Free Republic

The FDA has issued a proposed mandate that represents the greatest threat to dietary supplements since 1994. Back in the early 1990s, consumers were so alarmed by FDA bullying that they staged a massive revolt. The result was that Congress passed a law prohibiting the FDA from banning popular nutrients (as the agency had threatened to do). There was, however, a loophole in the 1994 law. The FDA was given authority to regulate ingredients introduced after October 15, 1994. It has been 17 years, but the FDA just issued draconian proposals as to how it intends to regulate what it...

Since he’s having trouble getting his own bill passed, he’s trying a different approach to get the same results. For weeks we have been telling you about Sen. Dick Durbin’s disastrous Dietary Supplement Labeling Act, which attempts to impose harsh limits on supplement availability by giving the FDA major new powers to make arbitrary standards and rules that will curtail supplement sales. Initially it orders the FDA to compile, with help from the Institute of Medicine, a list of dietary ingredients (read: supplements) that could lead to adverse events or are otherwise deemed risky in some way. But creating lists...

CHICAGO – Consuming dietary supplements, including multivitamins, folic acid, iron and copper, among others, appears to be associated with an increased risk of death in older women, according to a report in the October 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals... The use of dietary supplements in the United States has increased considerably over the last decade, according to background information in the article. "At the population level, dietary supplements contributed substantially to the total intake of several nutrients, particularly in elderly individuals," the authors write. Jaakko Mursu, Ph.D., of the University of Eastern Finland,...

A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about the FDA’s proposed new policy on dietary supplements that could make it impossible or very expensive for you to purchase the natural products you rely on to support your health. The open comment period on the FDA’s proposed guidelines ends on September 30, so NOW is the time to act and let your voice be heard if you want to retain your right to access supplements. (Scroll down to the bottom of this article to learn how you can get involved.) If the FDA has its way, all vitamins, herbs and...

Sen. Orrin Hatch blasted a new bill that health experts are calling a government takeover of the vitamin industry. New legislation proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., earlier this month would crack down on the testing, labeling, and sale of dietary supplements nationwide. The increased regulation almost certainly will deny many Americans easy, affordable access to the natural health products they rely on daily, experts warn. Sens. Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., quietly submitted the Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2011 over the July 4th weekend. Despite its innocuous title, the bill would force a massive reclassification of food additives...

Jerusalem, May 23, 2011 – A little bitter with a little sweet, in the form of a nano-complex dietary supplement taken before meals, can result in a substantial reduction of fat and sugar absorption in the body, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University researchers have found. The researchers previously showed that naringenin, the molecule responsible for the bitter taste in grapefruits, could potentially be used in the treatment of diabetes, arteriosclerosis and hyper-metabolism. However, the absorption of naringenin in its natural form is very low. To overcome this obstacle, the Hebrew University-Harvard research team, led by Dr. Yaakov Nahmias...

Right through the back door, while everyone was focused on the gulf oil spill, Barack Obama gave his signature to legislation permitting the U.S. Government to outlaw supplements and alternative health treatments. That means that the supplements you take and therapies you use to keep your body healthy, can now be made illegal by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Obama quietly gave permission for Codex Alimentarius - the United Nation's worldwide plan for food standards - to take effect in the U.S. via Executive Order 13544 of June 10, 2010....

Today, the Free Speech about Science Act of 2011 was introduced in Congress by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). Please tell Congress how important this bill is!As we reported last week, a new bill in Congress promises to revolutionize the way Americans get access to scientific research on the health benefits of foods and supplements. The Free Speech about Science (FSAS) Act, HR 1364, would change FDA regulations so that legitimate, peer-reviewed scientific studies can be referenced without changing the food’s regulatory category to an unapproved drug. This will protect access to scientific information, and will...

Neuroscience of nutritionHow maternal essential fatty acid deficiency impact on its progeny is poorly understood. Dietary insufficiency in omega-3 fatty acid has been implicated in many disorders. Researchers from Inserm and INRA and their collaborators in Spain collaboration, have studied mice fed on a diet low in omega-3 fatty acid. They discovered that reduced levels of omega-3 had deleterious consequences on synaptic functions and emotional behaviours. Details of this work are available in the online version of the journal Nature neuroscience, which can be accessed at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2736 In industrialized nations, diets have been impoverished in essential fatty acids since the...

