Letting the bullies have it
Earlier this month, the mainstreamers at the Archives of Internal Medicine struck a low blow at natural medicine.
But believers in natural medicine aren’t standing for it.
The commentary that appeared in the journal reached the ridiculously biased conclusion that the “consequences of DSHEA for consumers include the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars annually on ineffective and potentially dangerous dietary supplements.” The authors said that doctors should “urge Congress to revise DSHEA to give the FDA the authority required to effectively regulate dietary supplements.”
The Natural Products Association (NPA) wasn’t going to take this attack lying down. Instead they slammed the authors in a response, saying that their comments could “scare people into not taking products they use to support their health.” And they pointed out that there’s plenty of evidence that supplements fill in nutritional gaps in our diets.
The fact is supplements are fully regulated, and the FDA has plenty of control. The NPA made sure to point these facts out to the authors, and then they went in for the kill.
It turns out, according to the NPA, that the authors of the commentary used data that’s over a decade old! More current data shows an excellent safety record for supplements. But of course those numbers don’t support their clearly biased negative view of supplements, and they never made it into the commentary.
It’s this kind of irresponsible “reporting” that causes supplements to continue to have a bad rap in mainstream circles. But, surprisingly, there’s one thing that the NPA and the authors of the commentary DO agree on… the problem of adulteration, or impurities, in supplements.
Of course the stuff spammers push in shady Internet ads isn’t the same thing as proven supplements coming from a source you trust. That junk is no better than black market Viagra knockoffs… and who knows what’s really in those pills? But condemning good supplements because of a few bad apples is foolish.
Let’s face it… trusting in natural and alternative medicine makes us a target for mocking. That’s nothing new. But it sure is a nice reminder that there are folks out there fighting the good fight to protect our choices.
P.S. Keep reading to learn about the woman who provided inspiration to Dr. Wright and got him on the path to nutrition and healing. It was her inspiration that led to him launching his Nutrition and Healing newsletter…sharing the cutting edge natural health news that has helped over a hundred thousand readers start on the path to perfect health. If you’re not already a subscriber, it’s not too late to become one of them. Click here to learn more.
Sources:
“NPA slams ‘needlessly scary’ Archives of Internal Medicine commentary,” Nutraingredients USA (nutraingredients-usa.com)
“The Consequences of Ineffective Regulation of Dietary Supplements,” Archives of Internal Medicine (archinte.jamanetwork.com)
