3 simple steps for making sure your supplements are top-notch
In February, I sent out a Daily Dispatch about the latest supplement scandal that erupted in New York. The state attorney general sent “cease-and-desist” letters to four major retailers for selling allegedly fraudulent dietary supplements. These tests allegedly show that store herbal supplements brands from GNC, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart were basically full of junk.
A few weeks later, the attorney general also went after the manufacturers of those supplements, asking for detailed ingredient and quality control info on every herbal supplement they sell in New York state. The manufacturers include Pharmavite (maker of the Nature Made brand), NBTY (which makes Sundown Naturals, Nature’s Bounty, Vitamin World, and other brands), Nature’s Way Products (manufacturer of the Nature’s Way brand), and Nutraceutical Corp. (producer of Herbs for Kids and other brands).
This brouhaha all started when the New York attorney general’s office commissioned DNA bar coding tests on hundreds of bottles of echinacea, garlic, gingko biloba, ginseng, saw palmetto, St. John’s wort, and valerian sold as store brands in New York GNCs, Targets, Walgreens, and Walmarts.
The results may have been surprising to the uneducated public, but certainly not to me or my regular readers.
Four out of every five bottles tested didn’t contain any of the herbs indicated on the label according to these tests. Some of the supplements contained wheat and gluten, even though the labels claimed they didn’t. And even worse, some had contaminants that may cause serious or even fatal liver and kidney problems.
Since then, there has been a great deal of back-and-forth between the dietary supplement industry and New York government bureaucrats.
Some of the supplement industry has called into question the DNA testing methods used by the attorney general. They claim this method isn’t always accurate for detecting extracts from herbs (which can still be effective without showing any of the DNA from the original herbal plant source).
On the opposing side of the issue, the New York government bureaucrats appear to be busy hiding their real agenda. And it seems to me that big pharma shills like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) are making the most of the mess for their own devious ends. (Those three little letters (D-IL) have done more to damage this country in recent years than any other single government acronym, in my opinion.)
But until that smoke clears (and we can look into those mirrors), we won’t actually know what is really going on with the government actions or the industry response.
So what’s to be done in the meantime?
Quality supplements are the answer
There are several key points to consider when you’re shopping for supplements. Follow these recommendations, and you won’t have to worry if your favorite supplement brand has just been called out by an attorney general.
- Choose your supplier wisely. I’m not in favor of buying supplements in retail stores, especially discount, cut-rate, generic brands. I rarely see thoughtful ingredients, doses, and combinations in terms of the real science in these types of supplements. And that’s even assuming they actually contain what the label says, and that the formulations are bioavailable—meaning they can be properly digested, absorbed, and activated in the body’s blood and tissues.
I have always had serious doubts about what goes on at GNC, based on my own personal experience. There is a big problem when untrained clerks are giving out health advice from behind the retail counter, while too many doctors remain ignorant about appropriate needs, uses, and sources of dietary supplements.
And in my opinion, Walmart has transformed the entire retail landscape of the country—and not for the better—with China as the only real beneficiary (just like with federal government overspending). So I never recommend buying anything at Walmart, least of all dietary supplements.
Amazingly, I still find a few smart, educated, and loyal readers of my Daily Dispatch and Insiders’ Cures who tell me they buy retail store-brand supplements. And they somehow think they should feel better than they do. Of course, they should!
Basically, in my research, I’ve found that many big-brand supplements, as well as generic store brands, are simply not worth the money, no matter how “cheap.”.
- Don’t be fooled by big pharma. Depending on which report you consult, Americans spend at least $28 billion each year on dietary supplements. So it’s hardly a surprise that big pharma has jumped on the supplements bandwagon in order to make even more money. Unfortunately, they’re selling inferior products (according to standard industry guides on formulation and quality).
Investigators have also found that some supplements are tainted with drugs. This problem appears to be particularly true when it comes to supplements marketed for weight loss, exercise, and sexual enhancement.
I have never seen a weight loss supplement, or a supplement meant to “enhance” exercise or substitute for it altogether, that appears to have any merit according to the science. There is no substitute for diet and exercise, and good nutrition, when it comes to healthy weight loss and maintenance.
- Don’t believe the hype that supplements are unregulated. Just because there are poor-quality supplements out there doesn’t mean the industry is unregulated by the U.S. government. And yet, the mainstream continues to blindly promulgate this notion.
The FDA does indeed regulate supplements for safety, quality, labeling, and identity (making sure that the products contain what they say they do, at the doses printed on the labels).
At the same time, it is true that dietary supplements don’t have to undergo billions of dollars of clinical drug trials and testing. But unlike drugs, dietary supplements are essentially more like foods—and therefore inherently much safer than drugs, as evidenced by the actual data on adverse reactions.
In addition, the U.S. government keeps track of all adverse events reported by people who take dietary supplements and the companies that manufacture them.
Stories on the dangers of supplements are routinely overblown by mainstream medicine and the lamestream media. When you look at the actual stats, you can see they are safe—as compared to big pharma and the track record of drugs, with millions of adverse drug reactions and thousands of drug deaths year in and year out.
For instance, in 2013, the FDA received about 1.2 million adverse event reports for drugs and other medications1 compared to less than 3,300 for dietary supplements.2
Plus, the supplement industry, as a whole, also invests a great deal of time, effort, and money into self-regulation. Yes, there are some unscrupulous sources out there. And unfortunately, those are the ones that make headlines. You rarely, if ever, hear about all of the high-quality products and suppliers in the industry. But they do exist.
In fact, the supplement industry actually prepares an annual guide on quality. And the worst of the most popular retail supplements typically score only two or three out of 100 in terms of quality.
But there are far better manufacturers that consistently score in the 90s out of 100, including those I use for my Smart Science line of supplements.
In my work on clinical pathology and clinical laboratory science I actually helped developed some of the analytical instruments and methods that are used today.
So I check out and perform due diligence, in person, and on site, to make sure any manufacturer with which we work for my Smart Science formulations is in the very top category of quality procedures, standards and reputation.
Bottom line: When you’re choosing dietary supplements, don’t believe the scare tactics or the hype… but DO look for quality.
If you’re careful about the food you buy, isn’t it just as important to be careful about your supplements? You should only buy honest, ethical supplements with the right ingredients, at the right doses, in the right combinations.
Learn to ignore the sizzle and treat yourself to the steak. Because what is at stake is nothing less than your health, happiness, and longevity.
Sources:
1FDA. Reports Received and Reports Entered Into FAERS by Year. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Surveillance/AdverseDrugEffects/ucm070434.htm. Accessed February 24, 2014.
2Natural Products Insider. Dietary Supplement Adverse Event Reports Increase. http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/news/2014/04/dietary-supplement-adverse-event-reports-increase.aspx. Accessed February 24, 2014.