Posted on 09/08/2014 6:59:46 PM PDT by LibWhacker
If you are taking vitamins, there is a good chance that they were imported from China.
An aging population and growing focus on health in the United States has fueled the growth of a $28 billion vitamin and nutritional supplement market, and it is expected to continue to grow at about 3 percent a year.
Over half of American adults are popping vitamins and supplements. They may not be aware they are eating products made in China, or made using raw materials from China.
China has captured over 90 percent of the Vitamin C market in the United States, according to the Seattle Times. Think about how many labels advertise added Vitamin C. Vitamin C goes into many food and drink products—almost all processed food for humans as well as pets contains Vitamin C.
The consumer has no way of knowing the added vitamin C comes from China, because there is no rule requiring labeling the country of origin for ingredients.
This may raise quite a few eyebrows as Chinese food safety scandals make headlines every day.
Here are five facts any consumer of vitamins should know.
1. Only 2 percent of all imported vitamins and other supplements are inspected. Why? Vitamins and supplements are classified as “food” by law and therefore not subject to the tough regulatory scrutiny of prescription drugs.
2. China’s top vitamin and supplement production areas are among the most polluted in the country (and thus in the world).
Vitamins and nutritional supplements usually use agricultural products as key raw materials. The top vitamin exporting province, Zhejiang, has an alarming level of soil pollution from heavy metal. As matter of fact, one-sixth of China’s farmlands are heavily polluted.
For example, rice planted in several key agricultural provinces was reported to contain excessive Cadmium, a metal commonly found in batteries, coloring, and the industrial waste from making plastic. It may cause serious kidney disease.
Irrigation water is a nightmare: Half of the country’s major water bodies are polluted, as are 86 percent of city water bodies. Pollution is largely caused by the country’s numerous factories, which rarely have equipment for treating pollution. Seventy to 80 percent of the country’s industrial waste is directly emitted into rivers.
3. Even those labeled as “organic” are not safe, since USDA organic standards place no limit on levels of heavy metal contamination for certified organic foods.
4. Approximately 6,300 Americans nationwide complained about adverse reactions to dietary supplements between 2008 and 2012, according to FDA statistics. But the actual number may be more than eight times higher, some experts say, because most people don’t believe health products can make them sick. While not all such problems would be caused by pollution in China, that pollution may have played a role.
5. Worst of all, China-made vitamins are everywhere, and even those who do not consume vitamins and supplements can hardly escape. Many vitamins end up as ingredients in items like soft drinks, food, animal feed, and even cosmetics.
We use Kirkman, they test for lots of stuff. Other companies do now as well.
“But, in bridging nutrient gaps, it’s reasonable to assume that multivitamins not only support general health, but may help head off chronic conditions or other health risks.””
That’s good enough for me! Puzzled why anyone would have a problem with that!
Oh, and the point of my post about the heparin was this.
The whole gist of this article was ‘oh those dirty dirty vitamins and they don’t do anything anyway’.
As it turns out, EVERYTHING from China is suspect. Including most of our pharmaceuticals. Including vaccines. And the FDA has stated it’s not their job to test or inspect any of these. So outlawing those ‘dirty vitamins’ because ‘they don’t do any good anyway’ doesn’t eliminate the problem of Chinese poison in the pill bottles.
>>Vitamin D has a definite role in the management of moderate to severe persistent bronchial asthma as an adjunct to standard treatment.<<
Great. And for those who do not have asthma?
There are some vitamins that help in very specific instances. But in general for an average person Vitamins, garlic, cinnamon, glucocimin, and all them expensive supplements DO NOTHING.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23702931
“Menaquinone-4 (MK-4) administered at a pharmacological dosage of 45 mg/day has been used for the treatment of osteoporosis in Japan. However, it is not known whether a lower dose of MK-4 supplementation is beneficial for bone health in healthy postmenopausal women. The aim of this study was to examine the long-term effects of 1.5-mg daily supplementation of MK-4 on the various markers of bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD). The study was performed as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The participants (aged 50-65 years) were randomly assigned to one of two groups according to the MK-4 dose received: the placebo-control group (n = 24) and the 1.5-mg MK-4 group (n = 24). The baseline concentrations of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) were high in both groups (>5.1 ng/ml). After 6 and 12 months, the serum ucOC concentrations were significantly lower in the MK-4 group than in the control group. In the control group, there was no significant change in serum pentosidine concentrations. However, in the MK-4 group, the concentration of pentosidine at 6 and 12 months was significantly lower than that at baseline. The forearm BMD was significantly lower after 12 months than at 6 months in the control group. However, there was no significant decrease in BMD in the MK-4 group during the study period. These results suggest that low-dose MK-4 supplementation for 6-12 months improved bone quality in the postmenopausal Japanese women by decreasing the serum ucOC and pentosidine concentrations, without any substantial adverse effects. “
>>That’s good enough for me! Puzzled why anyone would have a problem with that!<<
“it is reasonable to assume”<>”it is a fact that”
>>As it turns out, EVERYTHING from China is suspect. <<
Agreed.
