Results for: dietary supplements

TIME Magazine, Dr. Oz, What to Eat, and Supplements

Here on SBM we have frequently had cause to criticize the media for poor science reporting and for spreading misinformation. Among many other individual offenders, we have criticized Dr. Oz for promoting alternative medicine on his TV show and gullibly promoting guests who pretend to talk to the dead and pretend to heal people with carnival sideshow tricks. We tend to be...

/ September 13, 2011

New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) rules planned for the supplement industry

A rumble of discontent is being heard across the dietary supplement industry since a draft guidance document was published last month by the US Food and Drug Administration. In response to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act signed into law in January by President Obama, the FDA was required to produce a documents requiring dietary supplement and foods companies to submit safety...

/ August 5, 2011

The Top Ten Pet Supplements: Do They Work?

An Embarrassment of Riches? Much has been written here about the dietary supplement business, a multibillion dollar industry with powerful political connections, and about the woeful inadequacy of regulation which allows widespread marketing of supplements without a solid basis in science or scientific evidence.  The veterinary supplement market is a pittance compared to the human market, but still a billion-dollar pittance that...

/ May 19, 2011

Do calcium supplements cause heart attacks?

Calcium is good for us, right? Milk products are great sources of calcium, and we’re told to emphasize milk products in our diets. Don’t (or can’t) eat enough dairy? Calcium supplements are very popular, especially among women seeking to minimize their risk of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis prevention and treatment guidelines recommend calcium and vitamin D as an important measure in preserving bone density...

/ April 28, 2011

CAM and the Law Part 4: Regulation of Supplements and Homeopathic Remedies

Another major set of legal standards that apply to alternative medicine are the laws and regulations that govern the manufacturing and availability of homeopathic and herbal remedies and dietary supplements. Although there is less ambiguity in these standards than in some of the areas I’ve covered previously, there are certainly loopholes aplenty available to avoid the need for any truly scientific standards...

/ December 16, 2010

The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010: A long overdue correction to the DSHEA of 1994?

BACKGROUND: A BAD, BAD LAW One of the themes of this blog has been how, over the last couple of decades, the law has been coopted by forces supporting “complementary and alternative” medicine (CAM) in order to lend legitimacy to unscientific and even pseudoscientific medical nonsense. Whether it be $120 million a year being spent for the National Center for Complementary and...

/ February 8, 2010

Audit reveals supplement regulation and oversight is lacking

A Canadian audit of dietary supplements shows serious problems with the quality and safety of the products you may be buying.

/ May 13, 2021

Stupid Videos Meet Penis Growth Scams

There is a pattern of stupid, misleading videos promoting dietary supplements. This video discloses a secret African ritual for penis enlargement; the "ritual" consists of taking a pill with 14 natural ingredients. The claims are too silly to take seriously.

/ February 23, 2021

FDA warns companies selling illegal hangover remedies

The FDA recently warned seven companies not to claim that their dietary supplements can prevent, treat, or cure a hangover, because only FDA-approved drugs can make such claims. The agency also warned that NAC, a popular supplement ingredient, cannot legally be used in dietary supplements.

/ September 10, 2020

The Recipe for Making Stupid Videos

A promotional video for a prostate remedy could serve as a template for deceptive videos about dietary supplements. All marketing, no science, and plenty of red flags.

/ August 4, 2020