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Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry
A riveting work of investigative journalism that charts the rise of the dietary supplement craze and reveals the dangerous—and sometimes deadly—side of these highly popular and completely unregulated products.
Over 60 percent of Americans buy and take herbal and dietary supplements for all sorts of reasons—to prevent illness (vitamin C), to ease depression (St. John’s wort), to aid weight loss (ephedra), to boost the memory (ginkgo biloba), and even to cure cancer (shark cartilage, bloodroot)—despite the fact that few of these “natural” supplements have been proven to be safe or effective. The vitamin and herbal supplement industry generates over $20 billion a year by selling products that promise to cure or fix, but are produced and marketed essentially without oversight. And while the media has been quick to sensationalize the benefits of supplements, few have taken a hard look at the dangers posed by many of the remedies flooding the market today. Award-winning journalist Dan Hurley breaks the silence for the first time in Natural Causes.
From the snake-oil salesmen of the early twentieth century, to rise of the health food movement in the sixties and seventies, Hurley charts the remarkable growth of an industry built largely on fraud, and reveals the backroom politics that led to the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which effectively freed the industry from FDA oversight. In unprecedented detail, he shows how supplement manufacturers have concealed the truth about dozens of untested treatments and the shocking rise in deaths, disfigurements, and life-threatening injuries caused by products deceptively promoted as “safe and natural.” Most importantly, he provides a telling look at why, in an age of unprecedented scientific advancement, we continue to buy and believe in remedies for which little evidence exists—and why the supplements we take to promote our health may be doing far more harm than good.
As Hurley shows, the dietary supplement craze may be one of the greatest swindles ever perpetrated on the American public—one that feeds billions of dollars each year into the pockets of lobbyists, politicians, and any charlatan who wants to slap a label on a bottle and tout it as the next big “natural cure.” Blending hard facts with spellbinding personal stories, Natural Causes is a must-read for anyone who has ever popped a multivitamin or an herb, and provides a hard-hitting, frightening look at a cultural trend that is out of control.
Over 60 percent of Americans buy and take herbal and dietary supplements for all sorts of reasons—to prevent illness (vitamin C), to ease depression (St. John’s wort), to aid weight loss (ephedra), to boost the memory (ginkgo biloba), and even to cure cancer (shark cartilage, bloodroot)—despite the fact that few of these “natural” supplements have been proven to be safe or effective. The vitamin and herbal supplement industry generates over $20 billion a year by selling products that promise to cure or fix, but are produced and marketed essentially without oversight. And while the media has been quick to sensationalize the benefits of supplements, few have taken a hard look at the dangers posed by many of the remedies flooding the market today. Award-winning journalist Dan Hurley breaks the silence for the first time in Natural Causes.
From the snake-oil salesmen of the early twentieth century, to rise of the health food movement in the sixties and seventies, Hurley charts the remarkable growth of an industry built largely on fraud, and reveals the backroom politics that led to the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which effectively freed the industry from FDA oversight. In unprecedented detail, he shows how supplement manufacturers have concealed the truth about dozens of untested treatments and the shocking rise in deaths, disfigurements, and life-threatening injuries caused by products deceptively promoted as “safe and natural.” Most importantly, he provides a telling look at why, in an age of unprecedented scientific advancement, we continue to buy and believe in remedies for which little evidence exists—and why the supplements we take to promote our health may be doing far more harm than good.
As Hurley shows, the dietary supplement craze may be one of the greatest swindles ever perpetrated on the American public—one that feeds billions of dollars each year into the pockets of lobbyists, politicians, and any charlatan who wants to slap a label on a bottle and tout it as the next big “natural cure.” Blending hard facts with spellbinding personal stories, Natural Causes is a must-read for anyone who has ever popped a multivitamin or an herb, and provides a hard-hitting, frightening look at a cultural trend that is out of control.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published December 26, 2006
2 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 19, 2008
Oh, I don't even know where to start. This book was AWESOME. As a science person, I find myself constantly annoyed by pseudo-science like homeopathy and herbalism and the whole anti-medical establishment. This book is excellent at pointing out that not only are these anti-science movements UNPROVEN and in direct conflict with generally accepted laws of physics, biology, and chemistry, but they are also potentially mortally dangerous. As if that wasn't enough, some of the largest supplement/vitamin manufactures are up to their ears in politics and federal regulation of such products. These products aren't unregulated because they are "natural" and "safe" - they are unregulated because manufacturers have deep pockets to lobby policymakers.
