Most people learn about herbal and dietary supplements from health food stores or read about them on the Internet. However, informed consumers need to know that key safety information is still lacking from many online sources of herbal and dietary supplements, as illustrated in a recent American Journal of Medicine review of 1,179 websites on 13 common herbal medicines. The study revealed that less than 8% of retail websites provided information regarding potential adverse effects, drug interactions and other safety issues. Less than 3% cited scientific literature to accompany their claims*.
Are non-commercial websites more reliable?
Non-commercial websites may be more reliable, but health care professionals and patients should be aware of the varying quality of these sites for making informed decisions. That’s why I tend to limit my searches to high-quality dietary supplement/herbal databases produced by academic medical institutions or the government. These answer important questions about individual herbs and supplements — and provide scientific evidence to validate that information.
What websites do you recommend?
On the website of the Center for Health and Healing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, we provide links to a variety of online resources for herbal and dietary supplements. Here are three of my favorites:
• MedlinePlus Herbs and Supplements – Produced by the U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), this site provides write-ups covering topics that include what each herb and supplement is, how it works, its effectiveness, safety, interactions with medications/herbs/supplements/foods, doses used and references to the scientific literature.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products – This website covers evidence-based information with citations linked directly to the studies on the NIH PubMed site. The database contains an extensive list of herbs, vitamins and supplements. A summary for each agent is provided, as well as details about plant constituents, uses, how it works, side effects, patient warnings and herb-drug interactions. A professional and consumer version of each summary is available.
• University of Maryland Complementary and Alternative Medicine Guide – This database provides evidence-based information, including overviews, medicinal uses, indications, pediatric and adult dosage, precautions, available forms, drug and herb interactions and references.
What else should I consider regarding herbs and supplements?
Being knowledgeable about health products is an important step to being an active participant in your health care. It’s important to know what has been studied, what has been shown to be effective and what are the potential adverse effects, side effects and interactions. Share this information with your health care provider to ensure a product is safe for you to take and likely to be effective.
*Owens C, Baergen R, Puckett D. Online sources of herbal product information. Am J Med. 127(2):109-15, Feb 2014.
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