Hi Casey,

First of all, I wanted to say thank you - your advice is some of the most scientifically solid, grounded and compassionate advice on the Internet when it comes to fitness (especially when it comes to women's fitness). Thanks for being no bullshit, but also incredibly kind to us.

Second, I've had a question percolating. I know in the past you've covered food/diet changes for lifting (more protein, eat carbs). However, as a (soy-intolerant, pea-protein hating) someone who has started to seriously question the environmental sustainability of my diet, I was wondering how you reconcile your dietary needs and planet health. I know whey protein is a pretty efficient source of protein in terms of human health and emissions (although cheese and most dairy/cows are not), but eating lentils and quinoa-based meals and chasing them with whey protein seems like a stupid way to live.

Sorry if this a fuzzier, more philosophical question than you would like to answerI'm legitimately just curious about your views and I think it would be good to have a non-vegan lens on this issue. Alison

Even as I continue to express my climate anxiety in increasingly odd and relatively meaningless waysstanding in front of a beverage case at the grocery store for minutes at a time battling guilt over buying a slightly better beer in bottles versus a worse one in cansI give little thought to eating animal products.

One reason is that, while I do eat meat, the amount I eat aligns already with the recommendations of environmentalist spokespeople who are gently imploring Americans to eat less meat; theyre trying to talk people down from eating meat with seemingly every meal to eating it once a day, or only several days per week. I eat meat a few times a week to once a day; I also eat eggs, cheese, and yogurt, and I drink milk. Often, the products I buy are on the more responsibly-sourced end, but not always. My understanding is that if America has some real problem children as far as animal product consumption, Im not one of them.

But I also think about this in a more systematic way, especially as so many of us are constantly anxious about getting enough protein. I do think the future for food rests with alternative, nonfactory farm and plant-based protein sources, and I am personally ready to eat burgers made exclusively of crickets. But quietly buying them as alternatives now wont get us there, and, more importantly, individuals doing this does not make an even remotely substantial-enough difference to course-correct the state of the environment. We need the unsustainable food sources and markets that trade our livelihood for profits litigated out of existence on a grand scale, which is not something that happens by us not buying those foods sometimes, or even all of the time. As things continue to get colossally worse, its more important than ever to be honest with ourselves about what is little more than attempts at personal absolution, what is just allowing marketing to prey on our collective guilt, and what is best for the planet.

What is important is that that infrastructure is sustainable, and we can only achieve through sweeping legislative change, not which meat we buy this week. Individual action through personal consumer choices in a vacuum is fine, but in cultural context, its a manipulative blame-spreading tactic similar to productivity and life hacks pushed on us by a capitalist system. The impact of even absolutely everyone switching to a plant-based diet (knocking off 0.7 metric tons from total global emissions, or about 4 percent of the per-person total in the U.S.) is minuscule compared to, for instance, regulating the 100 companies responsible for 71 percent of total historical emissions, a total of 923 billion metric tons since the Industrial Age started. The fossil fuel industry alone constituted 70 percent of emissions on humans' behalf in 2015. in a fact that those companies and many others work very hard to make us forget by distracting us with the latest burger made of textured wheat protein.

That doesnt mean were absolved, by any stretch. But its my belief that its far more important for me to spend less time fretting over soy vs. chicken and more time on the bigger picture.

To illustrate this idea, lets say there is a waste dump that is extremely close to your neighborhood, and its become so large and toxic that its starting to contaminate the groundwater, directly affecting you and everyone else who lives in the neighborhood. Three percent of that dump is the garbage everyone in the neighborhood puts in the dump, and 97 percent is the toxic waste from a local factorylets say theyre putting 97 tons of waste in there per year. You could put in, lets say, an extra 10 hours a week of your time making sure your own house is absolutely garbage-neutral: you take the time to use reusable bags, buy nothing that generates waste or packaging, repurpose any waste you do generate you into fashionable clothes for your children like a discarded-frozen-fruit-bag vest, you compost, the whole nine. Any of those 10 hours that are left over, you use to hector your neighbors into doing the same thing, with mixed success. Even if you get everyones buy-in, the waste in the dump is only ever going down by 3 percent, from 100 tons to 97 tonsnot nearly enough to stop the water contamination problem. However, your personal action leaves you sort of satisfied that you didnt do nothing.

