400 – Celebrating 400 Podcast Episodes and 500,000 Downloads

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:51 — 84.4MB)

Helping you understand the science of nutrition and good health!

My thoughts on reaching 500,000 downloads
and millions of page views.

Thanks

Thanks to all of you who have helped our podcast grow to over 500,000 downloads. That’s a lot. We do this for you. It can be difficult to find good nutritional information that you can trust. Our interviews are designed to give you a foundational understanding of the topics and/or products. Armed with credible, reliable and accurate information you can go forward in your journey of discovery. Knowledge is power. The more you know, the better choices you will make. Better choices lead to better outcomes. Thanks for being our listener. Please rate and/or review us. And be sure to recommend us to your family, friends and social network.

Every 100 shows I pause and reflect on what I have learned and what are the important trends I have observed in the natural products industry. As I interview the many experts I have come to understand the importance and significance of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).

Many people in the industry today weren’t around during the early 1990s when the supplement industry was threatened with extinction by the FDA. David Kessler, head of FDA wanted to classify all supplements as unapproved drugs. Which would have removed most supplements from the marketplace.

This lead to one of the largest grass roots efforts to stop the FDA. This grass roots effort led to more letters flowing into congress, by far, than any other social issue. DSHEA was passed by 100% vote in both houses of congress and signed by President Clinton. DSHEA created a distinct category of Supplements now regulated by FDA distinctly separate from foods, drugs or cosmetics. The biggest myth (lie) since the passage of DSHEA is that supplements are not regulated. Supplements and supplement manufacturers are highly regulated by FDA and good companies follow FDA guidelines.

In my estimation, one of the most significant distinctions to come out of DSHEA is that supplements cannot and do not treat disease. Manufacturers are not allowed to make medical claims. This can be frustrating to companies and consumers. However manufacturers are allowed to make what are called structure/function claims, which I think is proper and correct.

• Medical claim – Calcium treats osteoporosis – Not Allowed
• Structure claim – Calcium supports bone structure – Allowed
• Function claim – Calcium supports muscle function – Allowed

Consumers need to learn to think about supporting structure/function. Drugs treat disease, nutrients nourish human health. The body does the healing, in all cases. Drugs treat disease but they do not heal the body. All healing takes place because the body is doing the work.

CLICK HERE to listen to Gene Bruno’s interview: Is Your Supplement Real or Fake and How Can You Tell?

Perhaps one of the biggest problems is that the FDA does not have the inclination or manpower to go after all the marginal and bad players. The challenge for consumers is how does one tell the difference between bad companies and the good companies that you can trust? This is one of the main points I am always trying to make: Consumers must seek out the quality products from trustworthy companies, but how?

Transparency

One emerging trend is for good companies extolling their virtues by being more transparent. They want consumers to understand why they can trust their products. Allowing consumers to know more about the company and how it does business is good for business and help instill confidence.

Certifications and Awards

Another tool that companies and consumers can use are the certification and awards that the company has received. Third party recognition through awards and certification gives companies something that reveals their commitment to excellence to the world. We have many interviews that explore the companies that have this recognition.

Examples of Carlson Awards and
Country Life Certifications

COVID

In the podcast I also discuss COVID as the most significant worldwide health crisis in our lifetimes. The short term and long term impact is immeasurable. Amidst all of the fear, debate and uncertainty there is one thing I am confident about: Someone who is well nourished will do better than if they were poorly nourished through their diet. And those who take the important nutrients will be better off still. We have several important interviews with experts on how to support your immune system.

CBD

The CBD market has been all over the place. CBD hit the market with a force rarely seen in the supplement world. Consumers embraced CBD without really knowing much about it. The market was flooded by new products and a boatload of misinformation. It’s not what we don’t know about CBD that bothers me, it’s what we think we know that just ain’t so. There is a lot of misinformation about CBD that consumers assume is true, but isn’t. I am so interested in how this will develop. This is unsettled on many levels. I will be sure to cover this as it unfolds.

Science

I use two sources regularly. Scholar.Google.com and PubMed.com. If you want to know if there is significant scientific inquiry, look to these sources. Personally I prefer Google Scholar. You don’t even have to read the studies. Just to see that there are thousands of ongoing scientific inquiry is enough to confirm that there is something that is worth looking at and why. You can always dig deeper if you are so inclined.

Tagged as: CBD, COVID, DSHEA, function, structure