dietary supplements
PositiveTip for
Supplement Safety
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Many new supplement ingredients are introduced without any regulatory oversight.
Americans spend more than $28 billion annually on vitamins, minerals, herbals and other "natural" products in the form of dietary supplements. They do this assuming they are safe and effective. The FDA regulation of these products has been rather weak, even though the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act requires manufacturers to present "reseasonable expectation of safety." The food industry is held to much more stringent safety standards than the supplement industry. The New England Journal of Medicine has an informative article on this by Pieter Cohen, MD of the Cambridge Health Alliance.
PositiveTip: Remember--not all things "natural" are safe or effective!
Supplements Fail Again
Posted by Elvin Adams on
The British Medical Journal just published results from a study on how B-Vitamins and fish oil affect several cardiovascular diseases. The outcomes were disappointing.
Researchers studied 2501 individuals who were sick to begin with. All had experienced a stroke, heart attack or unstable chest pains. The study involved over 400 research physicians throughout France.
People were randomly assigned to one of four groups, with various daily treatments:
PositiveTip for
Omega-3 Supplementats Not Beneficial
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Omega-3 fatty acid supplements from fish, plants or both show no significant benefit.
There is growing interest in the possibility of reducing the risk of heart disease by supplementing with fish-based omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) or plant-derived alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Using a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 4837 older men with heart disease, researchers found during an almost four year follow-up that none of the supplements from fish or plants showed any significant advantage over the placebo.
PositiveTip: Including adequate plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids from dietary sources (nuts, vegetable oils) will not hurt you, but they are probably not a magic bullet for preventing heart disease.
Do Expensive Supplements Provide Real Healing?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Many people who spend hard-earned money on expensive nutritional supplements are mistakenly seeking a "natural" method of healing. The companies who sell these products know this, and spin their marketing to exploit it. You can learn more about "natural" doesn't always mean natural if you wish.
Some people today dream of a wonderful time in the past when all food was organic and no one ever used pesticides. Health problems were treated with folk remedies. Obesity was unheard of, and everyone got plenty of physical activity. And...the average life expectancy was a ripe old 35!
Are Expensive Supplements A Rip-off?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Many people today, even in church lobbies, are selling high-priced nutritional supplements through network marketing schemes.
Remember the Bible story of Naaman (I Kings 5)? He was an important man in the Syrian army, and he had leprosy. Every Syrian treatment had failed, including all the alternative methods. But then a little slave girl suggested the prophet of God who lived in Israel, an enemy country. Naaman's king gave him permission to visit this healer, and sent along fabulous gifts.
Do Expensive Supplements Make Me Healthy?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
So your doctor, or someone you know, has been urging you to try expensive nutritional supplements. The problem? The supplements they suggest are far more expensive than you can afford. How badly do you need them? Will you endanger your health without them?
The American Dietetic Association says a healthy diet will give you all the nutrients you need. Of course there are rare exceptions, such as when people have a disease or an acute deficiency. But if you want a little nutritional "insurance", a good multi-vitamin from your local pharmacy is just fine.
Nutritional Supplements: Good News or Bad?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Did you know...
- Men and women in the top fifth of fruit and vegetable intake (about 9 or 10 daily servings) enjoy a 20 percent lower risk for heart disease than people in the lowest fifth (average less than 3 servings per day).
- Cancer risk is lower in those who each the most fruits and vegetables, also.
- Americans spend over $25 billion a year on nutritional supplements!
Why do we spend so much when we could get the same things from wise food choices? About 12 years ago the scientific community got excited by the findings of some large population studies showing that diets supplemented with antioxidants, and Vitamin E, could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Now over the intervening years other much more carefully controlled studies have not shown the same benefits.
PositiveTip for
Are Your Dietary Supplements Really Safe?
Posted by Fred Hardinge on
Its the wild, wild west when it comes to undeclared medications in dietary supplements!
Are you certain all the ingredients in your "natural" dietary supplements are safe, let alone effective? There is an alarming increase in the discovery of a wide variety of undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients contaminating supplements in the marketplace today. In July of this year the FDA listed 75 tainted weight loss products that contained undeclared medications--some with multiple medications in a single formulation. The most common targets for these undeclared, potentially hazardous ingredients are supplements for weight loss, sexual enhancement, and athletic performance. Caveat emptor--let the buyer beware!