Now lets say that, instead, you continued to generate your own waste same as before and accepted the idea that whatever you contributed to that 3 percent is negligible compared to the much larger effect of the dumping corporation. Now you take those 10 hours of time to lobby your local government to make the corporation stop dumping its waste in the landfill, and use some of that time to get your neighbors to organize as well. After some coordination, the corporation reduces its waste, lets say by half, to 48.5 tons from 97. Maybe your local government even shuts that company down, and uses subsidies to replace it with a completely green alternative that produces as much waste as all of your garbage-happy neighbors. Now your groundwater is way, way safer, even though you personally did nothing to manage your own contribution to it. Here you also feel satisfied that you made a difference, but you made a far, far bigger difference with the same amount of investment.

My presumption here is that our capacity in terms of time, attention, and patience for affecting change is finite. Its extremely important not to confuse what makes us, as individuals, feel assuaged that we Did A Thing with what is actually a good use of that finite time, attention, and patience. Some people have time and money to only source and buy organic, sustainably raised foods, and compost, or like, never use air travel. Bully for them. I dont, and I think most people also dont. (Even the people who can, mostly dont; even this guy advocating for individual action points out that the wealthiest 10 percent of people are responsible for the vast majority of emissions. There is no ceiling for how much the rich should worry about individual action, in my opinion).

You can spin in your own hamster wheel of personal action and spend your disposable income on alternative meats or walk through the neighborhood picking up trashthat has a concrete impact! Microplastics entering the environment are bad! But is that as good a use of your time and resources as, say, canvassing for or donating to a politician who will make actual strides in regulating big oil corporations, or investing in green energy, or forcing factory farms out of business and subsidizing sustainable small farms?

There are always going to be noisy people who are going to be like, But cant you do both? Cant you go broke at Whole Foods out of abstract guilt over the source of red meat, AND canvas for a politician? Like, sure, you can. But if youre grinding away at a job you hate to try to earn a decent income where the only earth-friendly gesture you have bandwidth for is buying frozen meatless crumbles instead of tri-tip, Im not sure youre asking yourself the right questions about the direction the planet is going and your place in it.

I dont know if people have noticed, but none of us have any money. As wages stay flat and taxes stay low for rich people and relatively high for middle- to low-income people, our capacity to vote with our dollars goes down every single day.

We are at a dire-enough stage of climate crisis where individual action is not going to be enough to substantively change the course were on. That opportunity passed some time in the late 80s. (And honestly, its debatable it ever really existed, given the amount of obfuscation energy companies were doing around climate science; theyve known they were lining us up for absolutely massive problems and have been sweeping the whole thing under the rug since the late 70s.)

Its true that we need absolutely everyone behind the climate crisis, but were now in triage mode. Its in the same way that we dont need to be better at our jobs through life-hack tweaks as wages remain flat and the exuberantly wealthys taxes continue to go downwhat we actually need is our fair share, and big corporations and rich people need to pay up. We need to focus on the people (businesses) largely responsible for the state of things.

As you point out, whey protein is probably not great environmentally, being that its derived from the same animals causing emissions concerns, plus it creates a significant amount of acid waste that we currently have no use for. So if youre trying to hit a protein count, particularly if you are intolerant to the usual vegan sources of protein (there is hemp protein you can try, and rice protein, and, god, I might have seen coconut protein once but who knows if thats any use at all), youre already in for some measure of planetary ruin. Embrace it, I say, but with the knowledge that you have a greater duty to support infrastructural change such that the responsibility of saving the planet doesnt fall to the personal retail choices of you, a hapless non-ruling-class consumer.

It might surprise you to hear after all this that I dont even like meat that much, and Im super picky about it. Its gross to handle raw, and generally makes a lot of mess when you cook it. If a nice steak ends up in front of me, I will be really happy, but thats expensive, and I dont love or even need it enough to make it myself except extremely rarely. Cheese, eggs, and milk Id be far sadder to lose. But Im going to continue to eat them while I focus on my bigger goal to change the system, which I find much more satisfying and which helps me sleep far better at night than sanctimoniously buying various forms of soy.

