How to Choose a Nutritional Product
NUTRITION FACTS
Some of the facts in this report may seem outdated, but if you watch the news, read Consumer Reports, and Consumer Lab the same problems still exist today.
How to Choose a Quality Nutrition Product
What would you do if you knew the nutrition products you were taking were not what you thought they were supposed to be? You may have heard so many conflicting stories in the news, from friends or family members about different nutrition products or ingredients.
Let’s face it when it comes to nutrition, common sense dictates that you should listen to qualified, degreed nutrition health care professionals and not media icons like Larry King... they just don’t know the right questions to ask when it comes to nutrition ... in fact even most health care providers don’t know the right questions to ask.
Here is a list of questions you should ask your nutrition suppliers to be sure you are getting high quality, scientifically formulated nutrition products. Don’t settle for anything less... Your Health May Depend On It!
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer adhere to FDA Good Manufacturing Procedures?
It is important to know whether a nutrition product has been manufactured under the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP). GMP is quality control guidelines that the pharmaceutical industry must adhere e to by law. These procedures are not required by the nutrition industry however the most reputable companies are willing to adhere to them. There are only a handful of nutrition companies who have implemented these guidelines in their manufacturing procedures.
Does the nutrition product undergo quality control tests on their ingredients?
Every batch of nutritional products should have their raw ingredients analyzed for potency and quality. The best nutrition products will have as many as 300 quality control tests on each one of their nutritional products.
Does the nutrition product have independent labs verify their quality with results made available to the public?
The products of Nutrition Manufacturers should be made available to independent laboratories to verify their quality. One simple area that should be verified is the stated amount of a particular ingredient that is listed on a product label with the actual amount that is contained in the pill. You would be surprised and angered at the number of nutrition products on the market that don’t even contain the stated amount of ingredients listed on their labels.
Are the Nutrition Products you use made from natural or synthetic ingredients?
Not all nutritional products can be 100% natural; an example would be the B vitamins... no B vitamins can be 100% natural, anyone claiming so is misinformed. All high quality nutritional products will contain as many natural ingredients as possible.
Do the Nutritional Products have an expiration date stamped on the bottle?
Just as food will go bad and will reduce in quality as time goes by, this also happens to nutrition products. All high quality nutrition products will have stamped expiration codes on their bottles.
Do the Nutrition Products pass the “water test”?
The water test is used to insure nutrition products absorbability. Many nutrition products on the market have so many artificial binders, fillers and colorings that when consumed, the digestive system cannot break down the pill so that the body can absorb the nutrients.
The Water Test: Take a sample pill from your nutrition product and place it in a glass of water. Your pill should completely dissolve into a pile of powder within 20 minutes. If it takes longer, there is a very high probability that your body will not be able to break the product down and absorb it into the bloodstream.
Does the manufacturer of your nutritional product have a legitimate scientific advisory board?
A high quality Nutrition Company will have an advisory board consisting of world-renowned physicians and scientist. Many less reputable nutrition manufacturers will pepper their “advisory boards” with people who do not have accredited advanced degrees in biochemistry or nutrition and are not authorities in the nutritional field.
How many full-time qualified scientists does the Nutrition Manufacturer employ?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will have many scientists on staff with accredited graduate level degrees of a Masters or higher in an allied field of nutrition.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer have at least one legitimate research facility?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will have separate buildings dedicated specifically to research. The more reputable manufacturers will have them located at prestigious medical schools.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer have a research budget for their nutritional products?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer should allocate a minimum of $1,000,000 a year for research to develop and test the efficacy of their products.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer commission clinical studies on their nutritional products?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will Commissions clinical studies on their nutritional products at prestigious institutions such as, Harvard, Tufts University, John Hopkins, Yale, UCLA, Stanford University, University of California Berkley. These clinical studies should be performed by outside institutions so that all results and design methods will be unbiased.
Does the manufacturer Publish their clinical findings in peer reviewed scientific journals?
Not only will a high quality Nutrition Manufacturer commission clinical studies on their nutritional products, they will also publish their clinical findings in peer reviewed scientific journals.
I realize that there is no way the average person will know the answers to all these questions... however, these answers are vital to quality and efficacy of a nutrition product. If somebody is selling a nutrition product, they should know the answers to these questions... if they don’t, don’t buy the product... YOU JUST WON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.
Not All Nutrition Products Are Created Equally!
Here are a few examples of what you may be getting, if you are not taking a quality nutrition product.
