Michael Castleman
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 You need only tiny quantities of vitamins and most minerals, which is why supplement manufacturers can pack so many different nutrients into multivita-min/mineral pills. Some supplements are natural, meaning that their vitamins and minerals have been extracted from plants—for example, vitamin C from rose hips. Others are synthetic laboratory creations.
Until the 1990s, mainstream medicine scoffed at supplements. Critics insisted that a balanced diet would supply all of the nutrients that a person could need. |
Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D.
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| Since this use was "secondary," the supplement manufacturers use the term primary to let you know that the product was specifically grown to be used as a supplement to the human diet. The point isn't academic, for yeast used for brewing may be low in vitamins, the brewer being interested only in fermenting action, whereas the supplement manufacturer will pick types of yeast with much more value in essential nutrients.
The yeasts differ widely in odor, taste, and solubility. |
Schuyler W. Lininger, Jr. DC
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 The Canadian Health Protection Branch requires supplement manufacturers to document that their products do not contain the enzyme thiaminase, found in crude horsetail, which destroys the B vitamin thiamin (p. 331). Since alcohol, temperature, and alkalinity neutralize this potentially harmful enzyme, tinctures, fluid extracts, or preparations of the herb subjected to 100°C temperatures during manufacturing are preferred for medicinal use. |
Marion Nestle
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 Encouraged by supplement manufacturers, the House ordered a General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation of the scientific validity of the adverse event report system. After a nine-month investigation, the GAO said that the FDA's use of this system was incomplete and inconsistent and that the agency's cost/benefit justification for using it "was not fully transparent" (translation: the basis of the FDA's decisions was unclear). |
Barrie R Cassileth, Ph.D.
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 Products can be sold with no testing for efficacy or effectiveness.
?Supplement manufacturers do not have to prove the safety of their products already on the market. Now the burden is on the FDA to show, after people die or experience adverse effects, that the product is not safe.
?There are no standards that manufacturers must follow. Even quality control standards will not be introduced for at least two years.
?Although products may not explicitly claim to cure or prevent a disease, other unproven claims can still adorn the package.
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Gale Maleskey
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 Enzyme Adds Anti-Inflammatory Action
To enhance absorption of curcumin, supplement manufacturers sometimes mix it with the natural enzyme bromelain, Dr. Rubman says.
In addition to its ability to enhance absorption, bromelain has been shown to have anti-inflammatory action of its own and is frequently used for inflammatory conditions like lupus. "Bromelain can activate compounds that break down fibrin," says Dr. Rubman. Fibrin is a tissue that blocks off areas of inflammation, interrupting blood flow. The results are inadequate tissue drainage and swelling, Dr. Rubman says. |
| Many supplement manufacturers are picking up on the results of animal studies and applying them to humans—an irresponsible practice, as Dr. Schwartz sees it. One of his studies reporting anti-obesity effects of DHEA on laboratory animals was widely touted by manufacturers as proof that DHEA could promote weight loss in humans, but it's not true, he says.
Doses found in supplements are based on the doses given to animals in laboratory experiments—from 25 to 50 milligrams daily, says Dr. Schwartz. |
| As we learn more about the biochemistry of soy, supplement manufacturers are rushing forward to offer isoflavones in pill form. But you're still probably better off if you get your isoflavones from soy foods," says Dr. Aesoph.
Genistein is a soy isoflavone that seems to provide a benefit in addition to helping menopausal discomforts. One study suggests that it has value for helping to improve cardiac health, which often declines with the onset of menopause. |
| Bringing in Bromelain
To enhance absorption of curcumin and add more anti-inflammatory power, supplement manufacturers sometimes mix curcumin with bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapple, Dr. Rubman says.
"Bromelain can activate compounds that break down fibrin, tissue that blocks off areas of inflammation," Dr. Rubman explains. He points out that the fibrin blocks blood vessels, which can prevent tissues from draining and cause them to swell.
