|
In a recent
report by The Council for Responsible Nutrition in 2002 it was
stated that the use of supplements and vitamins helped to reduce
conditions like osteoporosis, heart disease, infectious diseases,
cardiovascular disorders and birth defects.
But in March
2003 Senator R.Durban along with Senators H. Clinton, D. Feinstein
and C. Schumer introduced a bill (SB722) entitled The Dietary
Supplement Act of 2003. What this bill is calling for is for
the FDA to have the power to remove any supplement including
herbs, vitamins or minerals from the market.
It also
requires that ALL nutritional supplements including vitamins,
minerals and herbs to be held to the same standard of testing
as pharmaceutical medications are. I can understand the testing
of drugs because they are mostly synthetic substances made from
one or a few compounds; many times taking what they believe to
be the best constituent of a plant; but herbs are not drugs they
are a food. This will most likely mean that the high cost of
testing will be passed on to consumers. So if SB722 passes it
will put the cost of supplements up in the same price range as
pharmaceuticals. And they (pharmaceuticals) have become so over
priced that if it were not for insurance many of us could not
afford them. The question now is will the insurance companies
cover supplements?
Does
this also mean that with the passing of SB722 that we can no
longer go to a health food store to purchase vitamins or herbs? Or
will it be that because these supplements are being considered
the same as drugs that you will now need to go to the Doctor
(not trained in herbal healing) for a prescription and then
to a pharmacy to fill that prescription.
This bill
also requires that manufactures report ALL adverse reactions
to the government. So once this bill is passed anyone can make
a claim and that herb or supplement will automatically be removed
from ALL shelves. So anyone who ignores instructions that are
given and has a reaction however slight or unrelated to the supplement
can make a claim and it will have to be removed. (Have any of
you out there ever taken 3 Tylenol instead of 2 at one time?)
If
SB722 should pass we will begin to lose our freedom to choose
what vitamins and minerals we can use. Do they think
we are not smart enough to make our own health care choices?
How far will this ban go? Who is supporting this bill? The
only ones that I can see who would gain from this is the pharmaceutical
companies. There are groups out there supporting SB722 that
don’t want to see people dying from supplements and neither
do I. But only 177 as of now have died from the MISS-USE of
Ephedra and it has now been banned, yet it has had centuries
of safe use and only now there have been reported deaths (again
from its miss-use). I am not taking these deaths lightly but
more people die yearly from Tylenol misuse, peanut or strawberry
allergies, cigarette smoking, and car accidents and the list
could go on and as of yet none of these things has been banned.
In April
2004 the FDA banned Ephedra because it contains ephedrine. Ephedrine
is one of the active constituents (about 50mg of Ephedra produces
about _ mg of ephedrine) in Ephedra; it is the constituent that
causes it to be a stimulant. But ephedrine has not been banned
from over the counter medications like Sudafed, Contact, Bronkaid
or Primate.
Herbalists
do not use just ephedrine it’s not possible to get just
that one constituent using Ephedra in a cup of tea.
The problems
with Ephedra began when some diet companies began putting it
in their formulas along with caffeine. They did this to increase
the metabolic rate to burn more calories. But when you add caffeine
to Ephedra it increases its actions making the heart beat faster
and faster causing an increased risk of stroke or heart attack.
Now if you add exercise (especially out in the sun) you increase
the heart rate even more and look what you have done to Yourself.
Overdose
and miss-use of this herb have been the underlying reason that
this herb has gotten such a bad reputation. As an herbalist I
would NOT use Ephedra for diet, it is NOT for weight loss.
Now because
of the miss-use of these big diet companies I have been told
by the Health Department to remove Ephedra from the shelves at
The Herb Corner.
AS far as I am concerned I am losing one of the best bronchodilators in the
plant kingdom. When Ephedra is used traditionally it is a safe and effective
herb in formulas for asthma, for helping to relax the air passages and to bring
more blood flow to the lungs so that more oxygen can get into the blood. Traditionally
Ephedra is not used by itself because too much can speed up the heart rate
and raise the blood pressure; so it is always used in combination with other
herbs to support the whole body which is what herbalism is all about. It takes
into consideration the whole person and everything else that is going on with
that person.
In my opinion
the ban on Ephedra should only be for the diet industry, muscle
building and athletic performance companies. But that is not
what the Health Department thinks; they tell me that I can’t
believe that the people who come into the shop to buy Ephedra
are going to use it for asthma. Can’t the same be said
for those that are buying Sudafed? The most recent commercials
are saying quite clearly that Sudafed still contains ephedrine
and they seem to be marketing it towards the people who want
the ephedrine not the Sudafed.
My question is will the ban stop with Ephedra? And the answer is NO! A few
days after the ban on Ephedra began CNN did a story on 12 other herbs that
may also be pulled.
The deaths
caused by Ephedra have been sensationalized to get more votes
for SB722 and are probably being backed by big drug companies.
I challenge you to watch the TV News and see how many of these
drug companies are advertising; and are backing the TV News.
Please take
a few minutes and send off a letter to your local Senators to
stop this ban; or log on to www.citizens.org click onto the main
page type in your name and address and it will automatically
send a letter off to your representatives. It only takes a few
minutes. Don’t let your choices be taken away.
|
Reference Library