Update on FDA Supplement Ban

Supplements are still under attack by the FDA, despite thousands of signatures on petitions and intervention by members of the US Senate. As I mentioned in a blog post last year, the FDA has drafted an approval process for New Dietary Ingredients (NDIs) that would virtually wipe out our access to all supplements currently on the market . Thanks in part to people who wrote to their senators and representatives (in my office, we printed and mailed over 50 letters from our concerned patients), Senators Orrin Hatch from Utah and Tom Harkin from Iowa arranged a meeting with the FDA in January. You can read their letter to the FDA commissioner here.

Senators Hatch and Harkin were the original authors of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which was designed to ensure “access to safe, affordable, dietary supplement products.” During their meeting they recommended that the FDA go back to the drawing board on NDI approval and write new guidelines that do not “undermine the balance Congress struck with DSHEA.” The FDA’s response was a resounding “no.”

Fortunately others in Congress are acting to stop the FDA. Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah is urging the FDA to draft new guidelines for NDI approval, and Representative Randy Hultgren of Illinois recently made a one-minute speech on the floor of the House that stated his opposition to the FDA’s supplement guidelines. You can ask your senator or representative to make a similar one-minute floor speech by sending this online letter via the Alliance for Natural Health. They also have a form you can fill out to ask your congresspeople to add their signatures to Rep. Chaffetz’s letter.

Please act now and let your voice be heard! Now that we have Congress listening, it’s time for all of us to work together to stop the FDA from barring our access to the supplements we depend on for our health.

Juice Fasting and SIBO

With celebrities jumping on the bandwagon, juice fasting seems to be a trend these days. It’s important to be aware of the risks a juice fast could pose to your health. For one thing, there is little to no protein intake, which means your body will start burning muscle mass. This can cause slowing of the metabolism and subsequent weight gain. And while juice concentrates the plant nutrients, which is great for your body, it also concentrates the sugar. Plant sugars – fructose in particular – have been implicated in causing Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). SIBO creates inflammatory imbalances in your body,  weakens the immune system, and is heavily associated with fibromyalgia. Studies show that 2/3 of the population has SIBO, so it’s a good idea to periodically go through a course of microbial-balancing herbs including oregano and berberine. Other things that help prevent SIBO include fermented foods like sauerkraut and coconut kefir.

If you are searching for a healthy cleanse, look for one that utilizes detoxifying foods and a meal replacement medical food. (Whole food smoothies are also a great addition to a cleanse. Watch my video to see why a smoothie is better than a juice.) Clinical studies have shown cleanses such as these to be effective at detoxifying without the detrimental effects a juice fast would have. In this way you’ll be able to increase detox pathways in the liver and kidneys and release toxins gently and naturally. 

Have you ever done a fast or a cleanse? What effects did you notice in your body? Share your experiences here.  

 

How Toxic is Your Mattress?

We spend 1/3 of our lives in bed, but how can we sleep safely when there are tons of toxic chemicals used in mattresses and bedding? Most mattress companies have their materials loaded with votatile organic compounds (VOCs). A very toxic flame retardant, PDBE, alters thyroid hormone metabolism and is linked to low birth weight in babies. Its use in mattresses was banned in 2005, but if your mattress is older than this, it likely contains it. Today's conventional mattresses are treated with other types of toxic organophosphate fire retardants. Water Bader, the author of Sleep Safe in a Toxic World, states that the average conventional mattress contains more toxic chemicals than a 50-gallon drum of oil, including formaldehyde, benzene, and toulene. A 2009 article in the New York Times pointed out that polyurethane foam, a primary component of traditional mattresses, is made from petroleum.

Mary Cordaro, a healthy building and interiors consultant for decades, recommends using only natural latex, organic cotton, and natural, chemical-free wool in mattresses. Walter Bader reminds us to avoid propaganda perpetuated by mattress retailers claiming to be “chemical free.” When shopping for an organic mattress, ignore the "green" or "eco" ratings.  They are unregulated and therefore likely false claims. Okeo-Tex is an independent third-party rating company whereby mattress companies can voluntarily have their product rated. The only rating that is meaningful in the world of mattresses is "organic."

