After months of insomnia, Monique Simpson from Sydney was struggling with exhaustion. Fed up, at 3am one night, she Googled ‘sleep supplements’, searched three websites on her phone and then placed an online order for melatonin, magnesium and a herbal liquid containing valerian, skullcap and passionflower. “With a 10 per cent discount for new customers and a 25 per cent off sale from the seller, I got a good deal,” says the 56-year-old. “But I forgot to check the company location, so the supplements took weeks to arrive from China. Finally, I started taking them and they didn’t help my sleep at all. The melatonin gave me a bad morning headache and the magnesium gave me tummy cramps, so after a month I threw them all out. They were a total waste of money.”
The Digital Dangers
Busy lives and COVID lockdowns have led more Aussies, like Monique, to use online checkouts to fast-track their supplement shopping. Indeed, we now spend a whopping $5.6 billion on supplements every year – a figure that’s doubled in a decade and continues to rise since the pandemic. But not all of these unrecognised health brands or their pills, powders and tinctures are legit. Some sellers are little more than modern snake oil salesmen, spruiking sub-par products that make false, unfounded promises to magically cure or relieve every health issue overnight.
“A growing number of supplements sold online are made in overseas factories, which have poor quality control and no regulatory watchdog checking them for safety and purity,” cautions Geraldine Moses, Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Queensland. “In addition to containing toxins like arsenic and strychnine, studies have shown that many have lead, cadmium and mercury, which can cause everything from liver problems to inflammation.”
The Clean Label Project in the US found that 75 per cent of protein powders they sampled contained lead and other heavy metals as well as solvents, pesticides and plastics, such as BPA (Bisphenol A). Heavy metals have also been found in Chinese medicines made overseas, along with DNA from snakes, frogs, cats, dogs and leopards, shows research from the University of Adelaide.
“These findings are a potent reminder that, when buying health products online, you don’t always know what you’re getting,” says Dr Tony Bartone, health consumer advocate and former president of the Australian Medical Association. But let’s be clear: that’s not the case with supplements made and sold in Australia, which must be checked and approved by our Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for safety.
Deceptive Healthcare On The Rise
We’ve all consulted Dr Google at some stage to find a quick fix for an ailment. Speed-reading health websites and forums online can feel far more convenient than waiting days to get an appointment with a GP. But, unlike respected websites for health advice, such as the Better Health Channel in Australia or the Mayo Clinic in the US, much online health advice borders on quackery.
“The number of online health scams has increased 20 per cent to 50 per cent in the past few years,” agrees Professor Bernie Garrett, author of The New Alchemists: The Rise of Deceptive Healthcare. “It’s become a global marketplace. There’s a whole continuum of deception out there, driven by the sophisticated use of advertising and manipulation techniques through social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.” Click on a single ad and the algorithm will send you plenty more. And so the cycle begins.
The Celebrity Influence
In addition to skincare and beauty products, many celebrities like Kate Hudson, Miranda Kerr and Elle Macpherson flog their own health lines that include vitamin and weight loss supplements. Some products have created controversy, such as the Kardashians’ appetite suppressant lollipops. Gwyneth Paltrow’s vaginal Jade Eggs led her company to be fined in the US for false claims that the product could ‘balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse and increase bladder control’. Health and wellness influencers, too, have come under the spotlight – including Australia’s infamous wellness blogger Belle Gibson, who faked her diagnosis of cancer to gain 300,000-plus followers, selling them her ‘clean eating’ Whole Pantry app and book.
Now, in an effort to stop testimonials from masquerading as credible health advice, the TGA has just introduced a brand-new advertising code. This prevents health influencers from spruiking products for which they’ve received kickbacks (such as payments, products or freebies). And they can no longer claim that their products, such as vitamin supplements and protein and collagen powders, can treat or prevent health issues unless there’s solid scientific proof.
“This new, much-needed code is a wake-up call that movie stars, models, pop stars and health influencers may not always give reliable or evidence-based health advice,” says Dr Bartone. “By comparison, doctors spend five to six years extensively studying everything from anatomy to medical conditions unlike an actor who might have a public spotlight but is only an expert at acting.”
Signs It's A Scam
Watch for these red flags, which can often (but not always) indicate a dodgy online health product:
• Fast results or miracle cures
• Endorsements or testimonials from ‘real people’, ie paid actors
• Money-back guarantees
• Before-and-after photographs
• Claims the product is in short supply or better than any similar product on the market
• Promises to detox or cleanse your body and purge it of toxins, metals, etc
• Free samples or gifts
• Links to studies done only on animals
• Mention of ‘secret ingredients’ or technical-sounding jargon, such as ‘micronised’ vitamin C
You can find all the latest scams to watch out for at scamwatch.gov.au.
