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00:00Hello and welcome to Guardian Talks on Guardian TV. My name is Fadima Rachel.
00:04Across Nigerians, shelves and supermarkets are packed with dietary supplements such as peels,
00:09powders and herbal teas. This supplement promises fatality, skin suppleness and even weight loss.
00:17However, beyond the slay bills, a quiet yet dangerous health crisis is looming.
00:22Kidney damages, birth defects and sending some to their early graves.
00:26Helping us to unpack this segment is a certified nutritionist, Fingifoluwa Odokoya,
00:32who would be shedding his view on the misuse of dietary supplements.
00:44Thanks for joining this conversation.
00:51Supplements are everywhere, from the supermarkets to the gym, what have you.
00:56I mean, even on Instagram, on social media, there are different adverts promoting supplements to people.
01:02Now, the question is this, what is facilitating this craze?
01:06Is it that people are really concerned about their well-being or they're just trying to fit into a model?
01:12Okay, so thank you very much, Rachel, for that question.
01:16There are two things that you've highlighted and there are two things I've been to talk about.
01:20The first one is the genuine need.
01:22So there is the genuine need for supplements, right?
01:24And we have people that need them.
01:26However, there is also the societal pressure.
01:29So there are people with real television entities that actually need this supplement.
01:35So we are saying that for them, they need this supplement.
01:37And there are people that are taking these supplements, not because they have any medical condition,
01:42not because there is an increased demand as a result of pregnancy,
01:46but there is the pressure to look like, to look in a certain way.
01:50You want to say, oh, flat tummy, big hips, light skin, so many mentalities.
01:56So there is the genuine need and there is the people that are just taking them for so many reasons.
02:04And then another thing is we see that they are now aggressive marketing.
02:08I mean, you look left, you look right.
02:10You are seeing one, same product being advertised on different social media platforms.
02:15In your subconscious, it is good to register in your subconscious.
02:19One day you want to try this product because why is it everywhere?
02:21I open Snapchat, I'm seeing it.
02:22I open Instagram, I'm seeing it.
02:23I open Twitter, I'm seeing it.
02:24I open YouTube, I'm seeing it everywhere.
02:26In your subconscious, it is good to register and you definitely want to buy it.
02:30And there is this celebrity endorsement also, so there are so many factors that affect it.
02:36However, there is the genuine need and there is all of this.
02:39People wanting to look in a certain way or they are aggressive marketing, they are pushing it into the market.
02:45And in your subconscious, it just registers and people definitely buy it.
02:49And the unfortunate part is that this second group of people are the ones that are using it without any medical guidance.
02:55All right, thank you very much for that.
02:59All right, so moving on to the next question.
03:02I mean, we've had cases of pregnant women suffering from miscarriage after taking some maybe multivitamins.
03:08And then we've also had about cases of elderly ones who, you know, who developed kidney damages later on in life due to long use of immunity bushfires.
03:18So the question is this, when does taking supplements, when does it crosses the line of misuse or overuse?
03:26Okay, so there are a lot of cases of people taking supplements or overdosing supplements in deep part of the world.
03:36However, we have a data issue.
03:40And what do I mean by that?
03:41Most cases are underrepresented.
03:42So most people do not realize that a lot of their issues, it's been linked to supplement abuse or supplements misuse as the case may be.
03:52And most of the time, we're only just treating symptoms without having to look out for the root cause.
03:57So people most of the time would not connect, oh, I'm taking supplements that make me suffer from this miscarriage in the long run as a result of excess dose or complications from me or misuse.
04:09And people would think that, oh, because it is vitamin, because it is herbal, they never would want to mention to their healthcare professional that they are on it.
04:18So most of the time, they wouldn't even be able to link it to maybe, oh, this is it, because they would never tell you.
04:24I've seen cases where I have consultant clients and then I just start asking them, so what do you take, what do you take for your blood sugar and all of that?
04:31They would never tell you that this is the vascular thing that they take, until you start listing that, ah, you used to drink purple disease, you used to drink this one, purple disease, you used to drink this one, purple disease, you used to boil this, and then they suddenly one by one decide what you take, but they do not realize that those ones are also disabled because it is about and it's a supplement.
