- Everywhere we turn these days we're threatened by the
glittering teeth of sociopathic predators and smarmy confidence men. I'm
sure it's no surprise to the reader that this mendacious practice extends
to necessary consumables and required foodstuffs. These include the gleeful
sale of that which is demonstrably bad for us on the one hand... and the
fraud and misrepresentation employed in the sale of that which is supposed
to be good, on the other.
-
- I've written extensively and at some length regarding
the former.
- This time we'll investigate the latter.
-
- There is an evil little trick several so-called "Whole-Food
Supplement" makers use to cheat people. This flavor of sociopathy
puts the consumer at risk because they are betrayed into thinking they
are covering all the nutritional bases - when in fact, they don't even
come close.
-
- It's fairly easy to spot these "crooks and charlatans"
by an informed reading of the Ingredient Info or Supplemental Facts on
the label of these products. On these "X" products the reader
will see listed a long and "impressive" array of Vitamins, Minerals,
Herbs, EFA's (Essential Fatty Acids), Amino Acids, Digestive Enzymes, on
& on... but there is a problemthe practiced eye readily detects.
-
- The informed reader of this label notices that there
are NO MEASURED AMOUNTS listed... or maybe only a few (4 or 5) of the nutrients
are listed at all. There is no way of knowing, then, if there are sufficient
amounts of the essential Vitamins & Minerals to be therapeutic... or
if they even come close to meeting minimum daily requirements... because
Folks, they rarely, if ever, do!
-
- The reason they so easily "pull this off" is
because they have a perfectly reasonable sounding rationalization for not
listing the amounts ... which is:
-
- "...Because "Product X" is a "whole
food," the amounts are always changing slightly... for example, you
wouldn't expect grocery stores to list the amount of Vitamin C in every
Orange - because they are all a little different."
-
- This is "logical-sounding," yet it is specious
*Crapola*, reader... There are many, many, credible Whole-Food Supplement
Makers who manage to manipulate the different batches of "stuff"
in their products... facilitating a list of minimum amount of each Vit./Min./etc.
which can then be verified by product testing. We have the technology.
-
- Moreover, these substandard "X" products also
suggest that other (read: more credible) Supplement Makers "have"
to use "artificial" ingredients to be able to add just the right
amounts... to end up the same, correct gram, mg or mcg amount... every
time. Even if & when this is true... it doesn't matter people! The
addition of a natural, quality supplemental does not mean "artificial
manipulation of a product," at all.
-
- Example: what about the natural whole-food Fish Oil?
The EFA, Omega 3's, EPA & DHA in fish oil are not "artificial"
ingredients which they manufacture in a lab and then pour in until they
reach 500mg of EPA/DHA per gram of Fish Oil. No! All fish have varying
concentrations of EPA/DHA, yet they still manage to get 500mg in each gram
(1000mg) of oil. This is a GOOD thing, folks, not the BAD thing implied!
-
- Don't be mislead! The core nutritional theories behind
many of these "X" products could have efficacy (because they
are usually centered around some very healthful, multi-purposeful nutrients
like Sea Algae, Sea Veggies, Marine Plankton, Sea Minerals & other
whole-food, Fruits & Veggies...) IF they did one of two things :
-
- 1). IF they sold their *stuff* for about $10.00 as a
"Green-Food, Sea-Veggie" Supplement one might take in addition
to a "Real" Whole- Food Multi-Vit/Min... But NOT for FORTY DOLLARS
while stealthily trying to pass this "crap" off as a "Complete"
nutritional source making other supplementation unnecessary! This is an
outrageous lie!
-
- 2). IF they were able to concentrate these different
nutrients down to where they could actually get a therapeutic dose of all
the necessary items into 2 or 3 capfuls of liquid! Or sell it, as is, but
"dirt cheap"... telling people they should drink a pint or two
daily instead of just one 1/2 ounce capful! That way the amounts of essential
Vit's & Min's might make it up to a level to where it can legitimately
call itself a "Complete Multi-Vit/Min", reader, without having
to lie.
-
- Listen to this recent sequence of events & you tell
me if this product is bogus!
-
- What follows is an email I received from the "good
doctor" Ismail about the product he touts called "FrequenSea"
... I'm leaving in his email address in case anyone wants to try to get
him to explain how such tiny amounts of nutrients can qualify as a "complete
multi"...
-
- ...Complete is my word. The FrequenSea people are careful
to avoid using words like "Complete Multi-Vit/Min" because that
is a lie that can get them in trouble. However, it is not a lie if they
say something like..."...has every nutrient humans need for good health"
Do you see the little trick? Yes, it may have every needed nutrient, but
it does not have themin large enough amounts to actually do any good. Does
a drop of lemon juice in a gallon of water make lemon-aide? Maybe... real
weak lemon-aide.
