5 ms·

I have a feeling that a lot of these supplements are doing more harm than good. I really wish the FDA would step in and regulate the vitamin market the same way

I have a feeling that a lot of these supplements are doing more harm than good. I really wish the FDA would step in and regulate the vitamin market the same way they do with normal medicine like Tylenol, etc.

latch 9y ago
April 22, 1976, Cogress passed an act prohibiting the FDA from doing just this and in 1996 additional legislation resulted in vitamins being classified as food, not drugs. The FDA has wanted to do something about this for a long time. They clearly see supplements as dangerous (especially things like 6000% RDA).
mrfusion 9y ago
Why stop there though. I think we should require a prescription. You shouldn’t be putting stuff into your body without medical supervision. I’d even consider it for Foods heavy in certain vitamins. Pineapples have a mega load of vitamin c. Put those behind the counter as well. Why let people risk their health.
- miguelrochefort 9y ago
  /s
- flarg 9y ago
  Sarcasm aside, I did read that over consumption of kale results in accumulation of heavy metals
  - ISKthrow 9y ago
    And farts...
- acuozzo 9y ago
  > You shouldn’t be putting stuff into your body without medical supervision. Neither you nor the government should be telling me what I can put in my body. > Why let people risk their health. Because it's their health to risk, not yours.
13years 9y ago
There is little evidence that "a lot of supplements" are doing more harm than good. That is speculation. If you search pubmed there are thousands of studies looking at potential benefits. However, if you are going to regulate based on real evidence of harm, then you would do the same for fast foods. There we have substantially more evidence of harm than we currently have with supplements. Or we could decide to live in a free country and stop criminalizing what people decide to put into their bodies of their own free will. We are trending to free access to marijuana, I would find it ironic to then start restricting supplements.
- bhandziuk 9y ago
  seems very different from fast food in that with that you at least get a meal out of it however low quality it may be. But with supplements they are sometimes doing the exact opposite of what they're branded to do. Expecting greater health and getting cancer is different from being hungry and getting heart disease.
dec0dedab0de 9y ago
I think it would be better of the goverment just let anyone eat or take anything they want. Though they should fund extensive research into food, vitamins, home remedies, etc. and publish them in easy to understand guides and warnings. This could empower the people to protect themself.
- jcranmer 9y ago
  The drug industry is actually fairly close to that model: 1. You can't advertise any benefit without having a clinical trial (funded by the company) showing that benefit. 2. A strict (every 6 months) inspection of manufacturing facilities. 3. You're required to list the ingredients, and the inspections make sure you're using them. 4. All known side effects are required (found during aforementioned clinical trials) to be listed. By contrast, the FDA is specifically prohibited from applying these regulations to the supplement industry. Unsurprisingly, many studies have found that the companies involved don't even bother to put the active ingredients in the pills.
amelius 9y ago
BigPharma would love this.

latch 9y ago

April 22, 1976, Cogress passed an act prohibiting the FDA from doing just this and in 1996 additional legislation resulted in vitamins being classified as food, not drugs. The FDA has wanted to do something about this for a long time. They clearly see supplements as dangerous (especially things like 6000% RDA).

mrfusion 9y ago

Why stop there though. I think we should require a prescription. You shouldn’t be putting stuff into your body without medical supervision. I’d even consider it for Foods heavy in certain vitamins. Pineapples have a mega load of vitamin c. Put those behind the counter as well. Why let people risk their health.

miguelrochefort 9y ago
/s
flarg 9y ago
Sarcasm aside, I did read that over consumption of kale results in accumulation of heavy metals
- ISKthrow 9y ago
  And farts...
acuozzo 9y ago
> You shouldn’t be putting stuff into your body without medical supervision. Neither you nor the government should be telling me what I can put in my body. > Why let people risk their health. Because it's their health to risk, not yours.

13years 9y ago

There is little evidence that "a lot of supplements" are doing more harm than good. That is speculation. If you search pubmed there are thousands of studies looking at potential benefits. However, if you are going to regulate based on real evidence of harm, then you would do the same for fast foods. There we have substantially more evidence of harm than we currently have with supplements. Or we could decide to live in a free country and stop criminalizing what people decide to put into their bodies of their own free will. We are trending to free access to marijuana, I would find it ironic to then start restricting supplements.

bhandziuk 9y ago
seems very different from fast food in that with that you at least get a meal out of it however low quality it may be. But with supplements they are sometimes doing the exact opposite of what they're branded to do. Expecting greater health and getting cancer is different from being hungry and getting heart disease.

dec0dedab0de 9y ago

I think it would be better of the goverment just let anyone eat or take anything they want. Though they should fund extensive research into food, vitamins, home remedies, etc. and publish them in easy to understand guides and warnings. This could empower the people to protect themself.

jcranmer 9y ago
The drug industry is actually fairly close to that model: 1. You can't advertise any benefit without having a clinical trial (funded by the company) showing that benefit. 2. A strict (every 6 months) inspection of manufacturing facilities. 3. You're required to list the ingredients, and the inspections make sure you're using them. 4. All known side effects are required (found during aforementioned clinical trials) to be listed. By contrast, the FDA is specifically prohibited from applying these regulations to the supplement industry. Unsurprisingly, many studies have found that the companies involved don't even bother to put the active ingredients in the pills.

amelius 9y ago

BigPharma would love this.