The best part of this book? The stories where people turned away from standard of care medical treatments, used some unregulated "natural product", suffered even worse consequences, and then turned around and cried, "Why didn't the government protect me????????" Wake up and smell the coffee you feeble-minded folk - while the FDA is by no means perfect (we all can think of examples, and the pharma industry is by no means an innocent bystander either) they do try to make sure that treatments are safer than doing nothing at all. If you chose to turn your back on regulated treatments then you have no one to blame but yourself. You don't "trust" any medical professional with advice regarding your health but you trust a person working the counter at a vitamin store????? It blows my mind.
Also, I would like to address the issue of things being "natural". Just because something is "natural" it does not equate to "safe". Radon, anyone? Hemlock? Digitalis? Creosote? The list goes on and on... Bad things occur naturally in nature. And a molecule is a molecule whether it is naturally derived or make in a laboratory. Water coming from the sky or water made in a laboratory - if it is pure your body CAN NOT tell the difference.
With all that being said, there is a reference in this book about the dark side of the pharma industry (The Truth About the Drug Companies - How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It by Marcia Angell, MD, former editor-in-chief of New England Journal of Medicine) and I am highly interested in reading this as well. I think the bottom line is that there is a dark side to almost every entity whose main objective is to make a profit. But to just turn a blind eye towards advancements in medicine and science - just wow. "It's the molecule, stupid."
The best part of this book? The stories where people turned away from standard of care medical treatments, used some unregulated "natural product", suffered even worse consequences, and then turned around and cried, "Why didn't the government protect me????????" Wake up and smell the coffee you feeble-minded folk - while the FDA is by no means perfect (we all can think of examples, and the pharma industry is by no means an innocent bystander either) they do try to make sure that treatments are safer than doing nothing at all. If you chose to turn your back on regulated treatments then you have no one to blame but yourself. You don't "trust" any medical professional with advice regarding your health but you trust a person working the counter at a vitamin store????? It blows my mind.
Also, I would like to address the issue of things being "natural". Just because something is "natural" it does not equate to "safe". Radon, anyone? Hemlock? Digitalis? Creosote? The list goes on and on... Bad things occur naturally in nature. And a molecule is a molecule whether it is naturally derived or make in a laboratory. Water coming from the sky or water made in a laboratory - if it is pure your body CAN NOT tell the difference.
With all that being said, there is a reference in this book about the dark side of the pharma industry (The Truth About the Drug Companies - How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It by Marcia Angell, MD, former editor-in-chief of New England Journal of Medicine) and I am highly interested in reading this as well. I think the bottom line is that there is a dark side to almost every entity whose main objective is to make a profit. But to just turn a blind eye towards advancements in medicine and science - just wow. "It's the molecule, stupid."
September 1, 2010
This book focuses on and highlights the fact that supplements, vitamins, "natural" cures, etc, are DRUGS and should be labelled and regulated as such (which they currently are not), and that "safe" and "natural" are misleading terms that lull far too many people into a sense of security, not to mention organ failure and death.
The author gives case histories and explanations as to why natural does not equal safe, nor is safety a guarantee: many times, the vitamin you're taking doesn't actually contain what it says, and worse, can contain toxins and poisons (like lead. Which I suppose is natural...) Or it can actually contain prescription medications (that's why it will work). Thanks unregulated imports from China and India! And all this is perfectly legal.
Over and over again, you read about people who innocently and trustingly enough start regimens of supplements, they do not tell their primary physician and on one end of the spectrum, their condition can worsen, or that St. Johns Wort they take will interfere with anti-rejection meds and that brand new liver they needed to save their life is of no more use to them then biological waste for the incinerator.
Even in spite of the fact you may think certain supplements are helpful, despite no conclusive evidence from multitudes of carefully controlled scientific studies, taking them anyway may not be harmless: it can kill.
And the vitamin industry is just that: a multi-billion dollar a year entity that has its lobbyists on Capitol Hill just like "Big Pharma." The passing of the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) of 1994 proves this, and prevents the government from doing very much of anything to regulate this industry. So it goes, unchecked.
Even if you think you know all about the corruption involved in conventional medicine, you need to read this book. So you can be aware of the mirror image corruption in the alternative medicine racket.
