Do Your Vitamin and Mineral Supplements measure up?

Do your vitamin and mineral supplements measure up or are they nothing more than "Witch Doctor" magic?

The basis of science is the ability to measure, to quantify.
Think about it. When you visit the doctor's office for anything, what are the first few procedures that they perform on you? They measure (take) your temperature, they measure your blood pressure, they have you step on a scale to record your weight. Depending on what your visit to the doctor's office is, you could be there to have a series of tests performed, all designed to give the doctor a picture of what is happening inside your body.

Yes, the ability to measure truly is the basis of science. We are conditioned as human beings through the course of our lives to measure, to know how much. But what happens when we get away from measurement as the foundation when it comes to our health? The answer is that we revert back to a time when Shamans, witchcraft, and the proverbial medicine man was the answer to everything. A pinch of this, a dash of that, and you were cured. All it took in most cases, was a savvy, charismatic entrepreneur willing to step up and lead his people to whatever ends he desired.

Now, I know that it may not actually be as simplistic as that, but you get the picture. To me however, what is even more puzzling, is the gullibility of today's civilized society when compared to ancient times. At least back then, you had to show proof of your claims, even if it was nothing more than a magician's trick or risk being run out of town or banished from the tribe. Today, the magicians' tricks have become more elaborate with the rise of technology, but so has our ability to reason. The onset of higher education, by all counts, should reduce not increase societies gullibility factor.
Take vitamin and mineral supplements and the nutrition industry for example. Currently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate this industry with any degree of regularity or with anything potent enough to prevent fraud on a MASS scale. In fact, about the only thing the FDA currently requires of these companies is that any product claims of improvements or cures to ones' health be substantiated or proven with science. Well there are a multitude of things wrong with this kind of lax legislation.

The following example is Typical for most supplement production on the market today:

There are currently several hundred thousand companies that sell vitamins. Most get their ingredients from the same few manufacturers and the only difference is the packaging.

1. Farming produces the raw ingredients from plant sources such as wheat.

2. The vitamins are then extracted from the raw ingredients.

3. The manufacturing company makes the supplement according to the specifications (quantity of each vitamin & mineral in the capsule) set forth by the marketing company, not by scientists.

4. By ordering as few as 100 bottles, you too can have your own vitamin brand. No science, just a different label.

Now, I know you may be saying to yourself that there is NO WAY, that it can be that easy to have your own brand of vitamins. Well sadly, it is that simple. Further, unscrupulous companies have done just that and by exploiting this lax legislation that regulates the industry, have made all sorts of unsubstantiated claims knowing them to be bogus. Oh sure they run the risk of being fined or sanctioned by the FDA, but they also know that marketed the right way, they can make hundreds of millions of dollars before the FDA even catches wind of their scheme.
A change may be brewing in the wind however.

Currently, the supplement industry is a multi-BILLION dollar industry and growing by the billions each year. The Pharmaceutical companies have realized that people are taking supplements religiously and the numbers are only increasing. So, in my opinion, it is no coincidence that the Food and Drug Administration is beginning to crack down on the unscrupulous vitamin companies and supplement industry. It is also my opinion that the rules are about to change for the vitamin industry. Change by requiring any such company having to PROVE that their products work, not just refrain from printing or making claims on the bottle, but actually have to prove they work before even putting them on the market. This change will effectively eliminate most of the Pharmaceutical industry's competition when they officially enter the market. Most of the companies within the current vitamin and mineral industry simply will not be able to meet the challenges of start-up or sustained costs of implementing the infrastructure required to meet these new changes.

One company rises to the challenge.

A company called Pharmanex has risen to the challenge of these foreseen changes and has put in place the infrastructure to succeed.

The Pharmanex scientific team comprises medical researchers, clinicians, pharmacologists, botanists, medicinal chemists, pharmacognosists, nutritionists, process chemists, analytical chemists, biochemists, molecular biologists, immunologists, statisticians, toxicologists, exercise physiologists, quality control specialists, and clinical research specialists. More than 75 full-time scientists from three internal research centers confer together daily. This team has obtained dozens of patents and published scores of scientific papers that are internationally recognized. Past and present collaborations also include numerous universities and leading research centers across the world.

Pharmanex has also gathered together some of the greatest minds in the scientific world to form a renowned Scientific Advisory Board. The combination of internal scientists, research centers, and the Scientific Advisory Board comprises the most extraordinary group of scientists ever assembled by a nutritional company.

This diverse network promotes penetrating and clear-sighted discovery throughout every stage of the development process. Exploring new possibilities, testing hypotheses, contributing a diverse and abundant variety of expert viewpoints - all this illuminates and enriches the work, translating into the finest nutritional products in the industry.

As for the ability to measure being the basis for science, Pharmanex holds true to this core belief and has taken the necessary steps for the coming changes in order to substantiate their product formulation and development.

These steps will be discussed on my next post.