Navigating the Complex World of Supplements

Part One – Dirty Little Secrets

Photo courteous of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Does this scenario sound familiar? You wander into the vitamin section of the grocery store looking for a supplement – for example, one for increasing your energy and fortifying your immune system – but you don’t have a specific brand name in mind. You take one look at the options and quickly become overwhelmed; after all, there are countless different products on the shelves promising vitality and increased energy. But you did your homework. You know you would like a vitamin B-complex.

However, when you get to the vitamin B section, you have the following to choose from: organic versus non-organic, gel versus capsule versus powder, synthetic versus natural, natural versus raw, this brand versus that, that promise versus other, and the list goes on.

Have you ever wondered why the natural health industry is so complex, why there are over 29,000 different herbal products and substances? The simple answer is money and profit. It’s for this very reason that industry giants are gobbling up all of the natural and organic companies: Tom’s of Maine (fluoride-free toothpaste) was purchased by Colgate for a whopping 100 million dollars, New Chapter was purchased by Proctor & Gamble, Clorox bought Burt’s Bees, Coca-Cola bought Odwalla, Pepsi responded by purchasing Naked Juice, etc.

For the most part, the natural health field is as profit-driven as the pharmaceutical and tobacco industry.