The author gives case histories and explanations as to why natural does not equal safe, nor is safety a guarantee: many times, the vitamin you're taking doesn't actually contain what it says, and worse, can contain toxins and poisons (like lead. Which I suppose is natural...) Or it can actually contain prescription medications (that's why it will work). Thanks unregulated imports from China and India! And all this is perfectly legal.
Over and over again, you read about people who innocently and trustingly enough start regimens of supplements, they do not tell their primary physician and on one end of the spectrum, their condition can worsen, or that St. Johns Wort they take will interfere with anti-rejection meds and that brand new liver they needed to save their life is of no more use to them then biological waste for the incinerator.
Even in spite of the fact you may think certain supplements are helpful, despite no conclusive evidence from multitudes of carefully controlled scientific studies, taking them anyway may not be harmless: it can kill.
And the vitamin industry is just that: a multi-billion dollar a year entity that has its lobbyists on Capitol Hill just like "Big Pharma." The passing of the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) of 1994 proves this, and prevents the government from doing very much of anything to regulate this industry. So it goes, unchecked.
Even if you think you know all about the corruption involved in conventional medicine, you need to read this book. So you can be aware of the mirror image corruption in the alternative medicine racket.
August 7, 2011
I don't understand why people who are so skeptical of modern medical fall for the supplement hoax. Vitamins and supplements are products of large for-profit businesses with little regulation. The simplest health advice is to eat a balanced diet and exercise. Period. This book is a great expose on the industry of "natural" products which generally involves the purchase of several costly, potentially contaminated and often unsafe pills, powders, etc. I highly recommend.
September 5, 2021
this books is a bit dated (published in 2006 but cites quite a few studies from early 2000) but basically people die of “supplement” overdoses and can continue to die of them because of american politics 🥰 this was v informative but i’m not a fan of the villainization of chinese medicines. also even if costco’s li’l critter gummi vites contain lead i will continue to enjoy my children’s chewable multivitamins but i WILL stop taking melatonin thank u
May 18, 2016
This eye-opening exposure of the multi billion dollar supplement industry (Big Supp) should be read by anyone who has ever used the term Big Pharma, takes vitamins, or takes any kind of herbal supplement. Snake oil salesmen are alive and well and practicing their craft in the 21st century, with the blessings and legal protection of the U.S. Congress. And Americans are buying their snake oil. Buying it and buying it, and spending their earnings on unproven and often unsafe products because they're "natural" or "it' can't hurt".
Natural is not a synonym for good, effective, or safe.
It is interesting to learn that many founders, CEOs, COOs, and CFOs of supplement companies are convicted felons. Some have drug convictions, but many have convictions of fraud. Fraud. It seems that the perfect place to go work after your fraud conviction is to an industry built on legal fraud.
Natural Causes was written in 2006, but very little has changed in 10 years. A book I read and reviewed a few years ago, Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine, is proof that we are still ignoring decades and decades of well-designed studies telling us that most supplements are at best ineffective, and at worst deadly.
Why are these charlatans still allowed to sell their products? Because we let them. These telling excerpts from the book anger and sadden me.
In the final analysis however, it is not the fault of manufacturers, or Congress, or coaches, or the media that America has become a Supplement Nation. The fault lies with us. It is we, the people, who have allowed ourselves to be bamboozled. In an age of postmodern cynicism toward experts, doctors, politicians, and reporters of every stripe, we have made a special exemption for the claims of supplement manufacturers - precisely because they prey upon our skepticism toward all other sources. "The doctors and drug companies are just trying to keep you from getting the inexpensive, life-saving, natural remedies that really work," they proclaim. That was their ingenious argument of a hundred years ago when they were selling snake oil and Peruna and Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, and it's their same argument today. They have hijacked our skepticism and convinced us that health can be found in a pill, so long as the label tells us that the pill is "natural".
and -
Despite the tragedies of L-tryptophan and ephedra, despite the tainting of Olympic careers and the death of a professional baseball player and thousands of other Americans, the pendulum of history has yet to swing back against so-called natural dietary supplements. Without a significant course correction, it is difficult to imagine that another major tragedy will not strike again. But as with the years of unheeded warning for the devastation that a category 5 hurricane could inflict on New Orleans, it just may take a Katrina-size event to awaken the public to the dangers that supplements pose. One can only wonder how many deaths will be chalked up to natural causes before the pendulum swings back at last.
Natural is not a synonym for good, effective, or safe.
It is interesting to learn that many founders, CEOs, COOs, and CFOs of supplement companies are convicted felons. Some have drug convictions, but many have convictions of fraud. Fraud. It seems that the perfect place to go work after your fraud conviction is to an industry built on legal fraud.
