NHS staff battling wave of food supplement disinformation

Patients’ belief in unproven dietary regimes, vitamins and minerals may be increasing their risk of getting cancer. Photograph: Oleg Breslavtsev/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Patients’ belief in unproven dietary regimes, vitamins and minerals may be increasing their risk of getting cancer. Photograph: Oleg Breslavtsev/Getty Images NHS staff battling wave of food supplement disinformation Exclusive: Cancer charity says dispelling falsehoods gleaned from social media is now routine task for clinicians Social media misinformation about the use of dietary supplements such as turmeric, St John’s wort and magnesium is now so common that dispelling online claims has become a routine part of NHS clinicians work. Two out of five frontline health workers say they encounter patients who raise inaccurate or misleading information about supplements at least once a week. Polling by YouGov for the World Cancer Research Fund found that the figure is even higher (53%) among nurses and midwives, with false information about nutrition and supplements now taking up what doctors describe as “precious time” in NHS consultations. The WCRF says it fears that patients’ belief in unproven dietary regimes, vitamins and minerals is putting their health in danger and increasing their risk of getting cancer. Dr Philippa Kaye said she saw the consequences of health misinformation every week in her GP surgery. “My patients arrive clutching newspaper stories, social media screenshots, printouts from wellness websites or saved videos from TikTok. “What particularly worries me is the widely held belief that if something is sold over the counter, marked as ‘natural’ or endorsed online, then it must automatically be safe and harmless, while prescribed medicines are somehow toxic,” she added. “As doctors, we know this simply is not true.” Some popular supplements can involve hidden risks, according to Kaye. “People assume that supplements are safe because you can buy them over the counter without a prescription. But if something works, then there is an active ingredient in it that may also cause problems. “For example, liver injury related to turmeric supplements, St John’s wort interacting with other medications, people thinking they are taking magnesium for sleep but there are different types of magnesium, and some can cause diarrhoea and various supplements, and various supplements leading to itchy skin reactions.” View image in fullscreen St John’s Wort can interact with other medications. Photograph: Westend61/Alamy The WCRF commissioned the survey of 795 NHS staff before Cancer Prevention Action Week, which starts on Monday. Cancer specialists behind the initiative are so concerned about public misunderstanding about health that for the next three years its activities will highlight the risks posed by misinformation. Steven Greenberg, the WCRF’s UK director, spoke of people who believe dubious claims about diet and supplements, including “advice that’s distorted, taken