23 January 2005

Consumers and producers of popular vitamin and mineral supplements used by thousands every day will this week make a last-ditch attempt to prevent a European Union directive from banning them. Well-known brands including Holland and Barrett, Solgar and Viridian will be removed from the shelves unless they are reformulated.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=603785

***My thoughts
All over the World we are living longer.
I'm certain that everybody has taken Vitamin supplements at some time in their life.
I dont understand as to why this directive should become law.......since the Government ensures the maximum daily % dose, is stated on all labels.
Is it Bureaucracy gone mad, to encourage an obvious black market?

The MDR (minimum daily requirement) will stop deficiency disease in 90% of animals. The RDR (recommended daily requirement) is two sigma above that, 99+% prevention of deficiency disease.

Not getting scurvy is not indicative of adequate Vitamin C intake. Animals that produce Vitamin C typically make a human equivalent exceeding a gram/day. This is also the natural intake of apes in the wild. The FDA human RDR is 0.06 gram/day. And so it goes across the board.

Without attention to nutrition, dentistry or medicine the average human can live a Roman 40 years. American lifespan through the early 1950s was maybe 65. Folks who today routinely make it to 80 were born around the Great Depresssion. Baby Boomers should routinely make it to 100 (most likely without intact minds).

A polymer product of any worth always gets an antioxidant package to extend its working life. Vitamins C and E are the water-soluble and oil-soluble human antioxidants. There is every reason to believe that every RDR, while adequate to prevent deficiency disease, is set (substantially) too low to afford optimum health without risking toxicity. Don't overdose on Vitamins A and D.

That said, everything on the shelves at General Nutrition sould be confiscated into a dumpster. Grinding up lawn weeds is faith not science. Faith kills.

There are two kinds of Supplements: Food Supplements and non-food Supplements.

Food Supplements
Possess caloric values. They are basically food in a powdered form; Whey protein, Meal Remplacement Powders, Post-Workout Carbs (Maltodextrin) , EFA's (Flaxseed is a popular one),... Quite popular with anyone wanting to gain Lean Mass, taken along with proper training and nutrition. They can be useful of the superior nutritional profiles and convenience.

Non-Food Supplements
Do not any or very little caloric value. They do however have an influence on the metabolism; vitamins and minerals, Creatine (increases athletic performances), ZMA (support Testosterone production), Ginseng, Herbal teas,.. to name a few.

Although peer-reviewed litterature supports some of theses claims, they are careful to mention that "theses statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Theses products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The industry has taken them to extremes, leading to a goverment intervention. One famous example is Weider Health and Fitness. In the mid-80's, They have claimed that theirs products w...ine to the FTC.

Problem is, historically, goverments have a tendency of using chainsaws to cut the fat (War on Drugs).

The Drug companies are behind this and it is just an attempt for them to call things "drugs" and then greatly increase the price on them.

This is a total rip off by the drug companies!