Safer Supplements

 

What do Magnum XXL 9800, Jaguar Power and Kangaroo Intense Alpha all have in common? They are all dietary supplements that supposedly enhance male sexual performance. But they have something else in common too. Despite the fact that they were all sold as supplements on various websites, such as Walmart.com, and retail stores, the FDA has issued public warnings they they illegally contained sildenafil, the active ingredient in viagra. By law, supplements cannot contain drugs, so how could this happen?

Unfortunately it happens often for two main reasons. 

First, supplement products are not strictly regulated like drugs are. The FDA regulates dietary supplements under a completely different set of regulations than those covering "conventional" foods and drug products. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that the firms manufacturers are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as amended by DSHEA and FDA regulations. In other words, it is on the honor system. The FDA has the authority to take action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product but only after after it reaches the market and has caused harm. 

Second, many supplement products are manufactured in countries like China or India with even less oversight and regulation than in the USA. Since companies buy these foreign-made supplements and then "rebrand" them as their own products it can be difficult or impossible to learn where they originated.

So what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Take a look at your diet before adding supplements. As their name indicates, they are meant to “supplement” a healthy diet. If you are looking to decrease inflammation in the body that may be leading to pain while eating a diet high in fried foods and processed sugar, which both cause inflammation, you should start with your food choices. Often times food and drink changes can give the results that are expected from a supplement. 

2. Look for domestically produced products. Buy from companies that manufacture their own products in the US or buy from companies that do. These will almost never be your cheapest choice.

3. Have realistic expectations. Supplements can be a part of a healthy diet and lifestyle but don't expect miracles from them, despite what their marketing may claim. If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

A number of consumer advocacy organizations are pressing Congress to update the law and allow better regulation of supplement products. Until they succeed, you are on your own.

 

Artificial Sweeteners: Pros and Cons

Artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes) are used in an enormous variety of different products such as sodas, yogurts, bread and processed foods. Despite their popularity, these sugar alternatives have been under scrutiny in recent years, with supporting and opposing groups expressing their take on the benefits and draw backs of using them. So are artificial sweeteners a good alternative to sugar, especially to help with weight loss?

The smart use of artificial sweeteners could help you reduce added sugars in your diet, thereby lowering the number of empty calories that you eat. Reducing calories could help you attain and maintain a healthy body weight. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Heart Association (AHA) have given a cautious nod to the use of artificial sweeteners in place of sugar to combat obesity and diabetes.

The FDA has approved six artificial sweeteners: saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, sucralose and advantame. It has also approved one natural low-calorie sweetener, stevia. Research into the potential health effects of artificial sweeteners has produced mixed results. Some studies have actually linked these products to higher rates of weight gain and diabetes. But others have found an association with weight loss and lower body mass index, and no adverse health effects.

Artificial sweeteners are extremely sweet – hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than table sugar. So people who habitually consume them may end up desensitized to sweetness. Healthful, satiating foods that are less sweet, such as fruits and vegetables, may become unappetizing by comparison. As a result, the overall quality of your diet may decline. The calories removed from the diet by the sugar-for-sweetener swap may sneak back in, in the form of refined carbohydrates and low-quality fats. In other words, use of artificial sweeteners can make you shun healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially flavored foods with less nutritional value.

On the plus side, they can be helpful in losing weight when used judiciously, they are better than sugar for diabetics and they may help promote better oral health. Here is a good summary of the pros and cons of using artificial sweeteners. 

In the meantime, if you choose to incorporate sugar substitutes into your diet, why not stick with natural ones? Stevia (PureVia) is a good choice and comes in liquid, granulated and powdered form.

The Sunshine Vitamin

 

Vitamin D is often called "the sunshine vitamin" because the sun is the body’s main source of vitamin D. The skin produces a natural form of vitamin D from a form of cholesterol, called 7-dehydrocholesterol. Sunlight is key: the sun's UVB rays convert this cholesterol in the skin into a vitamin D3 precursor. These initial forms of vitamin D3 then pass their way through the liver and the kidneys, where they are converted into a form of vitamin D that can be used by the body.

Vitamin D plays many important roles in the body. While it is found in a few foods such as oily fish, red meat, and egg yolks, the sun is still our main source of vitamin D. There are a number of different factors that can result in vitamin D deficiency, with a lack of adequate sunlight being the main cause. 

