Popping a cocktail of supplements every day might be doing you more harm than good

Popping a cocktail of supplements every day might be doing you more harm than good 50 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ruth Clegg Health and wellbeing reporter Getty Images I did not see myself as an avid supplement taker, but then I took a good look in my cupboard. Without realising it, I had accumulated several pouches of creatine, vitamin D, magnesium, collagen, an all-in-one green supplement, and some tablets designed to help with the ups and downs of perimenopause. I had thought I was immune to the constant ads on social media, but apparently not. Comments like: "I can't get over how these supplements have made me feel!" had clearly got under my (questionably) collagen-enhanced skin. A recent survey by consumer group Which? found that 76% of those asked took at least one supplement regularly - that includes vitamins, minerals, omega-3, probiotics and herbal supplements - and nearly a fifth took four or more on a daily basis. While supplements can play a vital role in enhancing our wellbeing when needed, some experts are warning we have become so eager to optimise our health, we are now at risk of endangering it. They have told the BBC they are seeing a growing number of patients and clients with liver, kidney and gastrointestinal issues which they say have been caused by people taking a growing number and range of supplements. One nutritionist tells me it's "insane" how many supplements people are using. "Some are beginning to think that taking a pill is better than eating food," she says. "It is not." Ginger Smith Ginger thought supplementing was helping her - but her health took a turn for the worse When Ginger Smith started taking supplements three years ago, she thought she was enhancing her health. As a brand influencer, various boxes of complimentary products would regularly land on her doorstep in Seattle. The 30-year-old would take the pills, powders and gels, and then extol their benefits online. "I was on high doses of vitamin C, vitamin D, turmeric, a special de-bloat supplement and I would regularly drink water with electrolytes in," Ginger explains. For a couple of years, she says she felt healthy and energised. Little did she know she was putting her kidneys under immense strain. After experiencing intense lower back pain, she went to her doctor, who ran a couple of blood tests. Within days, Ginger was told she needed an ultrasound. "I was a bit worried, but I did not expect to be told that I had a massive kidney stone. So big, they told me that they were going to have to operate to remove it." The kidney stone measured between two and three centimetres and had been caused, Ginger was told, by the cocktail of daily supplements she was taking. "I never would have thought that by trying to improve my health, I would end up in such a bad way," she says. "Luckily, I had insurance. "It still cost me $6,000 (£4,500) - but it would have been $35,000 (£26,000)." Ginger Smith Ginger Smith's X-ray showing a large kidney