We all need vitamins and minerals. But it’s hard to remember which are good for what, which we’re more likely—or extremely unlikely—to run short of, and how much is too much. That’s good to know, when a multi-billion dollar industry keeps trying to sell us more (and ever-pricier) supplements.
Remember hydroxychloroquine? Yes, there were anecdotes and observational studies, but, no, it flunked the gold standard for evidence, randomized controlled trials. Ditto with ivermectin.
Now the man named “the most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online” is promoting another candidate for magic bullet: vitamin D.
In 2020, Americans spent about $55 billion on dietary supplements. That’s no surprise, given that roughly half of all adults take a supplement. What may be a surprise: Many of those people are wasting their money, and some may even be risking their health. Here’s how the industry keeps you buying more.
It’s no surprise that in this confusing environment, with millions of patients desperate for help, some companies have taken advantage of how loosely dietary supplement claims are regulated to sell unproven long COVID treatments.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest applauds the California state legislature for passing AB-1341, a bill that would ban the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and weight-loss supplements to minors in California.
Magnum XXL 9800, Jaguar Power, Kangaroo Intense Alpha 3000. Those are just a few of the tainted dietary supplements that, until recently, were sold on walmart.com and other websites.
Among other reforms, Senator Murray's bill requires companies to publicly list their supplements in an FDA database for the first time, improves oversight of high-risk supplements, and expressly prohibits products fraudulently marketed as dietary supplements.
The COSMOS-Mind trial was funded by the National Institute on Aging to see if cocoa flavanols or multivitamins could help people stay mentally sharp as they age.
