U.S. Institute of Medicine Study Urges New Approach to Regulating Supplements – Big Pharma Influenced Doctors Get it Wrong Again

stethoscopeThe U.S. Institute of Medicine represents the heart of the medical establishment. Congress listens to it. The President listens to it. The FDA listens to it.

In this case, the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition posed some technical questions to the Institute of Medicine. Please note that this FDA center is in charge of regulating dietary supplements. Unfortunately the Institute of Medicine decided to go beyond the technical questions posed and instead chose to recommend a new approach to regulating supplements. A lot of what the IOM said was wrong, but let’s take it from the top. View the report here.
1) The IOM seems to think that healthy foods and supplements should be regulated like drugs. “There is no scientific rationale for having different levels of rigor applied to these different categories,” said Dr. John Ball, chair of the committee that produced the report.
Really? The distinguished scientists on the IOM panel should be able to understand that natural products cannot be patented and therefore cannot be brought through the obscenely expensive FDA approval process required for drugs. Who does the IOM or FDA expect to pay a billion dollar cost of approval for cherries or walnuts? Individual cherry or walnut growers? Will consumers buy cherries if they cost as much as drugs?

This is what we have called the Catch 22 of contemporary American medicine.
Because only non-natural and patentable substances can be brought through the FDA approval process, the FDA in effect enforces a medical monopoly for drug companies. As a direct consequence, natural and often much safer and cheaper natural remedies are ignored. Natural medicine based on diet, dietary supplements, and lifestyle, which ought to be at the center of medicine, are shunted off to the sidelines and subjected to legal threats by hostile regulatory agencies.
By the way, how safe are all those drugs that go through the FDA approval process? In 2008, the FDA received more than 530,000 reports of suspected adverse drug effect, there were 320,000 serious adverse events and nearly 50,000 deaths reported. A report in 2007 by the FDA, CDC and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that common drug dangers are so bad that “Harmful reactions to some of the most widely used medicines – from insulin to a common antibiotic – send more than 700,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year.” View the report here.
2) The IOM also seems to favor strengthening FDA authority over supplements and allowing the agency to pull supplements because of vague concerns, not just the current standard of “significant or unreasonable risk.” The report cites a study on beta-carotene as partial justification for this, but clearly hasn’t bothered to look into the seriously flawed science behind the study. This recommendation again misses the central point: it would be nice to pay for a billion dollars of study of each component of our diet but who will pay for this? Medical costs are already completely unsustainable and food prices are rising. Do we really want to regulate functional foods and supplements out of existence? The drug companies of course would like that very much—no more competition.
3) IOM also doesn’t like the idea that a supplement intended for bones (containing vitamin K, D, calcium, and other minerals) may currently cite accepted claims for vitamin D or calcium. No. The IOM committee thinks that the entire product in each case should be required to be researched as a whole and nothing whatever said about component vitamin D or calcium benefits. Never mind that the report also says that “in order to make informed decisions  individuals need access to complete information.”  How is the public to get any information, much less complete information, with these irrational government gag orders in place?
ANH-USA has a guess about what is bothering the distinguished committee members. None of us like to see sugary cereal makers claiming health benefits for their cereals because they have sprayed on a few cheap synthetic vitamins. But let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Let’s have a little common sense. The bone product should be able to cite the vitamin D claim. Otherwise the purchaser is left in the dark. And the cereal maker should be required to be honest about what else is in the cereal.
4) The report says that its recommendations are “consistent with recent efforts to improve the use of science at FDA and in European Regulatory Agencies.” The bare truth (as pointed out by ANH-Intl’s Dr. Rob Verkerk in a series of peer reviewed scientific journal articles) is that the science used by the European Regulatory Agencies is very poor science and is getting worse, not better.
5) The IOM report makes some good points too. For example, it notes that the FDA relies heavily on so-called bio-markers in approving drugs and there isn’t enough or consistent science behind this. For example, it is taken almost on faith today that a cholesterol lowering drug (cholesterol is the bio-marker) will reduce heart disease and lengthen life. This is naïve: cholesterol is not an illness in itself; indeed we cannot live without it. And the drugs used to reduce cholesterol are quite dangerous. Similarly reduction of blood pressure (a bio-marker) is assumed to be “good” without considering the side effects of the drugs that produce it.
We agree that bio-markers are being misused at the FDA. But that does not mean that drugs and supplements should be subjected to identical research requirements.
In general, we must always be wary when conventional medicine calls for greater scientific “consistency.” That is often just an excuse for choosing some valid science and excluding some other, equally valid science for ideological reasons.
For example, did you know that the phrase “evidence based medicine,” as used by conventional medical research, means accepting the kind of human trials currently demanded by the FDA and rejecting all other forms of scientific evidence? This is true even though food in particular cannot be studied in the same way as a drug. It has multiple ingredients and effects which interact with other multiple ingredients and effects in ways that cannot possibly be isolated.
There are rumors on Capitol Hill that an upcoming Congressional hearing will address the supplement issues raised by this poorly thought through IOM report. We have our ear to the ground and will keep you informed as we learn more.

