Has 21st century technology advanced how nutrients are delivered to the cells? Can what’s designed in a lab replace what the earth naturally delivers? Have we really progressed or have we fast tracked the process for added shelf life and profitability?

As most are familiar with the B vitamins, let’s examine B-complex. When comparing the evidence, you decide what you are willing to put into your body: synthetic or plant-based.

At a time when so many have allergies we must be constantly vigilant to avoid toxins. This is not an easy task since so many toxins are hidden, unseen or unknown. You may have heard the saying “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. We can use this illustration to examine the various toxins we are exposed to on a daily bases, unaware that the last straw may be a simple additive found in your supplements – summed up in a term called bioaccumulation.

I make these comments based on the article in The JAMA Forum “Given Their Potential for Harm, It’s Time to Focus on the Safety of Supplements.” The question is, as an industry, how do we combat the detrimental comments regularly made from the side of pharma and the biased media?

The article declares that in the United States consumers spend about $30 billion per year on supplements including vitamins, minerals, and herbal products, with uncertain benefits and possible harm for children, as well as adults. If we truly examine the evidence, they may be right in some aspects and with some vitamin brands.

As the CEO and vitamin formulator for Life Choice, 32 years, I have seen the steady decline of raw material quality beginning from the mid 80’s, mainly as a result of using synthetic rather than plant based and feed grade rather than pharmaceutical grade raw materials.

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A new study released by the University of Toulouse in France found that over half of weight loss supplements are spiked with pharmaceuticals.

A traditional ceremonial beverage of South Pacific societies, Kava (Piper methysticum) is widely consumed in Vanuata, Fiji and Western Somoa, whose populations have lung cancer rates just 5-10 percent of U.S. lung cancer rates despite similar levels of tobacco consumption.

Unlocking the mystery of our immune system is much like seeking buried treasure—X may mark the spot, but knowing how to support our immune system may seem like navigating a maze.

There is no question, even by those who are involved in the industry, that many manufacturers of natural health products, dietary supplements, nutraceuticals etc... make false claims regarding the ingredients in their formulations. 

To tackle this problem, many consumer advocates, as well as those in the industry, have turned to a classification technique called DNA barcoding to help counter this problem.