Vitamins and supplements can be a hugely beneficial and convenient way to get necessary nutrients that you may be lacking or not otherwise easily get in your daily nutrition.  However, not all supplements are created equal.  In fact, many studies have found many over the counter supplements may not even have the ingredients listed on the label. In The New York Times expose startling research revealed what is actually contained in many over-the-counter supplements commonly found in big box stores, “Americans spend an estimated $5 billion a year on unproven herbal supplements that promise everything from fighting off colds to curbing hot flashes and boosting memory. But now there is a new reason for supplement buyers to beware: DNA tests show that many pills labeled as healing herbs are little more than powdered rice and weeds. Using a test called DNA barcoding, a kind of genetic fingerprinting that has also been used to help uncover labeling fraud in the commercial seafood industry, Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of popular supplements sold by 12 companies. They found that many were not what they claimed to be and that pills labeled as popular herbs were often diluted — or replaced entirely — by cheap fillers like soybean, wheat, and rice… Shelly Burgess, a spokeswoman for the F.D.A., said that companies were required to adhere to a set of good manufacturing practices designed to prevent adulteration, but that many were ignoring the rules. ‘Unfortunately, we are seeing a very high percentage — approximately 70 percent — of firms’ noncompliance,’ she said, ‘and we are very active in taking enforcement actions against such violations.”

      Unlike many over-the-counter brands of nutritional supplements and vitamins, pharmaceutical grade supplements have a higher and purer concentration and do not have the same “fillers” that other supplements have.  Pharmaceutical grade supplements carried by Full Spectrum Integrative Medicine are rigorously tested for purity and do not contain common allergens and fillers like gluten. Further, many over-the-counter nutritional supplements contain the cheaper, less effective version of the ingredient they claim to have (see article).  In many cases, those cheaper versions of the ingredient are not as easily or effectively absorbed, making them virtually useless. Pharmaceutical grade supplements contain higher quality ingredients that are better absorbed in the quantity that you need.  Though pharmaceutical grade supplements may be a bit more expensive than cheap, over-the-counter supplements, you actually get what you pay for.  Often, taking poorer quality brands have not benefited and may actually be harmful.  There may be serious health hazards or dangers hidden in the common fillers that are in most over-the-counter supplements.  But, with pharmaceutical grade supplements recommended by Full Spectrum Integrative Medicine you are recommending high-quality pharmaceutical grade supplements, so you can trust you are getting is what is on the label.

     Patients are under no obligation to buy supplements through Full Spectrum Integrative Medicine. They are intended to be an added convenience of reputable professional grade supplements that are not readily available over the counter that Dr. Staid has vetted and has years of experience using.

 

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