Bromelain also blocks the production of compounds produced during inflammation that increase swelling and cause pain. |
Michael Janson, M.D.
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 As of 1995, the FDA does not even allow supplement manufacturers to use in their sales literature quotes from other governmental agencies (such as the USDA[US Department of Agriculture]) or from medical research, even if the quotation accurately and favorably portrays the value of a dietary supplement. This is a political, not a scientific, position.
If you accept this inaccurate information, you will probably be left in an average state of poor health, or what most doctors call average good health. This is 'he condition in which the "average" person lives. |
| In my experience, most supplement manufacturers are reliable and honest, and they depend on good results from their products to generate repeat sales.
Manufacturers and Retailers
Most manufacturers follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and you should make sure they do before purchasing their products. The purpose of GMPs is to assure that what is on the label is in the product; that the product disintegrates and is bioavailable and unadulterated. Ask your retailer to find out from their manufacturers or suppliers. |
| Any health claims for dietary supplements were against the regulations of the FDA if they were made by supplement manufacturers or distributors, even if they were truthful and not misleading and even if they were the same health claims that other agencies of the US government were making. For example, if the US Public Health Service suggested folic acid supplements for pregnant women, it was illegal for a company marketing folic acid to quote that agency in its promotional literature. |
James A. Duke, Ph.D.
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 For nearly a decade, some supplement manufacturers pushed choline as an important, if not essential, dietary phytochemical. In April 1998, our government finally realized that it should establish a daily intake for this nutrient. By then, research had suggested quite persuasively that women who take choline during pregnancy and while nursing may help their children's mental skills develop properly—and might give their kids lifelong protection against loss of mental function. |
Marion Nestle
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| As summarized by one commentator, "Time and again the FDA has proposed comprehensive regulations to monitor dietary supplements, and at each juncture the agency has been met by lobbying and grass roots efforts, led by supplement manufacturers, health food stores, and food faddists, all of whom have convinced Congress to block the FDA's efforts. Even the comparatively minor regulations the FDA has issued face waves of hostility in the courts. |
Nicola Reavley
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 Supplements are available from many sources but most supplement manufacturers get the raw materials from the same small group of suppliers. They are then packaged and labeled before being sent to distributors or retail outlets.
What types of supplements are available?
There is a vast range of vitamin, mineral and other nutritional supplements available in supermarkets, health food stores and drugstores. Products vary widely in quality and effectiveness, and evidence to support some of the claims made by those who sell them is inconclusive at best. |
Marion Nestle
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| FIGURE 22. supplement manufacturers joined together to elicit popular support for industry opposition to the FDA's regulatory proposals. This advertisement from the now defunct Nutritional Health Alliance appeared in Longevity magazine in August 1992..
Although such information was misleading if not downright false, it helped to convince Senator Orrin Hatch (Rep-Utah) to introduce the Health Freedom Act of 1992, which would have blocked the FDA from using health claims as an excuse to regulate supplements as drugs. |
Sheldon Saul Hendler
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 A—The Food and Drug Administration requires that supplement manufacturers list all of the active ingredients that go into their products. Manufacturers who fail to do this or who do not deliver what they say they are delivering on their labels can get into legal difficulty if detected. In fact, however, monitoring is sporadic and compliance uneven. But it is my impression, based on some chemical analyses, that most manufacturers deliver what they say they do, in terms of nutrient content.
Q—I've heard that mineral supplements do no good unless they are chelated. |
| And many supplement manufacturers have done everything they can to take advantage of that confusion. Consumers all over the world are being persuaded to pay far more than natural food-supplement products than for synthetic ones. The advertising claims imply that only the natural products provide full potency and that the synthetic products are somehow "bad" or deficient. Many of the natural vitamin C products, for example, actually contain only a small amount of ascorbic acid derived from natural sources. A "rose hip" vitamin C is generally 90 percent or more synthetic. |
Textbook of Natural Medicine 2nd Edition Volume 1Michael T. Murray, ND
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| Fish oil supplement manufacturers must provide sufficient information about the source of the fish oil. Information on the fish oil's source, EPA and DHA concentration and ratio, toxic residual levels (if any), and risk of oxidative activity should be provided.
