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No, the FDA is not qualified to control the natural supplement industry nor any other branch of alternative medicine because they are not trained-they do not understand the vocabulary nor the totally different approach to health care that alternative medicine uses. The testing and dosages, everything, is quite different from what they are used to seeing in their trials. It is not fair to their employees, either-it is like asking them to compare apples and oranges-there is no level field of analysis.

Instead, the alternative medicine groups should band together and create their own regulation system instead of each branch thinking that they have the answer to everything. They do not-you have to pull the best from each field of alternative medicine to tailor the supplements or therapies used to match your own special needs and you need a M.D. or D.O. (an M.D. who has specialized in one of the many alternative medicine or osteopathic fields)who is very experienced in that particular field to guide you. They can run tests which are much more specific for early detection than the usual clinical labs; they can also run the usual lab tests. They have many more tools to use on your behalf and they are famous for taking better health histories-your first visit is one hour long. You resolve things much faster when the facts are all laid out on the table in the beginning. Once you understand the levels of nutrients or toxins in your body, then it makes much more sense which therapy or supplement is needed. People who are deficient or out of balance in various nutrient levels or overall balance in the body are ones who contract disease. The causes are many for those conditions...it is not just the lack of taking one vitamin.

Learn which products are the best from each company and understand their marketing philosophy. There is no way each company can produce every single product you might need-it is too cost prohibitive for them. Synergy is wonderful (using all the products in one company) if you do not have a condition that prohibits a certain ingredient. When you do, you have to learn the science and find what will work best for you.

I do agree that oversight is helpful...consumers need to know what various companies use for their standards and do they even perform clinical research? Do they have their own testing facilities? Are plant extracts removed in a cold process or in a heated process? If you heat enzymes, you kill their efficacy potential. The heated extracts are the ones that sell the "cheapest." I have studied this field for over thirty years and I know which are the cutting-edge new supplements and which homeopathic medicines work the best.

Most Americans do not realize that Europe is far, far ahead of us in this field of alternative medicine. It is reportedly standard practice for the medical students in Europe to be trained in both pharmaceutical and invasive medical procedures as well as in homeopathic medicines, etc. alternative fields of health care. This is common sense-a good doctor should want to use the best from either or both of those fields in order to tailor the treatment to the unique patient in his or her care.

Learn more about this author, Dorothy Marie Kucera.
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