Health updates

The following is new information regarding milk from cloned cows and record sales of synthetic multivitamins.

Milk from clones to hit U.S. market soon

The Senate is still wrangling over the 2007-2012 Farm Bill and one new consumer-friendly amendment, vehemently opposed by the biotech industry, which would force the FDA to reverse its current controversial regulations on milk from cloned animals. Despite widespread opposition from consumer groups, the FDA has approved the commercialization of milk from cloned animals as “safe” and will not require labels stating such. The newly proposed Mikulski amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill would require the FDA to place a temporary moratorium on cloned milk and examine its potential health hazards for animals and humans.

Synthetic multivitamin sales reach all-time high in 2007

The year’s sales figures are in: According to Nutrition Business Journal, the dietary supplement market went from a $14 billion industry in 1999 to a $22.4 billion industry in 2007. But many nutrition experts are advising people to focus more on their diet than on purchasing and relying on synthetic supplements. “With some medical exceptions, there’s no reason to take vitamins if you have a decent diet,” says Pete Anderson, a lecturer in nutritional sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

According to Dr. Chad Oler, N.D., the only supplements worth taking are non-synthetic supplements made from whole foods, since the purpose of a supplement is to fill the gaps where nutrition is not acquired through food. “Ninety-five to 98 percent of the stuff over the counter is crap. They use cheap, raw materials that are not bio-available, meaning that the body, even if it can absorb it, cannot utilize the nutrients very well,” he said. The general rule of thumb in distinguishing a truly natural vitamin from a synthetic is that most synthetics advertise highly inflated daily values of a given nutrient, which can actually damage the body. Stick to a naturally occurring multivitamin, organic if possible, that contains 100 percent of the recommended daily intake or less.

Resource: www.organicconsumers.org.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 27, Number 2, April/May 2008.