-
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: "MS Ismail"
- To: <alan068@centurytel.net>
- Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 12:02 PM
- Subject: Saw your article on Rense
-
- > Hi Alan
- >
- > Greetings from Australia. I am impressed with your
analysis and want
- > to congratulate you. We need to debunk the crap
we are fed. In my
- > opinion the furtue (sic) is FOOD.
- >
- > Thought this may interest you, this is proof that
Mother nature has
- > everything and is intricate and complex so that
we dont (sic) have to be.
- >
- > http://www.provibranthealth.net/biotique
- >
- > Kind regards
- >
- > Dr. Sam Ismail MD
- > Integrative Medicine Physician
- > Australia
-
- ----------
-
- My Response:
-
- Sir,
-
- If a lay person sent me this info to get my opinion I
would tell them that there is a 90% chance that this product is a sham...
reminiscent of the bogus product "Sea Silver".
-
- Any product which fails to list the amounts of the different
vitamin or mineral, etc. while using the bulls**t excuse that because every
orange has different amounts of vitamin C & because their product is
a "Whole-Food" you can't list the amounts.
-
- When "SeaSilver" was tested independently --
it turned out to be mostly grape juice with just enough of every item listed
so they couldn't be sued for lying... but many of the items barely registered
a trace amount.
-
- If you sell this as a green food for about $15.00 it
might be OK, but to make people think this is a "Complete Multi Vit/Min/EFA"
when it probably doesn't come close to having beneficial amounts...that
is just pure EVIL.
-
- Send me independent testing that shows the average batch
of this stuff has even HALF of a recommended dose & I will apologize.
-
- Alan
- ----------------------------------------
-
- OK... as one might have predicted, I never heard a peep
back from the "good doctor." This certainly signals that the
product is a sham to this writer! Consider, if it really was a legit product,
wouldn't he have fired right back with a list of reasons why I was wrong?
Of course he would... but he just crawled back under his rock.
-
- Paying $40.00 for a couple of Bucks worth of minimally
fortified juices is despicable, as it is, but the real tragedy is that
the CODEX engulfing Europe presently is coming to America... and we'll
have these "Spawns of Satan" to thank!
-
- The CODEX alluded to is where you will have to get a
freaking prescription from an MD to buy Vitamins, Minerals & other
Supplements, reader! This is tantamount to needing a prescription for FOOD,
folks! The demonstrably malevolent Pharmaceutical Industry will likely
take over the manufacture of Supplements and yes, rest assured, the price
will go way up and quality will likely go way down.
-
- Health-Food stores & On-line Supplement Dealers,
as we know them, will be a thing of the past and the excuse predatory politicians
will use as justification to impose this tyranny? "Just look at all
these *non-regulated* scam supplements cheating & hurting consumers,"
they'll whine and moan as they squawk their crocodile tears! These greedy
sham companies like the aforementioned "FrequenSea" will be all
the excuse big-brother government needs to take away our supplements...
supplements keeping me alive. My outrage is off thescale!
-
- Forget the irony that supplement-scams are just the excuse
government will use to impose CODEX ... the actual reason is so the already
rich Doctors & Drug Executives can get a little richer as they slowly
poison you with dangerous pharmaceuticals that only treat symptoms and
don't do one darn thing to fix or prevent disease... oh yeah, the politicians
receive large contributions to their re-election campaigns by CODEX supporting
psychopaths who certainly have an ax to grind... can you spell Merck?
-
- Getting back to SeaSilver... I am so irritated that the
only justification available for pulling the SeaSilver ads was that they
made medical claims which couldn't be documented... Folks, I could care
less about the disease curing claims made by SS, because, ironically, I
firmly believe that if you took every item in SS (from a legitimate Whole-food
source) at MUCH larger therapeutic doses, they would very likely ameliorate
or prevent pretty much every disease as is indicated.
-
- It remains! Even though the consumer doesn't come close
to getting enough of each item in these bogus products, SS is still out
there today being sold for big bucks! As far as I can tell, here's all
they did differently to be able to resume cheating people... they don't
make claims of curing specific diseases! Now, they might just make general
and generic statements like "Obtain good health naturally" or
from FrequenSea - "Marine Phytoplankton is an ideal food for mankind"...
-
- Folks, I also think Marine Phytoplankton is an ideal
food! But ideal only if you get a bigger amount than is in one or two capfuls
of this "stuff" - especially when you consider the very long
list of other herbs, fruits, etc. that are also supposed to additionally
be in that small capful.
