The dismal news about supplements. Why bother? [View all]
Its not a good time for the makers of herbal and vitamin supplements. The better the research, the fewer benefits it shows.
Herbal supplements
DNA testing is demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: herbal supplements are not necessarily what they say they are.
As the New York Times reports, a recent study shows that many products purporting to be herbal supplements, actually contain rice, corn, or wheat (gluten-sensitive folks beware):
I would feel sorry for supplement manufacturers, if they hadnt brought this on themselves.
First, they lobbied to get Congress to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). This lets them advertise the benefits of supplements without much in the way of scientific substantiation. It also excused the FDA from doing much regulation.
But DSHEA also required research. Oops. Although the point of asking for research was to demonstrate the benefits of supplements, things havent worked out that way. Most of the research shows no benefit and, sometimes, harm.
And investigations like this one show what many have long suspected. Without federal oversight, some supplement manufacturers will do whatever they can get away with.
http://www.foodpolitics.com/2013/11/the-dismal-news-about-supplements-why-bother/