"Supplements are not regulated in either the U.K. or in the U.S., and this poses a particularly difficult problem for consumers, in that when something is purchased, they do not have assurance that what is said to be contained in the pill or tablet is actually what is there"
~ Supplement Slows Knee Arthritis, Relieves Pain, Web MD, 1/25/01
"A test of 14 samples of over-the-counter products showed that in11cases, the products did not contain all active ingredients associated with Ginkgo Biloba leaf extract as specified in standards set by the WHO (World Heath Organization), according to Kenneth So of the Hong Kong Consumer Council."
~ Ginkgo Remedies Fail WHO Standards - Medscape, 11/20/00
"Researchers at the University of Florida, Gainesville, are reporting that eight of the 22 calcium products they tested — including popular national brands such as Caltrate 600 — contained lead, the toxic metal that can lead to anemia, high blood pressure, brain and kidney damage in adults and developmental damage in children."
~ Many Calcium Supplements Still Contain Traces of Lead- ABC News, 9/19/00
"Eight of the 21 brands tested were found to contain high levels of pesticides, and some also harbored significant amounts of lead. . . . . Nearly a quarter of the gingko brands tested did not contain the advertised levels of the active ingredient GBE….nearly half the brands tested had lower than claimed chondroitin levels."
~ An independent report find s that what’s listed on a supplement's label is not always what's - inside Time Magazine 7/31/00
"Are the ingredients tested for quality? Many companies rely on the Certificates of Analysis provided by the supplier. These alone are inadequate, for they may be falsified. Laboratory analysis is necessary."
~ Seek out High Quality Supplements, Medscape, 5/6/99.
"The supplement marketplace is a shambles. There is no guarantee that the pills are what they say they are--and in most cases no one really knows what will happen if you take them. You have no way to be sure:
~ Herbal Roulette, Consumer Reports , Nov '95
These are just a few examples of what people are buying at Wal-mart, health food stores and through other channels of distribution. Please... Before you consume a nutritional product do some research to make sure that you are consuming safe, scientifically formulated, quality products.
Nutrition Facts Report was compiled by Dr. Craig Donnelly and Dr. Stephen Chaney
Some of the facts in this report may seem outdated, but if you watch the news, read Consumer Reports, and Consumer Lab the same problems still exist today.
How to Choose a Quality Nutrition Product
What would you do if you knew the nutrition products you were taking were not what you thought they were supposed to be? You may have heard so many conflicting stories in the news, from friends or family members about different nutrition products or ingredients.
Let’s face it when it comes to nutrition, common sense dictates that you should listen to qualified, degreed nutrition health care professionals and not media icons like Larry King... they just don’t know the right questions to ask when it comes to nutrition ... in fact even most health care providers don’t know the right questions to ask.
Here is a list of questions you should ask your nutrition suppliers to be sure you are getting high quality, scientifically formulated nutrition products. Don’t settle for anything less... Your Health May Depend On It!
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer adhere to FDA Good Manufacturing Procedures?
It is important to know whether a nutrition product has been manufactured under the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP). GMP is quality control guidelines that the pharmaceutical industry must adhere e to by law. These procedures are not required by the nutrition industry however the most reputable companies are willing to adhere to them. There are only a handful of nutrition companies who have implemented these guidelines in their manufacturing procedures.
Does the nutrition product undergo quality control tests on their ingredients?
Every batch of nutritional products should have their raw ingredients analyzed for potency and quality. The best nutrition products will have as many as 300 quality control tests on each one of their nutritional products.
Does the nutrition product have independent labs verify their quality with results made available to the public?
The products of Nutrition Manufacturers should be made available to independent laboratories to verify their quality. One simple area that should be verified is the stated amount of a particular ingredient that is listed on a product label with the actual amount that is contained in the pill. You would be surprised and angered at the number of nutrition products on the market that don’t even contain the stated amount of ingredients listed on their labels.
Are the Nutrition Products you use made from natural or synthetic ingredients?
Not all nutritional products can be 100% natural; an example would be the B vitamins... no B vitamins can be 100% natural, anyone claiming so is misinformed. All high quality nutritional products will contain as many natural ingredients as possible.
Do the Nutritional Products have an expiration date stamped on the bottle?
Just as food will go bad and will reduce in quality as time goes by, this also happens to nutrition products. All high quality nutrition products will have stamped expiration codes on their bottles.
Do the Nutrition Products pass the “water test”?
The water test is used to insure nutrition products absorbability. Many nutrition products on the market have so many artificial binders, fillers and colorings that when consumed, the digestive system cannot break down the pill so that the body can absorb the nutrients.
