|
Ensuring Safety and Quality in Supplements and Herbal Medicine |
PDF
|
E-mail
|
|
Written by Braxton Ponder
|
|
4 4 Some General Precautions
It is probably safest to avoid mega-doses of anything. Recent studies suggest that people taking large doses of vitamins, for example, are not as healthy as those taking moderate amounts. Herbal medications as just that - formulas used to treat medical conditions. Most are not meant to be taken indefinitely for general health purposes (look to diet and exercise for that). On the other hand, most of us could probably benefit from a good quality, well-balanced vitamin and mineral supplement, and a little daily fish oil. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when considering supplements and herbals.
Ask an expert. Go to someone with a few years of formal education and a state or nationally recognized certification in their field (such as nutrition or Chinese herbal medicine). Even then, realize that people who are not trained as medical doctors may miss some “red flag” symptoms that suggest serious disease. If you have an ongoing medical problem that is not being resolved by “alternative” treatments, it’s worth getting a checkup from your doctor. Even if you choose alternative treatments, a biomedical diagnosis can be a powerful piece of information to inform your choices.
- Avoid vendors making unlikely claims and/or operating highly profitable marketing structures. Check www.scholar.google.com to see if you can find any serious research on the product in question.
- Avoid mega-doses of anything, unless there are a couple of decades of experience with those levels of dosing. Avoid harsh and extreme forms of treatment.
- Pay attention to how your body responds. Just because you know someone who did well on a particular product doesn’t mean that you will. Maybe that ill feeling really does mean you getting worse, and not a “healing crisis.”
- Avoid dieting products, unless they are very well grounded in a strong nutritional approach. Any product that promises fast results with no effort or changes on your part should be viewed with a great deal of caution and skepticism.
- Don’t expect a pill (or a handful of them) to make up for poor diet, inadequate exercise and other damaging lifestyle choices.
In the end, you shouldn’t be afraid to access the benefits available to you from dietary supplements and herbals. There are a lot of great products available to enhance the nutrition you get from your food, and some excellent alternatives to pharmaceutical therapies for illness. Armed with the tips from this article, you will be better prepared to make good choices.
|
Ponder Health Notes 
Post New Event
