The front page of today’s Chicago Tribune had an article “Supplements lack science, safe
ty proof.” This inflammatory headline suggests many things that are not in this article or true. The article flags 1 specific nutritional supplement company that makes many claims about their supplements stating that the owners of the company are not MD’s or pharmacists and that there is no “strong scientific evidence that their products work.”
I do not want to defend this company or many others that are out on the commercial market but I would like you to think about some of the statements made by the tribune and those they interviewed.
1. Why should the owner of a nutritional supplement company be an MD or pharmacist?
– MD’s and pharmacists deal with prescription DRUGS not nutritional supplement
– What level of knowledge does your MD have about Vitamins & Supplements?
2. How strong is the scientific evidence for drugs demonstrating that they work?
– We have seen countless numbers of drugs recalled for causing severe damage to people’s health and even death.
– The “research” done on these drugs is performed by the drug companies and there have been countless articles and even lawsuits about the inaccuracies and undisclosed data in these studies.
– Is this the “Strong scientific evidence” they are looking for?
Nutritional supplements are not regulated by the FDA and although some challenge this, I believe it to be good. Regulation by the FDA would dramatically increase the cost, turn the manufacturing over to drug companies and bring about the need for prescription of these supplements.
I am a strong believer in making sure people use High Quality nutritional supplements and that they should have their intake of these supplements monitored by a skilled professional. There are many bad products out on the market that will waste your money and possibly cause you harm. An example of this was the lawsuit last year against the manufacturers of many commercially sold fish oils. It was found that many had above allowable levels of PCB’s some were upwards of 70% above. When this was brought to the public I received many calls and emails worried about the fish oils they had purchased at my office. Within the hour I was able to respond to these concerns with very comforting information that the allowable levels of PCB’s were .9 ppb and the products I supplied had levels of .02 ppb.
You see, the products I carry have all passed a rigorous series of questions regarding product quality, absorbability, digestibility, manufacturing quality AND they all have independent lab tests of each product run to substantiate what is stated on the label is in the bottle and the ingredients are all pure and safe.
In addition to the quality, most people do not know the proper products they should be taking and at what dose. Does your MD stay up to date on the research on nutritional supplements? Most do not. I have had many practice members tell me that their MD recommended they go out and buy any multivitamin and any fish oil, stating that it did not matter which one and that they should take whatever it said on the bottle. In addition, many MD’s are prescribing 50,000 IU’s of Vitamin D2 for their patients with low vitamin D levels. The problem is, Vitamin D2 is not well absorbed and the retesting of blood levels do not show much improvement (in contrast, when I put someone on the appropriate levels of the Vitamin D3 that we carry, the retests demonstrate GREAT positive response). Would they treat a drug prescription in this manner? I don’t think so and hence you should not do this with your supplements.
I strongly advise making an appointment at Stern Chiropractic for a nutritional consultation. We can discuss your health goals and your nutritional needs and then can provide you with ONLY the HIGHEST QUALITY NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS at the APPROPRIATE DOSING for YOU!
The big supplements in the news these days are what I have been recommending for years:
- High Quality Multivitamin
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oils)
- Vitamin D3
- Probiotics
Stern Chiropractic carries only the highest quality products that are only sold by health care providers and we can make sure you are getting the right product at the right dose providing the biggest Bang for your Buck.
Call to schedule your FREE nutritional consult TODAY!
Stern Chiropractic (847) 537-2225 (BACK) or
visit us on the web at http://www.SternChiro.com