Prevention and nutritional supplementation

Over the past decade a number of landmark studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, The National Eye Institute and the National Science Foundation, as well as numerous other clinical trials, have shown the significant role nutritional supplements play in maintaining our health. The use of certain supplements have been shown to reduce the risk, slow the progression, or, in some instances, even reverse the effects of serious chronic health conditions such as, coronary artery disease, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and age-related macular degeneration.¹

Over 150 million Americans of all ages take nutritional supplements daily, but many don’t always get the benefits they expect. Taking the wrong supplement can lead to illness or aggravate an existing condition and every year thousands of people experience serious side-effects and illness as a result.

Lack of Regulation

Many people assume that the nutritional supplement industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in much the same way as the over-the-counter and prescription drug industry. Actually, the regulations and the degree of enforcement are very different. In fact, the FDA does not review claims made by nutritional supplement manufacturers, requiring instead that all claims be accompanied by the precautionary statement: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.” ²

In this climate of minimal regulation it is not surprising that many nutritional supplement manufacturers choose to maximize profits by using the least expensive ingredients and manufacturing processes. A January 2007 random study of “off-the-shelf” multi-vitamins, including many leading brands, conducted by consumerlab.com concluded that over half the brands tested “were found to be contaminated with lead, unable to properly break apart, or to contain significantly more or less ingredient than claimed.” ³

1.     Examples of these studies included the The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) Journal of the American Medical Association, October,2001; Omeg-3 Fatty Acids and Health, Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, October, 2005; the TOZAL study, BioMed Central Ophthalmology, Feb. 2007

2.     Food And Drug Administration regulation

3.     “Consumers Warned of Problems with Multivitimins” Report published by Consumerlab.com , January 19, 2007

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