04:51They feel like, oh, you are not disabled.
04:53They are not disabled.
04:54They are not disabled.
04:55They are not disabled.
04:56They just feel like it is part of food.
04:57Absolutely.
04:58All right.
04:59Thank you for that insightful conversation.
05:02Okay.
05:03So the next question is this.
05:05I mean, people usually fall under disbelief that once it is said to be safe or natural, I mean, they believe that, oh, they can use it as much as they want because it is satisfied as natural.
05:18So the question is this, I mean, why should people prevent themselves from being addicted to these so-called natural remedies or supplements?
05:30Okay.
05:31Thank you very much.
05:33Bourbon is natural.
05:40Poisonous mushroom is natural, but does that make them healthy?
05:45No.
05:46That particular mindset of saying natural is safe is a very, very terrible and a risky mentality.
05:55So saying things like is safe equivalent to natural is a very scary mentality.
06:02We have seen cases where about this, where bourbon is she, where all these combo drinks and juices and whatever it is affects the liver and raises the liver enzymes, right?
06:16So you need to be very sure or you need to understand.
06:19Even natural resiliency, in quotes, as they like to say, it is natural, right?
06:24But then it will cause things like heart perpetrations, things like you are drinking vitally juice or people say, oh, they are drinking vitally juice because of eating.
06:33It can affect pregnancy and all of that.
06:35And all of that.
06:36So all of it.
06:37So the thing that it is, the fact that it is gotten from the earth doesn't exactly make it safe.
06:42The fact that it is gotten from the earth doesn't make it safe.
06:45What matters most is the dosage and the interaction.
06:48Nutrients to nutrient interaction.
06:50Nutrients to drug to drug interaction and so many other things.
06:54So these are things that matter beyond just AOTC.
06:59All right.
07:00So the next question.
07:02So we have a lot of celebrities endorsing all the supplements.
07:07You see some celebrities like a popular female celebrity, Mercy Johnson, endorsing about these slimming products.
07:17I mean, what are the hidden dangers of using supplements for beauty purposes only?
07:25Okay.
07:26So most of all of these medications that are used for beauty purpose are undeclared medications.
07:33That is one.
07:34They will never tell you the things that it contains.
07:36That is one.
07:37Two, it is unregulated.
07:38Three, you see things like steroids.
07:40Four, heavy metals.
07:42Even glutathione in high dosage can affect the liver.
07:47And some of all of these, they are hip boosters and the rest.
07:50Contains things that affect your hormone in the long run.
07:54And then these things will destruct your period.
07:56They will destruct your menstrual cycle.
07:58And you will not be able to link it to know that it is that drink that you are drinking.
08:02But it also would increase your risk of developing certain kinds of cancers.
08:07So having to chase short-term beauty fixes can affect your health in the long run.
08:13And put you at risk of so many health conditions.
08:15So are you going to pick looking like whatever you feel like societal beauty standard is for a very long time.
08:22And you are dying inside.
08:23Rotting inside literally.
08:25Or you are going to just be healthy and eat the right state.
08:28So you want to pick either trading short-term beauty for long-term health problems.
08:33Or you want to be healthy and you want to just be fine.
08:37It depends on you.
08:41Alright.
08:42As a certified nutritionist, can you tell us the right time and the right duration.
08:48And also the right proportion, you know, to always follow when we can use this supplement.
08:53Okay.
08:54So dosage as well as duration matters.
08:59And what is dosage?
09:00Dosage is the amounts that you are consuming, the amounts that you are taking.
09:04And what is duration?
09:06Duration is for how long you are going to take it.
09:09So it matters a lot in the body because how your body processes all of these 10 compounds.
09:15Your body can only process a certain amount and you will not process it.
09:19So let's look at fat soluble vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin D and vitamin K.
09:24These are supplements that people would most likely abuse, right?
09:27And a lot of them, because they are fat soluble, they can accumulate in the liver and they cause toxicity over time.
09:34Unfortunately, a lot of people abuse vitamins and supplements, but they do not know that they are at risk of overdose.
09:44People even abuse things like vitamin C in the long run.