71 comments

  1. Leave my supplements alone! This is just another way for big pharmaceuticals to make money off people like myself who wont take their toxic pills.

    1. I agree that supplements (and herbs) should be left alone. Big Pharma & the FDA are out of control.
      Laws are passed that favor the few at the expense of the health of the many. Natural medicine including the use of supplements & herbs is a better approach, with much lower potential for dangerous side effects than mainstream drugs & surgery. Many drugs deemed “safe” by drug companies & the FDA are later found to be extreemly dangerous. Vioxx for example. Drugs are pushed by doctors, tv ads and the like, to everyone from babies to great grandmothers, for every possible percieved ailment. Ads often quote mile-long lists of potential side-effects. Those of us who choose to use natural health products should be able to do so. The freedom to choose how one cares for ones own body is a fundamental one that we must not lose.
      “When the people allow the government to control the food they eat and the medicines they take, thier bodies will be in as sorry a state as those who live under tyranny.”

    1. The pharmaceutical industry has KILLED my Mother and the the LOVE of my life. They have also almost killed many people I work with. They caused harm to my cousin, and almost KILLED my Father, but I became wise, and got him off most of the medications. The is a concerted effort to depopulate, and people do not understand that anyone can be so evil as to this concept, but believe me, it is happening. If someone would have told me this 5 years ago, I would have thought of they were crazy. I have learned from experience, and started doing my research. The contamination and/or ingredients in the drugs and vaccines are causing so many illnesses, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, and you name it. PLEASE DO THE RESEARCH!!!! Another good website is http://www.Mercola.com. I trust natural health websites, before I trust anything from the FDA, CDC, WHO, and all the other BIG INDUSTRIES that are so greedy and corrupt.

  2. As this critical evaluatiom of the IOM report makes clear, science gets a bad name when it is used to create an artificial monopoly using the sophistry that people must be as wary of “danger” from natural foods as they must be about often toxic prescription drugs that have a strong record of supposedly surprising side effects, that come to the fore when these drugs are prescribed for a mass market of people who were usually excluded from the clinical trials that supposedly “proved” a sufficient level of benefit over a placebo to gain approval.

  3. To me, this is just another way for the big drug companies to get rid of the competition of natural remedies.
    It is most worthwhile to fight this possible regulation, but know that the drug companies, which are backing this wild demand, have more money at hand with which to do so. So it may be a David and Goliath battle!

  4. Having come from 50+ years of natural foods, supplements, homeopathics and time honored use of herbal blends, not only for myself, my family and my fur family, this whole thing turns my stomach!

  5. Prescription /OC drugs kill and sent to many to ER why they are allowed .Good nutrition keep
    your immune system healthy.

  6. What else can one expect from the self-serving turds in organized medicine.
    They are all in collusion with the criminals at the FDA (Fraud & Death Administration). These people are entirely incapable of moral/ethical behavior. They are all driven by desire for personal financial gain.
    There is very little science in conventional medicine. It is a system based on authoritarian dogma designed to make it’s practitioners wealthy.

  7. totally agree with the above… but are you also sending it to the IOM, the FDA and the requisite lawmakers??? THAT’S critical stuff, as i can only do so much as an independent citizen, emailing varioius articles to those people who, if you’ll forgive my ‘french’, have their collective heads up their asses.

  8. Our medical authorities seem to be mired in dark ages thinking: They cling to the mistake notion that they know better than do we ourselves what is reasonable and prudent. The number of deaths from approved substances attests clearly to this debacle. It looks suspiciously like they want to euthanize as many ordinaty people as can be covertly done. At least Kavokian worked with those who had no hope left…

  9. I am totally against this proposal because I do not want to put anything in my body that causes side effects because it it not natural. Tell Congressman Waxman who is also from Los Angeles to take to Big Pharma whose drugs are killing over 100,000 people every year. This is when they take the proper doses. This is infringing on my right to achieve better health through
    natural means.
    We need to Also, to include in the Health Reform Movement to allow insurance companies to offer coverage to supplements as well as prescription drugs. Of course, “This is too Much Like Right”
    We need to protect our rights for better health by keeping this issue in the forefront.
    expose Big Pharma for their corrupt practices that are causing harm to millions of Americans.

  10. NO,NO..REGULATION ON SUPPLEMENTS..OR THIS COUNTRY WILL RESPOND IN A BIG WAY!

  11. Why can’t we get rid of the FDA and start over with people who know domething and care about something besides lining their pockets?

