Your dietary supplements are under attack from all sides. And the Forbes financial reporter who shamefully dismissed the importance of vitamin D is just one recent example. Clearly, the article was ill informed and irresponsible…given the fact that we have a well-established epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the U.S. But we have bigger problems than just the inaccurate writings of one misguided minion.
Sure, you’ll see studies here and there that cite the public’s growing acceptance of natural approaches. But don’t be fooled. The power players in this country do their best to make sure the true science about dietary supplements never sees the light of day. I’ll explain where some of these power players hide out in just a moment. I’ll also explain how they keep the truth about dietary supplements hidden.
Now, to be fair, dietary supplements did enjoy a short time of good favor.
About 20 years ago, I first began presenting the science about natural approaches to medical professionals. And it made big news. Mainstream media outlets–such as Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and major “dailies” in cities across the country–could not wait to get the latest news about hopeful developments in natural medicine. And doctors were finally beginning to pay attention to these “alternative” approaches.
You see, 20 years ago, there was already concern in many quarters that our cumbersome healthcare system was failing. President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore pushed their version of partisan “healthcare reform” as a means to address the problem. But–despite our best efforts and all their rhetoric–they never seriously considered alternative or natural approaches. At any rate, healthcare reform did not happen in the Clinton era.
In the ensuing years, most mainstream media lost interest in natural approaches to health and healing.
Now, in this new era of “healthcare reform,” the press no longer just ignores alternative/natural/nutritional approaches.
It attacks them!
But we can’t just blame the lamestream press. They don’t know any better. And they’re blinded by the great and powerful government-industrial-medical complex.
This powerful complex–which sucks up nearly 20 percent of our gross national product–dominates the marketplace. And it will only become worse under the so-called “Affordable” Care Act.
The complex has one clear message: Take pills to prevent or treat disease. Don’t pay serious attention to quality supplements, diet, exercise, and stress reduction. Those approaches don’t make the complex enough money. Or keep them employed. But drugs and tests and more drugs do.
In the first edition of my medical textbook published 20 years ago, I warned doctors about the “medicalization” of prevention. And today, this mindset is more pervasive than ever. I actually just read about a new drug they’re testing to “prevent” head and neck cancer.
You see, the media gets treated like a pawn. And when it comes to reporting on dietary supplements, it uses three simple tactics. (And this often includes most of the medical media, which should know better.)
First, they spout the old, clueless message from decades ago that dietary supplements are a harmless waste of your money. Yet they have zero good science to back their dismissal of serious supplements. The Forbes article is a perfect example of that approach.
Or…they say dietary supplements are harmful to your health. And they use poorly designed studies to make their case.
The third popular trick is to be right, when they’re wrong.
What do I mean?
It’s kind of like saying, “you’ll never dig your way to China with a teaspoon.” It’s true. But why would you ever try to dig anything with a spoon? It’s the wrong tool.
Now, apply that logic to how vitamins are treated in the press. Let’s take vitamin E as an example.
This powerful antioxidant in nature is actually a mixture of tocopherols and tocotrienols. There are eight different forms, from alpha to gamma. In research studies, they should always use the complete, natural form of vitamin E.
But many studies don’t. They use just one of the eight forms of the vitamin. And admittedly, this omission can cause harm. For example, too much of the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E may interfere with utilization of the important gamma form.
What’s worse, some studies use a completely synthetic form of vitamin E, like the dl-alpha form. Here again, it’s not something you will ever find in Nature. And it can cause harm.
You see, these unnatural and synthetic forms actually interfere with natural vitamin E in your body.
Then, when researchers find the unnatural or synthetic version of what they call “vitamin E” did not decrease the risk of a disease–or maybe it even increased risk–they write off the vitamin as worthless…or even dangerous. (When what they’re really showing are the harmful effects of not getting enough natural vitamin E.)
Next, these poorly designed studies get published in medical journals. (The editors of these journals should know better. So I’m always amazed when they actually publish this stuff. But the average medical editor knows no more about human diet and nutrition than the rest of the pack.)
In the last step of the process, the mainstream press picks up these junk studies. You’ll read a headline that screams, “Vitamin E doesn’t prevent cancer.” But remember, the study used an incomplete or synthetic form. And this form probably disrupted normal nutrient metabolism to boot. So, of course, the results weren’t great. But they don’t explain these complex issues.
So that’s how the lamestream press gets it right…but it’s all wrong.
By the way, you can bypass these vitamin E problems by simply eating fish and/or taking a high-quality fish oil capsule. They both contain only natural, fat-soluble vitamins.