The Water Test: Take a sample pill from your nutrition product and place it in a glass of water. Your pill should completely dissolve into a pile of powder within 20 minutes. If it takes longer, there is a very high probability that your body will not be able to break the product down and absorb it into the bloodstream.
Does the manufacturer of your nutritional product have a legitimate scientific advisory board?
A high quality Nutrition Company will have an advisory board consisting of world-renowned physicians and scientist. Many less reputable nutrition manufacturers will pepper their “advisory boards” with people who do not have accredited advanced degrees in biochemistry or nutrition and are not authorities in the nutritional field.
How many full-time qualified scientists does the Nutrition Manufacturer employ?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will have many scientists on staff with accredited graduate level degrees of a Masters or higher in an allied field of nutrition.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer have at least one legitimate research facility?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will have separate buildings dedicated specifically to research. The more reputable manufacturers will have them located at prestigious medical schools.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer have a research budget for their nutritional products?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer should allocate a minimum of $1,000,000 a year for research to develop and test the efficacy of their products.
Does the Nutrition Manufacturer commission clinical studies on their nutritional products?
A high quality Nutrition Manufacturer will Commissions clinical studies on their nutritional products at prestigious institutions such as, Harvard, Tufts University, John Hopkins, Yale, UCLA, Stanford University, University of California Berkley. These clinical studies should be performed by outside institutions so that all results and design methods will be unbiased.
Does the manufacturer Publish their clinical findings in peer reviewed scientific journals?
Not only will a high quality Nutrition Manufacturer commission clinical studies on their nutritional products, they will also publish their clinical findings in peer reviewed scientific journals.
I realize that there is no way the average person will know the answers to all these questions... however, these answers are vital to quality and efficacy of a nutrition product. If somebody is selling a nutrition product, they should know the answers to these questions... if they don’t, don’t buy the product... YOU JUST WON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.
Not All Nutrition Products Are Created Equally!
Here are a few examples of what you may be getting, if you are not taking a quality nutrition product.
"Supplements are not regulated in either the U.K. or in the U.S., and this poses a particularly difficult problem for consumers, in that when something is purchased, they do not have assurance that what is said to be contained in the pill or tablet is actually what is there"
~ Supplement Slows Knee Arthritis, Relieves Pain, Web MD, 1/25/01
"A test of 14 samples of over-the-counter products showed that in11cases, the products did not contain all active ingredients associated with Ginkgo Biloba leaf extract as specified in standards set by the WHO (World Heath Organization), according to Kenneth So of the Hong Kong Consumer Council."
~ Ginkgo Remedies Fail WHO Standards - Medscape, 11/20/00
"Researchers at the University of Florida, Gainesville, are reporting that eight of the 22 calcium products they tested — including popular national brands such as Caltrate 600 — contained lead, the toxic metal that can lead to anemia, high blood pressure, brain and kidney damage in adults and developmental damage in children."
~ Many Calcium Supplements Still Contain Traces of Lead- ABC News, 9/19/00
"Eight of the 21 brands tested were found to contain high levels of pesticides, and some also harbored significant amounts of lead. . . . . Nearly a quarter of the gingko brands tested did not contain the advertised levels of the active ingredient GBE….nearly half the brands tested had lower than claimed chondroitin levels."
~ An independent report find s that what’s listed on a supplement's label is not always what's - inside Time Magazine 7/31/00
"Are the ingredients tested for quality? Many companies rely on the Certificates of Analysis provided by the supplier. These alone are inadequate, for they may be falsified. Laboratory analysis is necessary."
~ Seek out High Quality Supplements, Medscape, 5/6/99.
"The supplement marketplace is a shambles. There is no guarantee that the pills are what they say they are--and in most cases no one really knows what will happen if you take them. You have no way to be sure:
- Whether a plant's active ingredients, whatever they might be, have actually ended up in the herbal pills you buy
- Whether a supplement's ingredients are in a form your body can use
- Whether the dosage makes any sense
- What else is in the pills
- Whether the pills are safe Whether the next bottle of those same pills will have the same ingredients
~ Herbal Roulette, Consumer Reports , Nov '95
These are just a few examples of what people are buying at Wal-mart, health food stores and through other channels of distribution. Please... Before you consume a nutritional product do some research to make sure that you are consuming safe, scientifically formulated, quality products.
Nutrition Facts Report was compiled by Dr. Craig Donnelly and Dr. Stephen Chaney
EXAMPLE OF A SUPPLEMENT COMPARISON
This is an example of a comparison of a supplement on the market next to Shaklee's Adult multivitamin / multimineral Vita-Lea.
This is an example of a side-by-side comparison of a supplement on the market next to Shaklee's Children's multivitamin / multimineral Incredivites.