(btw, it's unlikely you'll get 15mg of K2 from diet)
"There are inconsistent findings on the effects of vitamin K on bone mineral density (BMD) and undercarboxylated osteocalcin (UcOC). The present intervention study evaluated the effect in subjects over 60-yr-old. The vitamin K group (vitamin K + vitamin D + calcium supplement; 15 mg of vitamin K2 [menatetrenone] three times daily, 400 IU of vitamin D once a day, and 315 mg of calcium twice daily) and the control group (vitamin D + calcium supplement) were randomly assigned. During the six months of treatment, seventy eight women participated (38 in the vitamin K group and 40 in the control group) and 45 women completed the study. The baseline characteristics of study participants did not differ between the vitamin K and the control groups. In a per protocol analysis after 6 months, L3 bone mineral density has increased statistically significantly in the vitamin K group compared to the control group (0.01 ± 0.03 g/cm(2) vs -0.008 ± 0.04 g/cm(2), P = 0.049). UcOC concentration was also significantly decreased in the vitamin K group (-1.6 ± 1.6 ng/dL vs -0.4 ± 1.1 ng/dL, P = 0.008). In conclusion, addition of vitamin K to vitamin D and calcium supplements in the postmenopausal Korean women increase the L3 BMD and reduce the UcOC concentration."
>>We speculate that cOC or vitamin K could modulate adipokines or inflammatory pathways other than the IL-6 pathways. Alternatively, cOC can directly regulate glucose disposal at skeletal muscle or adipose tissues. Further studies to elucidate the mechanism of action are warranted.<<
SPECULATE, COULD, FURTHER STUDIES.
The real issue is that they found that there might be alternative mechanisms in place.
Someone post a link to a study that definitely links ANY supplement to better health.
Postmenopausal women have osteoporosis. It’s just a matter of degree. That’s hardly a ‘special condition’. Supplements help with that without making the ‘rotten bone’ that’s been linked to the pharma solutions.
The k2/d3 duo has the added benefit of keeping the calcium IN the bones and OUT of the arteries.
Common sense will show that we don’t have perfect diet; and that we lack some nutrients. For pennies that can remedied. Good enough for me. But then again I would rather be proactive and take of myself.
Doctors like to treat illness. Doctors are much less able to guide people into wellness. They make much more money treating illness.
They said they didn’t know HOW it worked.
There was NO QUESTION that it DID WORK however.
Does your knowledge of a nuclear reaction have any bearing on whether the light switch turns on the light in your kitchen? Do you think the techs working at the local nuke plant are imagining those electrons?
K2 lowered diabetes markers in the test group. No question.
A benefit!
Not speculation. It was a controlled study. Clinically run. Some men got the k2, some did not. Those who got it had a decrease in diabetic markers. You don’t have to know a specific mechanism to know that those markers were better in the test group.
>>hat’s hardly a ‘special condition’.<<
Yes it is. Certain supplements, in specific combinations, address certain health conditions. I can see them being prescribed for such conditions.
Most Americans are not postmenopausal Korean women.
>>Not speculation. It was a controlled study.<<
So when they used the words “we speculate” they didn’t mean “we speculate?”
Wow. Obtuse much?
Because Korean women are somehow premenopausal differently than the millions of premenopausal American women.
Why prescribe something that’s available over the counter? Do you like the German model where only doctors can prescribe vitamins?
Are you secretly a nanny stater?
They didn’t speculate the results.
They speculated the mechanism.
Two. Totally. Different. Things.
6 Proven Ways to Improve Your Health Part 1 : Vitamin C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvIBx9QYMHI
There seems to be 50 to 60 years worth of clinical research to show the efficacy of vitamin C.
Placemark
The Chinese manufactured Ascorbic Acid 25Kg boxes in my workplace is Kosher. The rabbi will inspect for the symbols when he is present too.
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