Doctor breaks down supplement stacking social media trend and if it actually helps your health

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[00:00:01]In this morning's Health Watch, we're going to take a closer look at supplements and your health. So, there's a growing trend on social media. It's called supplement stacking. Followers take multiple supplements every day, and it's supposed to boost your strength, your energy, and even hair growth. Dr. Rachel Pesta Palik, an endocrinologist at NYU Langone Health, is here to tell us if more is really better. All right, doctor, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. Um, so I I feel like this trend has actually been around for quite some time, and it's really just picking up traction on social media. So, exactly what do we mean by supplement stacking? Absolutely. And it's important to know this is not a medical term that we're dealing with. This is within the wellness industry. So, you have people that are taking vitamins, supplements, mixtures of different gummies, powders, and not realizing they're overlapping ingredients. So, you can be getting the same vitamin one, two, three, 10 times, not even knowing it. Mhm. And what are what are some of the risks from uh taking too many supplements? Cuz I'll admit I have someone in my family that does this, and they said, "Oh, you know, I'm taking so many pills. I need to take a pill to clean out my liver." And I was like, "Oh my god." It just that that phrase, right? So, what are some of these risks? The key is you need to ask yourself, what are you deficient in? If you have a deficiency, vitamins are super helpful, and there's a role for them. But if you're not treating a deficiency, you could potentially develop toxicity, too high a level. And actually, there are reports of different vitamins causing liver failure, the opposite of what you're looking to have happen as a result of too much. So, you're saying to pinpoint and address the deficiency instead of just generalizing. All right, so what about daily vitamins? Isn't taking a daily vitamin once the same as taking a bunch of vitamins? At least that's what it says on the back of the bottle that I have.

[00:01:43]>> [laughter] >> Great point. Very different. So, a daily vitamin has a small amount in one tablet or capsule. Whereas what we're talking about are people that are taking lots of individual supplements on top of it, and often not realizing it. My favorite um part with my patients is I'll have a lot of patients come in on hair, nail supplements. Then they're also taking a multivitamin. And then they're taking a sleep complex. And then they're taking vitamin D3. So you're getting vitamin D in all different places. I check their vitamin D level and it's sky high. Now you may say what's the risk? High calcium level in your blood work, risk of kidney stones. That's not what we were looking to have as a benefit in the first place. Doc, you just read my file by the way.

[00:02:24]>> [laughter] >> That's exactly what I'm doing. Oh my goodness. I got to get it together. So why can't we just eat a balanced diet, >> Okay. eat normal food, all the colors of the rainbow, Oh yeah. You're on a balanced diet. And and get the vitamins we need from that.

[00:02:41]Or do we actually need supplements?

[00:02:43]I'm with you and in most cases that's right. But we know as we age there are different parts of our life that need different supplements. So for example, if you're looking to get pregnant, folic acid is a must.

[00:02:54]>> Okay. As you get older, we know B12 deficiency is common or if you're following a vegan vegetarian diet, you may need a B12 supplement. And let's not forget about calcium, bone health, which is my favorite to talk about. As you get older, menopausal, you may be at risk for bone loss. We all are. So you need to get enough calcium in your diet and if you don't a supplement is really essential and I take one myself. And just really quickly, you know, if if you aren't you don't have a deficiency, right? You know, what are the steps should you take? I'm sure talking to your doctor is probably one of instead of a social media influencer to make sure that you identify what is the right supplement.

[00:03:30]Three points, absolutely. Number one, look at your stack. Take out all those supplements, put them on the counter, see what you're taking. Number two, bring them into your doctor's office or take a picture on your camera to show them what you're taking. Number three, have them tally the dose. Have them take a look at what you're taking and tailor it to you because maybe you can take away a lot of these supplements and really just focus on your best health, your diet, your exercise.

[00:03:52]>> All right.

[00:03:53]>> a woman with a list. That's right. No doubt about it. Dr. Rachel Pesta Palak, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you.