11. Barradas MA. The effect of olive oil supplementation on human platelet function, serum cholesterol-related variables and plasma fibrinogen concentrations. Nutr Res 1990; 10: 403-411
12. Tichelaar HY. Eicosapentaenoic acid composition of different fish oil concentrates. Lancet 1990; ii: 1450
13. Budiarso IT. |
Earl L. Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D.
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 Phenylalanine
The amino acid phenylalanine is the precursor to tyrosine and has been used in numerous studies to successfully treat depression. Many supplement manufacturers will combine tyrosine and phenylalanine, but vitamin B6 should be added to this combination for better utilization.
This amino acid should be avoided by people who have PKU (phenylketonuria), a genetic defect in the body's ability to process and use phenylalanine. This defect can cause severe retardation. If it is caught early enough, retardation can be avoided with a phenylalanine-free diet. |
John Heinerman
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 At Sabinsa, the extracted HCA became neutralized with calcium, and was soon marketed to natural food and food supplement manufacturers under the trademarked name of citrin. Soon cheaper imitations appeared utilizing slightly varied forms of HCA, such as (-)hydroxycitric acid (hydrox-ycitrate), also known as HCA. But the genuine HCA extracted from Malabar tamarind by the unique methods developed at Sabinsa has always been considered to be the most effective.
Miracle Weight Loss Cure for Obesity? |
Jonathan Goodman ND
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 Back in the 1970s, supplement manufacturers developed a freeze-dried extract made from whole mussels. It became a popular remedy for arthritis in Australia and New Zealand. The product was relatively crude, however, and scientists found that the effectiveness varied widely from batch to batch. A decade later, manufacturers responded to this criticism by producing stabilized extracts made with the fatty portions of the mussels. All at once, green-lipped mussels were back in the headlines as a possible treatment for RA. |
Gary Null
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 Luckily, supplement manufacturers are aware of this beneficial ratio; you can buy vitamins that are made with it in mind.
Remember, vitamin P and vitamin C are partners, and they almost always occur in foods together. Nature knows best!
Something else you should know: vitamin P is easily destroyed when it is boiled or exposed to air. So if you make a cooked dish with bioflavonoid-rich foods, you may be cheating yourself of nutrients.53
How do you know if you are deficient in vitamin P? Some good clues are bleeding gums and easily bruised skin—also symptoms of vitamin C deficiency. |
Nicola Reavley
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| Most supplement manufacturers follow good manufacturing practices, which ensure that the product contains what it says on the label; that it breaks down to a form which is available for absorption; and does not contain toxic chemicals. If in doubt, it is worth checking with the supplier. Good quality supplements are available from medical practitioners, health food stores, drugstores and supermarkets. Many experts recommend buying name brands or own brand supplements from large national stores with a reputation for quality.
Vitamin and mineral supplements come in various forms. |
Marion Nestle
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| It argued that even well-off Americans consume inadequate diets, that processing and cooking deplete foods of vitamins, and that the health benefits of vitamin sufficiency were well established—arguments identical to those used by supplement manufacturers (see Table 29). On this basis, the company urged food manufacturers to fortify their products voluntarily, an action that would seem to benefit the public and to be good for business.
Roche believes that nutrition is good business . . . |
Gale Maleskey
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| The potency and quality of herbal products vary greatly. You can't always be sure you're getting the real thing. "Many of the products are overpriced and ineffective. Also, there's a great deal of promotion about health benefits by these companies that is pure baloney," says Andrew Weil, M.D., clinical professor of internal medicine and director of the program in integrative medicine of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, and author of Eight Weeks to Optimum Health. |
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