“Food supplements containing vinpocetine may expose to serious congenital malformations. Others, theoretically based on turmeric, expose to serious liver damage” alert the magazine Prescrire, which recalls on this occasion that the status of food supplement in no way protects the consumer because it guarantees nothing but the quality of the product.
A few months ago, the United States drug agency had already pointed out that dietary supplements based on vinpocetine (marketed as “vinca extract” or “periwinkle extract”) taken during pregnancy increased the risk of miscarriage.
Regarding food supplements containing turmeric, it is the Italian regional pharmacovigilance centers that have observed an increased risk of serious liver damage. “Certain powders described as turmeric are sometimes contaminated by powder from other species of turmeric than Curcuma longa, the most common of which is Curcuma zedoaria of recognized toxicity” stresses Prescrire.
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