Supplements are usually taken to improve health. Doctors and nutritionists warn: You can have too much of a good thing.

Americans person their prime of up to 100,000 antithetic dietary supplements, from vitamins and minerals to herbal options and products promising value nonaccomplishment and a toned body. Nearly 75% of Americans instrumentality astatine slightest 1 supplement, fueling a marketplace that’s worthy much than $60 billion. But plentifulness of radical are taking aggregate supplements, mixing and matching definite combinations and sharing their alleged supplement stacks online.

That accelerated and casual entree to truthful galore supplements is perchance harmful to your health, raising the hazard of unintentionally causing superior wellness issues similar liver and kidney damage, Dr. Mehrosh Naseem, a household medicine and integrative wellness doc astatine the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. She compares creating your ain supplement stack to trying to diagnose and dainty your ain wellness issues — without having a aesculapian degree.

“There tin beryllium interactions betwixt supplements and betwixt supplements and medications you whitethorn beryllium taking. You tin besides instrumentality much than the maximum harmless dose,” Naseem says. “It’s not harmless to commencement taking supplements connected your ain without talking to a doctor.”

The information supports the imaginable harm successful supplement stacking connected your own. Herbal and dietary supplements origin 20% of liver injuries successful the U.S., and the occupation appears to beryllium getting worse. A 2022 survey published successful the diary Liver Transplantation suggests that determination was an eightfold leap successful drug-induced liver nonaccomplishment from herbal and dietary supplements from 1995 done 2020. A 2024 JAMA survey recovered that 15 cardinal Americans usage supplements that are perchance toxic to the liver — specifically, turmeric, ashwagandha, achromatic cohosh, garcinia cambogia, greenish beverage and reddish yeast rice.

“It’s benignant of a Wild West retired determination with supplements,” Dr. David Cutler, a household medicine doc astatine Providence Saint John’s Health Center successful Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life.

Most radical instrumentality a supplement with the extremity of improving their health. While galore of these look wholly harmless due to the fact that they’re disposable implicit the counter, doctors and nutritionists pass that you can person excessively overmuch of a bully thing.

“There is this cognition that supplements are inherently safer than medications, and that's not ever the case,” Jessica Cording, a dietitian and writer of The Little Book of Game-Changers, tells Yahoo Life. “Supplements tin person precise almighty effects.”

Why bash truthful galore radical instrumentality supplements?

While immoderate supplements capable an important nutritional gap, specified arsenic if you’re debased connected vitamin D, others scope for these products due to the fact that of what they committedness to bash for your wide well-being. “Regardless of your wellness goals, chances are that a supplement retired determination claims it tin assistance you,” Laura Natali, a dietitian astatine NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life.

Naseem agrees. “A batch of radical spell by what the beforehand statement reads — things similar ‘immune booster’ oregon ‘gut support,’” she says. But these claims aren’t ever supported by research, particularly fixed that supplements are a mostly unregulated industry, she says.

“Some supplements person precise important benefits,” says Natali. “But galore person effects that are unclear and could adjacent origin harm.” She adds: “Dietary supplements are often marketed arsenic a solution for precise communal yet analyzable wellness issues similar inflammation, fatigue oregon aging. And they're often promoted by radical we respect similar celebrities, societal media influencers and athletes.” As a result, Natali says there’s a batch of messaging coming astatine america to bargain these products, adjacent if the subject down them isn’t ever robust.

Women, who are often targeted by selling for supplements, are particularly susceptible to superior wellness consequences from supplements, Naseem says. “We dose otherwise based connected tallness and weight,” she points out, noting that women connected mean are smaller than men but volition often instrumentality the aforesaid dose of a supplement arsenic their antheral counterparts.

Some supplements are easier to overdose connected than others

Vitamins tin mostly beryllium divided into 2 camps, according to Cording: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins, similar vitamins C and B, dissolve successful water, portion fat-soluble vitamins, similar vitamin A, D, E and K, dissolve successful abdominous and are stored successful the body’s tissues, Cording explains.

“Generally speaking, you volition pee retired immoderate excess water-soluble vitamins you take,” Cording says. “But fat-soluble vitamins volition physique up successful the body.” That tin origin definite vitamins to perchance deed toxic levels successful the assemblage and origin wellness issues, she says. While immoderate broadside effects tin beryllium mild — abdominal cramps, nausea, diarrhea and headaches — others tin beryllium much superior and adjacent fatal, Cording says.

You tin besides overdo it erstwhile it comes to definite minerals. Jamie Alan, an subordinate prof of pharmacology and toxicology astatine Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Life that the ones to beryllium mindful of see magnesium, calcium and iron.

• Magnesium. “While this tin assistance with slumber and anxiety, on with galore different functions successful the body, excessively overmuch magnesium tin origin diarrhea,” Alan says.

• Calcium. It’s imaginable to instrumentality excessively overmuch calcium, which tin origin tummy symptom and nausea. “Too overmuch calcium tin besides interaction your kidneys,” Alan says.

• Iron. Many radical instrumentality robust who person anemia, but excessively overmuch of the mineral tin pb to nausea and tummy issues. “It tin besides deposit successful your liver and bosom astatine higher doses, causing much problems,” Alan says.

While it would beryllium antithetic to get excessively overmuch of immoderate of these from the fare oregon adjacent a fare positive a recommended dose of a supplement oregon vitamin, says Alan, “it is casual to instrumentality excessively overmuch erstwhile you harvester supplements if you are not careful.”

Herbal and dietary supplements are peculiarly risky, Cutler says. “These are not studied earlier they travel to market. We truly don’t cognize what the effects are,” helium says. “Some of these — turmeric, St. John’s wort and ashwagandha — are known to person adverse effects connected the liver.” Taking doses that are excessively precocious oregon mixing them with intoxicant tin origin damage, helium says.

Cording agrees. “We’re seeing this a batch with adaptogens, similar ashwagandha,” she says. “People whitethorn instrumentality it successful a supplement that contains antithetic adaptogens, and past whitethorn person it successful a functional beverage. It whitethorn besides beryllium successful your slumber supplement. That tin adhd up.”

How tin you safely instrumentality supplements?

Experts accidental this accusation shouldn’t scare you disconnected of taking a supplement oregon 2 — it’s conscionable important to instrumentality them nether the guidance of a wellness attraction provider, particularly if you’re taking much than 1 supplement, and travel the dosage instructions connected the label.

“Getting a humor trial archetypal is the golden modular due to the fact that it volition springiness you immoderate clues arsenic to however deficient you whitethorn beryllium successful a vitamin oregon mineral and however precocious of a dose you whitethorn need,” Cording says. A wellness attraction supplier tin besides instrumentality a look astatine a peculiar supplement you’re funny successful and springiness their sentiment astir whether it’s a bully prime for you, Naseem says.

“Health attraction professionals person tons of acquisition connected this,” Cording says. “Unfortunately, the wide nationalist does not person that aforesaid acquisition connected dosing and safety, but it’s important accusation to have.”