Natural Causes was written in 2006, but very little has changed in 10 years. A book I read and reviewed a few years ago, Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine, is proof that we are still ignoring decades and decades of well-designed studies telling us that most supplements are at best ineffective, and at worst deadly.
Why are these charlatans still allowed to sell their products? Because we let them. These telling excerpts from the book anger and sadden me.
In the final analysis however, it is not the fault of manufacturers, or Congress, or coaches, or the media that America has become a Supplement Nation. The fault lies with us. It is we, the people, who have allowed ourselves to be bamboozled. In an age of postmodern cynicism toward experts, doctors, politicians, and reporters of every stripe, we have made a special exemption for the claims of supplement manufacturers - precisely because they prey upon our skepticism toward all other sources. "The doctors and drug companies are just trying to keep you from getting the inexpensive, life-saving, natural remedies that really work," they proclaim. That was their ingenious argument of a hundred years ago when they were selling snake oil and Peruna and Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, and it's their same argument today. They have hijacked our skepticism and convinced us that health can be found in a pill, so long as the label tells us that the pill is "natural".
and -
Despite the tragedies of L-tryptophan and ephedra, despite the tainting of Olympic careers and the death of a professional baseball player and thousands of other Americans, the pendulum of history has yet to swing back against so-called natural dietary supplements. Without a significant course correction, it is difficult to imagine that another major tragedy will not strike again. But as with the years of unheeded warning for the devastation that a category 5 hurricane could inflict on New Orleans, it just may take a Katrina-size event to awaken the public to the dangers that supplements pose. One can only wonder how many deaths will be chalked up to natural causes before the pendulum swings back at last.
May 20, 2014
A big source for Offit's "Do You Believe in Magic?", this book goes into great detail about just the vitamins and supplements--and the horrible lobbying/politics surrounding their regulation.
A detailed history of how the industry bamboozled the public, brought their opinion to bear, and then successfully strong-armed Members of Congress into passing poor legislation regarding supplements is as gut-wrenching as it is believable if you follow K street at all.
Hurley then goes into great detail about the various vitamin fads, herbal remedies (none of which have been shown to work via controlled studies), and all the horrible crap that's in supplements which are not controlled in any meaningful way (from manufacturing, to potency, to labeling). The effects of lax standards on our children are particularly disturbing, including lead in children's vitamins to accidental overdoses because the bottles aren't child-resistant.
But he's not just a doomsayer; he does offer some ways forward in both legislation and some cultural shifts. But most importantly, Hurley puts the onus on us as consumers to know what we're putting in our bodies, and to try and not let desperation, distrust of the medical profession, or celebrities override our common sense or desire to investigate exactly what these supplements do (or don't do) to our bodies.
A detailed history of how the industry bamboozled the public, brought their opinion to bear, and then successfully strong-armed Members of Congress into passing poor legislation regarding supplements is as gut-wrenching as it is believable if you follow K street at all.
Hurley then goes into great detail about the various vitamin fads, herbal remedies (none of which have been shown to work via controlled studies), and all the horrible crap that's in supplements which are not controlled in any meaningful way (from manufacturing, to potency, to labeling). The effects of lax standards on our children are particularly disturbing, including lead in children's vitamins to accidental overdoses because the bottles aren't child-resistant.
But he's not just a doomsayer; he does offer some ways forward in both legislation and some cultural shifts. But most importantly, Hurley puts the onus on us as consumers to know what we're putting in our bodies, and to try and not let desperation, distrust of the medical profession, or celebrities override our common sense or desire to investigate exactly what these supplements do (or don't do) to our bodies.
December 21, 2007
As a pharmacist, I'm on a mini-crusade to convince people that just because something is 'all-natural' does NOT mean that it is good for you. Snake venom is all natural, strychnine is all natural, arsenic is all natural. It's amazing how lobbyists have prevented the regulation of vitamins and supplements. Not only are supplement companies not required to study toxicity, but they don't even have to offer any proof whatsoever that the stuff is effective!! Despite millions of dollars in testing natural supplements there is little to no evidence that 98% of that crap does anything.
This book does a great job of laying it all out. It catches the political, economical, medical and even personal (through interviews with 'victims' of supplement use gone wrong) angles. Definitely recommended.
This book does a great job of laying it all out. It catches the political, economical, medical and even personal (through interviews with 'victims' of supplement use gone wrong) angles. Definitely recommended.
