[Uly (OP)]

Hi,
I have been giving my mother a range of supplements over the last 3 days which seem to have some type of allergic affect on her. They are......fenugreek tablets, Kelp powder, whey protein isolate, lecithin tablets, Chondroitin & Glusomine tablets and psyllium powder.

On the first day she was ok, 2nd.....she felt sick in the stomach for about an hour, 3rd day sick in the stomach for around 5hours. I wont be giving her any supplements till I find out what's wrong. she gets a smaller reaction when she takes Vit c powder and msm together. she can take other vitamins ect without any problems in talblet form.

What could be causing this?

She also has Asthma / Emphysema

Any Ideas?

Uly

[Ylide]

Does she have a shellfish allergy?  Glucosamine is derived from shellfish chitin, and while it is not the shell but the proteins within the meat that are allergens, manufacturers may not have careful standards in avoiding protein contamination of the glucosamine.  There are currently very few regulations on supplement manufacturers in the US.



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[Uly (OP)]

I'm 99% sure she doesn't. When I take the same supplements I get alot of wind & gas, but nowhere near as bad as she did. I nearly took her to hospital.

Uly

[chris]

Impressive knowledge Jay.

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx

[bezoar]

Perhaps it has to do with the specific mixture of supplements. Didn't know that about glucosamine.  Good ER trivia.

[Ylide]

I spent a summer as a QC chemist for a company that manufactured nutritional supplements.  I know everything I ever wanted to know about glucosamine, L. acidophilus, and how screwed up the nutraceutical industry really is.  



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[bezoar]

So then you don't recommend supplements?  Or you think there should be better control/regulation of the supplements?

[Ylide]

I wouldn't say that I don't recommend supplements, but better controls are needed.  As of right now, the only thing a supplement provider needs to do is say on the product that it is not approved by the FDA and has not been proven to treat/cure an ailment.  

What you SHOULD do is look at results of independent laboratories that test supplements.  You should find them in 5 minutes with Google.  They do things like test products for actual content (as compared to label) and quality of content.  The big surprise is that the people that label and sell the products are often not the ones making them.  The company I worked for had only one product under their name.  They manufactured and labelled products for about 15 other companies.  I'd say about roughly 75% of supplement companies are just marketing machines, someone else produces, bottles, and labels their products.  Some of them have very good manufacturing processes, like the place I worked.  (Nutraceutix)  Some of them are unclean crapholes.  

I believe there are some laws coming to be (may have already, it was 1.5 years ago I worked there) that will make supplement manufacturers step in line with the same regs that food producers do.  Some followed those guidelines anyway, as a good business practice....some didn't, hence the need for the laws.  



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