Health Supplements- Healthy or Harmful?

Vitamins & Supplements:

Healthy or Harmful?

There was a time when even cigarettes were said to be healthy & aid you in achieving a healthy "slender" figure. We now know their dangerous effects and how far from healthy they truly are.

Sad but true, the “health promoting” vitamins & supplements you take may actually be doing nothing for you, or even worse, causing you harm.

Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplements are not subject to the same FDA approval process that food additives and prescription drugs undergo. Food additives and prescription drugs must be proven safe prior to marketing. In contrast, dietary supplements are sold without prior studies proving their safety, or that what is on the label is truly in the container.

FDA's Role:

The FDA requires that supplement labels disclose all of the ingredients used in product manufacture. Labels include the product name, identification as a supplement, and manufacturer contact information. This is NOT your guarantee of product quality. According to Consumerlab.com, an independent dietary supplement testing organization, there are numerous instances of misleading and inaccurate labeling information on dietary supplements and it is only after a supplement is found to be harmful that it is taken off the market.

U.S.Pharmacopeia (USP) Verified Mark:

Before you purchase any dietary supplement, be sure to examine the label carefully for the USP mark. This mark is your best assurance that the supplement has undergone voluntary testing for all of the ingredients listed on the label. The manufacturers of supplements that bare this mark attest to the facts that their product is contaminant-free, that good manufacturing processes were used and that the supplement disperses all active ingredients properly once ingested. The USP is a non-profit organization that operates independently of government regulatory agencies such as the FDA and until measures of regulation are put in effect looking for this mark can aid in quality selections. Additionally, the NSF Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Registration website is another source to find products that have been voluntarily tested & verified. A list of these products is available on their website.

Increased Visibility of USP Verified Mark for Dietary Supplements:

The USP mark makes it easy for consumers to identify dietary supplements whose quality, purity, and potency have been thoroughly tested and verified. In 2002, Nature Made & Costco’s Kirkland Signature products were among the first to be verified.

http://www.usp.org/

http://www.nsf.org/