May 26, 2011
Overall, Natural Causes is a good book that offers a much-needed examination of the dietary supplement and alternative medicine industries. Dan gives readers a brief look at the non-regulation of dietary supplements and the history of the (in my opinion) lax policies regarding the safety, purity, and efficacy of supplements.
I would give four stars to the book for this useful reporting, except for the anecdotes he chooses to illustrate his points. Dan focuses on cases that seem rather extreme, instead of going for more representative examples of the harms involved in supplements and alternative medicine. This reliance on exaggerated anecdotes marks the kind of writing is something I associate with proponents of alternative medicine, not high-quality science journalism.
I would give four stars to the book for this useful reporting, except for the anecdotes he chooses to illustrate his points. Dan focuses on cases that seem rather extreme, instead of going for more representative examples of the harms involved in supplements and alternative medicine. This reliance on exaggerated anecdotes marks the kind of writing is something I associate with proponents of alternative medicine, not high-quality science journalism.
November 25, 2017
Hurley's book is both a history of the regulation of dietary supplements in America and a catalogue of horror stories that resulted from the naive use of these products by consumers who were looking for a simpler or simply an alternative solution to their medical problems. It is a powerful antidote to the massive marketing machine that pushes supplements on the public for treating virtually every condition while having no proof of efficacy for any of these claims. The fact that these charlatans are allowed to operate in the 21st century is indeed a failure of government's vital role in protecting the public from dangerous or deluded supplement-makers.
January 18, 2012
Surprisingly easy read. Informative. Dietary supplement lobbyists, vitamin cartel, politics, purity issues. But, it is missing an important section on what the individual consumer can do/where they can go to get quality supplements.
"The very bedrock of the dietary supplement industry turns out to be a swamp where the facts go to die."
"The very bedrock of the dietary supplement industry turns out to be a swamp where the facts go to die."
March 13, 2009
Very well written and extensively researched book. Has me questioning everything all over again about what I thought I knew about supplements and vitamins.
May 6, 2016
If you even consider alternative medicine, this book is a must read!
February 24, 2016
A bit dated (2005-2006) but still with a valid message about the dangers of supplements and the felons who make them.
June 28, 2021
"Natural Causes" is a heavily documented yet highly readable book about America's powerful supplement industry, which boasts $35 billion in annual sales (as of 2016), $135 billion globally.
Hurley explores the origin of these lucrative enterprises from their humble beginnings as patent medicine sellers at sideshows to the economic powerhouses of today. He documents how industry titans (some with criminal backgrounds) exploit people's frustrations and fears about mainstream medicine and pharmaceutical companies, along with supplement industry lobbying efforts that have succeeded to this day in minimizing regulation and exposing millions to potentially serious health hazards. A major irony is that while alt med enthusiasts condemn Big Pharma, they don't realize or care that large drug companies have increasingly bought up smaller supplement firms or started their own lines of dietary supplements, which offer big profits without the need for costly studies on safety and efficacy.
Many of the problems Hurley documents, including contamination and adulteration of supplement products and lack of stated ingredients in many items, still exist today, fifteen years after Hurley's book was published. One horrifying case mentioned in the book involves a woman who used corrosive bloodroot products in an attempt to remove a persistent skin lesion on her nose. She wound up burning much of her nasal tissue away and required multiple reconstructive surgeries, winding up disfigured after considerable pain and expense.
And yet you can still find bloodroot products sold online, from sources including Amazon and eBay.
Hurley's proposed solutions to the health threat posed by supplement products remain crucial today. We badly need effective regulation to assure that product safety is demonstrated BEFORE supplements go on the market, that pill bottles contain what they're supposed to and nothing else, and that health claims are backed up (current federal law thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch, who benefited greatly by supplement industry political contributions, makes possible poorly documented claims that supplement pills "support" various bodily functions, confusing consumers into believing that they are effective in preventing and/or treating disease. Health claims need to be supported by a proponderance of scientific evidence, not just a stray poorly-conducted study which may be bankrolled by the supplement company itself.
Alternative medicine enthusiasts who point to pharmaceutical company problems as a way of dismissing the supplement industry's troubles should ask themselves: if you're going to avoid mainstream medicine and instead depend on herbal supplements, wouldn't you want the sellers of those products to be compelled to prove them safe and effective?