Disclaimer: Casey Johnston is not a doctor, nutritionist, dietitian, personal trainer, physiotherapist, psychotherapist, doctor, or lawyer; she is simply someone who done a lot of, and read a lot about, lifting weights. You can read past Ask A Swole Woman columns at The Hairpin and at SELF and follow A Swole Woman on Instagram. Got a question for her? Email swole.woman@vice.com .

Continued here:
Isn't It Bad to Eat Meat When the Planet Is Dying? - VICE

Eggs are one of the most versatile foods out there you can cook them in endless ways, they keep you full for hours and theyre a nutritional powerhouse loaded with protein and other nutrients that protect eye, muscle and bone health.

Despite all these benefits, eggs have gotten a bad reputation at times because of the high cholesterol found in their yolks. The information is confusing: One week the news will tell us eggs are perfectly healthy and the next were told to stop eating eggs. To find out how many eggs are healthy to eat, we reached out to medical and nutrition experts to help clear up some of the confusion.

Can eggs be part of a healthy diet?

If youre generally in good health and dont have heart disease or high cholesterol, eggs can be part of a healthy diet when eaten in moderation. Eggs are good for us for a lot of different reasons theyre unprocessed, rich in protein, low in calories and contain healthy fats and other nutrients.

One egg provides 6 grams of protein about the amount found in an ounce of beef, turkey, chicken or fish along with other nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and small amounts of iron and vitamin D, all for only 77 calories, said Lisa Diewald, a registered dietitian and program manager at Villanova Universitys MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education.

Eggs are also relatively inexpensive compared with some other sources of protein, like meat, fish and nuts. In addition, they contribute to a feeling of satiety, which may keep you from reaching for snacks between meals.

But you can easily diminish the health benefits if youre not careful about what you pair eggs with. People often eat eggs alongside bacon, sausage and other processed foods.

There is substantial evidence that processed and highly processed foods are associated with overweight and obesity, as well as higher cardiovascular risk, said Artur Viana, a physician and clinical director of the Metabolic Health and Weight Loss Program at Yale Medicine.

How many eggs are too many eggs?

Theres no magic number when it comes to how many eggs you can each day. This depends on a lot of factors, including your biology and the other foods you eat throughout the day.

Nutrition research and recommendations consistently go back and forth on whether the cholesterol in eggs is bad for human health, and this can be seriously confusing.

Both the 2010 and 2015 versions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for Americans (these recommendations are updated every five years) say a 2,000-calorie diet should include 26 ounces of meat, poultry and eggs each week as part of protein requirements (for reference, a large egg weighs around 1.7 ounces). Beyond that recommendation, there is no information in the guidelines about limiting egg consumption. Diewald said this is because there wasnt sufficient evidence to show a relationship between cholesterol consumption and its impact on blood cholesterol when the guidelines were released in 2015.

Maren Caruso via Getty Images

But things have changed a bit since then.

In a recent study in JAMA of close to 30,000 individuals, the consumption of larger amounts of cholesterol and/or eggs was linked with a modest increase in cardiovascular disease risk and death, Diewald explained, referring to the Journal of the American Medical Association. On the other hand, a large international prospective study published just this year found no significant associations between eggs and blood cholesterol, risk of death, or other cardiovascular events.

Pointing to the JAMA study and the fact that egg yolks contain saturated fat, Sean Heffron, a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health, said its best to minimize egg consumption if you struggle with cholesterol. He also noted that eggs, like nearly any other food eaten in moderation, can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Eating a dozen eggs a day is probably unhealthy, but a consumption within reason, such as two or three a day, is likely OK for people who dont struggle with cholesterol, Viana added.

But people with heart disease or high cholesterol need to be more cautious, Heffron said. If you dont like eggs, you can cut them out of your diet completely, he said. If you really like eggs, he suggested cutting down as much as you can, to possibly a maximum of one egg a day.

Some recent data suggest that even one egg daily can increase cardiovascular risk, Heffron pointed out. That being said, if the rest of the dietary saturated fat and cholesterol consumption from other sources is reduced, then less of a specific egg restriction might be reasonable.

