A United States Rep. named Ron Paul, a republican from Texas in the past has introduced a bill that would curb restrictions imposed by the FDA and FTC regarding health claims for dietary supplements. Why would he do that in this regard? Aren’t these restrictions good for the consumer to make sure they don’t get ripped off by snake oil salesmen making false claims when it comes to health?
Maybe it is the case. But it also may not be the case. Check this story interesting story out and decide for yourself. This is the Cherry Grower’s Story. Back in 1999 a peer-reviewed report came out in the Journal of Natural Products, published by the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. This report had some interesting conclusions.
The study concluded that “tart cherries may relieve pain better than aspirin and many other anti-inflammatory drugs.” It turns out that consumption of about 20 cherries reduces inflammation in a similar manner as aspirin or Cox-2 inhibiting drugs without the lethal side effects of gastric bleeding or vitamin depletion associated with these drugs. The molecules in cherries, called anthocyanins, work to reduce inflammation at ten times less dosage than aspirin. [Journal Natural Products 1999 Feb; 62(2): 294-6] Pills that provide concentrated anthocyanins would make it even easier to consumers to achieve these health benefits.
The food and drug administration declared cherries to be “drugs” once health claims for a disease were associated with the product. When cherry growers began to cite this scientific study, the FDA followed by sending a warning letter to 29 companies that market cherries threatening regulatory action if they did not remove the scientific information regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of cherries from their websites.
Bob Underwood, who sells capsules containing concentrated cherry paste, was quoted in an Associated Press story in 2006. He said we have the government telling people to eat more fruits and vegetables, and we have the U.S. Department of Agriculture funding some of these fruit studies. He stated that now we have another arm of the federal government that says you can’t use the research.”
According to a website called LewRockwell, “The Health Freedom Protection Act would stop the FDA from censoring truthful claims about the curative, mitigative, or preventative effects of dietary supplements,” says Scott Tips of the National Health Federation, a Monrovia, California-based organization that is leading the charge behind this legislation.” Sad to see that legislation is needed to stop the censorship of truthful claims… isn’t it? For more health tips, visit www.BackCareTreatment.com and watch health videos.
Learn more about nutrition. Stop by the back pain website site where you can get free information about chiropractic care and what it can do for you.