Greater awareness of the importance of a non-toxic sleep environment has given rise to several companies committed to making organic mattresses. Mary Cordaro recommends Green for Bedroom and Baby. Walter Bader co-founded Lifekind, which makes organic bedding and pillows in addition to mattresses. Other online sources are Dremata and Green Mattress Factory. In the Los Angeles area, check out Living Green in Culver City.  Essentia in Santa Monica claims to be non-toxic, but some research suggests they are making false claims.  For a checklist on how to choose a healthy mattress, click here.

Do you sleep on an organic mattress? Share your feedback below.

The Facts About BPA

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a harmful chemical found in some plastics. Governor Brown recently signed legislation that will ban the use of BPA in baby bottles and child sippy cups as of July 2013. While this is great news, use of BPA is widespread, and I strongly recommend you avoid using products that contain it.  It is commonly found in plastic bottles (#7 in particular) and in the lining of canned goods. It is also used in thermal cash register receipts, so it's important to throw such receipts away rather than recycle them to help break the cycle of BPA in our environment.

BPA is xenobiotic, meaning it mimics life. Its structure is similar to that of estrogen, allowing it to get into the body and act like a toxic estrogen. This results in weight gain and loss of DNA integrity. Young women are experiencing periods earlier in life due to BPA, and for older women BPA makes menopause worse by blocking healthy estrogen. In men it contributes to breast development, lack of sex drive, and prostatitis. It's also linked to other conditions such as infertility, PCOS, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

The Environmental Working Group has a great guide on how to avoid bisphenol A.  [edited on March 27, 2012 to add:]  Real Age has also published an article on how to avoid BPA. Educate yourself and lower your chance of BPA's adverse health effects.

Vitamin Use and Longevity

A study published in the October 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine claims that multivitamin use is associated with an increased risk of mortality in women in their 60s. There is no cause for alarm: this study is flawed. It was poorly done, with a small population, and with wildly broad variables, including lifestyle factors and the person’s overall toxicity burden to begin with. Around 39,000 women were surveyed in 1986, 1997, and 2004. The results were based on questionnaires these women filled out. There was no control study group; the results were just measured against statistics from the general population. Essentially, 39,000 women were measured against another 39,000 women, but where did those other 39,000 women come from? What slice of the population were they in? A response by Thorne Research points out “it must be emphasized that… the study is a retrospective study of already collected data. It is not a prospective, controlled intervention study, i.e., it is not a ‘clinical trial,’ in which participants would be given a specific dietary supplement or a placebo and then followed closely over time to observe not only the specific outcomes but also the factors possibly contributing to those outcomes.”

We need to take into consideration who funds multimillion dollar studies such as the one published in Archives of Internal Medicine:  the pharmacological companies who want exclusive rights to patent these ingredients. They are not a source to be trusted.

Additionally, there is no mention of the quality of the brand of multivitamin used. Commonplace multivitamins like Centrum always show up as toxic when I test them on my patients. In this way, the findings of this study are accurate: they prove that taking a toxic supplement will shorten your life span.

The supplements I recommend for my patients are purity-certified with consistent third party testing to confirm that purity. They’re made under the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) seal, which means that they’re high quality, pure, and that their ingredients contain exactly what is listed on the label. Countless studies prove that quality micronutrients signal to your DNA to express health and promote efficient detoxification.

Avoiding toxic supplements is just as important as avoiding toxic household products and cosmetics. Check the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database to find out what’s in the cosmetic products you are exposing your body to every day.  I am happy to test you on all supplements, medications, and cosmetics you use to ensure that you are not putting toxins into your body. Together we will put you on the path to well-being and longevity.