(Newswire.net — November 30, 2013) Portland, OR — In 1994 the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was passed to protect your access to natural supplements. If a supplement contains a natural ingredient such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, or amino acids then it didn’t need to be approved by the FDA.
As long as a supplement manufacturer labeled the product truthfully and accurately and met certain FDA quality and safety practices, then the product could be marketed.
But the DSHEA has been constantly attacked since it was passed. Most of the attacks originate with Senator Dick Durbin. He regularly proposes amendments to change the DSHEA so that supplements are treated more like prescription drugs.
The FDA and big pharmaceutical support the attempts to undermine the supplement industry. They would like to limit your access to supplements. If the law were to change, pharmaceutical companies would become your only source of supplements.
Supplements would then be more expensive and harder to get.
Some Questionable Apples
Every time a supplement company uses questionable ingredients that put the safety of consumers at risk, the entire supplement industry comes under fire. This is a deliberate effort by the FDA to paint the industry with a broad brush.
There have been a number of companies manufacturing sports and energy drinks and weight loss supplements that included an illegal ingredient in their otherwise natural products. The ingredient, geranium extract, sounds harmless enough. It’s not. It can lead to cardiovascular issues including high blood pressure and even heart attack.
In this situation, the company was hiding behind DSHEA to bring a product to market that DID NOT fall under DSHEA protections. Fortunately, DSHEA provides a way to get these types of dangerous products pulled from the market.
Unfortunately, the FDA, the big pharmaceutical companies, and several members of Congress use cases like these to attack the DSHEA.
How to Select Safe Supplements
Natural supplements actually have a glowing safety record. Compare the number of health related incidents triggered by natural supplements versus those triggered by over-the-counter drugs or by prescription medications, and there’s no doubt that this industry doesn’t need more regulation.
Just look at how supplements measure up:
– Adverse drug events annually during hospitalization – 770,000
– Death and serious injuries caused by adverse drug events – 2 million annually
– Fatalities from adverse drug reactions – 100,000 annually
– Adverse reactions to supplements – 1,200 annually (including people who claim the supplement is not working as expected)
– Deaths from adverse supplement reactions – 10 annually
– Hospitalizations from adverse supplement reactions – 170 annually
The attention should be on the dangerous drugs.
The system we have in place to react quickly to dangerous substances and pull them from the market is working. So clearly natural supplements are dramatically safer than drugs, both over-the-counter and prescription.
A savvy supplement shopper doesn’t need to worry about adverse events and as such you certainly don’t need the FDA, Senator Durbin, or the big pharmaceutical companies holding your hand when you make a vitamin or mineral selection.
Just use these three guidelines to make sure you’re getting safe supplements:
Select trusted brands. Talk to your doctor, a naturopath, a chiropractor or even a pharmacist about the supplement brands they recommend.
Do your own research at reputable websites. If you’re considering taking a new supplement, do some online research looking for safety issues including proper dosages, and whether or not to take the supplement on an empty stomach, and any possible inter actions.
Consult with a doctor. Find a doctor who is supportive of natural remedies and get their advice on what to take, how much, and which brands to buy.
The media, the FDA, and big pharmaceutical companies use scare tactics to make it sound like these products are truly dangerous, but you should not be afraid to take vitamins, minerals, and other natural supplements to help maintain your health. Just use a little common sense, and you can support your health without fearing adverse reactions.
And remember… every drug that has been recalled by the FDA, was proven first to be “safe and effective” by the FDA!
Source: Heather Robson, Health Edge Google+