He is obsessed with herbs and vitamins. How to tell if he is nuts?

Question

He spends at least $4500 a year on vitamins and herbal remedies. There is no rhyme or reason to what he is taking, but he mixes about 30-45 different herbs together in a vita mixer, shoves them in capsules and takes 15 of them a day. This includes echinacea, diminia root, milk thistle, some kind of bilberry root or something, and I could go on and on and on.
Where do you think he got this crazy idea to take all this stuff every day. He thinks it is going to make him healthier and has it in his head if he doesnt take them, he doesnt feel well. I am afraid he is going to kill himself with herbs.
Do you think he is nuts or does he have some valid points taking thousands of dollars worth of herbs every year?

Answer 1

This is a case of something that could be good, taken to such an extreme that it is no longer any good. I'm with the first respondent here, who said it sounds obsessive (as in diagnosable mental illness), particularly because he claims that he is unwell without them--part of the diagnostic criteria for OCD is that a person feels that if they don't do the compulsive behavior, that something bad will happen. He may not kill himself with all these potions, but he sure is wasting a lot of money. He probably got the idea bit by bit. Some people have the very mistaken idea that if 5 of something are good, then 20 are four times better.

No, I don't think he has any valid argument for taking so many supplements. However, if you were to challenge him, I bet he would respond by expounding on the merits of the individual supplements, without noticing the huge problem of his excessive combined use. Perhaps you could get him to see a naturopath (an expert on this topic), with the specific goal of reviewing this guy's supplement intake and making intelligent recommendations.

Are you in a relationship with this guy? If you are, I suggest you sneak away. Because if it's not this (vitamins) it will probably be something else (sports cars, computers). Crazy people are never crazy in just one way--they're crazy in at least a few ways.

Answer 2

Sounds to me like he is a health fanatic who is very health conscious. If the world was full of people like him then we would need a lot fewer doctors. As long as he has the knowledge to go with it and knows and understands what he is doing then he should be OK.

Echinacea is not recommended for long term use as it may weaken the immune system. For short term use it is OK.

Hopefully he has fully or extensively researched everything he takes on the Internet because there are dangers if you overdose and also in some cases long term usage is not recommended as in the case of echinacea.

Much better to spend $4,500 a year on vitamins, minerals and herbs than on cigarettes as millions of other people do. Obviously he believes in the saying that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Why wait until you get severe health problems before you become health conscious.

My impression is that it is unlikely that he is nuts. Perhaps he is a hypochondriac who is terrified of ill health and worries about it excessively and is determined to prevent it.

Answer 3

Unless he has some specific health problems, he is just hypochondriacal in nature. Ask him to consult a good homeopath who can cure him of this obsession about health with may be a couple of hundred dollars. That money saved he can use for a good hobby of his.

Answer 4

Sorta Nuts--possibly a compulsive disorder or a preoccupation with health, or someother psych disorder. Most stuff your body just eliminates but some herbals can be quite toxic & interact with others to become so--you have a valid reason to be concerned.

Answer 5

if he is just taking herbs without consulting his doctor or pharmacist he could be doing alot of damage to himself. for instance St. John's wart can cause the body to excrete medication faster and so if, for instance, you are taking something to control blood pressure, the blood serum level of the medication will be significantly lower and it could increase risk of heart attack. also herbs need to be treated like drugs because they are medicines of nature and to use them without respect is dangerous. If someone uses something and can't live without it, that's called an addiction and your friend should seek help.

Answer 6

Some have lots of unknown side affect.Most have not been fda tested.
I took some once and had heart paplatations.Our bodies only use from food what it needs and we usally get all we need from normal eating.I ask him to see a MD......