Food Supplements

[Robert Heltman]

I went to the quackwatch site and reviewed contents.  There is no question
but what Dr. Barrett, M.D. shows readers a number of spurious organizations,
evil thinking, and mischievous medical and nutritional practices.  The cloud
of doubt and woe he casts is large and ominous.  To see such a long list of
articles and reports indicates he is the most prolific genius on earth or
has a cast of helpful ghost writers stashed somewhere.  Maybe both.

However, especially when reviewing the LONG list of organizations he views
with doubt and suspicion, as a self-appointed authority, I'm reminded of the
story of the cynical economist who forecast 12 of the last 3 recessions.

Barrett's position appears to be against anything not allopathic, and
"scientifically proven" by all means.  Yet it is the allopathic medical
profession that has brought us between 48,000 and up to 300,000 (depending
on the information source and recognizing a lot of non-reporting) deaths per
year due mostly to pharmaceutical prescriptions, ingested generally through
the mouth.  FDA approved, of course.  Scientific studies too.
	 At web site http://www.emord.com/litigati.htm one may read details of the
recent legal action against the FDA, brought by Dr. J. Whitaker, M.D., and
others, because of FDA actions deemed "...in contumacious disobedience of
constitutional orders and in violation of the First Amendment..."  The need
for such legal action, and indeed its very existence, is its own important
message as well.  Of course, Whitaker, M.D., is on Barrett's bad boy list.

Deaths due to food supplement ingestion are so rare as to be statistically
insignificant, and the number of people claiming benefits is large and
growing.

The mortality track record favors the unregulated food supplements, in fact,
and not the FDA approved allopathic pharmaceuticals.

The AMA lost a major lawsuit in approx. 1993 brought by chiropractors, a
simple case of restraint of trade, the AMA being essentially a monopolistic
trade association.  The business of disease is big and lucrative.  Healthy
people provide no income for doctors, except in trauma cases.  Please be
aware of the hidden profit motives.  Review John Robbins' book "Reclaiming
Our Health."

So, yes, I reviewed the site.  I'm not incredibly impressed.  It is
interesting too, that I see Barrett's fear mongering in the training
materials of at least one dietician to be.  Such hi-class pressure on
students is very effective in causing young dieticians to toe the line.

Of course, I'm no expert.  I just look into what is going on around me and
apply common sense, where possible, if and when I have any.


-----Original Message-----
From: PHNUTR-L-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:PHNUTR-L-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of McKinney, Pat
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2000 12:06 PM
To: Public Health Nutrition Discussion and Information Group
Subject: RE: Food Supplements


Let's get this right.  Food Supplements are unregulated so organic or
otherwise is irrelevant. They do not need to be tested for safety or
efficacy. For a good source of information go to www.quackwatch.com and read
the articles on food supplements.

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Heltman [mailto:bobh at ioa.com]
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2000 11:53 AM
To: Public Health Nutrition Discussion and Information Group
Subject: Food Supplements


Dear Health Firsters:

There has been some recent posting activity about Food Supplements.

You experts may want to define the term and break it down into more useful
categories.

For instance, there are organic whole food supplements, like Klamath Lake
Blue Green Algae, some barleygreen powders, some wheatgrass powders, and
perhaps others.  I imagine dehydrated garlic, parsley, etc. would be in this
category too.
	Especially in this arena, there are good a bad processing methods.
The
best use dehydrating methods that do not go above about 104 degrees, so
enzymes are not destroyed.  Some use air drying, some freeze drying.  Some
bond the powders with maltodextrose or the like to assure minimal nutrient
loss, etc.

There are non-organic whole food supplements, like man made ponds with man
selected nutrient fed algae of various types, barleygreen from non-organic
farms, etc.

Then there are partial food supplements like zinc, Vitamin E, Vitamin C in
various concentrations, magnesium-calcium-zinc combinations and on and on.
Maybe some of the "health bars" with Zone mixes of
proteins-carbohydrates-etc. come in here.

	Some of these are "naturally" derived and some are produced
synthetically.
Arguments abound about the need for associated nutrients to make the prime
nutrient function properly and on and on and on.  Of course, there is the
war between "natural" and "synthetic."

Then there are powders, syrups, food bars, tablets, and capsules, and of the
capsules those that do and those that don't use animal products in their
manufacture.  And arguments about slowly dissolving under the tongue,
tablets being chewed or not, some tablets or capsules breaking down or not
breaking down in the GI tract, ad nauseum.

As I understand it, the "best" supplements are of the organic whole food
variety as they provide missing micronutrients not provided these days in
the nation's commercial food system, and they do so "in balance" which is
another key concept.  I hear that taking specific supplements can be less
healthy as it causes various "imbalances"...unless a specific need is
determined by a qualified health care practitioner and the specific type
supplement is utilized to fill the gap, temporarily it is hoped.

Then there are colon and artery cleansers, and perhaps other ingested
products for various purposes.  Grapefruit pectin is "in" lately, to clean
out the arteries.  Is it a supplement or not, especially if it is not
essentially absorbed into the blood stream?   Hmmmmmm.

As to the answer to the question "Are supplements good or bad?" the answer
clearly is "yes" and "no."
Like people; are they good or bad?   Answer: Yup.

Keep smiling.

Bests, Bob

Robert (Bob) F. Heltman
"Presenting New products to mail order catalogs & e-commerce Internet sites
across the USA and in Canada"
http://www.leadingedgepands.com