In last issue on this subject it was shown that a large proportion of dietary supplements sold on the shelves of supermarkets and health food stores are not what they seem. Independent assays showed that the majority of products sold do not have the ingredients claimed and that many of these products contained heavy metals and impurities. What is more, the companies doing this were major ones with brand names we all can recognise.
As if to underscore this comes the news that the boss of Gero Vital Inc, freshly pardoned by Bill Clinton, is still in trouble for fraud, perjury and tax evasion. Gero Vital, a multi-billion dollar business, is sold in health food stores throughout the US & all over the world. Independent watchdog Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch says Gero Vital "sells more health-related products with misleading claims than anyone else in history" and the editors of Consumer Reports recently stated, "we see a lot of misleading marketing but GeroVital rivals the worst".
This struck me because some years ago Gero Vital was one of the labels I had checked out as it appeared to have many interesting cutting-edge formulations but had always rejected, without really putting my finger on why. Thinking about it there were several reasons. The claims were just a bit too over the top & the back-up literature masquerading as science, though slick, was too quick to associate the products with legitimate research, unjustifiably so. Lastly, none of the physicians I spoke to who really knew about nutrition carried the label, not because they could specifically say what was wrong with it, but that they did not know enough about the manufacturer to trust them and nor did I.
So if you didn't know before that there were some naughty people out there in the health business who are very smart at parting you with your money, now you do. The trouble is, it is not always so easy to spot the wolves. Here are some of the things to look out for.
Bio-availability: not a simple subject. We all absorb nutrients differently. What I absorb easily & in sufficient quantity, you may not and vice versa. You may lack the right digestive enzymes or have a leaky gut so even the best stuff may not be having the desired effect. All you can do is work at providing the optimum environment so you can absorb what you need. There are tests you can take that will show how you're doing.
However if the supplement is wrongly formulated by the manufacturer you have no chance of it doing you any good anyway. This may be for a variety of reasons. Poor or low grade ingredients; ingredients that are bio-unavailable by themselves or become so when combined with other ingredients; the delivery vehicle, whether it be tablet, capsule or softgel. Be careful about this though. A tablet that is compounded like a bullet is likely to pass through you, well - like a bullet. However tablets are sometimes the only effective means of delivering the nutrients in the optimum way. Other times it is capsules & sometimes by softgel, it depends on many things. Do not be led astray therefore by any specious claims that tablets per se are less or not bio-available. When you hear a blanket claim like that make sure to look carefully who's selling you what. The wolves out there are adept in co-opting legitimate concerns for their own purpose. See who the manufacturer is, how they market themselves & whether you feel confident with that. Just know, that no manufacturer who knew their stuff would ever make such an overall claim, nor would their marketing people. The best manufacturers all offer a full range of products with a variety of delivery means, optimum for the purpose.
If it's cheap, it probably is - but expensive don't make it good. While there are tens of thousands of supplement companies there are actually only about 2 dozen reliable sources they buy from to formulate. The major antioxidants Vitamins C & E for example, mostly come 'pharmaceutical grade' from big companies like Bayer and Hoffman La Roche (or whatever corporate combination they have morphed into), same goes for CoQ10 from Japan, or SAMe from Europe and so on. There are cheaper sources for these ingredients but they are low grade & often include impurities. Vitamin C from China, used extensively in cheap formulations, has routinely been found to contain rat droppings and heavy metals. And yet you will never see China mentioned on a label as the source. But then the label may say it is government certified 95% pure. Well, that may sound good even if true, but you should still worry about that other 5% of something you ingest every day.
What constitutes a therapeutic dose? The one-a-day multi syndrome or the RDA guidelines. How attractive to be able to take just one tab a day & know you've got it covered. It hasn't happened yet & don't hold your breath. The RDA are the US governments guidelines to prevent clinical malnutrition and that has little to do with what you need to maintain your health or prevent chronic disease. Until you find out what dose actually does any good you are likely to buy a product that appears to have the right ingredients but doesn't actually have enough of it to do you any good (more on that another time). Meantime, don't be fooled.
Smart marketing & packaging: for example, an expensive product like CoQ10 is sold in a bottle of 30 x 30mg tabs and may seem reasonably priced to you as a month's supply. Not so, when you consider that the therapeutic dose is 60mg to 200mg per day. Anything under that isn't going to do much for you and wouldn't last you more than a week at a reasonable dose of 120 mg per day. Watch out for the same ploy with any other expensive ingredients.
Misleading labelling: shockingly prevalent as we've seen. Given that a product has any of what it says it has, it often has a lesser amount of it than claimed on the label. Often a more effective and expensive form of a particular ingredient is stated but has in fact been substituted for or mixed with a cheaper form. Look for variants of the same game.
Other ingredients, binders, fillers etc: many manufacturers will state that they are hypo-allergenically formulated & don't have a slew of nasty things like artificial coloring, sugar, starch, etc. Well I would hope so! It's what they don't say you want to watch out for. There are necessarily other ingredients of a non-therapeutic nature required in the formulation of a product. Because these can be harmful most governments regulate the more toxic and require manufacturers to list some of what they put in. Cellulose is a common one but can be another way of saying sawdust! The regulation only goes so far in any case. Here's a good example of what is not stated: many products use various substances as a lubricant. These are not necessarily bad for you, it is there so the expensive ingredients do not stick to the machinery during formulation, thus saving the manufacturer a bundle of money. The downside is that as a lubricant it delays absorption inside you and passes right through you.
Herbs & Natural Remedies: this is perhaps the area of most abuse. Herbs, as we know, have many therapeutic uses. The drugs doctors give us are synthesised from them as often as not. And that is the point. It is the active ingredient contained in the herb that has the desired effect not the plant itself. That is why various national & international bodies have been set up to standardise the active ingredient. Always look to see if this is stated. The truth is, I could go down to the woods today and gather a whole load of nettles, chop them up, put them in some pretty bottles and sell them to you as natural, organic nettle leaf for the cure of prostate disease, heart disease & a whole host of other good things. There wouldn't be a lot to stop me since nettle does contain ingredients that do help prevent these diseases but not in enough quantities to do you much good unless the active ingredient is extracted. When it comes to homeopathy, which I believe is effective, we are entirely on our own with nothing I can see to guide us but the credibility of the formulator.
So how are we to buy smart? At the end of the day all we can do is inform ourselves as best we can & maintain a healthy scepticism. Be aware from where the information is coming and see where the purveyors interests lie. Is the sales literature comprehensive, what does it not say, does it use research in a convincing or deceptive way? If a health magazine, who are the big advertisers?
What I have done over the years is check with the experts & make a shortlist of companies whom I have found are ethically responsible, & who produce the most effective products I know. You can normally tell if the health practitioner you consult is up to speed if they carry some of these lines. Although there are many other good names not included here I will share some of the best.
Now you know, that's a good start - but do check it out for yourself & that's the point. After all, you don't know where I'm coming from either, do you?
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Vitamin C from China is used extensively in cheap formulations but has routinely been shown to contain rat droppings & heavy metals. And yet the label may show that it has been government tested as 95% pure. It's the other 5% you need to worry about....."