Between being indoors more and using sunscreen more often some people who don’t get enough vitamin D from the sun can often benefit from taking a vitamin D supplement. But megadoses are not only unnecessary, they can be dangerous. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning the body stores any excess in fat rather than disposing of it as it does with water soluble vitamins. Taking high doses can cause it to accumulate to unhealthy levels.

The best way to know whether or not to supplement and how much is to confer with your doctor. A simple blood test will reveal whether your vitamin D levels are adequate or not and then an appropriate supplemental dose can be recommended.

How much sun does the average person need to maintain healthy vitamin D levels? Not all that much. According a a study at King's College in London, just 5 minutes of unprotected mid-day sun exposure four times a week is plenty. If you have brown or black skin, make it 7 minutes. 

 

The Real Deal About Turmeric

 

Turmeric is a common spice that comes from the root of Curcuma longa plant. It contains a chemical called curcumin, which might reduce swelling and is often taken as a treatment for conditions that involve pain and inflammation such as arthritis. It is also commonly used for hay fever, depression, high cholesterol and liver problems but there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses. There is also no good evidence to support using turmeric for COVID-19.

The biggest problem is not the efficacy of curcumin, which is well established, but that the amount of it in turmeric spice is far below a clinical dose and that is is poorly absorbed into the blood.

Here is a good review of what is currently know about turmeric as a supplement and some of the things being tried to make it more useful.

Vitamin D and Autoimmune Diseases

 

Autoimmune disease refers to problems with the immune system where immune cells target the body’s own healthy tissues by mistake, signaling the body to attack them. Autoimmune diseases can affect almost any part of the body. Some examples of common autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, Type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and lupus. There are over 80 known types of autoimmune diseases that affect over 24 million people in the US alone.

So recent study results published in The BMJ was good news. People who took 2,000 international units per day (IU/day) of vitamin D, with or without one gram of fish oil, for slightly more than five years reduced their risk of developing an autoimmune disease by 22% when compared to their counterparts who took a placebo.

"It looks like giving vitamin D will prevent autoimmune disease, which is really exciting," said study author Dr. Karen Costenbader, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 2,000 IU/day of vitamin D with a 1 gram omega-3 fatty acid supplement; vitamin D with a placebo; omega-3 fatty acid with a placebo; or placebo alone. The participants then answered questionnaires about new diagnoses of autoimmune diseases, and doctors reviewed their records to confirm these diagnoses. People who took vitamin D or vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids had a lower rate of autoimmune disease than people who took a placebo or omega-3 fatty acids alone after slightly more than five years of follow-up, and these effects were more pronounced after two years.

Still, Costenbader cautioned not everyone should jump on the vitamin D supplement bandwagon. "There are some people who need to avoid vitamin D because they have a history of kidney stones or other diseases," she said. "Check with your doctor before you start taking supplements."

Also, vitamin D is fat soluble, meaning it is not as easily expelled from the body as water soluble vitamins and can accumulate over time. The safe upper limit for supplementation with vitamin D is generally thought to be 4,000 IU daily.

Supplements and Depression

 

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, over 8% of Americans suffer from clinical depression during any given 2 week period. That is over 2.5 million people. But that is 2016 data. Indications are that the numbers have risen substantially during the Covid era, especially among young people. Antidepressant use has skyrocketed since 1999, leading it to become one of the most popular types of pharmaceutical drugs in the U.S., with approximately one in six Americans using them.

Given all of that, it is not a big surprise that supplement manufacturers view it as a marketing bonanza. "11 Herbs and Supplements to Help Fight Depression" offers the Healthline Nutrition web site (a dicey place to get nutrition information). "Helps Support Emotional Health" says Country Life Omega 3 Mood supplement. Do any of these actually do anything more than empty your wallet?

In a 2021 study published in JAMA Network, researchers assigned over 18,000 adults to take a daily does of fish oil. None of the participants had experienced depression in the previous 2 years. After following the participants for 5 years, the risk of depression was found to be higher in the fish oil takers (although not a lot higher). The same trial also studied the use of Vitamin D - with similar results.

If you are or think you may be suffering from depression, don't depend on supplements to help you overcome it. Don't count on them to lower your risk of developing it either. No matter what the bottle says. See your doctor or a mental health professional. Exercise. But save your money.

