Two years ago when John Coolidge, of Signal Mountain, started losing his hair, fingernails and toenails and experiencing diarrhea and lung problems, he had no clue as to the cause.
He learned about a month later the culprit was his dietary supplement, Total Body Formula. But that discovery came only after the product was recalled.
“The biggest surprise to everyone is the fact that you don’t really realize it’s the supplement you’re taking to have enhanced health that’s poisoning you,” said Coolidge, 55, who works at Chattanooga Printing. “I’m one of the people that would rather take something that’s naturally based … than something synthetic. … I think the biggest point is that you want quality control.”
Coolidge is featured in the September issue of Consumer Reports magazine, which is focused on the dangers of supplements. The story lists 12 risky supplement ingredients and notes that supplement manufacturers do not have to demonstrate that their products are safe and effective to sell them.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested Total Body Formula after receiving hundreds of complaints and found that some samples had 200 times the labeled amount of selenium, according to the article.
More than trace doses of the mineral selenium can cause gastrointestinal upsets, hair loss, white blotchy nails, garlic-breath odor, fatigue, irritability and mild nerve damage, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Mr. Coolidge, the youngest son of Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge, said he still is having lung problems and has lingering fatigue and weakness.
“Before all this happened, I was bicycling and working out several times a week,” he said. “I think my workout days may be gone.”