  12. If I thought that the FDA could be honest and not money hungry to influence their meds rather than to help by allowing healthy supplements to be available, everyone would get on their bandwagon. However, it is apparent that once again the government and its lackies are trying to run amuck over citizens who take the time to check every ingredient and the source. FDA does not care about helping health, it only cares about the money. I say look to see who gets it and you might find out the agenda is not health but poisoning and death since so many meds have dangerous side effects and can ultimately challenge the health of all citizens. I say citizens should check out the companies, make sure they have legitimate research scientists who run tests not like the FDA and their excuse for vaccinations and the dangerous poisons that can cross over to many organs, brain, heart, liver, immune system and can eventually consume the welfare of this persons life versus giving health that promotes life rather than death. Wake up America you have let this organization determine who is smarter and it does not want you to take an interest in how you take care of your own health they want to dictate it to all including the children whose health will be compromised especially if they are vaccinated–who would ever think to connect the dots when a child has an episode in jr high or high school. Who would ever think it could be 99% the vaccination but no ones wants to mess with the FDA because they have too much power and like it that way.

  13. Those who use natural supplements educated themselves about the products and care for their own health. Few doctors have any understanding of benefits of natural supplements. the majority of doctors only know how to prescribe medicines indiscriminately that have dileterious side effects. Tell govenment officiials not to support big pharma and not to take money fom pharma lobbists. Agin the blind and the corrupt are leading the blind and corrupt.

  14. The distinguished scientists on the IOM panel should be able to understand that natural products cannot be patented and therefore cannot be brought through the obscenely expensive FDA approval process required for drugs. Who does the IOM or FDA expect to pay a billion dollar cost of approval for cherries or walnuts? Individual cherry or walnut growers? Will consumers buy cherries if they cost as much as drugs?
    The manipulation by BIG PHARMA is obvious to all but those who see some personal gain. People truly want to make their own choices, certainly I do. My health is my responsibility; I don’t need BIG BROTHER to do more than to tell the truth. But truth is hard to come by when financial gain is at stake.
    Lets keep food natural and free of poisons, toxins, additives, nano-particles, drugs, hormones, and other artificial manipulators.

  15. As usual, these hacks and quacks are back at work trying to regulate everything we eat, drink, hear, smell and taste. Throw all these bums in the gutter where they can learn some respect for individual’s ability to manage their own affairs free of onerous regulations.
    “I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous – if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men.” – Robert Green Ingersoll

  16. It is not true that “natural products cannot be patented”. While a natural compound may not be patentable since it lacks novelty under 35 USC 102, and here the term “compound” is used in its strict chemical meaning, a substance having a definite atomic and/or molecular composition, for example, H20, water, it is possible to patent a composition of matter comprising two or more
    naturally occurring compounds if it can be shown that the mixture has synergetic properties or unexpected properties, properties that are more that expected from the added effect of the properties of the individual compounds.
    Regarding the FDA, I believe that those submitting new medicines requiring clinical testing carry the burden of proof of efficacy and lack of harmful effects by swearing under oath that the data and testing results are true under penalty of a severe fine or the like as is called for by the Patent Laws and Rules of Practice, 35 USC and 37CFR.

  17. I am a person in favor of holistic health care and preventative alternatives. I enjoy eating right ie. fruits and vegetables, nuts and the use of supplements. I truly believe that supplements are safe and that drugs are not safe for my use and consumption. What is this country coming to? God created all the food that grows and the animals for our use and consumption. I don’t trust anything that man makes and manufactures for my consumption. What’s next, soylent green?

  18. Here comes the medical profession (drug companies) once again, trying to knock out anything healthful so people can get sick and then only have their dangerous and rather deadly drugs to rely on. In other words, don’t get to the cure; only treat the symptoms and do thatforever, or as long as the person can live with all the deadly side-effects from treating the symptoms only. Very sad state of affairs in this country, with a government that is bought and sold by the drug companies. I wouldn’t want those folks’ karma!

  19. This is all about money and power. Medicine and the government want to control everything, taking away our freedom to eat what we want and get healthy the way we want, not the way Medicine, big Pharmaceuticals and the FDA want us to. They want us to be sick and dependent upon them.

  20. The phrase “evidence based medicine,” as used by conventional medical research, means accepting the kind of human trials currently demanded by the FDA and rejecting all other forms of scientific evidence. This is true even though food in particular cannot be studied in the same way as a drug. It has multiple ingredients and effects which interact with other multiple ingredients and effects in ways that cannot possibly be isolated.
    Bio-markers are being misused at the FDA. But that does not mean that drugs and supplements should be subjected to identical research requirements.

  21. thank you for the very intelligent thought process and insights. i am very disturbed by the political and economic rationale for decisions on legislation. please continue your very thorough work to inform and develop support for citizen based decisions. the medicalization of our society again makes us the victims of commercial excess. citizens soon know when a product works or fails regardless of the claims. our faith in prescriptions is falling and the credibility of medical profession is weakened by increased mercenary motivations. greed seems to be the primary motivation for everything that everyone does. let’s build trust & confidence & competence in our conduct!!…
    grandpa george

  22. Big Pharma needs to stay away from our vitamins, minerals and supplements. Back off. Stick to your drugs and stay away from what we the people want to put in our bodies as alteranatives to your drugs which end up having worse side effects than what they cure.

