The Evolution of Dietary Supplement Marketing

[HuckleB]

http://getbetterhealth.com/the-evolution-of-dietary-supplement-marketing/2011.08.22

"n 1994 Congress (pushed by Senators Harkin and Hatch) passed DSHEA (the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act). As regular readers of SBM know, we are not generally happy about this law, which essentially deregulated the supplement industry. Under DSHEA supplements, a category which specifically was defined to include herbals, are regulated more like food than like medicinals.

Since then the flood-gates opened, and there has been open competition in the marketplace for supplement products. This has not resulted, I would argue, in better products – only in slicker and more deceptive claims. What research we have into popular herbals and supplements shows that they are generally worthless (except for targeted vitamin supplementation, which was already part of science-based medicine, and remains so).

A company can essentially put a random combination of plants and vitamins into a pill or liquid and then make whatever health claims they wish for their product, as long as they stay within the “structure-function” guidelines. This means they cannot claim to cure or treat a specific disease, but this has proven to be an insignificant limitation on marketing supplements.

It has been fascinating to watch the evolution of supplement marketing claims and strategies. One new twist caught my eye – what I am calling the “scam scam.” Some companies realize that the internet is the primary battle ground for the marketing of their product. Many companies also probably know that their claims are largely scientifically baseless – if you’re in the meeting where the claims are crafted and the marketing strategy developed, it would be hard to be delusional about their scientific validity. I suspect most companies just don’t care about the science or understand it, and you can find some justification to cherry pick for most any supplement claim you wish with just a little Googleing.

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It's worth reading, IMO. Too many consumers are wasting money.

[Zoeisright]

1. I have degrees in food science and biology.

And I have been for regulation of supplements since I first learned about this issue. The consumer has absolutely no idea and absolutely no proof that what is in those pills and liquids matches what is on the label. Do NOT trust these companies with your health.

[Shireling]

2. This article has it all wrong!!!

Big Pharma wants to make herbs, vites, etc. illegal so that it can make big bucks turning these wonderful helpful and sometimes miracle working herbs into nasty drugs made of only one phytochemical (or a synthetic version of the phytochemical.) When the other phytochemicals are stripped away, terrible side effects occur. But who cares? Big Pharma gets even richer.

Disease such as Lyme Disease, which does not get properly diagnosed and treated due to Big Lies from the NIH and the insurance companies who don't want to pay for the expensive treatments, can only be managed with the help of herbs and other natural treatments.

Please don't promote the trash being said in this article. There is a movement on to destroy our right to natural alternatives.

I will take my chances and treat myself. Suffering from a terrible disease that cannot be treated properly because of political, Big Power and Big Money reasons, is a horrible experience, and I will take my chances in treating myself. That is my right as a citizen of this country and a member of the 99%.

For reference to what I am saying, please read Cure Unknown by Pamela Weintraub, a very conservative science journalist who trusted peer reviewed studies until her entire family became sick with Lyme Disease. And this isn't the only disease to suffer from the powers that be. Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Insurance. It is all tied together.

Also visit the website for the Lyme Disease Assocation.

PEACE.

[HuckleB]

3. This article has it right.

Big Pharma is a problem, but it has little to do with supplement companies pushing unnecessary, unproven products on people.

A scam is a scam. Let's stop the scam. "Health freedom" is just supplement company marketing to keep its customers in line. That's some sick crap.

For a bit more of the reality:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x110688

[Shireling]

4. Thank God for herbs

And thank God for the companies that sell them.

They are the only things that are helping me survive this terrible ordeal. The only reason for still existing. This disease is a living hell.

I sure don't want insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, or our corrupt big government telling me that I have no right to these healing herbs from our Mother Earth. Mother Earth grows them. Companies sell them. Thank God or Goddess for that.

Why would we trust our health totally to pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies. It is good to have medicine, if it helps. But what if it doesn't? What then? And what if herbs are helping your pain and suffering in ways that drugs could not begin to touch? Why should the 1% be allowed to take that away from me?

[HuckleB]

5. Anecdotes are interesting.

Alas, they tend to fail most people when it comes to health care, and supplement companies are clearly scams. I am sorry for your suffering, but that does not change the reality of the situation.

People are being conned, and there is no logical justification for it.

A little more on the topic: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/the-free-speech-about-science-act-h-r-1364-health-freedom-and-misinformed-consent/

And: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/iom-report-on-supplement-regulation/

No consumer should be feeling good about this industry. That much is without question.

[HuckleB]

6. Herb Adulteration: What’s Really In That Supplement?

http://getbetterhealth.com/herb-adulteration-whats-really-in-that-supplement/2011.09.12

[HuckleB]

7. That's a lot of unrecs in the last couple hours.

Scary.