Supplements

03 Sep: Selling the “Vitamins Don’t Work” Myth: What’s the Real Story?

By John Pittman, MD via www.acam.typepad.com In recent years, newspapers have been trumpeting the news that vitamins C, D and E—as well as multi-vitamins preparations—do not prevent heart attack, stroke or cancer. These reports have led to a great deal of confusion and disillusionment among health-conscious consumers, many of whom already take supplements and are genuinely interested in practical ways…

25 Aug: Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.

By Steve Silberman via www.wired.com Merck was in trouble. In 2002, the pharmaceutical giant was falling behind its rivals in sales. Even worse, patents on five blockbuster drugs were about to expire, which would allow cheaper generics to flood the market. The company hadn’t introduced a truly new product in three years, and its stock price was plummeting. In interviews…

24 Aug: Lawmaking and the GAO Report: A Dose of Reality

By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com At the end of 2007, the U.S. dietary supplement industry recorded sales of $23.7 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal. With roughly 33,000 dietary supplements on the U.S. market, it’s no surprise that with today’s nutritionally challenged diet there were 192 million Americans using supplements in 2007, a number that is expected to keep growing….

17 Aug: The Relative Safety of Natural Products

By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA via www.honestnutrition.com 1. Some have stated that the dietary supplement industry is largely “unregulated”. My response: This is not really a fair statement considering that recent regulatory efforts – supported by that same industry – have clamped down on the industry’s freedom to operate outside the regulatory system. Drug and dietary supplement regulation are…

17 Aug: Bias Against Natural Products

By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA via www.honestnutrition.com Once again, a widely distributed article has savagely attacked the safety and efficacy of natural products; including vitamins, minerals, and herbs. That this article may be more commentary than journalism is immediately revealed by the author inexplicably linking energy medicine (with admitted health benefits for patients) with a concocted image of “shooing…

17 Aug: The Two Sides of Oregano

By Brenda Hyde and Lucinda Jenkins via www.fabulousfoods.com Like most herbs, there are two sides to oregano: the culinary and the medicinal. For centuries people have used plants and herbs of all sorts for their apparent health giving qualities. How convenient that something so healthy can also add so much flavor to our daily diets. To explore the two sides…

15 Aug: Walmart’s $4 Drugs Coming From Indian Company Whose Products Have Been Banned In US and Canada

A New Report from WakeUpWalMart.com WakeupWalmart.com supports the use of generic prescription drugs as a safe alternative to expensive, name-brand medications. Walmart’s use of a corporate bad actor to cut costs, however, deserves significant scrutiny. Walmart is heavily promoting a program of 30-day supplies of generic drugs for $4, pointing to the program as an indicator of the company’s leadership…

07 Aug: Industry Self-Regulation and FDA Ensure Dietary Supplement Safety & Quality

By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com If retailers ask their customers about dietary supplement safety, they’re bound to get a variety of responses, especially considering that quality and safety often go hand-in-hand. In terms of quality, Vitamin Retailer magazine’s 2007 Annual Retailer Survey showed that the percentage of retailers who identify “high quality” as the most important element of their store’s…

07 Aug: What does Mel Gibson have to do with DSHEA?

By James Gormley via www.thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com A public-service ad that first aired in December 1993 showed camouflaged Federal agents equipped in full Special Forces gear, including night vision and weapons converging on Mel Gibson, who says, in defense, as he holds up a supplement bottle: “Hey. Guys. Guys. It’s only vitamins.” Before DSHEA This call-to-action video warned consumers that the Federal…

07 Aug: We Cared About Numbers, Not People: Former CIGNA PR Chief Comes Clean

By Alison Rose Levy via The Integrative Health Outlook “When you’re in the executive offices… you don’t think about individual people. You think about the numbers and whether or not you’re going to meet Wall Street’s expectations… That enables you to stay there, if you don’t really think that you’re talking about and dealing with real human beings, ” Wendell…