  23. Apparently those who don’t know are given the authority to force what they don’t know on us…and of course, the reasons for that are ignorance, greed, power and just plain stupidity.
    Should we not base important decisions on facts backed by experience and thus, true knowledge, and applied by people with the knowledge and experience to do so wisely?

  24. Why is the fox guarding the hen house? The US Institute of Medicine has not answered the question it was answered but instead is taking away freedom from individuals who DO NOT WANT TO USE DRUGS AND WESTERN MEDICINE.
    FOOD AND SUPPLEMENTS are NOT drugs. They are natural and help us get wellness. Take off blinders of western medicine and look through the eyes of quantum physics and energy medicine and rule from that perspective, or at least balance western and alternative medicine.
    We don’t want the drug mafia to run our lives…nor the MDs. We want to have options that support empowerment and wellness, not sickness and submission to their authority.

  25. How can they do this when they can’t keep track of the very pharmaceuticals they prescribe and the deadly side effects that occur? Ridiculous!

  26. I pray that some common sense, honesty and integrety become a part of the decisions made concerning natural health.I vote for natural supplements and alternative medicine that go to the problem and heal our illnesses, not drugs that only mask symptons and never heal anything.

  27. what on earth will be next; they are like flies on s*** to get suppliments gone. what the hell. I am so so so so sick of this, and there retarded efforts to make our food supply crap. these people are beyond evil these power elite make me sick. I pray to god every night to come and help the good people we need serious backup, it seems like they- the evil ones complicit in our demise, out number the good/awake people of our planet, for godsake w/ out decent food nutrition we have nothing and they win end game- i guess that is why they are so hot after the afore mentioned items suppliments/ food!! O ya and they get money and power for selling out. Are they so dumb that they don’t get the fact that after this life what they face should scare them? O ya they believe the great deciever that they will be able to take it w/ them hum i bet that is what they think!!!!! Idiots all of them.

  28. It’s just more socialism and control over everything we do.
    and shows their hypocrisy on one hand saying they want to reduce health care cost, and then on the other hand, deliberately making sure that we remain unhealthy as anything healthy will be too expensive or even not available. one can but shake ones head at the utter stupidity, unless there really is a sinister agenda behind it. more likely the latter….. 🙁

  29. It is obscene and truly disgusting that the medical profession is challenging what i consider to be too many restrictions on supplements already! We know it’s only about the money, and that infuriates me. And with more regulation, would that mean the dollars i spend on supplements would be tax deductible, like other medicines???

  30. The FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition posed some technical questions to the Institute of Medicine. Unfortunately the Institute of Medicine decided to go beyond the technical questions posed and instead chose to recommend a new approach to regulating supplements. I am strongly opposed to “fixing” something which isn’t broken. Leave my supplements alone!!

  31. Recently I wrote to one of my congress-people saying that if the present course is not altered, carrots will be made illegal because they contain carotene, Now I see that what I thought was a far-out joke is neither. Have we passed the tipping point?

  32. It dont matter how we are being abused by the ‘ F . D . A . ” as long as they make million’s upon million’s selling medicine that they know might ” K I L L ” THEY HIDE IT . BUT A LOT OF TIMES LATELY THEY GET CAUGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They don’t careif we die from medicine that has a lot of side effect’s ! How come the pharmacutical co’s gave ‘ M A C A I N I A C 200,000 THOUSAND DOLLARS WHEN HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT !! THANK THE LORD NE DIDN’T MAKE !IF HE TOOK NUTRIENT’S HE WOULD CHANGE FROM LOOKING LIKE A D R U N K TO A HUMAN BEING !!!!!!!!!!

  33. Please leave our food, vitamins and supplements alone. We do not need any regulations. We should be free to chose taking them without any advise and surcharge from the government. You already have enough profits derived from drug companies.

  34. Healthy food and herbs and supplements work — drug company medicines are poison.
    I cannot take any of them —

  35. Please…………don’t let the government step in once again and try to force us to give up our supplements. They have no right sticking their noses in our private business. I have been forced in the past to take pharmaceuticals and they put me in the hospital. I was told not to take certain ones and yet my doctor insists I get back on them. Shes been brain washed and she also gets kickbacks for the drugs she perscribes. I have permanent kidney and liver damage from them and refuse to take them. I’m now in the process of looking for another doctor. I have found that by taking the natural supplements, I feel far better than being drugged up. Our government has their hands into too many things and regulates far too many . They no longer listen to the American people. They blackball or fine any doctors that try to tell you about good and natural things. Did you ever hear them talk about a cure for any disease???? No, thats because there is far too much money to be made by the pharmaceuticals to treat and not cure.
    It’s time we woke up and took back control of OUR goverment. I’ll be watching on the next elections and picking my choices by which individual that will work FOR THE PEOPLE.

  36. Why don’t they just leave human beings and supplements alone and work on something truly worthwhile — like improving both the safety and efficacy of the drugs they approve.

