It’s the same thing with St. John’s Wort. It’s one of the most dangerous supplements around. It negatively interacts with basically every prescription medication that exists. Just because it doesn’t come with a death warning, May, doesn’t mean it can’t kill you. In fact, it is one of the supplements that is the very most likely to kill you.
When you go sledding in the mountains, there’s no warning sign that says that by doing so, you can hit a tree and be instantly paralyzed or die of a concussion after another slender slams into you. When you get in your shower, there’s no warning that you could slip and die. It’s the same way with supplements. They don’t tell you that they might kill you. At least prescription medications are honest about what’s at stake, unlike supplements! Yet you want to punish ALL prescription medications judt because they’re honest in their reporting of potential side effects?! That doesn’t make any sense. They tell the entire truth in their warnings. You’re lucky that prescription medications have warnings, but just because they have warnings doesn’t mean those things are actually going to happen. You should always google the actual percentage of people to whom that side effect happened. For instance, say somebody took Aleve and died. Well, that might be ONE person ever in the entire history of Aleve, and it was probably under suspicious circumstances like there was probably a heart attack and somehow it got linked to Aleve. There’s all kinds of weird stuff like that out there. Aleve would still have to report it in their literature. But you shouldn’t judge Aleve for killing someone until you know the circumstances, and how many people it actually traceably killed!
Here’s another good example. Metformin/Glucophage is a medication that many pre-diabetics and diabetics take. It’s an insulin regulator; it regulates how much is produced, and when, how, and where it’s released in the body. So say a diabetic is not taking any medication except Metformin/Glucophage. They’re not monitoring their food intake nor their blood sugars, nor are they taking insulin. And then they die. It will probably get blamed on Metformin/Glucophage when in reality the person who wasn’t taking care of themselves was at fault for their sloppy lifestyle and approach to diabetes. They weren’t doing what their doctor told them to, and they caused their own death. Their death had nothing to do with the Metformin/Glucophage. But it would be listed on the medication’s record as a cause of death.
I’ve heard you talk about your medical conditions for five years and you’ve never been prescribed the kind of medication that can kill you, May. Just because you see something in a commercial doesn’t mean it affects you. Just because one medication may cause death doesn’t mean all prescription medications cause death. Shame on you if you’re judging against all prescription medications just because of the crap you see in the commercials for a few STRONG prescription medications on a TV set late at night.
You can’t even necessarily just believe your doctor if they tell you to take supplements. I’ve told this story before, but I’m going to tell it again here. My pain/spine physician told me that if I wanted additional pain relief, I could take ginger root and turmeric supplements. So I went out and bought them and opened them unfortunately before I read up on how toxic they are to your kidneys and liver! I found a chart that shows the toxicity of Aleve, Tylenol, Advil, turmeric, and ginger root. Guess what the worst two were? Turmeric and ginger root! And multiple websites advise not to mix them with Aleve, Advil, or Tylenol, yet that’s exactly what my doctor told me to do! You really have to be your own advocate and you have to research the side effects of *everything*, both prescriptions and especially supplements. Don’t just be going out buying supplements and taking them in a free-wheeling manner. You shouldn’t quadruple the listed dose of a supplement like pumpkin seed just like you wouldn’t go quadrupling a dose of oxycodone that’s prescribed to you unless you feel like getting addicted to it or experiencing really bad side effects!
Another thing is that most people think of supplements as being more natural than prescription medications. Most prescription medications are derived from natural things, like Botox comes from botulinum, which is a natural toxin that happens to paralyze our muscles, but sometimes in a good way, for instance in the bladder, or for fun, the wrinkles in your face, or in your tight neck and trapezius muscles to alleviate migraines. Botox is a prescription now, but it occurs naturally in cows excrement. Clostridium botulinum bacteria are found naturally in soil, dust, and rocks around the world. So don’t go around thinking that prescriptions are not natural and that all supplements are natural when all supplements are processed chemically with pesticides and then manufactured in chemical plants just like prescription medications are.
The bottom line is, most of what we put in our bodies is toxic. In certain quantities, it can kill you. If you ate 10,000 Twinkies this weekend, you might die. If you take too much insulin this weekend, you’ll probably die. If you take too much pumpkin seed this weekend, you might die. If you ingest fertilizer this weekend you would definitely die. We all take risks, especially by getting in a car or truck. I just hope that those of you who take supplements do your research not just about the supposedly magical positive side effects but also about the negative side effects.
Have you ever bothered to check the negative side effects of Pumpkin seeds? I would never take something that does this to my body, let alone take a quadruple dose, Pam.
Eating too much pumpkin or too many pumpkin seeds can cause side effects, including:
Stomach issues
Eating too many pumpkin seeds can cause stomach aches, cramps, diarrhea, bloating, flatulence, and constipation. This is because pumpkin seeds are high in fiber, and eating more than a serving size (about ¼ cup) at once can be difficult to digest, especially if you aren't used to eating a lot of fiber.
Allergies
Pumpkin seeds can cause allergic reactions in some people, including eczema, headaches, throat irritation, swelling, redness around the mouth, rhinoconjunctivitis, and asthma attacks.
Weight gain
Pumpkin seeds are high in calories, so eating too many can lead to weight gain.
Drug interactions
Pumpkin seeds can have a diuretic effect, increasing the amount of fluid and electrolytes in your urine. This is not suitable for people with low blood pressure or who are taking diuretics or lithium. You should talk to a healthcare professional before adding new supplements or changing your diet, particularly with this supplement.
Digestive conditions
People with digestive conditions like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis should avoid or limit their intake of pumpkin seeds, even shelled varieties.
I bet those of you who take pumpkin seed have never bothered to research those side effects nor to speak to your physician about them. I bet your doctors don’t even know that you’re taking any of it, let alone a quadruple dose of it.
Even green tea, which seems so lovely and healthy, can be toxic: “Green tea can interact with certain medications, including stimulant drugs, asthma medications, medications for depression or mental disorders, and blood thinners. It can also decrease the absorption of statins like Lipitor. Pregnant or breastfeeding women, people with liver disease, or those taking beta-blockers should consult their healthcare provider before drinking green tea.”
But you won’t find that warning on any box of green tea because it’s not regulated by the FDA like a prescription medication is.
You’re correct Pam that we can all do what we want, to each his own, etc., but I sure hope you do your research before you do what you want.
