FDA putting controls on vitamin supplements

[Gerianne]

According to the FDA, walnuts are "bad" for us.
The pharmaceutical industry feels the threat from natural herbal and vitamin supplements so they want to phase out most of them. This is ridiculous!
The drugs put out by pharmaceutical companies aren't safe. If the herbs and vitamins are wiped out, we'll all be sick. Pharmaceutical industry wants to make money at our expense - the expense of our health as well as or pocketbook. I found this out this morning when I was reading Dr Mercola online.

[dbreidenbach]

I agree with you 100%.  If the government wanted us to be well, they wouldn't push toxic pharmaceuticals on us, and recommend the unhealthy diet that they do.  If you haven't watched it yet, watch the movie "Fathead", you should be able to find it on Hulu

[lvstephanie]

I think it is actually a good idea. The pharmaceutical industry has always had to go through rigorous testing of their products to ensure its safety and efficacy. 90+% of the compounds tested never make it to market because it fails in some phase of testing, either because it is unsafe, not as effective as another product, or because it doesn't treat the disease as intended. Herbals and vitamins on the other hand have never had to be tested. You can't say that they are safer if they have never had to undergo testing to find all possible side-effects. Also because they have never been tested, the effects are usually based on anecdotal evidence which may or may not be true. And even if true, the anecdotal evidence doesn't specify the amounts needed nor other contributing factors (genetic makeup of the individual, environment, other compounds that may have a synergistic or adverse effect, etc.).

The pharmaceutical drugs are also strictly regulated by amounts of the active substance present in each serving, amounts prescribed and/or used, and activity strength over the course of time (as in when the medication is expired). Herbals and vitamins do not have these regulations to contend with. As a result, some herbal manufacturers will put in more filler than active ingredients, or do not know exactly how much of the active ingredient is present. Furthermore, it is easier for people to either not take enough for the ingredients to have an effect, or take too much and be exposed to toxic effects of the substances. There have been cases of people getting poisoned because they thought they'd be healthier by taking some supplement, and didn't realize that they were approaching or had exceeded the toxicity level. For example, there are several cases of selenium poisoning by people taking too much either willingly (as in taking too many supplements) or unknowingly (as in the manufacturer added too much selenium to the supplement: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/716598).

If anything I think that herbal / vitamin manufacturers are the ones more concerned with money at our expense by not wanting to be tested with the same rigors that pharmaceuticals have to go through.

[mrjack798]

Wow...But you got to remember: everything in this world today is about money.

[Alphasee]

Wasn't this supposed to happen last year, and the year before that?

Sounds to me like somebody has been watching too much zeitgeist....lol.

[dell9031]

I grow, reap, and hunt for all my food.  If I pull something from a can...rule of thumb....cannot pronounce it...don't eat it....

[shepherdchik]

I think it's a good idea for vitamins and herbal supplements to be studied and put daily values to as well as real warnings. There are a lot of interactions with vitamins and herbal supplements with over the counter and prescriptions that people just don't know and that is very dangerous.
Not only should they be studied and tested for the danger of interaction but studied for the benefits, they have been around much longer than any man made drugs and have real health benefits. I think it's on the way to happening but still has a long way to go.