  37. This has nothing to do with public safety nor public benefits. It is about governmental control of individuals. Medical students receive no classes on nutrition nor alternative drugs. My fishing buddy is a doctir and a great guy. I asked him once, “if he had ever had a class in medical school on nutrition or alternative medicine”? He said that, “one Saturday morning they had a non-mandatory meeting on nutrition, but he was too tired to go”. Medical Practioners say that alternative medicine is a farce and a scam that one cannot derive any benefits from. So why would they want the FDA to regulate them. Because “Big Pharma” has made lap dog whores out of the general medical community. The general public is waking up to this fact, and are starting to realize that alternative medicine (vitamins, minerals, and natural foods) works. Additionally, it works for substantially less dollars than those from “Big Pharma”. The pharmaceutical mafia is on the warpath, not because they give to hoots in hell for the general public, but because they cannot garner any profit from it.
    Wake up America!

  38. We shall fight you in the streets…we shall fight you in the trenches. We must not let these idiots take control of vitamins and supplements! Let your representatives know that you WILL NOT stand by and let this happen!!

  39. Thank you for supp;yig such important information. We need to get this kind of info into mainstream media. Most people have no idea of what is happening or the impact it will have on our current and future food, health and nutrition.

  40. I do not trust the corporate mentality management at the FDA. For them it is more about profits for their corporate alliances (drug companies, food conglomerates) rather than for the good of the public. True, as stated in the article that I have written this response to, there are concerns that must be dealt with (GMO’s, untruthful labeling), but true scientific response and transparency from FDA management? Well, I find it very questionable, what with their past record and M.O. FDA and congress go to work with the present rules and regulations on the books to correct the present ills and stay out of my supplement and food supply.

  41. I am using vitamins minerals and herbs to “CURE” my PAD. The first thing the alternative doctor I went to see(who just switched over to alternative) did was prescribe STATIN DRUG and BLOOD PRESSURE DRUG. Both I refused to do and in fact switched to another doctor at the same place. My BLOOD PRESSURE is now 123/78 from highs of 160/100. I did this naturally with no DRUGS. Now for the FDA(which hates natural healing) to take over and control supplements is just crazy. Like other posts on this they OK drugs with side effects of DEATH – STROKE – HEART ATTACK but want ot limit my access to natural products that do actually “CURE”. Just remember in November to VOTE against more government take over of everything. The DEM that just won the special election for MUrtha’s old seat appears to be OK as far as DEMs go. He is not a follower of Pelosi and Reed and Obama. So there are some DEMs that are getting the message.

  42. I spent 15 years fighting a serious illness that my American-trained Internal Medicine MD fought with lots of expensive drugs, which only made me worse, and with a diagnosis that changed almost yearly but mostly meant that, TO HIM, my problems were mental and therefore not serious enough to warrant any real testing. When I got to the point where my life was not good enough to continue living, I found an alternative doctor who could actually do a real diagnostic exam and focused testing using high-tech laboratories, instead of the lousy testing I got from mainstream labs, and guess what? That doctor actually found that I was suffering from five serious infective diseases that my AMA doctor never even thought to investigate. After two years on nothing but an organic, high quality diet, supplements, herbal preparations and natural antibiotics I am completely cured, even of some problems I was not even aware I had. And all this at a mere fraction of the $$$ I was spending on AMA medicine, which, by the way, I will NEVER EVER return to and, therefore, I have this to say about the FDA. GET RID OF IT! They do NOTHING FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!! This agency is actually a PROPAGANDA ARM OF OUR REPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT AND THE CORPORATIONS WHO KEEP IT IN POWER!

  43. The “U.S. Institute of Medicine, Big Pharma, Pharma fluenced Doctors and all Politians”
    should stay out of my business to buy Supplements FREELY.

  44. I have a rare genetic disorder that results in the stripping of zinc and B6 from my body. The only way I can be functional is to take 5,000x the recommended daily amount of B6 and 7x the recommended daily amount of zinc. Without it I am debilitated (and was for years before receiving having been correctly diagnosed, which was the result of my own research; no doctor or practitioner had been able to figure out what caused my chronic debility). The FDA has already taken the most common form of vitamin B6 off the market and given it to a drug company for its sole proprietary use. They did the same with the weakest and safest bioidentical hormone used for hormone replacement, estriole. There is talk that omega 3 fatty acids may be next (this from my optometrist). My life depends on my access to unadulterated supplements. It could easily be sacrificed to the greed of pharmaceutical companies and the corruption of an agency of the our government. And of course we pay the taxes that support this corruption.

  45. Let me get this straight
    Pharm Drugs are
    o Toxic
    o Expensive
    o Do not address causes
    o Politically protected
    Food and Supplements are
    o Non-toxic
    o Inexpensive
    o Address Causes.
    o NOT politically protected
    So the establishment “medical board” says we should have more of the pharm poison and less of the cause addressing natural means.
    Yeah it figures. One of the ways this country is being destroyed is through the poor health of its Citizens.
    Thanks Traitors

    1. So very true, I am 54, I have seldom seen a doctor, because I use natural supplements and exercise. And if I need a doctor, it will be a naturalpath, wholistic one. Most people I have seen who do take “poison” medicine only get worse period.