Five Steps that Actually Do Boost Immunity

 

These days it can be hard to turn around without bumping into another food, supplement, elixir or magic pill that promises to boost, strengthen, support or supercharge your immune system. From late night TV commercials, to the internet, grocery store and print media amazing immunity solutions are everywhere. The real question is, do any of them work?

The reality is that there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution to optimizing the performance of your immune system. Not everyone reacts to infections or other threats in exactly the same way. And what you often don't hear from companies selling amazing immunity boosters is that an overactive immune systems is just as bad as a weak one. Auto-immune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and allergies are just some of the gifts that a too-strong immune system might bestow.

Supporting the immune system then is definitely not a matter of finding the right pill or supplement. But that doesn't mean that there is nothing you can do to support a balanced, effective immune system. Here are five lifestyle factors that will help, and you don't need to buy anything special to incorporate them.

Get Enough Restful Sleep.  When you are asleep, your immune system is working hard. From reprogramming your T-cells to respond to new threats to producing proteins that they use to kill invaders, your immune system uses sleep to recharge itself. If you do not get adequate sleep, your immune system cannot work at full capacity.

Wrangle Your Stress. Stress grips everyone. It is just a part of life that is not going away. So you may as well learn to deal with it. Chronic stress, in particular, can increase your risk of many illnesses and compromise your immune system's ability to deal with them. Cortisol, glucagon and prolactin are hormones that your body produces in response to stress and persistently high levels can cause high blood pressure and chronic inflammation. Exercise is a great stress reducer, as are a meditation practice, breathing exercises and spending time doing things you find enjoyable. Drinking alcohol and scrolling social media are not.

Protect Your Microbiome. The intestinal microbiome is a signalling hub that integrates environmental inputs, such as diet, with genetic and immune signals to affect the your metabolism, immunity and response to infection. Aberrations in the communication between the innate immune system and the gut microbiota contribute to many complex diseases.The bacteria in your gut breaks down food to provide energy and repair and protect parts of the immune system. Adding fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir or yogurt to your diet can help maintain the delicate balance in your gut. The evidence for pre or pro biotic supplements is sketchy at best, despite what the marketing department tells you.

Upgrade your nutrition. Adding more plants to your diet will feed your microbiome and benefit your health in many ways. Avoiding processed foods and, especially, sugar, will help reduce inflammation. Here is one place where a general, broad spectrum supplement may actually be helpful to close any gaps between what you eat and the nutrition your body needs to maintain and repair itself.

Detoxify Your Home. The immune system has to fight off more than just viruses and bacteria. When it encounters the harmful chemicals, pesticides or heavy metals that infect far too much of our food, water, cleaning and personal care products it responds to them as well. An environment heavy in these pollutants keeps your immune system working in overdrive. Choosing organic foods when you can helps reduce pesticide residue in your diet. Avoiding plastic packaging as much as you can, drinking filtered (not store-bought bottled) water and choosing less-toxic personal care and cleaning products lowers the toxin level and gives your immune system a rest. The Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org) is a good source to find less toxic brands.

We would all love to find a cheap, simple, easy way to maintain a strong immune system. And many companies are happy to sell you one. Unfortunately few of them do any good. Save your money and upgrade your lifestyle instead.

CBD and Anxiety

 

CBD has several well established benefits that include pain relief, reduction of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and helping to improve the quality of sleep of people suffering from insomnia. Unfortunately, the market is very lightly regulated and so the marketing departments of companies selling CBD will often stretch the truth - to put it politely.

In several trials, very high doses of CBD appeared to lower the level of anxiety induced by stressful situations like public speaking. But various study results are inconsistent. In one of the better designed studies, 32 adults with non-psychosis paranoia were randomly assigned to take either 600mg of CBD or a placebo. Two hours later the study participants were subjected to stress sufficient to elevate their heart rate and blood pressure. Those who had taken the CBD fared no better than the placebo takers.

Research using lower doses is even less encouraging. The only study done to date using a low dose of CBD included overweight or obese adults who were given 15mg of CBD daily for six weeks. They reported no better stress levels, sleep quality, relaxation or mental clarity than the participants taking a placebo.

None of this has slowed down companies from marketing CBD products with a dose as low as 10mg as being effective at "easing anxiety" and "managing stress". It is standard practice within the food and supplement industries to add small amounts of an ingredient to a product and then trumpet it as an effective way to address a problem. Mostly it is not.

As for CBD, much more research is needed to establish is usefulness against anxiety.