The yolk of one large egg contains nearly 200 milligrams of cholesterol and we know that cholesterol in the foods we eat may raise levels of LDL cholesterol, which is often known as bad cholesterol because it can narrow arteries, reduce blood flow and cause other heart-health problems. The study Heffron and Viana alluded to found a significant association between higher consumption of eggs or dietary cholesterol and higher risk of cardiovascular disease. But other research shows that foods that are high in dietary cholesterol may not impact blood cholesterol significantly.

The Takeaway

Overall, Viana doesnt believe eggs are to blame for cardiovascular problems.

If somebody has a balanced diet that happens to include eggs daily and lives an overall healthy lifestyle with daily exercise, and no tobacco and only moderate alcohol use, it is unlikely that the cholesterol in eggs will have a major impact in their health, he said. Elevated blood cholesterol is associated with negative cardiovascular outcomes, but it is unclear whether cholesterol consumption, especially from eggs, is independently associated with that.

Another point to keep in mind is that not everyone responds in the same way to dietary cholesterol so what might work for one person may not for another.

Some individuals are genetically predisposed to making more cholesterol, so reductions in dietary cholesterol may not be enough to keep blood cholesterol levels in check, Diewald said. Others are hyper-responders, meaning increases in dietary cholesterol may quickly be reflected in blood cholesterol measures. Still others can pack away omelet after omelet and see no changes in cholesterol.

Rather than demonizing eggs or putting them on a pedestal based on the latest studies, Diewald suggests looking at the big picture. Eggs contain a ton of important nutrients, and yes, they also contain a large amount of cholesterol. For the most part, when consumed in moderation, eggs can be part of a nutritious diet alongside other heart-healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, other sources of lean protein and healthy fats. But keep an eye on your blood work, and always pay attention to what your doctor recommends.

Read more:
How Many Eggs Are Healthy To Eat? Experts Weigh In. - HuffPost

Washing hands has been considered to be the most-effective tip for coronavirus prevention

Coronavirus in India: Cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Delhi, NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Bengaluru and Karnataka. The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 29 after a Paytm employee was tested positive. Now is the time to take precautionary measures. Wash your hands with soap and water as many times as you can. Cover your face while sneezing and coughing and use a mask regularly. At this point of time, it is also important that you work towards improving your immunity.

Vitamin C-rich foods are considered to be the most effective when it comes to boosting your immunity. Here are some foods that must be a part of your diet for coronavirus prevention:

Also read: Coronavirus Prevention: Know When And How To Wash Your Hands To Stay Safe

Celeb nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar says that amla must be a part of your daily diet. The Indian gooseberry is a powerhouse of nutrients, especially Vitamin C, and antioxidants that work great for boosting your immunity. To include amla in your diet, you can have a tsp of chyawanprash in morning and in evening. You can have a raw amla (if you have the courage) or amla pickle or a mixture of amla and garlic clove on an empty stomach in order to improve your immunity.

This is a popular a concoction that is commonly consumed when suffering from cough and cold. A tulsi and ginger tea is what you need right now for giving a boost to your immunity. Boil a glass of water, add a few tulsi leaves, a small piece of grated ginger and a dash of black pepper. All these ingredients can help in fighting harmful bacteria and may keep viral infections away.

Also read:Ginger: Not Just Diabetes; It Can Help Reduce Blood Pressure As Well; Here's How You Should Have It

Crush a piece of ginger and some tulsi leaves. And some honey to the mixture and have a tsp of this mixture in morning and in evening to keep your immunity strong.

A cup of ginger, tulsi and honey tea can boost your immunity naturallyPhoto Credit: iStock

Your daily dose of immunity can also come from homemade laddos made with some powerful ingredients like jaggery, ghee, turmeric and ginger powder. Remember, turmeric is the powerful secret ingredient here. It may provide a strange, slightly pungent taste to the laddoos, but it is the one ingredient which can take you a long way for a strong immunity. To prepare these laddoos, you need a tsp of powdered turmeric, a tsp of jaggery, a tsp of ghee and a tsp of ginger powder. Mix all ingredients well and prepare small round balls or laddoos. Have two or three every day for a stronger immunity.

