^^^ It is interesting to note that Ephedra (Ma Huang), from which
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are derived, have been used in Chinese medicine for more than 5000 yrs. In Chinese medicine it's been used to keep the body (health) in
balance or nudge it back into balance. However, when used in the West in dietary supplements and other uses, is when the abuse and problems arose.
It is not the ephedra that is at fault, it is the dosages and the careless use of ephdera products that have given rise to problems seen with this herb.
Using supplements without really good data on their benefits curiously can lead to what I'll call The Papaverine Effect, i.e. not just lack of effect but harm. Papaverine was touted some years ago for dementia because it was thought to be a vasodilator that could help improve circulation to problem areas. (Dementia at the time was erroneously believed to mostly be due to arterial problems). But here's the problem -- Papaverine could dilate normal arteries but not those affected by arteriosclerosis. So the arteries to normal areas would dilate, increasing circulation to those areas and REDUCING circulation to the arteries that couldn't dilate in the problem areas -- known in medicine as a "steal syndrome." So there can be unanticipated problems if you're taking something without some real, and not just theoretical, basis.
I agree wholehearted that one should not indulge in supplementation willy-nilly. I've always researched & educated myself on any herb, supplement or drug that I consider taking. I urge all who consider supplements --
do your homework. Don't just buy into the wild claims made by some manufacturers. Seek out the caveats as well. Try to get a balanced and informed view of any such substance.
With that said, I
would much rather take supplements, which may have a slight risk,
than watch my brain or body deteriorate waiting years or even decades for Western medicine to come up with a suitable "cure".
It should be pointed out that Papaverine is not a supplement, to my knowledge, but is a prescription drug. For the most part supplements tend to have fewer and milder unwanted side effects than the prescriptions drugs offered by Western medicine. Side effects are usually seen with supplements when
UTLs (Upper Tolerance Limits) are exceed. Note that UTLs are usually higher much than RDAs. The other time when side effects are seen is when supplements are used in conjunction with prescription drugs. However, this is not really the fault of the supplements in these situations -- it is the prescription drugs that throw the body out of kilter.
My preference is to get nutrients or "medicines" closer to the plant source. Most herbs and most other natural substances have been used for centuries (or millennia). In Indian/Ayurvedic, Chinese and other "folk medicines" it is well known which plants are poisonous and which are medicinal. It is also fairly well known in those medicinal traditions what amounts are appropriate. The focus of many of these traditional medicines are to achieve balance in the body.
Contrast this with Western medicine where powerful drugs & procedures are employed when the body is way out of kilter. These drugs tend to throw the body our of balance in a different direction(s). These drugs often start off with a natural/plant substance that shows some promise. However, the pharmaceutical companies cannot really make any substantial amount of money providing the public with "natural" cures since they cannot patent these. Instead they tweak a "natural" substance significantly so that they come up with something that they can patent-- this way they can make gobs of money from it.
With these patentable drugs, the pharmaceutical companies will often/usually come up with something that is more potent than the original "natural" substance. However, this often comes at a huge price (and a huge price tag). The trade-off for its potency is that the patentable drug will almost always have more unwanted side effects and side effects that are significantly more severe than the original substance from which it was derived.
You went over my gourde with than veggie, Lucky. 
I so hate getting below zero....