Fungus Eliminator is a dietary supplement sold by PureHealth Research. The brand claims that their product can reduce toenail fungus. Fungus Eliminator is sold both on PureHealth Research’s site and on Amazon.
In this article we’ll review every ingredient in Fungus Eliminator based on published medical studies to determine if we believe the supplement is likely to be effective. We’ll explain why we find some health claims made by the brand to be questionable, and explain why their failure to publish ingredient dosages is unsafe for consumers.
Failure to Make Ingredient Dosages Easily Accessible
At the time of writing this article, PureHealth Research does not publish the dose of any active ingredient in Fungus Eliminator on their Amazon product page. We find this to be entirely unacceptable and unsafe for consumers.
Potential customers deserve to know what the dose of every ingredient is, and published doses allow consumers (and researchers like us) to evaluate whether a supplement’s ingredient doses are safe. We urge PureHealth Research to publish dose information on Amazon.
Even on their website’s product page, the Supplement Facts label is not clearly published. It’s only accessible at the FAQ section at the bottom of the page.
We consider this to be a red flag and a sign of a low-quality supplement brand.
Ingredient Review
The first active ingredient in Fungus Eliminator is oregano at a dosage of 300 milligrams (mg). This is a culinary herb that can be found at supermarkets. While there is published medical research proving the antifungal effects of oregano essential oil, we cannot locate any medical studies suggesting that raw herb oregano is effective.
The second ingredient is basil leaf. This is another culinary herb. Similar to oregano, we can locate medical studies proving the essential oil of this plant has antifungal effects, but none for the raw botanical.
Generally, high-quality dietary supplements include an extracted version of a plant rather than the raw version, which means that ethanol is used to concentrate the active ingredients so that the finished product is more potent. Most medical research on herbal supplements utilizes herbal extracts.
The third ingredient is garlic at a dose of 100 mg. This is an effective antifungal ingredient, but we would consider this dose too low to be effective. A medical review of the therapeutic effects of garlic analyzed data from 110 individual clinical trials on the topic. The lowest dose used in any of the cited trials was 200 mg, and many of the trials used far more.
To illustrate how low some of the dosages in this supplement are, this educational resource lists the dose of one single teaspoon of dried oregano at over 1 gram (g), which is equivalent to over 1,000 mg. This means that one teaspoon of dried oregano provides over 300% of the total dose of the highest-dosed active ingredient in Fungus Eliminator.
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is included at a dose of 100 mg. As we highlighted in our apple cider vinegar review article, the minimum therapeutic dose of ACV appears to be around 15,000 mg based on published medical research. This is 150x the amount in this supplement.
For the sake of brevity, we don’t believe it’s useful or necessary to review every other ingredient, given how woefully underdosed most of the ingredients in this supplement appear. We noted the same trend of underdosed active ingredients in our Liver Health Formula reviews article.
Fungus Eliminator has one of the worst supplement formulations we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health, and given that the parent brand’s other supplement Liver Health Formula failed our review process in similar fashion, we would recommend that consumers avoid all PureHealth Research supplements.
Bold and Uncited Health Claims
At the time of writing this article, we can’t locate one single citation on the Fungus Eliminator website which links to a medical study, yet the brand makes bold health claims such as “helps you fight embarrassing and irritating toenail fungus” and “enhances immunity functions.”
Why should any consumer believe these claims without any proof?
We generally recommend that consumers avoid brands that make health claims without any research backing. It’s a sign of a low-quality formulation and an unethical brand in our opinion.
PureHealth Research also claims on the product page that “ingredients in Fungus Eliminator have no reports of side effects,” which seems to be demonstrably untrue.
A medical review of wormwood, one of the ingredients in the Fungus Eliminator formulation, has an entire section dedicated to side effects of this botanical compound. The study authors state the following: “The adverse side effects may include stomach cramps, brain injury cramps, vertigo, vomiting, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, urine retention, seizures, and tremors. Many toxicity studies were performed with thujone on experimental animals and revealed that it leads to dose-dependent toxic action.”
We’re not suggesting that this ingredient at the dose included in Fungus Eliminator is likely to be harmful. We believe it to be too underdosed to realize these side effects. Our point is that the brand’s claim, which was uncited, appears to be false.
Do Oral Antifungal Supplements Make Sense?
It seems inefficient to take oral supplements for toe fungus, rather than topical products. A topical product would work more directly on the affected region.
We recommend that patients dealing with recurrent toenail fungus speak with a doctor or dermatologist before attempting treatment, but for those trying to treat the problem at home, tea tree oil (properly diluted) may be an option to consider.
A medical review published in the Mycoses journal examined natural antifungal compounds, and found that in all trials evaluated, tea tree oil was effective against fungus. We strongly recommend that consumers considering tea tree oil to treat fungal infections speak with a doctor first, because this product needs to be properly diluted and can irritate and even damage skin if applied undiluted.
Fungus Eliminator User Reviews
Fungus Eliminator has been reviewed over 100 times on Amazon. It has an average rating of 3.7/5 at the time of writing this article, which is relatively poor.
Fungus Eliminator also gets a C grade from FakeSpot, which is an algorithm that detects potential Amazon review manipulation. This suggests that the brand may have manipulated their Amazon ratings and the true score may be even lower.
The top positive review of Fungus Eliminator from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Nikki G” who claims the product cured their toenail fungus:
“Have had fungus on big toenails for years. Tried everything from vapor rub, listerene mouthwash soaks, vinegar soaks, and over the counter meds and tonics to apply to toenails… nothing worked. Don’t want to take a prescription med that I have to go have my liver or kidneys tested for every few weeks… too busy for that. Been taking for 2 months… not solved or perfect but a noticeable difference. Worth the money.”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Steve Barbre” who claims the product didn’t work
“Good ingrediance but not string enough maybe”
Fungus Eliminator Pros and Cons
Here’s our take on the pros and cons of this supplement:
Pros
- Unlikely to be harmful
- Cheaper when purchased in bulk
Cons
- No research cited on product page
- Questionable efficacy
- Ingredients likely underdosed
- Uncited health claims
- Low-quality manufacturer