Also read:India Confirms 29 Coronavirus Cases; Do Not Panic But Boost Your Immunity With These Amazing Expert Tips To Fight It

Well, well. The age-old, time-tested remedy is here to your rescue yet again. A cup of haldi doodh (turmeric latte as it is popularly called) before bed time every day can do wonders for improving your immunity. What's more, it can help in reducing joint pain and arthritis pain. Add a tsp of turmeric powder to boiled milk. Add jaggery or honey to taste if you want it sweet. Drink it at least half an hour before bed time to get good sleep and be disease-free.

A cup of turmeric milk at night can help in boosting your immunityPhoto Credit: iStock

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

Original post:
Coronavirus Prevention: 5 Immunity Boosting Tips That Actually Work - NDTV News

In the case of weight and diet articles, they feed the focus we have as a society on these issues. And the focus we all have on these issues is markedly unhealthy, for people of every weight.

Why? Partly because if we prioritise our weight then we can be susceptible to compromising our health (for example, by crash dieting), and partly because if we make weight our primary value then it becomes easy to devalue those who dont conform to those ideals. Weight stigma and "fat-phobia" are rampant, not only within our community, but within the medical profession and the effect is devastating; driving further weight-gain, self-hatred and mental ill-health, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders and exercise avoidance.

Through our unhealthy focus and through our communal judgment, we are helping no one and exacerbating an escalating public health epidemic.

And that is before we even consider the impact of those in the food industry knowingly selling us processed foods that make us sick or those profiting off peddling diets that dont work to the vulnerable.

While many diets can accurately claim to work at least initially, because if we restrict calories we will lose weight they hook us into a cycle because firstly they are unsustainable and secondly we are hard-wired to put on more weight when they inevitably come to an end.

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When we diet, we lose both fat and muscle. But when we stop the diet, we typically just gain back the fat, unless we are exercising particularly intensely to preserve muscle.

With each of those cycles you shift your body composition more and more towards a higher fat percentage, which is a less metabolically efficient machine, Mark Bittman and Dr David Katz explain in their new book, How to Eat. Fat requires fewer calories to maintain its size than muscle does. So essentially, you create a pathway by which you need fewer calories each time to maintain fat and require even more severe calorie restriction to lose it.

Blaming individuals for finding themselves stuck in this spiral is as futile as it is short-sighted.

The choices any one of us make are always subordinate to the choices all of us have, Bittman and Katz argue. We live in a food supply willfully designed by experts to maximise eating for the sake of corporate profits... blaming overweight people and those with diabetes is all wrong. Bathroom scales and glucometers do not measure character or worth, and we have to unbundle disease and personal responsibility... to confront the health threat of obesity without blaming the victims of the condition for it.

So how do we do this?

We have to recognise our collective role in contributing to the problem we all face, our subconscious or conscious weight biases. We have to reject the weight stigma that diet culture relies on and redirect our frustration at a food system that willfully promotes foods that make us ill.

One thing we can all do is shift the conversation from weight to health, and we all deserve both health and to be cared for in our bodies.

I think everybody should think about What is health for? What is weight control for? Dr David Katz suggested when we chatted earlier in the week. I think if they pushed on that, they would realise, well the answer is to have the best possible life and it really doesnt help you have the best possible life if youre fixated on your weight or a number on the scale.

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Focus on what youre trying to gain vitality, energy, the ability to do the things youd like to do with gusto and it turns out if you get that formula right your weight will sort itself out too.

In their report, the World Obesity Federation said that the cycle of shame and blame needs to be broken: [We need] to re-evaluate our approach for addressing this complex, chronic disease that affects over 650 million adults and more than 125 million children worldwide.

I couldnt agree more and that change starts with the attitudes of us all and where we direct our attention.

Body Language is our wellbeing column, examining trending issues in diet, health and fitness.

Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

View post:
'Helping no one': The role we all play in the obesity epidemic - Sydney Morning Herald

Supplements, multivitamins, and pharmaceutical products arent necessarily controlled stringently by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means that those milligrams and gram dosages you see may not actually be verifiable. Plus, the fillers, preservatives, and artificial ingredients could potentially be dangerous.

So, what is a responsible consumer to do?

