A Few Inositol Side Effects

Inositol is a supplement I've been studying a lot recently because of it's positive health benefits and few side effects. Of the reported inositol side effects, about the worst thing reported was vomiting. Other side effects included diarrhea, upset stomach and skin rash, but no long term side effects were reported from taking inositol supplements. However, depending on what inositol is being used to treat, potential side effects haven't yet been established. Inositol is said to be a brain food, and is currently being tested for effectiveness against many mental disorders and conditions, such as bipolar, depression, panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, and more. While it isn't believed that inositol has any side effects on people with preexisting conditions and ailments, studies haven't had enough time to fully answer that question.

A few facts that need to be stated about inositol are first that the body is able to synthesize inositol on its own. Second, diets usually are not deficient in inositol because it's ingested from both plant and animal sources. Third, in order to achieve effectiveness in the treatment of mental conditions, high doses were needed. Don't get me wrong, inositol is a very essential chemical to healthy function in human beings. It fulfills a wide range of benefits. But just because that's the case, it doesn't mean that taking inositol in supplement form is helpful. As often happens with chemicals that are in ready supply which the body can synthesize on its own, it can be difficult to raise the levels of the compound in the body through supplementation. That's a big drawback of a lot of supplements. Distributors of supplements will often quickly tell you about all of the benefits of their supplement, but will neglect to inform you that clinical trials have demonstrated that taking supplements failed to raise levels of the compound in the bloodstream.

That's not necessarily a side effect unless you consider wasting money a side effect. But just consider this. In a clinical trial, a double blind, controlled study was initiated that compared inositol with fluvoxamine in treating panic attacks. There were twenty patients that each were given up to 18 grams of inositol a day for a month. That's 18 grams!! 18,000mg a day. Does anyone care at that point if inositol is shown to be effective. Who in their right mind is going to swallow 36 500mg inositol pills a day? So while this isn't a side effect, you have to be careful when reading about some of the benefits of supplements, because suppliers won't always tell you the levels that were needed in order to receive the desired benefit of the drug.

That all being said, I still think that taking inositol as a supplement is a good idea, especially when combined with choline. The reason is because inositol and choline are similar and complimentary in nature to one another. Both of these help regulate fats as well as cholesterol, and both have also been shown to support the brain as well. Though both have been placed at times into the family of Vitamin B, they technically aren't B Vitamins, though they definitely are related to the group. Choline is a precursor to acetylcholine, which is an essential neurotransmitter in the brain. So using a supplement with multiple complimentary compounds is kind of like getting twice the bang for your buck. So instead of taking a large volume of inositol, a person could essentially take half as much of each compound. And through reading testimonials, I found that people really like the combination of choline and inositol.

** This article is meant to add to your general knowledge and should not be taken as medical advice or a medical diagnosis


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Thanks for reading about some of the side effects of inositol. If you want to check out more, read my article on choline and inositol.