09:47I think the only good thing about vitamin C or the only narrow escape that people have is that it is water soluble.
09:55So when your body takes the amount it means the rest is going into your urine.
09:59Yes.
10:00That's the only way.
10:01Unfortunately, it isn't the same thing for fat soluble vitamins.
10:06So this can absorb in your liver and the long run cause toxicity.
10:11Things like minerals like iron, when you take them in overdose can also affect you.
10:17And then continuous dosage or continuous high dosage without break or going for a test can also put you at risk of different health complications.
10:28So you want to try as much as possible to do tests or you want to go for your blood test, your blood work before.
10:35If you are seeing symptoms of deficiency or you feel like you are deficient in certain trends, don't just go and dig these supplements.
10:41Go for tests, go to the lab, go to a diagnostic center, better still go to a wellness center with medical, actual medical doctors.
10:51Or if you want to ensure that you are going to the hospital, get your blood work done, get your lab tests done.
10:58Let the results be out.
10:59Let the doctor, the dietitian, let them review your results.
11:02Let the nutritionist see your results.
11:04Let them now tell you, okay, we want to use foods to manage it first.
11:09If food or if it's very low, we want to put you on certain medications for a certain duration of time.
11:14Maybe put you on a particular amount of vitamin D for about one month, two month, three months and then after that,
11:22you actually come back for another repeat test and see, oh, is your number better?
11:27Okay, your number is better.
11:29We are taking you from 10,000 IU of vitamin D to 5,000 because now your numbers are already better.
11:36So things like that, so cases like that.
11:39Thank you so much for that.
11:42So you made mention of some deficiencies to watch out for to know that, oh, maybe you are already overdosing.
11:48Can you elaborate more on these deficiencies?
11:51Okay.
11:52So I said, in order to know that you need a particular vitamin, there are certain cases that you might see.
11:59So for certain people, it can be fatigue, it can be lack of concentration.
12:05And there are so many, there are so many things.
12:07I mean, the body system is pretty different.
12:09So you can see different kinds of, so there might be so many kinds of things.
12:13It might be tingling sensation in your hand.
12:15There are so many, there are so many things that would, um, that would show for it.
12:20It can be, oh, um, your appetite.
12:22There are so many things.
12:23It could be loss of sleep.
12:24It could be a consistent headache.
12:26It could be you forgetting things easily.
12:29So some of these things, it could even be weakness and all of the rest.
12:32So there are so many things that we would see.
12:35And then we would not say, oh, come and do the other.
12:37Come and do this test.
12:38Come and do that test.
12:39And then when the tests have been done, we would not say, oh, the result.
12:43And they would not put your maybe settings up with mental safety as well.
12:46It's, it's more of certain things.
12:48And they would not explain to you that you should eat certain things to get out certain things to help absorb that particular nutrient spectrum.
12:55Yes.
12:56Thank you so much.
12:58Uh, second to the last question, what we call this segment, what we call it to a close.
13:04Uh, so we have a lot of sellers online, you know, advertising this supplement.
13:09And, uh, most of them, they have minimal professional training.
13:13So the thing is, how do on average Nigeria, uh, identify a credible medical advice from, you know, marketing jamboree?
13:23Okay.
13:24That's, that's, that's great.
13:25So first off, um, an actual healthcare professional will not speak from the place of emotions.
13:31And what do I mean by that?
13:33Um, I would not let my emotions cloud me and I will always speak based on research.
13:38So bring out research, let's do cross-analysis, let's do cross-sectional analysis.
13:43Break out your path.
13:44I will bring out your path.
13:45I'm not saying, oh, I said this, I saw this, I see that, I see tools.
13:49We're bringing our research, we're bringing our results, we're bringing our science, scientific knowledge.
13:54This is scientific knowledge.
13:55That is one.
13:56That is one way that you can know an actual professional.
13:59Another one would be, um, every healthcare professional, actual healthcare professional,
14:04is always ready to flex their result.
14:06And always ready to flex their certification and their certification.
14:09I mean, I worked for it every week.
14:11I worked for it days and nights.
14:13I want to flex my, my certifications.
14:16I want to flex my degree and let you know that this is it.