Gain some knowledge, perspective, and ample education on these products. By providing yourself with a foundation to use at will, youll also increase the probability of avoiding dangerous products and ensuring that what youre consuming is accurate, high-quality, and beneficial.

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When it comes to sussing out the difference between supplements, multivitamins, and pharmaceuticals, the best place to start is with the actual terminology. Not simply understanding the terms themselves, but the wording that generally goes along with each product. Its truly a complicated web of language, but once you know what to look for its really actually simple!

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The term dietary supplement is exactly what youd think a supplement to your diet that may increase a deficiency or add balance. Alright, if were going super technical, the actual definition ofdietary supplementis a product taken orally that contains one or more ingredients (such as vitamins or amino acids) that are intended to supplement ones diet and are not considered food.

Depending on the type of dietary supplement, they can help you get adequate amounts of essential nutrients if you dont eat a nutritious variety of foods, yet its important to note that supplements cant take the place of the variety of foods that are important to a healthy diet.

Hence that wholesupplementpart of the dietary supplement.

Yes, dietary supplements contain vitamins, but they can also contain minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and many other ingredients. Dietary supplements also come in a variety of forms, including tablets, capsules, gummies, and powders, as well as drinks and energy bars. Each form requires additional ingredients most gummies require gelatin and most tablets have artificial flavors.

Thatmany other ingredientspart tells you a lot about the fact that dietary supplements can have lots of things you may not necessarily want. This makes it even more important to review the ingredients label thoroughly.Yet, its important to know that dietary supplements are required to come with a supplement facts label which lists the active ingredients, the amount per serving (dose), as well as other ingredients, such as fillers, binders, and flavorings.

All the info is there, you just have to take the time to look!

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You may think the termmultivitaminis pretty self-explanatory, but, in reality, its actually not.

Multivitamins also referred to as MVM supplements, as they can be mineral-based contain a combination of vitamins and minerals, and sometimes other ingredients as well. You may also see these referred to as multisandmultiplesor simplyvitamins. Whats even more confusing? Multivitamins are actually a sort of subsection of dietary supplements, so youll also see them calledmultivitamin supplementsand shelved with other dietary supplements.

With that said, while dietary supplements can contain everything from garlic extract to turmeric extract to an herbal-vitamin-mineral-chemical concoction, a multivitamin or mineral supplement generally should stick just to that vitamins and minerals.

Its important to note that multivitamin manufacturers are the ones that choose which vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients, as well as their amounts, to include in their products. With that said, most companies choose to stick to government-mandated recommended amounts, yet not all. Be aware of high doses of certain vitamins which oftentimes come in packs of two or more pills to take each day as well as those that are marketed for special purposes, such as better performance or energy, weight control, or improved immunity, as these products usually contain herbal and other ingredients.

Read the label!

Make sure that the amounts in your multivitamin are close to either the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), Adequate Intakes (AIs), or the Daily Value (DV), which are government-regulated amounts that have been shown safe for human consumption.

Just because theres more, doesnt necessarily mean its better for you.

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Now we get to the big one pharmaceutical.

Per the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, you start looking at the termpharmaceuticalby definingpharmaceutical medicine,which is the medical scientific discipline concerned with the discovery, development, evaluation, registration, monitoring and medical aspects of marketing of medicines for the benefit of patients and the health of the community.

Simply put, its the art of selling pharmaceuticals.

Alright, what are pharmaceutical medications? These are chemicals that are designed to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure a disorder in laymen terms, we simply call them medicines. Keep in mind, there are an immense number and [type] of pharmaceutical drugs, designed to aid almost every type of condition known to medical science.

Yet, returning to the Royal Colleges of Physicians, theres a lot more to a pharmaceutical med then the simple creation and distribution. Theres also clinical testing of medicines, translation of pharmaceutical drug research into new medicines, safety and well-being of research participants in clinical trials, and understanding the safety profile of medicines and their benefit-risk balance.

Its not simply up to you as a consumer, but your physician also has to obtain a thorough understanding of pharmacoeconomics, medical aspects of the marketing of medicines, business administration and the social impact of healthcare on patients and public health, in order to truly prescribe a medication to a patient.

