Introduction: the Concern Multivitamins have long been considered an inexpensive nutritional insurance policy. However, with no tangible or immediate way of assessing effect and no go-ahead from the FDA, whose testing determines safety and efficacy, consumers rely on the age…
Fish Oil and Joint Health
Joints: The Basics The body contains over 350 joints, the areas at which two bones meet. Most joints are moveable, which means that they allow for a variety of intricate, precise movements by manipulating the position of the unbendable bones…
Caramel Color: an Overview
Not quite the same as the tasty caramel we get when we melt sugar, caramel color—seen on the ingredient labels of many popular soft-drinks—is an artificial coloring agent recently brought into the public spotlight for its suggested negative health effects.…
Weight Loss Aid Causes Hepatitis Outbreak
OxyElite Pro, a popular dietary supplement claimed to help burn fat, led to an outbreak of severe inflammatory liver disease in nearly 100 people across 16 states as of February of this year. The liver plays central roles in digestion,…
The Weight Loss Effects of Drinking Water
Drinking a few cups of water before a meal has been shown to be a safe and easy way to avoid consuming those extra calories responsible for growing our waist lines. The effect is simple: water helps increase satiety, effectively…
Green Coffee Extract as a Weight-Loss Aid: the Facts
The weight loss industry has seen its fair share of short-cut laden fads, promising results after minimal effort. These marketing tactics often work—raspberry ketone product sales, for example, grew by triple digits in 2013, a year after they first received…
The Effects of Glucosamine on Longevity
Glucosamine-based dietary supplements are popular for the supposed health-promoting and pain-relieving effects on joints, although several long-term clinical studies have debunked this popular opinion down to medical myth, showing that placebo is just as effective as glucosamine supplementation in alleviating…
What is BHT and Why is it in Centrum?
Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) is a synthetic preservative used to prevent the oxidation and subsequent spoilage of oils and fats. Typically added to fat-containing foods in an effort to increase their shelf-life, it is also commonly used in the supplement, cosmetic,…
Do Vitamins Go Bad?
Should you be taking that Vitamin D supplement you’ve had on your kitchen counter for the past 2 years? What if it’s past its expiration date? Many supplement users will wonder what the aging process does to supplements – “will…
What Are Antioxidants and How Do They Work?
Antioxidants have long been known to have protective effects against a host of chronic diseases, cancer included. Their ability to neutralize compounds called free radicals—the unstable molecular entities responsible for disease development—has secured their recommendation in any healthy diet and…