Friday, July 15, 2011

Nutritional Supplement Truths

Squirrely –that’s the word I would use to describe trying to find reliable, fact-based, unbiased information on various nutritional supplement brands. Because the Food and Drug Administration covers Food and Drugs and Nutritional Supplements aren’t technically Food and not technically a Drug, it falls outside of the FDA’s jurisdiction. Unless the product is harmful, the FDA cannot stop companies from marketing placebo supplements with low-no actual nutrients as “high quality” products. When the manufacturers of Nutritional Supplements who seek only to make profit off of uninformed consumers are the only ones responsible for holding themselves accountable, how can we trust that kind of honor system?
How do you know what’s good? There’s an agency called the Untied States Pharmacopeia (USP) that tries to certify that products are upholding certain standards –but the USP does not have broad, legal recognition in the U.S. and it is not a government agency.
If you go through the motions and try to dig out the truth, the FDA’s website can lead you to more distinguished sources to determine brand quality of nutritional supplements. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for example, regulates advertising for supplements to ensure no false claims are being made in advertising. NBYT Inc- which is the company that makes Kirkland Brand Supplements sold at Costco- was taken to court after their NatureSmart products sold Disney Chewable Vitamins to kids were found to be in violation of several FTC legislations. (http://business.ftc.gov/legal-resources/514/35/?glossary=N)
Another company (who is looking out for the consumer without a PhD who just wants to take nutritional supplements that actually work) is NSF International which certifies whether supplements meet Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards. You can go on their website (http://www.nsf.org/certified/consumer/listings_main.asp) and see if the company selling nutritional supplements has been certified. Usana’s products have been certified: (http://www.nsf.org/Certified/consumer/listings_results_detail.asp?prod_desc=&cust_id=3N390&com_detail=&search_field=&std_id=173&prog_dir=Dietary&search_tbl=&showcompany=Y&prog1_code=%&cat_desc=). Kirkland nutritional supplements have not been approved (although their dishwashers and food equipments have). Centrum was also not certified. GNC was interesting: Out of the 185 brands sold and marketed on their website, only 5 were NSF approved –and none of those brands were GNC itself. One A Day was there though – but only for their Men’s Health supplements from Bayer Healthcare LLC. 
So you be the judge. You can delve in and try doing more research than I have, if you have that much free time, or you can verify the same sources I’ve looked at and come to the same conclusion which is: WHEN COMPANIES MANUFACTURE PRODUCTS THAT AREN’T THOROUGHLY REGULATED AND THEY KNOW CONSUMERS WON’T DO RESEARCH TO VERIFY THEIR PRODUCT’S QUALITY AND THEY HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO FUDGE FACTS ABOUT THEIR PRODUCT QUALITY IN ADVERTISING –YOU GET LOW-TO-NO QUALITY PRODUCTS THAT ARE LITTLE BETTER THAN PLACEBOS. If you want Good quality products you have to do your homework. I know- FOR A FACT- that Usana’s supplements are in the Physician’s Desk Reference (a doctor’s Bible), they have been recommended on the Oprah show, and they have astounding, undeniable results for the people who are smart enough to take a great, quality product when they see it.
If you want to see the validity of your nutrient supplements –do the Tablet Test and search the bottle over for information verifying that it dissolves in under 30 minutes. If no such information can be found and you still have doubts- put a tablet in a glass of water. If it takes longer than 30 minutes to dissolve it might as well be a placebo because the body only has 30 minutes to digest whatever enters its system. Even if your supplement had the nutrients it claimed to in it-your body wouldn’t have enough time to absorb anything. Usana’s HealthPak supplements are guaranteed to dissolve in 22 minutes.

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