HN4U Blog

Now Let Me Get this Straight…

Warning I found My Soap Box:

The Case Against Multivitamins Grows Stronger, by Nancy Shute, December 17, 2013. Now as informed readers, you are well educated on the dangers of believing the mainstream press. Just the same, some of you may have seen these stories and stopped taking your vitamins or wondered if you are wasting your hard-earned money. My thought: If you are taking quality vitamins, reducing your environmental toxin exposure and modifying your lifestyle, YOU are being proactive, responsible and taking control of your health. No one can care more than you. Keep it up.

Back to my rant and rave: If you have been paying attention, you have learned you get what you pay for. The multi vitamin’s used for this study/article were those provided by big Pharma – yes your top pharmaceutical manufacturers are also big into the nutraceutical business, and they want all the $28 Billion for themselves it would appear. Please don’t be fooled the information being spread over the AP wire is from skewed and biased sources. The pharmaceutical lobbyists sharing the wealth with Senator Durbin, are getting your hard earned dollar from both sides of the pharmacy counter.

This is just one of the underhanded ways for congressmen like Durbin, to continue his attempts to shut down the American nutraceutical trade. After viewing his comments, and reading his statements – it appears Sent. Durbin and his followers think you are too ignorant to have an informed mind, and unlike some politicians know pharmaceuticals routinely kill more Americans, every day, than vitamins do in ten years.

Centrum Multi Vitamin’s parent company Pfizer® has spent billions in campaign and lobbing funds to sway the FDA and the esteemed Senator to institute draconian regulations on nutritional supplements. They portray the American owned vitamin industry as unsafe to operate for the hundreds of small to medium sized business, owned and operated by Americans, who pay taxes, provide jobs and support the economy.

And just in case you are wondering about those multi packs from Costco…interestingly enough the Kirkland® Brand manufacture is kept secret, some suggest it is Pfizer, but there is no official information. In my mind, this is a violation of Good Manufacturing Practices upheld by every other nutrient manufacture and you the consumer have the right to know who, and where your products are being made by.

In 2009 Fox News reported – “Some of the same companies that mass-produce drugs in huge chemical labs also churn out vitamin and herbal pills sold in bottles with rainbows, sunrises and flowers on their labels. Dozens of other supplement makers reap more than $100 million in annual sales. One of the largest — NBTY Inc.®, on New York’s Long Island — sold $2 billion in 2008, in the United States alone. Its brands include Nature’s Bounty®, Vitamin World®, Puritan’s Pride® and Sundown®.”

The Pharma giant Wyeth® who Pfizer® announced it was taking over in November 2013, makes Centrum® along with other supplements, Bayer HealthCare® makes the One A Day® line. Unilever®, Novartis®, GlaxoSmithKline® and other big pharmaceutical firms also make or sell supplements. There is big money to be made in the illusion (some would have you believe) of vitamins promoting health.

However, size does not guarantee quality. Mega Multi-National Corporations and their subsidiaries are more likely to seek out bulk ingredient suppliers in China and India. Bio-Chemists who do quality control assays routinely, for American nutraceutical companies, find these bulk ingredients contaminated with heavy metals, arsenic, herbicides, antibiotics and other really bad stuff.

Integrative healthcare practitioners are aware of this information and strive to recommend or provide only nutraceuticals of the highest quality so we can insure you are getting what you paid for and positive results in your health journey.

So let’s put this in perspective.

At the same time, the information on vitamins came out, the “Brewers Association” posted information on Craft beer’s economic impact on the American Economy.

“According to a new analysis by the Brewers Association (BA)—the not-for-profit trade association that represents the majority of U.S. breweries—small and independent American craft brewers contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2012 (that is $6 Billion more than vitamins!). “With a strong presence across the 50 states, and the District of Columbia (with Oregon and Colorado leading the charge), craft breweries are a vibrant and flourishing economic force at the local, state, and national level”, said Bart Watson, staff economist, Brewers Association.”

These numbers should have Anheuser-Busch® flogging congressional representatives with demands to regulate craft beers – they are of no value and may even be causing harm to consumers……after all many view good beer as a nutritional supplement for both man and beast.

It looks like I should brew up beer, less regulation, better taste, more profit and fun….

To your good health, freedom of choice and keeping your money in the hands of Americans.