The main problem in choosing a natural health
product is assessing its quality or effectiveness. The amount of active
ingredient many Natural Health Products contain is quite variable and in many
cases the active ingredient is not clearly identified or quantified on the
label. In some cases there is a range of active ingredients sometimes acting in
synergy but more often only existing in quantities that would not give a health
response at recommended dose rates. Thus it is often a major problem to know
how really effective a specific product is likely to be. Even when some good
evidence from well regulated scientific research shows that an active
ingredient in the specific product has beneficial effects. This article gives
some examples of this and suggests possible solutions for those who want a high
quality effective product to deal with their health problem.
In today’s health supplement
market the Internet has allowed consumers a huge range of products and within
many products a huge range of brands, formula variations and quality. Often the
active ingredient is not present in sufficient quantities to be really
effective and the advertising is very “sales orientated” rather than genuine
product information or solid research. This makes it very hard for the consumer
to know just how effective a product is likely to be. Consumers should use
desktop research to help make a wise choice. Harvest the power of the Internet,
to first ascertain what type of product offers the possibility of helping with
their specific health problem, including the active ingredient that makes the
product desirable. Once you have sorted
out the product, then search for different brands and list them based on price,
active ingredient present and likely bioactivity. Generally with top products
there will only be 1-3 main active ingredients.
Be wary of claims of a large
number of active ingredients, often they will be present in such small amounts
that they will have no effect at all. Deer Velvet is a good example, it is a
product I am very familiar with having farmed a large herd of velveting stags
for many years and also been involved in velvet research and marketing velvet
products. Now velvet has some useful therapeutic uses especially when taken in
a high dose but many websites make ridiculous claims for it. It does contain
literally 100’s of complex proteins that when isolated can be shown to have
real effects, however in a standard deer velvet capsule only a few are present in the quantities needed to
have any effect. To make the example more real I was in Singapore a few years
ago talking to their Health Authority trying to get approval to get a deer
velvet based product entry to their market. In trying to explain what the
product contained I mentioned Insulin Growth Factor One (IGF1) along with a
range of other compounds. They seized on this and said product with IGF1 can’t
get entry. My answer was that it was in such low quantities it would have no
effect. IGF1 is present in meat milk and in fact most animal products and this
was no different. However I had to come back to NZ and test our product for
IGF1 and also milk as a comparison. Our velvet product had 1/8 the IGF1 that
was in standard milk and was allowed entry. However if you look at some
websites selling velvet you will see them touting IGF1 as an active ingredient
which is a nonsense as it is only in trace amounts. It is possible to
concentrate it in a velvet extract but only at uneconomic prices.
Another factor to look at is
purity, here I am not talking about quantity of active ingredient but what
contaminants are present, if any. Common environmental pollutants are heavy
metals like lead or mercury, persistent organic pollutants (POP’s) such as
dioxin, PBC’s and other organochlorines. A good example is Omega3 when even
after molecular distillation fish oils of North Hemisphere origin can have 20
times the pollutants of fish oils derived from fish caught in the Southern
Ocean south of New Zealand. The Northern Hemisphere product may well be within
allowable limits of regulators such as the FDA but cannot be as safe as the
southern products. Often purity levels are difficult to obtain without direct
contact to the manufacturer and in this case you have to use your judgement
based on the source of the base product and manufacturer credibility.
Also be wary of sites that
claim a myriad of benefits and active ingredients, sites that use a lot of
hyperbole and “hard sales” copy. Look for hard facts on what is present and in
what concentration. Check that the dose you will be taking links with that used
in any successful research results.
The best products are usually
from specialist formulators and manufacturers who only have a small range of
products rather than large scale bulk producers and marketers. That is not to
say that some of our large scale well known brands cannot produce a good value
product. Value in this case is being judged on a combination of price and
quality, checking price against the known active ingredient.
Often to get the required
active ingredient strength you require you may need to go to an extract.
Extracts are generally much more expensive but more effective. It needs a
substantial research input to produce a quality extract and usually some quite
sophisticated equipment although sometimes a simple crushing and pressing will
produce a concentrated product. However even with extracts you need to have
confidence in the manufacturer and read the active ingredient present in the
final product.
So to summarise the Internet
allows us to
- Research the type of product that is likely to help your condition
- Research the active ingredient in the product that is causing the effect and the likely dose needed
- Ascertain the brands/products available with this active ingredient
- Check on the likely level of environmental pollutants
- Beware of products that have a very wide range of ingredients and claims
- Rank the product on basis of the price of the active ingredient/ingredients
- Also assess credibility of the manufacturer/retailer
- Check and compare extracts on the same basis if they are available
- If effectiveness is more important than price you may choose an extract
This may sound complicated
but with modern search engines is not too difficult and will allow you to make
a much better choice of a Natural Health Product.
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