14:19So most of the actual healthcare professionals will really put everything.
14:23So whatever it is, whether they are in the fellow of this association, a member of this association,
14:28all of the rest, they will always put it in their bio.
14:31Whatever professional association that they belong to, you'll see a lot of them put it there.
14:34That is true.
14:35Three, there is a way you would interact with them and they would know.
14:39So one of the red flags is that you want to be sure that, um, they have, they're actually qualified.
14:45Like you could help people and say, I mean, in an argument, I have had anger, I'm arguing with actual,
14:51with non-professional organizations.
14:52And they say, oh, I'm like, oh, I studied this for, for five years, four years.
14:56And these are the things I, and this is my life sentence, and this, and this, and this.
14:59And they are like, oh, and then they will definitely will not respond to you with it.
15:02They are most likely beginning to block you.
15:04So you already know that that is that.
15:06And I, I've seen patients ask me, oh, which school did you finish from?
15:10Um, where did you finish from?
15:12Where have you worked before?
15:13Just because they want to be sure that, okay, um, this person actually know what they are doing.
15:19So actual healthcare professionals are never scared when you ask them where they trade.
15:24They would answer you and they would bring them in.
15:27That is one.
15:28You, you never see them marketing a cure or marketing something that will guarantee cure.
15:33So you would never see an actual healthcare professional saying that, oh, I would cure your diabetes totally.
15:38Rather, you see them say things like, um, I'll put you into diabetes remission.
15:43Hmm.
15:44They will never tell you that, oh, the, um, if you drink this about concoction to cure your diabetes.
15:50If you drink this one, fat saliva will dissolve.
15:52If you, this thing, the fat will go inside.
15:54And like, you would never hear things from them.
15:56You would never see things from them like that.
15:58And you would never promote certain products.
16:01And people that are unqualified will always tell things without ingredients or unclear labeling.
16:07Because we as healthcare professionals know the impact of unclear labeling and no ingredients.
16:13Because we're talking about consumer education and all those consumer standards.
16:16And we want people to be empowered and educated to know what they are putting into their body system.
16:21So healthcare professionals will let you know that.
16:23But people that are not healthcare professionals will not tell you that.
16:27They would never tell you that.
16:28And then they would also never push a one-size-fit-all.
16:31You would never say an actual professional, put a one-size-fit-all.
16:35I tell you that, oh, they are counting on one ways to manage diabetes.
16:38They are counting on one ways to manage PCOS.
16:40You can't manage, you can't manage one person the same way.
16:43Because no two persons have the same, no two persons have the same body system.
16:48No two persons function the same way.
16:50All right.
16:51Thank you so much, Mr. Fee, for Luau Nukoya.
16:55And the last question is this.
16:58If there's one golden rule you want to give to Nigerians regarding their use of dietary supplements, what would it be?
17:05Okay.
17:06So there are three things I would say.
17:09So I tell my clients something and this is what I call them.
17:12CFN.
17:13CFN.
17:14That is the golden rule for them.
17:16One, test before you take.
17:19So you want to ensure that you are going for tests.
17:21You want to ensure that lab works are being done.
17:23You want to know where you are coming from, where you are going to.
17:26That is the one.
17:27Two, ensure to follow the right dosage and stop it when you no longer need it.
17:32So it means follow.
17:33So test for C, F for follow and M should be never replace a balanced diet or a medical treatment supplement.
17:43Very important.
17:44All right.
17:45Thank you so much for this insightful conversation.
17:47I mean, I've learned a lot and I'm very sure our audience out there also, they've grabbed
17:52monumental things from this conversation.
17:54Thank you so much for your time.
17:56Thank you so much, Richa.
17:57Enjoy the rest of your day.
17:59And you too.
18:01Have a great day.
18:02Bye.
18:03Bye.
18:04Once again, thank you for your follower Odu Koya for sharing this wonderful insight
18:09with us.
18:10The bottom line of this conversation is this.
18:13Supplement is not just candy.
18:15If used properly, it can promote health and general wellness.
18:18And if used wrongly, could lead to some health complications.
18:21Till I call me away next time.
18:22I'm Fatima Rachel.
18:23Bye for now.
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