Thats what pharmaceutical reps and pharmaceutical-sponsored conventions are designed around.

Plus, theres a whole onslaught of pharmaceutical physicians doctors that work in the pharmaceutical industry, yet maintain a position or relationship with medical colleges in primary and secondary health care and at universities.

Simply put, theres a lot of hands in the pot of a single pharmaceutical drug from the invention to testing to financing to marketing to selling.

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Now that weve got the terminology down, its time to take a closer look at how our government regulates, guides, and advises upon each of these products. This may actually be the most important part of the pie! While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cant always guarantee 100 percent safety and efficacy of their systems, their involvement absolutely increases the consumers ability to trust in the quality and ingredients label of the product.

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As multivitamins are actually a subcategory of dietary supplements, they both follow the same guidelines.

When it comes to dietary supplements, there are two sides to the coin: guidelines for the manufacturer and guidelines for the consumer.

For the manufacturer, there actually arent that many regulations.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates both finished dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients. With that said, they regulate dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those covering conventional foods and drug products. This basically means that supplements dont suffer the same severe scrutiny that food and pharmaceutical drugs do.

First and foremost, while manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. This means that the companies themselves are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products. Luckily, the companies must ensure they meet all the requirements of DSHEA [Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994] and FDA regulations and the FDA is tasked with taking action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplements product after it reaches the market, as long as they catch it.

When it comes to labeling, theres actually a guideline of almost any type of label out there including Liquid Dietary Supplements, Substances added to Foods and Beverages, Ephedrine Alkaloids, Nutrient Content Claims, to name just a few. There are also labeling guidelines when it comes to warning statements, new dietary ingredients, and substantiation for claims, to name just a few more.

For the consumer, theres LOTS of information to know about how these pills are regulated.

While there are a host of FDA guidelines almost too many to remember there are a few that stand out and should be noted. Here are a few:

Basically, a supplement company has full reign to create, promote, and begin selling their product without almost any interference by the FDA. With that said, once the supplement hits the market, dietary supplement firms must report to FDA any serious adverse events that are reported to them by consumers or health care professionals.

So, when it comes to dietary supplements and multivitamins, consumers are the guinea pigs. Thats why its so incredibly important to read the ingredients labels. Most of the regulations that these companies follow have to do with labeling.

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On the other hand, when it comes to pharmaceutical medications and drugs, there are too many regulations and guidelines for consumers to even consider.

This is a good thing!

Specifically, the FDA actually has a group designed to watch out for the safety of drugs, called the Consumer Watchdog for Safe and Effective Drugs (CDER). CDER was designed to evaluate new drugs before they can be sold by ensuring that drugs, both brand-name and generic, work correctly and that their health benefits outweigh their known risks.

When CDER uses the word drug, theyre actually referring to a wide range of products including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, generic drugs, and other drug-related products such as fluoride toothpastes, antiperspirants, dandruff shampoos, and sunscreens.

Of course, vitamins and dietary supplements can be sold without prior approval from the FDA and are regulated by the FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and dont fall under CDERs scrutiny.

Before a drug is allowed to be sold, it must pass over a variety of hurdles including an incredibly thorough drug development and review process. Per the Food and Drug Administration and CDER site, the process goes like this:

Drug companies seeking to sell a drug in the United States must first test it. The company then sends CDER the evidence from these tests to prove the drug is safe and effective for its intended use. A team of CDER physicians, statisticians, chemists, pharmacologists, and other scientists reviews the companys data and proposed labeling. If this independent and unbiased review establishes that a drugs health benefits outweigh its known risks, the drug is approved for sale.

With that said, its important to note that CDER doesnt actually test drugs itself, although it does conduct limited research in the areas of drug quality, safety, and effectiveness standards.

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As you can see, all three products supplements, multivitamins, and pharmaceuticals have potential dangers to be aware of. Yet, ironically enough, those that are the most highly regulated were talking pharmaceuticals here are actually the most dangerous. This is not only due to the chemical content, but its also about the behind the scenes of these companies, the big money influences, and the possible dramatic damage that can be sustained.

While the government as enforced as strict safety guidelines via CDER as possible, theres a lot of backdoor wheeling and dealing that goes on when it comes to big money companies.