Common Health Hoaxes
We take you through three of the top health scams right now
1 INEFFECTIVE SUPPLEMENTS
Whether you’re experiencing hay fever, hot flushes or Hashimoto’s, there’s a supplement marketed to cure it. More than half of all Aussies regularly take vitamin and mineral supplements, shows a 2021 report from Complementary Medicines Australia (CMA). It tracked our top health concerns, which were immunity, stress, sleep, belly health and healthy brain and joints. Our top supplement sellers? Vitamin D, C, B and E as well as multivitamins, fish oil, omega 3 fatty acids, iron, calcium and probiotics.
Websites selling these supplements often link them to studies that appear to prove their effectiveness. Unfortunately, the vendors often cherry-pick the information when, in fact, the studies are low quality, have only been done on rats or involve just a handful of participants. So, do your homework. To check out if a supplement could help you, Dr Bartone suggests you look for, “Gold standard studies, with a ‘double blind placebo’ design, where they compare one group taking the supplement to another taking a sugar pill and none of the participants know what they’ve been given. Also check out the ‘P value’ [probability], too – the lower it is, the more likely
it is that the study’s claim is proven and true.”
American research suggests that 20 per cent or more of supplements are tainted with hidden drugs including steroids, antidepressants and even active ingredients from Viagra. Ephedrine may also be snuck into anti-stress and energy supplements, so you think the supplement is perking you up when you’re unknowingly taking a stimulant drug, which could prove addictive over months. Meanwhile, the label may recommend three doses a day, not based on good science but because this will ensure you buy another bottle sooner. This overdosing carries risks. “Supplements often contain a substance 10,000 times more concentrated than it is in food,” says Associate Professor Moses. “High doses of vitamin D, for example, have been shown to decrease bone density and increase the risk of bone fractures.”
Herbal remedies can also pose problems. “So, always consult with your doctor before buying a supplement so they can troubleshoot for any interactions with medications or conditions you have and warn you about possible side effects.” For example, if you’re taking antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and you also supplement with a herb called St John’s wort for depression, “You could cause serotonin syndrome, which is potentially life threatening,” Dr Bartone points out. “Even something as benign as Swedish herbal bitters at meal times could worsen symptoms for a person with irritable bowel syndrome.”
Overdoses can also occur if you down a daily cocktail of vitamin and mineral tablets. “If you’re taking zinc, magnesium and vitamin B, for example, each supplement might contain vitamin B6, so you could be getting an excess daily dose,” says Associate Professor Moses. “This could lead to nausea, dizziness, skin rashes and even a condition called peripheral neuropathy, which causes nerve ending damage.” Time spent taking often ineffective supplements might also delay more effective treatments. “This could allow a disease or illness to go undiagnosed and worsen,” she warns.
2 INFLUENCER SUMMITS AND COURSES
Many wellness influencers from all over the world are now forming collectives to present online health summits about issues, such as gut and liver health, anxiety and preventing or treating health conditions like thyroid and heart disease. Hosted by one or two influencers, these summits have multiple ‘expert’ speakers who may have little, questionable or irrelevant training. Though some content is free, often you have to pay to receive the whole package. This involves providing your email, after which some influencers may bombard you with info about their vitamin range or latest health course. Often, they also endorse other brands, so be on the alert for a product suggestion teamed with a special discount code just for you to order it. “That’s a neon sign the influencer is most likely getting a kickback on every sale,” says Dr Bartone. If you pay for their content or recommended supplements and feel no better, or feel even worse, there’s absolutely no recourse to demand your money back or hold them accountable for their false claims.
3 WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCTS
Want to drop a kilo or two? Health websites are filled with products promising to suppress your appetite, stop fat absorption, speed metabolism and help you melt ‘30 kilos in 30 days’. Trouble is, Australian research has shown that some contain ingredients that may be harmful, warns the TGA. Excess caffeine can cause heart palpitations, elevated blood pressure or even cardiac arrest in high doses. Other ingredients, such as Latin Seed, poisonous yellow oleander, sibutramine (an appetite suppressant drug) and phenolphthalein (which can have laxative effects), can also cause permanent harm. Though often not even mentioned on the label, these hidden ingredients can lead to major side effects including diarrhoea, heart damage, heart attacks, strokes and even cancer.
For this reason, the TGA advises against buying weight loss products from unknown websites. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” agrees Melanie McGrice, dietitian and director of Nutrition Plus clinics in Melbourne. “There are no shortcuts – the best way to lose and maintain weight is to exercise and eat a healthy diet. If you adopt that approach, you can also lose the supplements, because good nutrition will give you all the vitamins and minerals you need.”
Here’s how to protect yourself online from buying poor quality or unsafe vitamins and minerals from overseas.
✓ Choose known brand names from respected Australian sites
✓ Look for the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods codes ‘Aust R’ (ie Registered) or ‘AUST L, AUST L(A) (ie Listed) on the label, which indicates the product was manufactured in a laboratory licensed by the TGA.
✓ Do a scam search using the name of the product and website. Also check health product alerts on the TGA website.
Newsletter