    2. what “they” are leaving out of course,
      is that drug development and testing is all done by corporate welfare.
      We the people (as opposed to “they”)are paying for this anyway.
      but the pharmaceutical companies won’t research herbs, food, and supplements, because there is no money in it! With our money!
      Evil.
      Evil plain and simple.

    3. I am totally against natural health products being regulated by the FDA. My daughter took antibiotics for wisdom teeth problems for almost 4 years now and now because of taking all these antiobiotics (pushed by dentists and doctors) she has a problem with her eustachian tube and can’t get rid of it. We have spent $$$$$$ (natural dollars not conventional because that is what caused the problem in the first place) and still no relief. She’s been to numerous doctors for the problem and can’t get rid of it. I am so angry right now about antiobiotics being pushed on us it isn’t funny! There are natural means to help physical problems and they work–they’re not fake!!!! When is everyone (including the FDA) going to wake up and see the sunshine–we are being killed by antiobiotics and no one wants to admit it!!!!! Antiobiotics are yeast and anyone can research yeast in the human body and see that when you get a super overabundance of yeast in your body, your body is going to react and people can actually die from too much yeast in the organs of their body! Wake up people. I personally don’t want to die just because my organs have been overloaded with yeast in one way or another. My daughter is totally frustrated with the fact that she had to take the antiobiotics and now she might have to live with tihs problem the rest of her life!
      No, the FDA SHOULD NOT BE CONTROLLING NATURAL HEALTH PRODUCTS………..
      Jerilyn Capaccione

      1. Hi Jerilyn You should get your daughter tested for Candida. Since she was on antibiotics for so long she probably now has systemic Candidas. Candidas is know to attach the eustachian tube among several other organs and body systems. I would hate to tell you what being on Antibotics has done to my system attacking my Thyroid, Adrenal glands, intestines, liver, and causing a mutlitude of other problems.
        Candidas is a very serious problem and you must get her checked out right away. There is a very simple spit test she can do to see if she has it. IF it is possible then go get the blood test and have them test her IgG, IgA, IgM. The simple spit test is get a clear glass with no design and fill it with water. Put it next to her bed and the first thing in the morning before eating or drinking she should spit into the glass then see if the spit forms strings, or sheets and or falls down to the bottom of the glass. The faster it falls the more serious it is. For example mine falls with in the first 3 seconds and it really bad. If it takes an hour then she is lucky and may only have a minor Candidas infection which could be cured using natural cures.
        Good luck and dont wait. It only gets worse and worse. Google it for more info on it.