Hurley explores the origin of these lucrative enterprises from their humble beginnings as patent medicine sellers at sideshows to the economic powerhouses of today. He documents how industry titans (some with criminal backgrounds) exploit people's frustrations and fears about mainstream medicine and pharmaceutical companies, along with supplement industry lobbying efforts that have succeeded to this day in minimizing regulation and exposing millions to potentially serious health hazards. A major irony is that while alt med enthusiasts condemn Big Pharma, they don't realize or care that large drug companies have increasingly bought up smaller supplement firms or started their own lines of dietary supplements, which offer big profits without the need for costly studies on safety and efficacy.
Many of the problems Hurley documents, including contamination and adulteration of supplement products and lack of stated ingredients in many items, still exist today, fifteen years after Hurley's book was published. One horrifying case mentioned in the book involves a woman who used corrosive bloodroot products in an attempt to remove a persistent skin lesion on her nose. She wound up burning much of her nasal tissue away and required multiple reconstructive surgeries, winding up disfigured after considerable pain and expense.
And yet you can still find bloodroot products sold online, from sources including Amazon and eBay.
Hurley's proposed solutions to the health threat posed by supplement products remain crucial today. We badly need effective regulation to assure that product safety is demonstrated BEFORE supplements go on the market, that pill bottles contain what they're supposed to and nothing else, and that health claims are backed up (current federal law thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch, who benefited greatly by supplement industry political contributions, makes possible poorly documented claims that supplement pills "support" various bodily functions, confusing consumers into believing that they are effective in preventing and/or treating disease. Health claims need to be supported by a proponderance of scientific evidence, not just a stray poorly-conducted study which may be bankrolled by the supplement company itself.
Alternative medicine enthusiasts who point to pharmaceutical company problems as a way of dismissing the supplement industry's troubles should ask themselves: if you're going to avoid mainstream medicine and instead depend on herbal supplements, wouldn't you want the sellers of those products to be compelled to prove them safe and effective?
June 4, 2025
Read it for a class. Super interesting and changed my mindset on vitamins.
November 26, 2014
I have seen from personal experience that magic pills have an allure that makes so-called smart people really really gullible. Plus supplements are neither food nor drugs, and many people still heart-warmingly associate the Food and Drug Admin with good government saving us from bad drugs like thalidomide.
Yet we now have regulatory agencies so in the pocket of cereal manufacturers that they can jointly label sugary cereal as heart healthy. We have drug agencies that are prohibited from prosecuting "snake oil" because it is natural. We have state universities with full departments of food science working on food ingredients as medicine, demonstrating they have anti-oxidant properties that can be used to claim magic health properties.
So, buyer beware of it all: Big Pharma, little pharma, Big Food, little food, and magic. Lots of natural things are organic, gluten free, soy free, fat free, sugar free, low sodium, non-GMO, and probably processed in a peanut free facility -- but they are toxic when overdone. Good book, but good luck giving it to a supplement junkie.
Yet we now have regulatory agencies so in the pocket of cereal manufacturers that they can jointly label sugary cereal as heart healthy. We have drug agencies that are prohibited from prosecuting "snake oil" because it is natural. We have state universities with full departments of food science working on food ingredients as medicine, demonstrating they have anti-oxidant properties that can be used to claim magic health properties.
So, buyer beware of it all: Big Pharma, little pharma, Big Food, little food, and magic. Lots of natural things are organic, gluten free, soy free, fat free, sugar free, low sodium, non-GMO, and probably processed in a peanut free facility -- but they are toxic when overdone. Good book, but good luck giving it to a supplement junkie.
November 9, 2015
This author has shown me a side of the natural supplements and vitamin movement that I didn't know existed. He's given me several things to think about. I didn't know how poorly regulated our supplement industry is. That is disturbing to me. I think we need more balance here. We do need some freedom, but I think our FDA needs a way to go after the really bad actors, those who sell products that aren't what is claimed on the label. I don't know that I agree with everything this author writes. In fact, I know there are some areas where we disagree. Still, I think what he says is important, and I think I need to do more investigating.
April 20, 2019
An eye opening account of the world of supplements, how lobbyist influence policy that ultimately affects people who buy vitamins/supplements and complete lack of evidence to support claims made by the industry. I already knew there was next to no evidence to support multivitamins, bit this book opened my eyes to intricate workings of the industry. It's definite not a 'light' read, but well worth it - especially if you take supplements.
August 9, 2007
If you take vitamins or other supplements, you should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews