Guidelines for choosing supplements and herbal medicines that are safe for consumption: uses, side effects, interactions

Herbal medicinal ingredients formulated from leaves, bark, fruit, flowers, and fragrant roots have been used for generations to cure various diseases. However, not all herbal medicines are safe for consumption.

This is because many herbal products on the market are known to contain chemicals that can cause serious side effects, such as heart problems and blood pressure. Many supplement products do not have a BPOM distribution license, aka illegal.

For that, you as a consumer must be wiser in choosing and buying safe herbal medicines. Check out the tips below.

How do you choose supplements and herbal medicines that are safe for consumption?

Here are tips for choosing safe herbal supplements and medicinal products based on guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM).

1. Check the packaging

Before buying, first check the product packaging. Make sure the packaging is not torn, chipped, dented, perforated, rusted, or leaking. Check when the product was made and when the expiration date is.

Also make sure that the following information is included on the labels of all herbal supplements.

• Name of supplement.
• Name and address of the manufacturer or distributor.
• Complete ingredient list-either in the brochure that is included in the package or listed on the container.
• Suggestions for serving, dosage, and amount of active ingredients.
• BPOM distribution permit number.

2. Read the label

Read and peruse the packaging label. The following questions need to be considered.

• Are there contraindications and restrictions?
• What is the correct way to use it, and is there a dosage limit per day?
• What active ingredients might it contain?
• Do you have any allergies to any of the ingredients listed?
• Does your doctor or current health condition prohibit you from consuming any of these ingredients?
• Are there any restrictions on food, beverages, drugs, and activities that should be avoided while taking these herbal medicines?

Herbal supplement manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that the claims they make about their products are not false or misleading and are supported by adequate evidence. However, they are not required to submit this evidence to BPOM.

Therefore, even though they are made from natural ingredients, many herbal medicines that contain natural chemical compounds have the potential to pose a risk of adverse side effects.

Temulawak is claimed to be effective as an appetite-enhancing drug and overcoming constipation, but ginger has blood-thinning properties that can cause acute kidney bleeding in people with liver disease.

Supplements of Dewa's leaves and elephant's trunk that are claimed to treat cancer are proven to cause liver poisoning.

The BPOM has emphasized that no herbal medicine, herbal supplement, or traditional medicine can replace chemotherapy or other procedures to cure cancer.

3. Make sure there is a distribution permit

Make sure the herbal product you want to buy has a distribution permit from the BPOM. To ensure authenticity, you can check the number listed at the following link http://cekbpom.pom.go.id/. Click here to see a complete list of traditional medicines that are recognized by BPOM. For a list of traditional medicines that have been withdrawn and prohibited from circulation, you can visit this BPOM page.

If you use a mixture of herbalists, make sure that the herbalist has a license to practice and is officially registered with the Health Office.

4. See the medicine class logo

Based on the provisions of the BPOM, traditional medicines are divided into 3 categories, namely Jamu, Standardized Herbal Medicine (OHT), and phyto-pharmacy.

In order for an herbal medicine to be declared safe, the product must first be scientifically proven its safety through a series of clinical trials. Herbal medicine must also be tested for dosage, method of use, effectiveness, monitoring of side effects, and their interactions with other medicinal compounds.

Phyto-pharmacy is the only class of herbal medicine that has passed all preclinical and clinical trials in humans.

Unfortunately, most of the herbal medicines circulating in Indonesia fall into the jamu and OHT categories. Both are types of traditional medicine whose safety has not been proven based on clinical trials.

The efficacy of OHT has only been demonstrated so far as experiments in laboratory animals. The results of these experiments are often used as the basis for herbal medicine to cure various diseases. In fact, the effect is not necessarily the same in humans.

Meanwhile, herbal medicine which usually uses a hereditary recipe does not have a definite dosage and indication. This can have different benefits and risks of side effects for each person.

Even though it's safe, not everyone is allowed to take herbal medicine

Consuming herbal and herbal medicines as a complementary alternative to synthetic drugs (both prescription and non-prescription) is actually acceptable.

The concocted herbal medicine in the form of a decoction is relatively safe because the toxic substances that may be contained in it have undergone a chemical structure change so that it is safe for consumption. However, the safety of herbal medicines formulated by other methods should always be questioned.

Herbal supplements usually only show their benefits if they are consumed regularly in the long term. It's just that, pay attention to the dosage and timing of using herbal jamu if you are using other drugs.

Herbal medicines should not be taken before medical drugs to avoid the risk of chemical compound interactions, and should be consumed 1 - 2 hours after medical drugs.

Because of that herbal medicine should only be consumed to maintain health, recovery of disease, or reduce the risk of disease — not to cure it. To cure the disease requires prescription drugs and medical treatment.

Be a smart consumer and choose which herbal medicines are safe for consumption. Don't be blinded by the seduction of bombastic advertising.