Help us draw national attention to the many benefits of incorporating dietary supplements into your lifestyle. Action Alert!
Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) have introduced a resolution to designate October 22-28 as Natural Product Industry Week. This is a rare, yet crucial, instance of Congress recognizing the power of dietary supplements to improve our health. It is an important step, particularly as federal agencies like the FDA seek to do the exact opposite: censor information on supplement benefits, stop doctors and clinics from sharing these benefits, work with Big Pharma to turn beneficial natural compounds into monopoly drugs, and seek to ban potentially thousands of beneficial supplements.
The resolution states that, in 2021, 80 percent of Americans reported using dietary supplements, an increase of 9 percent since 2016. Tens of millions of Americans are utilizing the power of vitamins and minerals to improve their health. The increase since 2016 suggests that even more Americans started using supplements to support their health through the pandemic, despite the government’s censorship campaign designed to drive Americans towards vaccination. This is encouraging; even though federal law prevents supplements from communicating truthfully about their many benefits, Americans are still obtaining this information and making decisions to improve their health with these products.
The resolution is a reminder that there is a missed opportunity to dramatically improve healthcare in this country by embracing dietary supplements. This was highlighted by a recent report finding massive savings in both lives and money if common supplements were used to treat chronically ill patients.
Take coronary artery disease, for example. A review of the medical literature shows that supplementing with preventive levels of fish oil led to a risk reduction of 10 percent for CAD events. If people at risk for CAD events supplement with fish oil, the report estimates that 174,811 CAD events could be avoided, saving $5.63 billion. Magnesium supplementation could prevent 93,349 CAD events resulting in $3 billion in healthcare savings. Vitamin K2 was found to reduce the risk for CAD events by 15.7 percent, meaning an estimated 274,933 CAD events could be avoided, resulting in $8.86 billion in savings.
What’s in the way of introducing such common-sense changes to improve our health while saving billions? Pharmaceutical interests and their cronies in the government. Remember, the FDA relies heavily on financial support from the drug industry: the agency receives 45% of its operating budget directly from drug companies in the form of “user fees” (used for the approval of new drugs, biologics and devices), but 65% of the funding for human drug regulatory activities are derived from user fees. This is one of the reasons the FDA makes it so difficult for Americans to learn about the scientifically-proven benefits of supplements like magnesium for heart health. They don’t want you taking affordable supplements to stay healthy; drug companies make money by selling us expensive pills you need to take for years to treat the symptoms, rather than the cause, of chronic diseases.
We’re fighting to change this situation. We want free speech about supplement benefits. We want to close the laws that allow Big Pharma to turn supplements into monopoly drugs. We want to amend proposals that could see thousands of supplements banned from store shelves. While we fight for these reforms, let’s support this resolution to draw greater attention in Congress to the many benefits of supplements.
Action Alert! Write to Congress and ask your elected officials to support the Natural Product Industry Week Resolution. Please send your message immediately.
