That herbal supplement may not be what you think it is, scientists find

[Th1onein]

131. People need education about supplements; not more regulation.

What these companies do is take one study, from a reputable source, about one ingredient in some natural food, and they generalize from it, that this ingredient works wonders for this or that malady. Then, they grind up the natural food and sell it as a supplement. I'll give you an example:

There's a company that sells a supplement that's supposed to stop you from metabolizing carbs into glucose. This is supposed to allow dieters to eat as many carbs as possible, without gaining weight. I don't remember what the compound is, or what the natural product is, except that it comes from some kind of lima beans.

They post the link to the abstract on the site where they are marketing their product, knowing that most people won't even click on it, and even if they do, they'll go to an abstract with only partial information in it, and most of that they can't understand. This particular product, that I'm using as an example, posted a link to a study of this compound in mice. And, it does work in those mice. But when you pull up the full article, you see that those mice also had anal ruptures!

Does that mean that all of our vitamins should be prescribed by a physician, and be subject to the same testing that our drugs are subjected to (remember, to file for a new drug application costs $1 million)? Does it mean that people who take this supplement are going to have ruptured anuses?

No, and no. It means that people, consumers like you and me, who HAVE the wherewithal, and the ability, to research these things, need to do so. The rest of us should not have to pay for the willful ignorance of a few by paying thousands of dollars for our vitamins and supplements.