Tired? Depressed? Forgetting things? Who isn't these days? Those are also symptoms of a deficiency of B12, a key nutrient needed to make red blood cells and DNA and keep the nervous system working right..... "B12 deficiency is much more common than the textbooks and journal articles say it is," says Alan Pocinki, an internist in Washington D.C., who routinely tests his patients who fall into those categories. He also notes that since the Metformin connection was discovered only recently,

They are the most widely produced fruit in the world and now scientists in Japan have discovered that tomatoes contain a nutrient which could tackle the onset of vascular diseases. The research, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, reveals that an extracted compound, 9-oxo-octadecadienoic, has anti-dyslipidemic affects. The team led by Dr Teruo Kawada, from Kyoto University and supported by the Research and Development Program for New Bio-industry Initiatives, Japan, focused their research on extracts which tackle dyslipidemia, a condition which is caused by an abnormal amount of lipids, such as cholesterol or fat, in the blood...

Low-cost protein gets big results in people with elevated blood pressurePULLMAN, Wash.—Beverages supplemented by whey-based protein can significantly reduce elevated blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease, a Washington State University study has found. Research led by nutritional biochemist Susan Fluegel and published in International Dairy Journal found that daily doses of commonly available whey brought a more than six-point reduction in the average blood pressure of men and women with elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressures. While the study was confined to 71 student subjects between the ages of 18 and 26, Fluegel says older people...

The war on your ability to make decisions about your own health continues with the introduction of a new bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee that would put draconian laws on natural health supplement companies and small and mid-sized farm and food facilities.The bill is the Food Safety Accountability Act of 2010 (S 3767) and it increases fines and penalties for any person who knowingly introduces or delivers for introduction into interstate commerce any food that is adulterated or misbranded. It also imposes increased regulations and fees, including a $500 annual registration fee, which is a great imposition on...

New research suggests that glucosamine and chondroitin, two supplements regularly prescribed to help patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis manage joint pain, produce "no clinically relevant effect". The number of prescriptions issued for glucosamine and chondroitin has increased rapidly over the last ten years, with the treatments also available over the counter. However, studies on the efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin have produced mixed results, prompting Professor Peter Juni and a team of researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland to launch their own investigation. After looking at ten previously-published trials, Professor Juni and the team concluded that glucosamine...

Feeding obese mice omega-3 fatty acids reduced inflammation that can lead to diabetes, a new study finds. By studying fat tissue in the mice consuming fish oil, researchers found omega-3 fatty acids seem to act on a particular receptor on cells, GPR120, which, when activated, blocks inflammatory processes. Chronic inflammation can lead to insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Therefore, "if we can fix the inflammation part, it's possible that we could prevent insulin resistance or even ameliorate diabetes," Talukdar explained.

Physicians say Canadians should be taking more supplementsNew and updated guidelines on recommended vitamin D intake have been published this week in the online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Dr. David Hanley, professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and member of Osteoporosis Canada's (OC) Scientific Advisory Council, is the lead author of the paper on behalf of Osteoporosis Canada. "OC's current recommendations on vitamin D intake for Canadians are more than 10 years old, and since then, there has been a lot of new and exciting research in this area," says Hanley, who is...

The Antibiotic VitaminDeficiency in vitamin D may predispose people to infection Janet Raloff In April 2005, a virulent strain of influenza hit a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital for men that's midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. John J. Cannell, a psychiatrist there, observed with increasing curiosity as one infected ward after another was quarantined to limit the outbreak. Although 10 percent of the facility's 1,200 patients ultimately developed the flu's fever and debilitating muscle aches, none did in the ward that he supervised. WINTER WOES. Cold-weather wear and the sun's angle in the winter sky limit how much ultraviolet...

Protein drinks contain poisonous elements, according to a new report. A monthly review of consumer products and services, the Consumer Reports, has found that three such drinks available in the market had harmful content. EAS Myoplex Original Dark Chocolate Shake and two versions of Muscle Milk chocolate drinks, the report claims, had high levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead. The finding challenges senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, Andrew Shao’s, claim that protein powders and drinks are a safe option for adolescents and pregnant women. The Consumers Reports drew attention to the...

The claims have been sensational. Martin Mittelstaedt checks up on the research behind the hype ### In the summer of 1974, brothers Frank and Cedric Garland had a heretical brainwave. The young epidemiologists were watching a presentation on death rates from cancer county by county across the United States. As they sat in a lecture hall at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore looking at the colour-coded cancer maps, they noticed a striking pattern, with the map for colon cancer the most pronounced. Counties with high death rates were red; those with low rates were blue. Oddly, the nation was almost...

SAN DIEGO — The Institute of Medicine is reviewing its 1997 guidelines for vitamin D intake, and will likely recommend increased supplementation when new guidelines are published in 2010. There is a growing consensus that currently recommended intakes—200 IU per day for individuals under age 50 and 400 IU for those aged 50-70—are too low, said Connie Weaver, Ph.D., director of the department of food and nutrition, at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. A recent analysis of data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 1988-1994 and 2001-2004 even suggests that an epidemic of vitamin D...