-
- Here's a SeaSilver anecdote: many years ago I had just
received my first order of SS, to try it out, when I happen to see a 30
minute TV infomercial for SS being narrated by its founder, some genius,
nutritional "scientist." He was telling the SS story when he
made this bothersome statement ... "I got the idea for SeaSilver while
looking out the window of an airliner at thirty thousand SQUARE feet..."
-
- Oh my! The "low RPM Warning Audio" started
going off in my head... Golly, how smart or innovative could any
"Scientist" be that would use a measurement for AREA (square
feet) in the place of a measurement for linear distance (feet)...
the next thing that popped into my head was that this guy is an idiot...
so it stands to reason, his product might be something less than
stellar.
-
- His error was not just a slip of the tongue, reader,
like in an interview where the mistake can't be corrected...no, this was
a slickly produced infomercial with a small enthusiastic (PAID) audience,
that ran day & night for months.
-
- Instead of making an effort, or taking the few minutes,
to edit the mistake (assuming someone knew it was a mistake) - I envision
this disingenuous "genius" saying "don't bother to correct
it because the people that are stupid enough to buy SeaSilver are too stupid
to know the difference between "feet" & "Square Feet".
Or maybe this "genius" actually thought he was at 30,000 "Square
Feet" in which case wouldn't one of his staff, the high school dropout
stage- hand, or anyone else standing around that successfully completed
GRADE SCHOOL science... casually put him straight?
-
- I quit taking SS based upon that "Square Foot"
remark and later my suspicions were realized when independent testing exposed
that many of the critical nutrients were in such small trace amounts that
their therapeutic value would, most certainly, be negligible.
-
- This may sound like "pole-vaulting over tic droppings"...BUT,
don't you get tired of "The Man" peeing on your leg & telling
you it's raining? Or, don't you get tired of the daily bombardment of half-
truths, spin, semantics, obfuscation, rip-offs and just outright freaking
LIES ? I know I do.
-
- By the way, on 8 Nov. 06, I sent a courtesy copy of this
paper to Dr. Ismail so he would have a second chance to defend this product...
Hummm, should I try to hold my breath until he responds?
-
- Seriously, before you commit to any expensive, long-term
supplemental program, reader, make sure the product or brand is credible.
Here are some proactive things you can do:
-
- 1).. www.consumerlabs.com - it may not tell you "products
that failed" unless you join for $25.00 annually, but it will give
a long list of brands passing Potency & Purity (P&P). Remember,
P&P does not address the quality of the different Forms used, unless
the Form itself is toxic, like the lead in calcium forms of 'dolomite'
& 'clamshell'. For example - a Centrum Multi will pass Potency &
Purity just like a more expensive, quality, Whole-Food Multi. but the Vit./Mineral
Forms in Centrum are artificial garbage, whereas the Forms in the other
will be highly digestible organic forms... but they both get the same "passing"
grade.
-
- 2).. www.supplementwatch.com - will give lots of info
for free but you get more if you join.
-
- 3).. Check the product web-site to see if they have passed
credible independent Potency & Purity testing.
-
- There is a link to show independent "test results"
for SeaSilver... not for "Potency" but just to show which nutrients
SS contains...it won't tell how much of each item, just that it has at
least these items in "Trace" amounts - down to PPB (parts per
Billion) - that's a tiny, tiny (negligible) amount. Here is the testing
assessment off the SS web-site:
-
- [[[ "The above elements and nutrients are present
in whole food ingredients contained in Seasilver in trace amounts (parts
per million or parts per billion). Testing was performed by an independent
accredited laboratory using nationally approved testing methods.
-
- __________ end________________..." ]]]
-
- Well Folks, all I can say is - "BIG FREAKING DEAL"!
Of the 79 nutrients showing up in SS testing - only guaranteeing SeaSilver
nutrients in trace amounts (parts per million or parts per billion) would
be OK for some of the more obscure Trace Minerals they list, like Palladium
or Tellurium; however, if all the listed Vitamins, including the Macro
Minerals(macro means a dose greater than 100mg daily) & at least 10
of the Trace Minerals are only found in Parts Per Million? Then you are
not even coming close to getting a usable, therapeutic amount!
-
- It might be loosely analogous to a crook selling you
"Tap-Water" by telling you, truthfully I might add, that tap
water has all the minerals & trace elements in TRACE amounts - and
telling you that this "Natural Mineral Tonic" has been "Tested"
and contains EVERY Mineral & Trace Mineral needed by Humans, like Calcium,
Magnesium, Zinc, Potassium & many more.
-
- This claim is actually true about "Tap-Water"...
but Folks, do you think you could meet your Calcium requirement by drinking
"Tap- Water" with its very, very small trace amount of Calcium??
Of course not! It remains, this is essentially what SS would expect you
to believe with the test data they "offered."