The Juice Plus approach to publicizing clinical research is an interesting one, in that it appears to not give a complete accounting of research findings. Such an approach is inconsistent with sound science and arming consumers with the knowledge to make informed choices. For example, Juice Plus studies referencing improved immune function and protection of DNA from oxidative damage are not placebo-controlled, double blind studies. The studies do not include control groups, nor did they control for what the subjects ate before or during the study period. Therefore, it is not possible to attribute changes in immune function or affects on DNA to the Juice Plus supplements.
We note that the study at the University of Australia and published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2003, which found that Juice Plus increased blood levels of antioxidants in 32 people over 15 weeks and lowered homocysteine levels, does not mention that German researchers writing in the same journal dismissed the findings. The study omits the fact that the Juice Plus capsules had been spiked with additional beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and folic acid (known to lower blood levels of homocysteine). This means that the benefits, if any, may well have come from the added vitamins, not the Juice Plus fruit and vegetable concentrate.
The Juice Plus clinical research page also states that the product helps maintain normal blood flow after eating a high-fat meal. This study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2003 and concluded that Juice Plus promotes cardiovascular wellness by helping maintain normal blood flow after eating a high-fat meal. Dr. Jane Freedman of the Boston University School of Medicine dismissed the results in that same issue as not clinically relevant because of so many unknowns on which positive conclusions were made.
Incidentally, you may be aware that marketers and manufacturers have started to apply ORAC values to antioxidant supplements. ORAC is the acronym for "Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity." While Juice Plus does not state ORAC values on its website, we find that a competitor has arranged and paid for independent testing of two Juice Plus products, Juice Plus Garden and Juice Plus Orchard, which have ORAC values of 279 per serving and 346 per serving, respectively. While we have not completed ORAC testing for legacy antioxidant supplements, we did so for (FlavoMax Shaklee supplement) , which has an ORAC value of 5508 in one serving.
The bottom line is that Shaklee formulations are based on sound science, which means that we offer products for which the preponderance of the scientific evidence shows that formulations provide actual benefit. If the science is ambivalent or does not meet the
test of substantive data, we do not make the product.
References
Juice Plus+. UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, June 2005.
Plotnick et al. Effect of supplemental phytonutrients on impairment of the flow-mediated brachial artery vasoactivity after a single high-fat meal. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2003; 41 (10): 1744-1749
High-fat Diets and Cardiovascular Disease: Are Nutritional Supplements Useful? Jane E. Freedman, MD, FACC. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Vol. 41. No.10. 2003.
We note that the study at the University of Australia and published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2003, which found that Juice Plus increased blood levels of antioxidants in 32 people over 15 weeks and lowered homocysteine levels, does not mention that German researchers writing in the same journal dismissed the findings. The study omits the fact that the Juice Plus capsules had been spiked with additional beta carotene, vitamins C and E, and folic acid (known to lower blood levels of homocysteine). This means that the benefits, if any, may well have come from the added vitamins, not the Juice Plus fruit and vegetable concentrate.
The Juice Plus clinical research page also states that the product helps maintain normal blood flow after eating a high-fat meal. This study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2003 and concluded that Juice Plus promotes cardiovascular wellness by helping maintain normal blood flow after eating a high-fat meal. Dr. Jane Freedman of the Boston University School of Medicine dismissed the results in that same issue as not clinically relevant because of so many unknowns on which positive conclusions were made.
Incidentally, you may be aware that marketers and manufacturers have started to apply ORAC values to antioxidant supplements. ORAC is the acronym for "Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity." While Juice Plus does not state ORAC values on its website, we find that a competitor has arranged and paid for independent testing of two Juice Plus products, Juice Plus Garden and Juice Plus Orchard, which have ORAC values of 279 per serving and 346 per serving, respectively. While we have not completed ORAC testing for legacy antioxidant supplements, we did so for (FlavoMax Shaklee supplement) , which has an ORAC value of 5508 in one serving.
The bottom line is that Shaklee formulations are based on sound science, which means that we offer products for which the preponderance of the scientific evidence shows that formulations provide actual benefit. If the science is ambivalent or does not meet the
test of substantive data, we do not make the product.
References
Juice Plus+. UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, June 2005.
Plotnick et al. Effect of supplemental phytonutrients on impairment of the flow-mediated brachial artery vasoactivity after a single high-fat meal. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2003; 41 (10): 1744-1749
High-fat Diets and Cardiovascular Disease: Are Nutritional Supplements Useful? Jane E. Freedman, MD, FACC. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Vol. 41. No.10. 2003.
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