4 Common Dangers Lurking in Your ‘Health’ Supplements
In a world where health consciousness is increasingly more popular each day, major corporations have entered the health supplements marketplace under new ‘health’ brands in an attempt to soak up some of the profits. In doing this, these corporations that truly do not have any concern for the actual quality of their products tend to cut costs by using dangerous fillers and additives that pose a serious risk to your health. A risk that is particularly concerning when considering that these supplements are supposed to enhance your health.
Enabling cheaper production at a quicker pace and utilizing cheap materials (such as GMO-containing corn to extract vitamin C), these 4 common fillers are your worst nightmare and mega corporation’s dream come true:
1. Nanoparticle Titanium Dioxide
Would you like some highly toxic nanoparticle titanium dioxide with that ‘health’ pill? Also used in cosmetics, peer-reviewed research available on PubMed reveals that titanium dioxide has been linked to a number of conditions including DNA damage. Through sourcing GreenMedInfo on the subject, a database which indexes available research on toxic substances and beneficial ones alike, we find that 7 pieces of peer-reviewed research has linked titanium dioxide to DNA damaging effects.
We also can highlight numerous cases in which titanium dioxide was associated with organ damage in mice.
At the end of the day, it is clear that titanium dioxide is usually present only in low quality supplements where the manufacturer truly does not have much concern for the health consequences of its usage. If you find titanium dioxide in your supplement, toss it. It likely contains ingredients that are even far worse.
2. Hidden Hydrogenated Oils
You have probably heard of hydrogenated oils when it comes to food products, and you may even avoid them when doing your routine grocery shopping. What you may not yet be aware of is the fact that these troubling oils also happen to lurk within many health food stores and pharmacies alike in the supplements aisle – and perhaps even your pantry.
Traditionally found in processed junk foods, hydrogenated oils have begun appearing in supplements thanks to the same processed food manufacturers wanting in on the supplement market.
Always be sure to check your label for hydrogenated oils before purchasing.
3. Artificial Coloring
You’ve heard about the host of artificial coloring ingredients and how in the past many have been banned due to overwhelming health concerns (with warning labels even considered for modern labeling), but did you know that artificial colors still exist within the supplement industry on a concerning level? A simple purpose, artificial colors are utilized to make vitamins more appealing to consumers — mainly children. A disturbing fact when examining the links between childhood consumption of these artificial colors and disease.
4. Damaging Synthetic Vitamins
I’ve spoken about synthetic vitamins in the past and how they cloud the entire supplement industry with fuzzy science as oftentimes researchers study synthetic forms of vitamins and report on negative effects without even specifying which form of the vitamin they studied. As it turns out, there is a very large difference.
For example, vitamin E can be beneficial to the body in one form yet highly damaging in another. It comes down to production, and we know that the synthetic version of vitamin E is a petrochemically derived analogue of natural vitamin E.
As a result, this synthetic version has been found to actually disrupt the entire endocrine system – something that natural vitamin E has not been found to do. The same thing can be found time and time again with substances like vitamin A and others. Even vitamin D2 and D3 (D3 being the natural form) have large variations.
So how do you avoid synthetic chemicals in your ‘health’ supplements? First of all, immediately turn away from any lower quality supplements. Any product containing the previous dangerous ingredients will almost always contain synthetics, and especially the run-of-the-mill pharmacy brand supplement chain. Look for an organic-based vitamin that specifically states it does not contain synthetic versions of vitamins. You can even email, call, or ask a rep to find out.
These days it can be a serious challenge to select the right supplements, but looking for these 4 dangers within the supplement aisle or online supplement selection can make a difference. Eliminating products containing these items eliminates a large percentage of products that could be damaging your body more than helping.
You can't tell what kind of things they are putting in our food now a days.
Great article. I prefer using raw herbs rather than health supplements. This article provides lots of information to encourage this habit. Thank you! Ken
So, what is the answer? I would think it impossible to obtain our needed nutrients from food filled with GMOs and pesticides. The vitamins that we purchase are no different. Seems to me the safest and most enduring answer is to raise our own food. If that is not possible for one to do, buy you food from the local farmer's markets, or from a source you know and trust. Be sure their crops are nonGMO and organic, free of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Eat at home. Eating out is an impossible situation. It is very hard to conceive of the fact this is the same country I grew up in…when things were simple and honest.
I totally agree.
Excellent article. It pays to research for products that will benefit our health. There are some wonderful companies committed to NonGMO whole food supplements and certified organic, found under the strict guidelines of Canada and USA. Do your homework. Don't take the cheap way out. When I am told by others, 'I can't afford it', I answer with, 'I can't afford not to'.
If you look closely at the quality of ingredients on the labels, you'll see they are not of very high quality.
by rightly calling out problems with the new-comers, you implicitly condemn the whole industry. the reputation of the natural products industry was NOT built by these late comers. there are still lots of companies that do care about putting out good product..
telling synthetic vitamin E from natural is easy. name of natural begins with "d" and synthetic begins with "dl"
What about the magnesium stereate and maltodextrin which is mostly GMO corn?
According to an article on Natural News magnesium stearate forms some kind of a thin coating on your intestines' wall, which then prevents many nutrients from entering your system. Also, this form of magnesium is not useful for your body.
Magnesium stearate is always from GMO, far as I know. Maltodextrin is always suspect, although some is claimed to be from organically grown sources. Mike Adams of Health Ranger has some recent posts in his newsletter regarding such info.
I manage a health shop which has over 1000 different lines of vitamins from 15 different suppliers, non of which contain what this journalist has reported. Don’t believe the hype from this article and always speak to someone EDUCATED in supplements. Eating for better health is number one, but fearing supplements isn’t necessary.