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Dietary supplements can lead to risky behavior
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Taking dietary supplements may lead to unintended consequences such as casual sex, excessive alcohol consumption, and eating "unhealthy" foods.
Scientists from National Taiwan Yat-Sen University conducted two separate experiments, giving 150 study participants placebo pills, half of whom thought they were taking a multivitamin.
A study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who believed they were taking vitamins expressed less desire to exercise and were more likely to engage in risky behavior (casual sex, excessive alcohol consumption, excessive sunbathing, and a preference for fast food).
"Because dietary supplements are perceived by many people as a means of improving health, the use of such supplements may create an illusory sense of invulnerability, leading to unhealthy behavior," the authors write.
Scientists have suggested that this behavior is a consequence of the blind trust many people have in dietary supplements, whose manufacturers have recently begun to write “licensed product” on the packaging.
The use of vitamins and other dietary supplements has increased dramatically in recent decades, and scientists believe that consumers buying dietary supplements should be aware of the effects of these products to avoid the negative consequences of risky behavior.
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