-
- 4).. Check search engines to see if you can find any
negative articles about the product or any other products by that brand.
For example, I quit taking a digestive enzyme formula when the same brand
name shipped spoiled cod-liver oil & got caught. I wasn't taking their
Cod-oil but from then on I felt I couldn't trust any of their products.
Sadly, you have to do your own homework in this society abusing us with
the full protections of law and statute.
-
- 5).. Patents & Trade-Marks - If some items in the
Multi are a well known patented process, this acts as a form of "checks
& balances" since Sham products will almost never use these items
because the maker of the Patented Process would not want its Name, Seal
or Logo associated with a product that is even a little bit sleazy. And,
as an example, the scientists at the very well known patented Mineral Chelation
Process...Albion, could spot a sham company in a heart beat, where as the
average citizen might never be able to tell.
-
- SO! It's a good thing if you see: (a). The name "Albion"
or the round Gold Seal for their "Amino Acid Chelated Minerals".--
(b).
- OptiZinc - a patented form of binding Zinc to Methionine.
-- (c). d- Alpha Vit.E - look for "d-Alpha" surrounded by the
green triangle seal. -- (d). ChromeMate - a patented form of Chromium Polynicotinate.--
(e). Ester-E or Ester-C - look for the tiny R surrounded by a circle (Registered
patent), et al.
-
- There are many other good examples, but be careful because
some sham products will have some official looking (TM) or registered item
that might fool you. The way to check it's validity is to froogle search
the process name and if a bunch of different Supplement Makers use the
process in question in their products then the process, hence the product
is likely OK. For example, if you did a froogle search on *Albion Supplements*
you would see the process is used in dozens of well-known brands... but
none are in "Whole-Food" productsnot listing measured amounts.
These are suspiciously excluded.
-
- 6).. Or, if all the preceding fails, as a last desperate
attempt you could ask me my opinion... it's free and I have no ax to grind
but for your interest, reader. I have absolutely no affiliation with any
product or organization, not even The LivingTree Health Food Store (local
only, no web-sales) - even though I write a NewsLetter under the LivingTree
banner. Sincerely, if I ever heard the LivingTree owner tell a lie to sell
a product (believe me, she couldn't), I would turn on her in a heartbeat
and change the name of MY NewsLetter.
-
- Remember Folks, because many of these companies are Multi
Level Sales (MLS) companies, which means it will be your friends &
family trying to sell you these products... many MLS companies have quality
products, so, even though by their very nature, they are slightly more
expensive... that doesn't mean they are all crooks - in fact I'm sure most
are not. It's just the crooks, that are...uh...crooks!
-
- Look, reader. Society as it stands now is a codification
of how far outside the envelope of ethics and legality a minority of sociopaths
can operate (...unmolested themselves!) as they prey on persons at all
intelligence levels pursuant to their ill-gotten gains. The very few profiting
illegally and unethically at the expense of the many.
-
- This is an egregious situation remaining unimproved by
any aisle of government (Oh yea, they will shove CODEX down our throat
- which is like cutting off a guys head to cure Dandruff)... any aspect
of business, department, or agency. The Church is silent or an ally of
the corporatism responsible for this dire state of affairs.
- Every month I have so-called good Christians, while invoking
God,
- they try to get me to indorse some bogus product (if
not bogus, at least inferior). The aforementioned bastards wear crosses
at least as well as the beatific.
-
- The truth about all this, reader, if told by a sincere
person to be understood, can be believed! You see? A trip down the nutritional
path I describe is its own proof of concept and citation of SAME!
- You don't have to take my word for it. The evidence is
under the rocks I kick over and that you learn to kick over yourself! You
can become your own control. You can captain your own nutritional ship
-
- I've written many papers now exploring the science, the
mechanics, and the rationality of an American approach to health and nutrition
only because that approach departs so much and so far from the real health
and proper nutrition it suspiciously counterfeits. Ten years ago, I was
a dead man walking. I was angry. I was corrosive and intimidating to dwindling
friends and associates. I knew extreme depression and ABJECT misery at
the hands of mainstream medicine... until I stumbled into a health-food
store one day. The rest is efficacious history. (I beat back my own "incurable"
disease, Crohn's, by about 98% - the "doctors" wanted to cut
out my Guts)
-
- Today I live and live well, reader. I propose that you
can achieve these things as well. I submit that your health and vitality
can be re-achieved, your quality of life improved inperceptible ways, and
a measure of youthful aspect can be recaptured. You can do this yourself,
dependant on no one BUT yourself.
-
- That's a truth told to be understood... which can be
believed.
-
- Well be.
-
- Alan Graham
- (334) 774-0395
- alan068@centurytel.net
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