<<< Back to Cures Naturally Articles
<<< Back to Cures Naturally Supplements-Vitamins
The April edition of Consumer Reports has a “stoplight” red cover with the warning title, “Dangerous Supplements.” Their advocacy group, Consumer Union (CU) held an “audio news conference”, which I attended, on Monday April 5th. It turns out that most of the twelve “supplements” are herbal stimulants, many of which are used and abused by the consumer for weight loss, weight gain, and sexual stimulation.
I voiced my concerns that such a lurid title and using the word supplements instead of herbal stimulants is going to scare many people away from all supplements.
CU advocates defended their long record of supporting vitamins and minerals. They said there is enough scientific evidence to recommend their use. And they said they also investigate herbs and find that many, such as saw palmetto for prostate health are beneficial. Their concern was the safety of a small group of herbs.
I asked why they went with a “bad news” title. In their report they mention that there are 30,000 supplement products on the market. I said, the real news is that of 30,000 products only a group of 12 supplements are risky.
CU replied that they just wanted to get the government to ban these unsafe products.
I said, you are giving ammunition to the FDA, which seems to want to get into the business of restricting supplements instead of educating people about them. I said consumer access to supplements will be the inevitable result.
CU said the supplement industry used that argument all the time but they still felt that these unsafe supplement should be off the market.
I mentioned that they continually compare supplements to drugs and seem to want the same restrictions for both. Whereas there may be a few deaths, at most, annually with supplements, there are 106,000 deaths due to properly prescribed drugs.
CU advocates that twelve supplements be banned, however, much like a business deal you bid high and accept a lower offer. In fact the twelve supplements are divided into three categories. Under Definitely Hazardous is one herb: Aristolochia, which the FDA has warned manufacturers about in April 2001. The other two categories are Very Likely Hazardous and Likely Hazardous. CU may want a ban but what they might get is a law that requires supplement manufacturers to release complaints of side effects from consumers. Apparently Ephedra manufacturers had thousands of such complaints but were not required by law to report them. Also CU advocates for more funding to be given to the FDA to do their work of investigating harmful supplements.
One important point about this attack on “Dangerous Supplements” is that many of them are single herbs, which are known stimulants, concentrated to such an extent that they have powerful effects. They may indeed be working like drugs. Trained herbalists rarely use single herbs and if they do, they don’t usually use them for any length of time. Herbs are best used in combination for synergistic beneficial effects and to balance out any negative effects. That’s the wisdom behind herbal medicine; an herbalist respects plants and knows what ones have powerful effects, or even toxic effects. Then he or she mitigates potentially toxic effects with another herb. Most people, and presumably manufacturers, may not be aware that single herbs can have toxic effects, and they rely on the fact that they are “natural” and assume they are safe. Single herbs are abused by many consumers who want the “promised” weight loss, the weight gain, or the sexual high. When they don’t get what they want, they may take more. An educated consumer would not necessarily take that risk.
Back to top of document