    4. A THOUGHT FOR THE WISE
      The drug industry is constantly trying to convince you that drugs are good for your health while nutritional supplements and healthy foods are somehow bad for you. This same line of nonsense is also repeated by the FDA, which goes out of its way to censor the truth about the healing properties of natural foods like walnuts, cherries and berries, and most importantly drinking pure water. (http://www.anh-usa.org/wp-content/u…)
      http://johnellis.com
      The drug industry and the FDA are, of course, just plain wrong about all this. Although their advertisements show happy, healthy people taking pharmaceuticals, in the real world, people who take their drugs are extremely unhealthy, depressed and highly toxic.
      But don’t take my word for it: Check out the people walking in and out of pharmacies versus the people who visit health food stores:
      • People who visit pharmacies tend to have toxic livers, poor kidney function (because drugs damage the kidneys), wild mood swings, terrible digestion and elimination capabilities, poor skin health, poor posture, low energy, sleep disorders and sexual dysfunction. They tend to be suicidal while living in chronic pain. They have huge medical expenses that often send them into bankruptcy.
      • People who visit health food stores tend to have healthy skin, happier outlooks, better energy, better sex lives, healthy sleep, healthy hearts, healthy liver function and greatly improved brain function. They are more creative, adaptable and optimistic, and they tend to enjoy their lives. They spend relatively little on health care expenses while investing their money in organic foods, green products, medicinal herbs, nutritional supplements. And, drink pure water!
      The choice is up to you
      Which group would you prefer to join? You can choose either one by deciding what to put in (or on) your body. If you choose to contaminate your body with pharmaceuticals and medications, you will experience increased liver and kidney toxicity, reduced cognitive function, skin health problems, sexual dysfunction, mood disorders and other such problems.
      On the other hand, if you choose to nourish your body with superfoods, organic products, healing herbs, nutritional supplements, and pure drinking water, you will experience a more healthful and joyful life with improved brain function and memory, healthy skin, stable moods, abundant energy, restful sleep and healthy fertility, among other benefits.
      The pharmaceutical industry wants you to choose their drugs, of course, and they don’t care what happens to your health and happiness as a result. In fact, the worse your health gets after taking their drugs, the more of their drugs you’ll need! The side effects of one drug become the “disease” that’s treated by another drug, so it’s all great for repeat business!
      Keeping you ignorant
      What the drug industry and the FDA absolutely do NOT want you to learn is that healing foods, herbs and supplements, and DRINKING PURE WATER make virtually all pharmaceuticals obsolete. If you really knew the truth about what these items can do to protect your health and cure degenerative disease, you’d probably never take another chemical pill in your life. That’s why the FDA works so hard to censor nutritional supplements and make sure they can’t make truthful, scientifically-validated claims on their labels. (http://www.anh-usa.org/tell-the-fda…)
      The FDA has even gone after healing foods AND MANUFACTURERS OF PURE WATER MACHINES to keep you from knowing that they do indeed prevent health problems, and cure those that have them. The scientific literature says conclusively that walnuts lower high cholesterol. It’s the natural result of eating the healthy plant-based oils in the walnuts. The FDA, however, has threatened walnut companies with fines and imprisonment for merely linking to scientific studies that describe the health benefits of walnuts.
      This is how the FDA keeps people in the dark and achieves its agenda of censoring the truth about foods and supplements while promoting toxic pharmaceuticals that keep the drug companies in business, health insurance costs that are out of sight, and medical practitioners on their yachts.
      Change your decisions and you’ll change your life
      It’s up to you to determine how the rest of your life will be experienced. If you continue to find yourself standing in line at the local pharmacy, or if you look in your medicine cabinet and notice a half-dozen prescriptions, let that be a wake-up call. These drugs will never give you health or happiness. They will never create the life you’re truly looking for.
      Instead, take a walk to the other side of the street. Walk into your local health food store. Ask the friendly staff how to get started with healthy living. These people are incredibly helpful, by the way, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.
      Spend your money at the health food store and start producing pure drinking water at home instead of the pharmacy and your entire life will improve as a result. As you improve your physical health, your brain health will get better, too, and you’ll notice life getting better in many ways: Improved relationships, enhanced career (because having a healthy mind improves your job performance, too!), improved self image, increased stamina and much more.
      You’ll sleep better, eat better, think better, poop better and feel better. Everything your body is supposed to do naturally will simply work better as you align yourself with the natural laws of health and nutrition. You can embrace those laws by visiting practically any health food store and taking advantage of the remarkable health-enhancing products they carry.
      So find your local health food store and give them a visit! And definitely buy a JOHN ELLIS ELECTRON LWM-5 Living Water Machine. The best investment you’ll ever make – as they say, you can’t buy love, but you can buy GOOD HEALTH!
      Remember, you vote with your dollars — both in terms of what industries you support as well as what health outcome you will create. If you invest your dollars in natural health products, you will get a healthy result.
      Compliments of “Angelic Pure Water”, Dealer/Distributor for Mr. John Ellis’ Electron LWM-5 Living Water Machine
      (775) 990-9845

  46. The recent attacks on supplements and the strong efforts to have everything regulated is depressing, worrisome and infuriating. I literally would not be able to maintain my good health today if it weren’t for supplements. Where western medicine completely failed me in resolving health issues, supplements and alternative and natural healing have restored my good health. Without the ability to maintain it, I would be back to having issues. How dare these people attempt to tell the public what’s natural and healthy and what’s not! They have an agenda and it certainly isn’t to keep the public healthy. I’m angry over the recent attacks and efforts to regulate and control supplements and encourage everyone to make their voices heard on this subject, contact your representatives and stop this from happening!

  47. I cannot believe health insurance premiums continue to rise as they have been. We have individual (i.e. family) coverage, and the rates for our family of 4 have increased over 30% in each of the last 3 years. This does not include a change in our age group. That will be coming next year as I turn 40. This rate of cost increases cannot continue. What’s going to happen to people who make less than we do? (And are typically younger, and who typically make less money.) They will start to drop off of the lists of those who have insurance. And the cycle continues. Does the federal health care reform change any of this? For us it’s only a matter of time before I either have to drop off the roles of the insured, or change my lifestyle completely by selling my house, or worse. Maybe we’ll have to move to Europe, where coverage is mandatory.

    1. True, and with the current economy who CAN afford it. I have been without it most of my life, and at 54, I am still unable to have it, so I do the best I can by supplementing, juicing, and exercising. Europe sounds wonderful.

    2. There is no need to sell your house or any other drastic measures. If every citizen would commence to change their diets and stop taking pharma drugs, exercise regularly and supplement with vitamins and minerals (because we don’t get what we need entirely from food anymore because our soil has been so depeleted due to the govt subsidizing farmers!), we would NOT NEED health insurance coverage.

  48. I enjoy reading this site. Could let me know how I could keeping up to date with it? By the way I found this site through Aol.

  49. All good comments & points regarding yet another nefarious effort, to infringe upon our ever eroding freedoms…
    To quote from poster Christina, “They have an agenda and it certainly isn’t to keep the public healthy.” Very sad, & all too true. It is an outrage how the gov’t continues to overstep it’s bounds — and WE must continue, to make our voices heard.

