Apart from the swine flu, the biggest news in health is the recall of the Hydroxycut products. Keep in mind that we don't have a TV so mass hysteria is hard for us to come by. We get our news and information from the Internet, radio, newspapers, and the library. I am a naturally calm person. I am not given to hysteria, but stories like these terrify me. The liver damage and one death are a shame, that's true, but that's not what scares me. What scares me is the governments repeated attempts to
shape public opinion into believing that legitimate natural substances should be regulated and/or banned.
All quotes are from an article by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer
First, they start with pointing out the 23 cases of liver problems and the one death (in 2007), out of
nine million packages sold in one year. Then, they proceed to "suggest" that it's a problem because
"the FDA has no authority to review supplements before they're marketed. "Part of the problem is that the FDA looks at dietary supplements from a post-market perspective, and an isolated incident is often difficult to follow," says Dr. Linda Katz of the FDA's food and nutrition division.
" and
"In recent years companies have been put under stricter requirements to alert the FDA when they learn of problems. The FDA relies on voluntary reports to detect such problems, and many cases are never reported, officials acknowledge.
" and
"Dietary supplements aren't as tightly regulated by the government as medications. Manufacturers don't need to prove to the FDA that their products are safe and effective before they can sell them to consumers.
"Of course they don't. They're NATURAL! They're even trying to regulate "Food Production Facilities", which happens to include
home gardens. All in the name of Public Safety.
Even the company acknowledges the small percentage of problems:
"While this is a small number of reports relative to the many millions of people who have used Hydroxycut products over the years, out of an abundance of caution and because consumer safety is our top priority, we are voluntarily recalling these Hydroxycut-branded products," the company said in a statement on its Web site.
"Of course they will. Apart from doing the right thing, why give the FDA more fuel? This isn't the first time the FDA has complained about the lack of regulation in the "Dietary Supplement" market, and it won't be the last. They complain about the varying strenghts and potency too. Of course it's going to vary. It's NATURAL! Only man-made, synthetic chemicals can be controlled.
Ever try to control Mother Nature? Even when they do succeed in things like cloning and gene-splicing, the result is often weaker than the original. God made it right the first time and the Earth will heal itself without any help from us. Humans have nothing to do with global warming. It's happened before and it will happen again. It's part of Earths
natural cycle. Bureaucrats do nothing except restrict personal freedoms.
In the name of Public Safety, the FDA seeks to take away your right to choose alternative and natural ways to heal yourself. The Pharmaceuticals Industry is very happy about that!
Hippocrates said, "Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine shall be thy food." Everything we need to heal ourselves can be found in natural, raw, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Sometimes companies take all the best and most effective parts of a fruit or vegetable and put them together in a synergistic way that is best absorbed by the body. Products like
this one give you the best in the most convenient way, without the calorie load of eating it piece by piece.
The point is to know your own body. I told my (allopathic) Doctor that I was jaundicing and he said I just had a film on my eyes. Granted, the yellowing wasn't that severe but I also had massive pain in my upper right quadrant. I knew something was wrong in my body and yet he's prescribing medicine without having any test results. That night, he let me know the test results and said that yes, I was right, and that if I hadn't said anything, he may have missed it. So,
Doc, can we agree that I'm not a hypochondriac and that I really
do know my body?!
Natural health is the way to go. Know your body.
Listen to your body; but don't believe it when it says that you need Dreyer's Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. You don't. You're just thirsty. Go drink some (filtered, un-floridated) water.