In an article by Science Magazine entitledHidden conflicts? Pharma payments to FDA advisers after drug approvals spark ethical concern,the process and potential ethical issues are laid out.

How does it work?

In order for the FDA to approve a drug, a meeting takes place to vote on the drug involving medical researchers, physicians, and patient advocates. During the meeting, the pharmaceutical company gives a presentation in which medical data and clinical trials are presented. The FDA takes painstaking precautions via a well-established system to identify possible conflicts of interest before such advisory panels meet, given that they either approve or deny a drug based upon these meeting outcomes.

Unfortunately, one example discovered a hole in their process.

When the drug Brilinta hit the market, all seemed great. This multi-billion dollar drug was meant to prevent heart attacks and strokes by limiting blood clotting and it was selling like gangbusters. Yet, the big companies behind the drug AstraZeneca and other firms began to splurge large quantities of money on four physicians that had been part of the advisory group. These payments were supposedly for travel and advice.These are called pay-later conflicts of interest, and they have gone largely unnoticed and entirely unpoliced.

Due to excellent reporting by Science Magazine journalists, they reviewed compensation records from drug companies to physicians who advised FDA on whether to approve 28 psychopharmacologic, arthritis, and cardiac or renal drugs between 2008 and 2014, and found widespread after-the-fact payments or research support to panel members.

This is just one example of many regarding how big pharma has influenced those that stand in their way over the years.

Of course, this doesnt mean we shouldnt be taking pharmaceutical medications. Some of us wouldnt survive without them. All it means is that a little bit of research and digging may be necessary on the consumers part in order to verify that the drug youre taking is a verifiably and ethically produced drug.

janjf93/Pixabay

As scary as it is, there are a handful of companies out there that have your best interest and health at heart. Yes, thats hard to imagine, but its true! Here are five of the most trusted brands of supplements and multivitamins that you can feel good about purchasing. Youll note that pharmaceuticals are not included on this list, as those are doctor prescribed. Just make sure you ask the right questions, talk with your doctor, and do the necessary research before beginning any pharmaceutical regimen.

Of course, its always important to speak with a medical professional before embarking on a new supplement regimen!

Garden of Life Vitamin D3/Amazon.com

If youve followed any of my articles then this one doesnt cause any surprise. Garden of Life is one of the most trusted brands of supplements and multivitamins available. They carry a host of incredibly hard to obtain government-regulated certifications including certified USDA organic, non-GMO verified, certified Vegan, certified Gluten-Free and NSF certified, Kosher certified via the Orthodox Unions Kosher Division and Star-K Kosher Certification, Green-e Energy certified, LEED Gold certified, and B-corp certified.

Garden of Life not only follows the FDA guidelines, but they also have self-proclaimed guidelines including creating products based on the natural ingredients in whole foods, keeping out chemicals and unhealthy ingredients, and achieving maximum traceability. Traceability refers to knowing where each and every ingredient in our product comes from and getting to know each and every source.

MaryRuths Organic Liquid Probiotics/Amazon.com

This is yet another one that pops up on vegan supplement lists almost every single time! MaryRuths Organics not only offers a huge variety of types of supplements, but they also focus on organic ingredients and vegan-friendly recipes. Run by Mary Ruth, a Certified Health Educator, Nutritional Consultant, and Culinary Chef, this company focuses on providing wholesome supplements for the entire family.They focus on products that are non-GMO, plant-based, vegan, with as few allergens as possible.

Deva Vegan Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement/Amazon.com

Deva is one of those super exclusive companies that make solely vegan supplements. These companies are few and far between as they need to go a step further in the process to find chemical-free vegan-friendly alternatives for their supplements. Yet, Deva goes even further with earth-friendly certifications including Labor Day, the Vegan Society, Co-op America, and America Forests certifications. Their mission is to deliver high-quality vegan/vegetarian vitamins and supplements with the best value to our customers, while focusing on both health and planet-conscious practices.

We also highly recommend downloading ourFood Monster App, which is available foriPhone, and can also be found onInstagramandFacebook. The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

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What's the Difference Between Supplements, Vitamins, and Pharmaceuticals? - One Green Planet