Phung

Rarely do I ever see prime time news but it happened to be on when I was in the room the other night at the gym. I saw a CBS news report that got my attention and people have been talking about.

CBS reported that herbal supplements like St. Johns Wort are dangerous and potentially harmful because the FDA does not regulate or test the many supplements available today. Now I do not even know much or care about St. Johns Wort but I feel strongly about this subject and decided to take time out from writing my book to write this article. I hope you find it informative.

First of all the FDA approves pharmaceutical drugs based on biased research from the same companies developing the drugs. They are an ineffective agency that really does not regulate anything.

In the news report by CBS they did a really good job of grouping all supplements together and portraying them as unhealthy, dangerous and ineffective, while portraying doctor prescribed drugs as safe, effective and really your only choice if you want to be safe.

Nothing could be further from the TRUTH! The TRUTH is that pharmaceutical drugs, chemical supplements and cheap synthetic vitamins are unhealthy, dangerous and ineffective! These misleading fear tactics work really well at getting people to not explore alternative health options that might save their lives or spare them horrible side effects from doctor prescribed drugs and OTC medications.

Randall Fitzgerald summarizes the truth well in his recent blockbuster book The Hundred-Year Lie which you must read to truly understand how food and medicine are destroying your health. From his book:

However broadly speaking, the evidence indicates that most naturally occurring foods and medicines are healthy for us, as they have been for our species for thousand of years, while many if not most synthetic chemicals in foods and medicines pose some health risk.

One of the REAL problems with the natural supplement industry not being regulated is that the same vitamin companies that produce cheap, ineffective synthetic vitamins are producing cheap ineffective versions of herbal supplements. Many natural, herbal and whole-food supplements are safe and have tremendous health benefits and could seriously improve or even save someones life. The effectiveness of natural supplements, however, varies greatly by the brand and manufacturer and in general you should avoid anything made by a large publicly traded company.

What happens is someone walks into a store and buys the cheapest bottle of St. Johns Wort or some other herbal supplement. They take it for their malady and after a period of time say This stuff does not work; I think I will go see my doctor. This product was probably made by a company that cares little about the quality or freshness or else it would cost more. They may have gotten the herb from a questionable source that was cheaper or figured out they could make more money by using an ineffective part of the plant like the stem. There is a huge difference in effectiveness based on freshness, quality, and the method prepared. A freshly squeezed shot of wheat grass for example would be much better than wheatgrass powder or pills.

The problem is natural remedies and whole-food and herbal supplements compete directly with the pharmaceutical industry, which I am guessing is CBSs biggest advertiser. In the CBS news report there was an alleged number of deaths from adverse effects of natural or herbal supplements. The number was made to look really large and bad by making it over a large span of time. I do not remember the exact numbers used in the report but I do know that MANY, MANY more people have died from adverse effects and reactions from doctor prescribed drugs! Look it up for yourself but I will let you know ahead of time you will find very little negative information about legal, patented prescribed drugs that the pharmaceutical companies make millions on.

The War on Drugs in this country is a war against naturally occurring drugs that Big Pharma can not patent and profit from! I am seeing in the drug rehab where I work a dramatic rise in people addicted to these doctor prescribed drugs because people are being reassured that they are safe and good by doctors and the media.

This news story is incredibly well orchestrated propaganda; do not believe what you hear on the news. Some people may remember recently the interview between celebrity Tom Cruise and reporter Matt Lauer. There has been a huge media effort to discredit Tom Cruise and make him look like a whacko or weirdo because he has been outspoken about prescription drug use and the pharmaceutical industry.

There were also attempts to discredit other alternative health advocates like Kevin Trudeau of www.naturalcures.com. I will be writing another article in the near future about BusinessWeeks story called The Organic Myth that will blow you away! Dont believe the media! Their news stories are mostly just advertising in disguise or Big Business Propaganda.

I do not fault them for this it is just the American Way in the Land of Opportunity. I love America, capitalism, free enterprise, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and Liberty and Justice for all. We can not blame governments, corporations and political leaders for lying to us. We can only blame ourselves for being blind to the truth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ian Kelley is the author of The Organic Body fitness and cookbook. Ian is a lifelong chef, competitive natural bodybuilder, holistic health advocate and writer. His website, www.organicbodybuilding.com, provides informative articles and resources on natural/organic bodybuilding. Ian is now offering a FREE copy of his "Organically Ripped" Pre Contest Diet to all who subscribe to his FREE newsletter.