The Enlightenment

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I’ve written about the unhealthy state of America’s food. Today I want to draw attention to a product that has escaped scrutiny: supplements. 

The American supplement industry is valued in the tens of billions of dollars. Countless Americans purchase supplements to absorb more vitamins, help them sleep, and improve their memory.

The only problem? It’s all horseshit. Not a single label on any supplement can be guaranteed accurate in the United States, because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government agency that reviews food and drug products before they are sold, can’t check supplements for safety or efficacy. In fact, there are no provisions in the law for FDA to approve dietary supplements for safety before they reach the consumer.

That’s not an elaborate theory. It’s a quote from the FDA website:

“…there are no provisions in the law for FDA to approve dietary supplements for safety before they reach the consumer.”

Funny, right? It would seem self-evident that the supplements you purchase can be relied upon. In reality, supplements vary widely in quality. For example, most melatonin supplements do not actually contain as much melatonin as advertised and more than a quarter of these supplements also contain serotonin, a delicate neurotransmitter which can cause severe problems in high quantities.

There are also countless supplements that claim to improve memory or focus, when most research is inconclusive on their effects on cognitive function. People have even died after taking too many untested supplements. The FDA can punish companies after such outcomes, but that’s no comfort to the family who’s lost a relative or to the person who spent thousands on oft-expensive supplements to no effect.

Again, there are no provisions for the FDA to regulate dietary supplements. So…create them, Congress! The FDA needs to rein in the current regime of quack, useless, unsafe, and expensive supplements. It is unacceptable that the American supplement industry continues to grow exponentially while American citizens shell out hundreds and even thousands a year on ineffective, misleading, and even fatal supplements.

What do you think? Is it time to start regulating these garbage supplements? Comment below.