We know that taking dietary supplements is good. It can increase your level of antioxidants in the body, thereby boosting your defense against diseases. But with all the many brands in the market, how do you choose the right one? How do you know which is safe and effective?
Truth about the FDA
As the Wall Street Journal puts it, "How do I know if I'm buying a reputable brand? You don't. Numerous studies show supplements often don't contain the ingredients they promise, and some are adulterated with lead or other contaminants.1"
But what about the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates the industry?
First of all, dietary supplements are classified as food—not drugs. Therefore, the FDA regulates it as food. This means that the laws and standards established as requirements for drugs such as proof of safety, effectiveness, and Good Manufacturing Practices are not required for dietary supplements. Hence, manufacturers do not need to prove that a dietary supplement is safe, effective, or of good quality.
Secondly, because the dietary supplement is categorized as food, the FDA does not need to analyze the contents of the dietary supplements. The FDA only scrutinizes whether it meets the standards of the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for food, which establishes standards by which the product has to be prepared, packed, and stored—all in all inadequate, because it doesn’t address the dietary supplement quality.
Dietary Supplement Industry: The Real Deal
The dietary supplement industry is highly unregulated. According to Dr. Barrie R. Cassileth, chief, integrative medicine service at Memorial-Sloan Kettering, "anyone can put anything in a bottle and put it on the shelf." Unlike drugs, manufacturers of dietary supplements “don't have to prove a product is safe.2”
ConsumerLab.com, which is an independent research testing and publishing firm, put several dietary supplements in the market to the test. These are their findings.
First, they found that majority of these dietary supplements do not contain the exact amount of ingredients written on the product label. A study funded by NCCAM also found that several ginseng dietary supplements had actually less than half of the amount stated on their bottle.
Secondly, ConsumerLab.com also found that these dietary supplements do not contain the actual ingredients listed in the label. A study conducted by another organization found that of the 59 Echinacea dietary supplements that were tested, “about half did not contain the species listed on the label.3”
And lastly, when ConsumerLab.com tested these dietary supplements for impurity, they found that some were contaminated and contained toxins due to poor manufacturing standards.
As much as we want to take supplements to increase our antioxidant levels or target a specific ailment, as consumers, we have to exercise caution in choosing our dietary supplements. And so, we need to know what happens behind-the-scenes at the dietary supplement industry.
SELECTION
Basically, there are lots of dietary supplement companies that make bogus claims. For example, Brand X is said to contain a certain herb. And this herb is said to be able to treat a certain ailment, when in reality, there really aren’t enough clinical studies on it that actually proves that it can do so. For instance, the active ingredient coral calcium is said to be able to prevent cancer, but this simply is not backed up by science.
SOURCING
Creating an herbal dietary supplement is as easy as chopping off leaves in one’s own backyard, putting it in capsules, and bottling it. Therefore, as consumers, we need to understand where manufacturers actually obtained their ingredients.
Let’s take our Omega-3, which the body needs. Omega-3 is found in fish—but not just any fish, it has to be deep-sea fish (sardines/mackerel/salmon). The highest grade of Omega-3 comes from krill, a shrimp/prawn in Antarctica. So if we’re buying a dietary supplement for Omega-3, we need to find out where the Omega-3 comes from, where they got their fish, and also what kind of fish they used.
STRUCTURE
In addition, we also have to find out in what part of the active ingredient they obtained their product.
For example, let’s take green tea, which is recognized as being able to help with cancer. Green tea has catechins and as such, has anti-cancer properties. However, it is not in the entire green tea plant that contains the most potent anti-cancer properties—it is in the tea buds, not the tea leaves.
Hence, we also need to know in what part of the plant manufacturers obtained their product.
STANDARDIZATION
“Concentrations of active components will vary by as much as 300% depending on season, climate, soil, method of harvest, storage conditions, and processing.4”
Because of this, we also need to know if the dietary supplements we are taking are standardized—if every capsule in the bottle consistently contains the same amount of active ingredient.
SUBSTANTIATION
Also, consider this.
How can you prove that a drug is effective? Through clinical studies.
How can you prove that a dietary supplement is effective? Through clinical studies.
But the thing is, dietary supplements aren’t required to have clinical studies, and most do not. What they do have, though, is “borrowed science”. Example, there are documented clinical studies of green tea having anti-cancer properties. And so some manufacturers claim that their green tea is anti-cancer and say that their product is backed up by studies. However, their studies are based on green tea having anti-cancer properties; they did not actually conduct tests on their green tea dietary supplement to see if it can actually help with cancer.
Hence, it is definitely important to choose a dietary supplement with clinical studies—third party clinical studies to be exact, in order to avoid bias.
SAFETY
During the 2000 Sydney Games, athlete C. J. Hunter was disqualified because he was tested positive for steroids. From other Olympics games, there was also bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic, Australian marathoner Silvana Trampuz, British runner Mark Richardson who met the same fate… The culprit? Supplements/Multivitamins/Nutritional bars they were taking.
“Last year, a report commissioned by the International Olympic Committee revealed that a quarter of the 600 over-the-counter nutritional supplements that were analyzed contained non-labeled banned substances that could lead to a positive drug test.5”
How do you know if your dietary supplements are safe? Remember: all companies are going to say that they’re safe and effective. No one is going to say that they’re not. Want to know the truth? Go third party.
Supplementwatch.com is composed of scientists & doctors who test dietary supplements in terms of its claims, scientific evidence, safety, overall value, and they rate it from "Try it!" to "Don't waste your money".
ConsumerLab.com is an independent firm that tests and evaluates dietary supplements in terms of Banned Substances. They list down supplements in their website that have passed and failed their screening. Those that pass carry the CL seal.
NSF International (www.nsf.org) is another independent firm that tests and verifies the quality and effectiveness of dietary supplements, which they list in their NSF certified product listing book online. Those that pass carry the NSF seal.
Education
Prevention is always better than cure, and so it is extremely important for you to educate yourself in terms of your health. So read up on books or on materials you can get your hands on, like “What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You” by Dr. Ray Strand, MD.
1 Wall Street Journal: New Rules From FDA, March 11, 2003
2 Parker-Pope, Tara. Wall Street Journal - HEALTH JOURNAL. March 11, 2003
3 Gilroy CM, Steiner JF, Byers T, et al. Echinacea and truth in labeling. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2003;163(6):699-704.
4 www.pharmanex.com/corp/pharmanews/6s.sht
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5 www.nytimes.com/2002/01/30/olympics/30OL
YM.html?ex=1150516800&en= a591088d96882e1b&ei=5070
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/30/olympics/30OLYM.html?ex=1150516800&en=a591088d96882e1b&ei=5070http://www.pharmanex.com/corp/pharmanews/news/04-02-05.shtmlhttp://www.cancer.org/docroot/nws/content/nws_1_1x_nutritional_supplement_doses_not_always_accurate.aspwww.pharmanex.com/corp/pharmanews/6s.sht
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www.technologydoctor.com/quality101/
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