<p>Only 2 of 12 companies provided “authentic” samples, meaning they contained the ingredients they claimed and nothing else. 32% of the samples showed “substitution”, meaning they didn’t have what was claimed but had something else. And so on. Some products were basically sawdust.</p>
<p>They also run through other work that shows similar results.</p>
<p>Well, since you don’t need any supplements if you eat a proper diet and “herbal supplements” are awfully suspect even if they don’t have substitutions, this isn’t much of an issue. I was a lot more perturbed at the report a few days ago about the contamination of imported spices. Now that gets me where it hurts!</p>
<p>This is way different from the fish situation.</p>
<p>In the case of fish, expensive edible species were being replaced by cheaper edible species. It was still fish. It was still appropriate to eat. You were just getting cheated on the price.</p>
<p>In the supplement situation, it’s not just a matter of money. There can be real dangers here. Some of the ingredients being substituted for the real thing are of unknown or questionable safety.</p>
<p>Is is true that supplements are not regulated by the FDA? If so, does anyone watch over this industry? My biggest concern would be what they are using for fillers and flow agents.</p>
<p>I skimmed the article, but couldn’t find any names of companies? I try to buy supplements from more trusted companies (usually means they are not the cheapest brands), but appreciate good concrete information. Why doesn’t the article not include any names? The one where you get a laxative instead of echinacea sounds particularly unpleasant, and I would like to avoid that one, LOL.</p>
<p>One of the disturbing aspects of this is the fact that so many have no or little of the intended ingredient, yet people are presumably buying them, and in many cases, presumably claiming that they work.</p>
<p>It’s an industry that makes either overt or hinted health claims, with no independent verification required. And people buy them, and buy into them, because it’s not Big Pharma (but it is Big Herbal, or Big Placebo). Not in all cases ,but in many.</p>
<p>So the NYT is doing a filler piece with really old news…like at LEAST a decade old…
But it’s always nice to be reminded to be careful out there.
I say this as someone who likes and has studied alternative medicine and herbal remedies.
The regulations are really loose on herbal meds and supplements; you can make all the claims and advertise as much as you want and by the time (if ever) you get caught with a bad claim the formulation is changed or the company shut down after making a ton of money. Just open a new company. No biggie.
It’s difficult to find out how a company actually internally regulates its supplements . One company can be producing a vitamin or supplement for multiple distributors under different names. All those products may be great. Or, The amounts of herbal supplements can vary wildly from not only one company but one bottle to the next. For that very reason I back off from St. John’s wort and other products for mood elevation or other conditions that are near and dear to my heart (I need my brain…and other body parts). Adulteration of products is another huge problem–just look at pet food claims.
Do a bit of research and TRY (it’s not easy) to stay with major companies, the tried and true (been around for awhile). The ones with some skin in the game who care about their reputation.
Herbal supplements can be really tricky since the ingredients often come from foreign countries and suppliers who aren’t always the most “honest”</p>
<p>It is a huge problem in the industry. But alternative medicine exists because it’s most often cheaper and as effective as prescription drugs. After all, most prescription drugs are derived from nature. A lot of herbal remedies exist on your shelf because it’s known to be effective but not worth the testing and time for any big pharma company to market under FDA regs.</p>
<p>The study they reported on is new. The issue, I agree, is old. </p>
<p>As to the last paragraph, where you say alternative medicine is “most often … as effective as prescription drugs”, that is wrong. But I doubt this is a topic on which I can change your mind.</p>
<p>No,lergnom, I change my mind quite often given a decent reason. I take back that seemingly blanket statement–it wasn’t an end all. And it was maybe a new study with a very old conclusion. </p>
<p>Prescription drugs have to go through extensive testing but how great they are as to their effectiveness over cheaper herbal remedies is NOT studied. It’s simply too expensive and not worth the time for big pharma to do the studies without capital gain. You’ll probably never know if a cheaper or better herbal alternative exists unless you try it and it works for you personally. The study info will be “x company producing y at this time has a product that gave z results to w people”. You unfortunately are your own guinea pig. </p>
<p>Just like dietary changes that can make major changes in weight and metabolism I believe there are supplements that can make changes in cholesterol, blood pressure, weight and mood that improve health overall without taking prescription meds. </p>
<p>But not every manufacturer is the same. Like in gossip–consider the source.</p>
<p>*
Well, since you don’t need any supplements if you eat a proper diet and “herbal supplements” are awfully suspect even if they don’t have substitutions, this isn’t much of an issue.*</p>
<p>Because of nutrient depletion ( & conditions that affect the utilization of nutrients) in soils over the past 50 years, supplements often are needed for optimum health.</p>
<p>Aspirin was patented but that ran out during WWI and then, as part of the Treaty of Versailles, Bayer lost its trademark on the word. It’s a really cool story. Not as good as the way penicillin was brought to the US in vials in a scientist’s pocket, but pretty cool.</p>
<p>Lergnom–There’s a big difference between over the counter and prescription designation–I said aspirin would be prescription if patented today which would severely limit the public’s access to a cheap and beneficial drug that most everyone takes for granted.
I know the aspirin story very well. As well as those about penicillin. And a lot of other ones. They are very interesting stories.</p>