  50. I would like to know is going to pay the members of congress and the drug companies and FDA when all of the ordinary people have been killed by the poisons that are being forced on the american people. Leave the supplements and organic food alone.

    1. I have often wondered the very same thing. After the NWO kills off the 90% of the world’s population–which is their goal–who is going to be able to live on the earth when the ground is unable to harvest nutrient-worthy food? If only 10% of the world’s population is left–assuming the people are in good health (which I would sincerely doubt)–then how do they expect everything to be done? It’s said that the NWO wants that 10% (or 9%, if the elite comprises the 1%) to be “slaves.” Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but if they completely corrupt our current planet to the point that everything is poisoned–how do they justify that they can live healthy and not die off like the 90% they killed off?
      I mean, once the planet is so polluted that nothing can grow and the water is dead–how do they expect anyone or anything to live? Do they have special lands and water set aside that they will use to grow food and drink from, so that they can keep on living on a dead planet? I seem to be having a bit of a problem wrapping my mind around how the NWO plans to live on a planet that they are currently killing. I also wonder if the NWO people have thought through any of this. If you’re currently poisoning the planet and the people to kill them off…well, doesn’t it stand to reason that you also have to eat and drink and breathe the same poisons? So how does that leave them to rule and have “slave labor,” if, in theory, they will end up just as sick as the rest of us? Maybe they’re hoping medical science and drugs will save them? If so, they’re even more dellusional than we think they are…

  51. In response to “Lou”
    Why do you think food and supplements are “non-toxic”? If they are non-toxic why do people have reactions to them? You do realize that the drug adverse reporting is required and there is no requirement for supplements since there is no record of people taking them. Supplements can fail to contain what the label clearly states and there is no way to know as they are NOT TESTED.
    I’ll admit I’ve yet to read this new report by IOM, but I agree the dietary supplement industry needs more regulation. The prescription drug industry is definitely screwed up, but the complete lack of any safety measures in the dietary supplement industry is also screwed up.
    One thing everyone should remember: Just because a product is “natural” does not mean it is SAFE. Nature makes many poisons without the help of the all-evil drug companies.

    1. Very good point Jake! Thank you for making it. I also agree the Pharm companies are screwed up but people have this delusion that if it’s “natural” it must be good for me and “the more the better!” It’s also interesting to point out that many drugs out there marketed by Pharm companies were actually isolated or developed from “natural” products. Think “digoxin” and digitalis. Think “Lovastatin” and red rice yeast and so on. Some of these “naturophiliacs” are so paranoid about o’naturale that they’ll take pounds of supplement pills every day which, as you pointed out well, may or may not contain what they say it is BUT these same people won’t even touch something that has been studied and may have some potential side effects but also potential benefits. It’s all a balance of risk versus benefit. Nobody every said medicines are without side effects or risk but the nature lovers will always say “100% completely safe, risk free, NO side effects!” That’s BS. With the current state of supplement regulation, I could mow my lawn, bag the grass, grind it up, put in a capsule, label the bottle as “Natural Super Health Pill-Supports Health” and sell it! And somebody posted something above about “there’s no money in supplements”. Well, that is completely false. The supplement industry is a billion dollar industry. Nobody wants to study something that is natural though because “if it’s natural, IT MUST BE HEALTHY!”

  52. I guess RJ23 and Jake are plants, because they misrepresent every salient issue. I bet they take their share of Pharma products are are proud of it and all the side effects they get are their badge of loyalty and courage to the paychecks they get from their “bosses”.
    I wonder how they will feel 20 years down the road when their health is ruined and they have no one to blame but their own “loyalties”. The choice is still all theirs. But if the world goes totally Pharma, neither they, nor I, will have choices.
    And testing something like God given food that has been feeding the ungrateful Pharmas for 6 thousand years, costing millions for each test, isn’t that like “Humans with an Agenda Testing God?” Where is the Far Right on this issue? Isn’t it possible that Human Pharmas are getting a little uppity, poking God in the eye with Regulatory Fingers? Who is going to stand up for the good old Earth Created Food of the eons. Where are the real Bible people? I call you out to do real good for the Earth. Stop GMO’s and Pesticides, and do not support Regulation of Supplements. Some people depend on supplements because doctors made such horrible mistakes that they, like me, cannot turn to anyone for help but organic foods, juicing and supplements to maintain what is left of their health.
    RJ23 probably expects to get paid for the work he does. Does it make sense that Supplement manufacturers should work for free? He is, quite frankly, really out of his mind. And the word “natural” being exploded all through his comments; well, true organic standards used to mean no chemicals in the food or supplements at all. Now natural means whatever the Pharmas say it means. When I see the label “All Natural”, I steer clear. It says Pharmas’ had its paws all over it.
    Poor RJ23 and Jake. No brains at all. Just rhetoric.

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