January 2008
Hazardous ingredients
The supplements in this table have been linked to serious adverse events or to theoretical risks. We found them for sale on
the Web in individual or multi-ingredient products. Although the FDA has not acted on all of these ingredients, we advise
avoiding them for self-treatment.
| INGREDIENT | REPORTED USES | DANGERS |
| Androstenedione | Boost athletic performance | Increased cancer risk, gender-bending effects, decrease in HDL cholesterol |
| Aristolochic acid | Aphrodisiac, immune stimulant | Kidney damage, cancers; deaths reported |
| Bitter orange | Weight loss, boost athletic performance | High blood pressure; heart arrhythmias, heart attack, stroke |
| Cesium | Cancer, depression | Fainting, abnormal heart rhythm |
| Chaparral | Arthritis, cancer, weight loss | Abnormal kidney and liver function or damage, sometimes irreversible |
| Colloidal silver | Infection treatment and preventive | Kidney damage and irreversible skin discoloration |
| Graviola | Antibiotic, sedative | Nerve disorder similar to Parkinson’s disease |
| Kava | Anxiety, stress | Abnormal liver function or damage; deaths reported |
| Lobelia | Asthma, bronchitis | Tremor; overdose may cause coma and possibly death |
| Organ/glandular | Fatigue, stress, anti-aging, boost athletic performance | Theoretical risks, including mad cow disease, if contaminated animal tissue is present |
| Yohimbe | Aphrodisiac, erectile dysfunction, exhaustion | Tremor, anxiety, change in blood pressure; overdose might cause cardiac-conduction disorders, and death due to heart failure |
