Consumers today face a new challenge. Not only do they need to know which foods and health aids make up a healthy diet, they need to know how to get non GMO vitamins and supplements. Mainstream American farmers and food producers have enthusiastically embraced genetic modification. It's harder than ever to get truly natural, untainted foods and nutritional products. The only way to do it is to grow your own or find producers whose integrity you can rely on.
So far, the 'organic' certification should mean that no genetically modified ingredients are in a product. However, this could change if forces that want to weaken the standards succeed in getting the FDA to change the rules. Those who care should make their views known to the government and should ask questions of supplement providers to be sure of their standards.
It's also important to ask manufacturers directly about quality control policies. Few supplement producers make their own ingredients. Most buy raw materials and then compound their products; some merely buy already finished products and re-label them. The third-party 'organic' certification will mean that all ingredients are 'clean'. However, it's still the integrity of the producer that really matters. Remember, too, that an 'all-natural' claim may be virtually meaningless, since this term has not been legally defined.
Some high-quality brands have well-established reputations for purity. They have earned the public's trust by years of integrity. Buying products from industry leaders rather than unknown companies is one way of getting 'clean' vitamin pills and supplemental nutrients. All concentrated health aids are unnatural in one context, since high dosages of a single nutrient are not found in naturally growing things. However, minimal processing and careful production can means safe, effective, and healthy products.
Even knowing reputable manufacturers does not mean that you can lower your guard. Many companies that set the standard for the industry in the early days of supplements have been sold. The name might be the same, but the standards are now controlled by the new owners (subject to any agreement made when the sale was finalized). When a company is sold, consumers need to make new assessments.
Finding a non-GMO designation on the label is helpful, of course. More and more, manufacturers of truly natural products want customers to know that they are not including ingredients that have been changed into substances never found in nature. After all, the whole idea of alternative healing and health maintenance is that the body will take care of itself if given the right nutrition. If more companies keep their products 'clean' and advertised the fact, and if consumers learn to value truly natural products, the industry will correct itself.
Reports of research into the safety of genetic engineering are confusing for many. Industry-backed studies say these altered foods are safe. However, there's a lot of history in the food industry of unhealthy foods being touted as 'good for you.' Think of margarine, for instance. Once acclaimed as heart-healthy, it is now condemned - just as the health food people said all along.
Claims of safety may be premature. GMOs have not been around long enough to really know their effects. To be sure of getting the health benefits you need, choose health aids without genetically engineered ingredients.
So far, the 'organic' certification should mean that no genetically modified ingredients are in a product. However, this could change if forces that want to weaken the standards succeed in getting the FDA to change the rules. Those who care should make their views known to the government and should ask questions of supplement providers to be sure of their standards.
It's also important to ask manufacturers directly about quality control policies. Few supplement producers make their own ingredients. Most buy raw materials and then compound their products; some merely buy already finished products and re-label them. The third-party 'organic' certification will mean that all ingredients are 'clean'. However, it's still the integrity of the producer that really matters. Remember, too, that an 'all-natural' claim may be virtually meaningless, since this term has not been legally defined.
Some high-quality brands have well-established reputations for purity. They have earned the public's trust by years of integrity. Buying products from industry leaders rather than unknown companies is one way of getting 'clean' vitamin pills and supplemental nutrients. All concentrated health aids are unnatural in one context, since high dosages of a single nutrient are not found in naturally growing things. However, minimal processing and careful production can means safe, effective, and healthy products.
Even knowing reputable manufacturers does not mean that you can lower your guard. Many companies that set the standard for the industry in the early days of supplements have been sold. The name might be the same, but the standards are now controlled by the new owners (subject to any agreement made when the sale was finalized). When a company is sold, consumers need to make new assessments.
Finding a non-GMO designation on the label is helpful, of course. More and more, manufacturers of truly natural products want customers to know that they are not including ingredients that have been changed into substances never found in nature. After all, the whole idea of alternative healing and health maintenance is that the body will take care of itself if given the right nutrition. If more companies keep their products 'clean' and advertised the fact, and if consumers learn to value truly natural products, the industry will correct itself.
Reports of research into the safety of genetic engineering are confusing for many. Industry-backed studies say these altered foods are safe. However, there's a lot of history in the food industry of unhealthy foods being touted as 'good for you.' Think of margarine, for instance. Once acclaimed as heart-healthy, it is now condemned - just as the health food people said all along.
Claims of safety may be premature. GMOs have not been around long enough to really know their effects. To be sure of getting the health benefits you need, choose health aids without genetically engineered ingredients.
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