Just because it is natural, does not mean it is not a medicine and can side effects just like a prescription medicine. It can also interact with other medications you might be taking. In addition there is no regulatory agency for nutritional supplements so you have no guarantee that what you are buying contains the amount of the medication you are purchasing or that it does not contain other items, be especially wary if you have nut, wheat, milk or gluten allergies.
In reality, no supplement contains anything in it that can not be obtained from it's original plant or animal source.
We have begun checking Vitamin D levels in our office, and I have found that it is rare for someone to have a normal Vitamin D level, and since they are not dropping like flies and patients aren't reporting back with any positive effects of the supplements we have suggested, I question the testing. Not all lab tests reflect the bioavailable levels of a vitamin or mineral. When testing for Calcium we often get abnormals, when I asked the endocrinologist how they test for this, since the next step for a high or low calcium is to check with them, they say that the serum calcium does not reflect parathyroid activity (gland that regulates calcium) but you must do a Ionized Calcium. This can be true with a number of things, it is the testing that can be flawed.
Last edited by OHSue; 06-02-2013 at 07:58 AM.