Supplements

[Kassiana]

The chiropractor I worked for once recommended a chlorophyll supplement. I thought, "If I want that, I think eating a salad would be better for me."

But he was an idiot, anyway, so I wouldn't have gone with anything he recommended unless I knew it was already a good thing to do.

I occasionally take a vitamin/mineral supplement.

 

[Belegon]

Glucosamine works...

 

[Dar~]

I take a women's one a day and after my surgery, I will be required to take a lot of Isotonic vitamins and protein shake/powders. I do notice a huge difference from when I take the vitamin to when I don't.

 

[TheEarl]

Glucosamine Sulphate (not Sulfate!) and a god-awful whey-protein shake after the gym. Anyone know how to make those taste nice?

The Earl

 

[ishtat]

A Shiraz or occasionaly a Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There was an article in the paper about the Enzyte scam. Apparently, when you call for your free sample, they have to get a credit card number for the "shipping charges" and start charging sending you a monthly supply--and auto-billing you.

Enzyte contains the usual stuff: gingko and palmetto extracts, Zinc, Vit E,

The health food industry is huge, and totally unregulated. As long as they don't make specific medical claims for their products (i.e. "Cures cancer"), they can sell whatever they want because their lobbyists have force the FDA to classify their products not as drugs but as foods. The get around the health claim by saying stuff like "For the treatment of cancer," which makes no specific claim, therefore it's a food, therefore it's not regulated.

About 10-12 years ago a bunch of people died from taking unregulated L-Tryptophan supplement. It was contaminated with the R-isomer, which turned out to be toxic. Because there was no quality control as there are with pharmaceuticals, no one caught the error till it was too late.

Ironically, a lot of these things are sold as supplements precisely because scientific studies have shown that they don't work. They have no observable physiological effect, and so can be sold as "foods".

Personally, I've tried my share too (the placebo effect is nothing to sneeze at. It's quite real), and I've taken some sort of androsterone even though I know the stuff immediately decomposes when it hits your stomach acid. As I said, the placebo effect is real and has been shown to cure a variety of real medical conditions.

I stay away from the herbal things--all those powders in a capsule. They could be selling you dried camel dung and you wouldn't have any way of knowing.

 

[impressive]

About 10-12 years ago a bunch of people died from taking unregulated L-Tryptophan supplement. It was contaminated with the R-isomer, which turned out to be toxic. Because there was no quality control as there are with pharmaceuticals, no one caught the error till it was too late.

The sad thing about that incident is that L-Tryptophan does show promise as a treatment for sleep disorders. *sigh*

Getting controlled studies is difficult because herbs and amino acids cannot be patented, so no companies want to spend the bucks to prove their efficacy. There's no profit in it.

Regardless, as with any substance intended to affect the nervous system, if it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, it's just about worthless.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The sad thing about that incident is that L-Tryptophan does show promise as a treatment for sleep disorders. *sigh*

Getting controlled studies is difficult because herbs and amino acids cannot be patented, so no companies want to spend the bucks to prove their efficacy. There's no profit in it.

Regardless, as with any substance intended to affect the nervous system, if it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, it's just about worthless.

As I understand it, the vendors of L-Tryp pulled it on their own. The FDA had nothing to do with it, since they have no regulatory power over it. It's still available by prescription.

I had a friend who was taking it for its alleged tranquilizing properties. He was taking 9000 mg a day, which comes out to 9 grams or about 1/3-1/2 a teaspoon. 9 grams of any chemically pure substance (except maybe sugar) is an awful lot to be taking on a daily basis, and I got scared for him and convinced him to stop. He stopped taking it about a year before the tragedy struck. That's not to say he would have necessarily gotten any of the bad stuff, but still...

You're right that you can't patent an herb or an amino acid, but the drug companies are sharp. You can patent herbal extracts and the extraction method; the formulation (what other stuff they put in the pills, like binder and excipients) and dosage method (time release, patch, lozenge or pill, whatever.)

But yeah. I suppose if they looked at some studies that said 9 grams of L-Tryp is a good tranquilizer, they'd probably decide to mess around with the molecule to see if they could come up with something stronger and patentable.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

BTW, Horny Goat-Weed, despite its name, was a big disappointment to me. All I did was butt my head against the closet door for 4 hours.