On Healthy by Nature this week: Popular guest, author Bill Sardi will talk about eye health (e.g. macular degeneration, dry eye, cataracts, age-related decline, etc.) 1-800-281-8255

IN THE NEWS

Consumer Reports (CR) September 2010 issue: Features 3 stories on dietary supplements.

My 2 cents: CR is great when it ranks toasters and automobiles because the organization buys and actually tests them. However, when they write about supplements, they usually rely on the opinions of experts who, even if they are in government, seem to be strongly biased against supplements and justify their positions with skimpy science, case reports and turning a blind eye to thousands of positive studies. Dramatic negative stories are added for impact. (Wait a minute…positive stories are deemed worthless “anecdotes”.)

CR has to promote memberships, but they also seem to be pushing another agenda when they focus so much attention on the rare exceptions in nutrition. Given that 200,000-300,000 die annually in the US from prescription drugs, it doesn’t seem helpful to scare consumers away from supplements that might help them avoid dangerous drugs. Supplements may occasionally cause a mild reaction but seldom do serious harm unless a person seriously abuses them or when (rarely) a criminal company laces their product with pharmaceuticals. The last time I compared government stats, in the average year, more people die from using toothpicks than from taking supplements. CR is right that the companies to watch closely are those making supplements for body-building, sexual enhancement, or weight loss. Be even more careful if the product is sold via email solicitation, upstart multi-level schemes or by infomercials. Choose companies with a long history and a good reputation to protect.

Consumer Reports #1, “The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements”. Ten on the list are herbs: Aconite, Bitter Orange, Chaparral, Coltsfoot, Comfrey, Country Mallow, Greater Celedine, Kava, Lobelia and Yohimbe. Two are minerals, Colloidal Silver and Germanium.

My 2 cents: Just because something is from a plant doesn’t mean it’s safe. Remember, the plant Hemlock was used to kill the philosopher Socrates. The herbs on CR’s list have been useful natural medicines historically, but only when the proper part of the plant is used in the right quantity for the right person and purpose (just like drugs should be). Since they are subject to misuse by non-professionals, I haven’t recommended the herbs on that list. Colloidal silver is very useful topically and is apparently quite safe in the small doses used in throat and sinus sprays.

Consumer Reports #2, “Eleven Supplements to Consider”. From the same database of 1,110 ingredients, CR chose only 11 to recommend: Calcium, Cranberry, Fish Oil, Glucosamine Sulphate, Lactase, Lactobacillus [probiotics], Psyllium, Pygeum, SAMe, St. John’s Wort and Vitamin D.

My 2 cents: I suppose it’s welcome progress that CR found a single supplement to recommend. It is disconcerting however that they recommended calcium without magnesium; that they didn’t seem to know that a “fishy aftertaste” means that the fish oil is not fresh; and that they found only ONE reason to praise vitamin D. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I think they would benefit from having an integrative physician or practicing nutritionist on staff. (Not me!)

Consumer Reports #3, “Multivitamins”. CR’s actual headline: “Most we tested were fine, so select by price.”

My 2 cents: CR would never say “if it looks like a car, buy the cheapest one even if it doesn’t have an engine.” They didn’t evaluate whether the multi’s could get you where you want to go. They didn’t ask if the nutrition was balanced (e.g. calcium with magnesium). They didn’t object when the forms of nutrients weren’t beneficial natural complexes but rather suspect cheap synthetics. They didn’t criticize companies for putting in worthlessly small (fraudulent I’d say) amounts of popular ingredients or for adding unnecessary and potentially toxic chemicals like aluminum that are on the label of highly advertized brands like Centrum. The testing CR had done was only to determine if the pills dissolved; the contents matched the label claims; and the product did not contain hazardous amounts of poisons like arsenic, etc. It isn’t surprising that multi-vitamins haven’t faired so well in a few research studies—there is a lot of junk on the market and those products are the top mass market sellers. That shouldn’t be okay with CR. Next week…a whole bunch of GOOD news about supplements.

RESEARCH

Toxins at home: Household cleaning, pesticide and air freshener products may contribute to breast cancer because many of them contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that we absorb through contact and breathing.

My 2 cents: Why take the chance when there are effective and non-toxic alternatives? Howard Garrett’s Green Living site is a great source.

My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

My latest book : Aloe Vera-Modern Science Sheds Light on an Ancient Herbal Remedy

Copyright 2010 Martie Whittekin, CCN

¹Environ Health. 2010 Jul 20;9(1):40. [Epub ahead of print] Self-reported chemicals exposure, beliefs about disease causation, and risk of breast cancer in the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study: a case-control study. Zota AR, Aschengrau A, Rudel RA, Brody JG.