Regulatory Hooey Protects Us From Our Own Health

Legislation is getting legs to further curtail your use of nutritional supplements. Not too long ago, prior to passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) ? which was accomplished by millions of letters to legislators by people like you ? the FDA acted like a Gestapo against supplements, manufacturers and professional advocates. They would raid at gunpoint the medical offices of doctors advocating the merits of nutritional supplements, shut down manufacturers, harass stores, confiscate products and prevent education of the public on nutritional labels. You know, because so many people were dying of supplements like Coenzyme Q-10 and herbs like the natural sweetener stevia.

Not really. Actually, not at all. While they were busy making sure natural and safe substances were tightly controlled, millions of people were becoming ill and dying from their "approved" pharmaceuticals. It's like a policeman arresting jaywalkers while letting rape occur in the alley.

I'm all for regulation that makes sense. The tight control over nutritional substances, however, is nonsense. Yes, there can be found evidence somewhere that some natural substances have caused harm. But so can water and oxygen cause harm if not used properly. Everything has a risk, but many things have great benefit, too. That is why full and honest disclosure is important and should not be impeded. This is actually a free speech issue that we should insist upon.

The FDA is basically an arm of the conventional medical establishment. Supplements and self-care are a threat to that establishment, and the resultant paranoia is what underlies onerous and picayune regulatory intrusion.

On to pet food regulation. Here it gets even more ridiculous. The freedoms extended by DSHEA to humans are not given to animals. Why? Because legislators forgot to write it in. So pet food regulators approve "dehydrated garbage" (actual listing in the pet food regulators' handbook) and "dried poultry waste," but ban beneficial substances like Coenzyme Q-10, most amino acids, pollen, chondroitin, glucosamine, quercitin, ginkgo, certain omega-3 fatty acids and many others. Regulators busy themselves editing pet food labels to make sure the lethal "100% complete and balanced" claim is stated carefully and placed in the right label spot, and issue "stop sale" orders on products with labels not perfectly complicit. (To review these issues in detail, see Chapter 21 in The Truth About Pet Foods.) Each state (count 'em ? 50!) has its own regulatory body, which can have its own rules. Plus there are regulations from The American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as well as the FDA and USDA. The cost to manufacturers for scrapping and revising labels adds huge costs to the end consumer ... and not only brings no benefit but creates immeasurable harm by distracting from the central issue of pet health, namely, pets should be fed in variety and enjoy fresh foods offered, not force fed so-called "100% complete" processed foods at every meal.

How do regulators justify not at least extending the freedoms of DSHEA to animals? Well, they say what is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in humans may not be in animals. They can then cite the potential toxicity of chocolate or aspirin in cats. These are the same people who justify millions of animals tortured in laboratories to prove the safety of drugs in humans. In other words, GRAS substances should not be used in animals because human physiology is different than animals, but pharmaceutical substances and biocides can be used in humans if they are deemed safe in animals. You figure the logic in that.

I'm sure there are many well meaning, hard working, honest folks in regulatory agencies. They are just doing what law mandates. On the other hand, there are some budding little Hitlers amongst the groups as well.

But this is America and in America the government is supposed to be servant to the people, not vice versa. Your voice is important and does have incredible power. Legislators want votes and that is the currency you can use to swing the system to your favor.

Tell regulators and legislators you want at least the rights afforded under DSHEA maintained. (Please go to http://www.wysong.net/ehealth/appropriationscommittee.htm for contact information.) E-mail your senators today and ask them to vote to preserve your rights to free access to dietary supplements and that you would like your pets to have these rights as well. Fax also is effective, but mail will be too slow and may not even be opened for fear of terrorist bugs. Forward this to your friends and encourage them to take action also.

Dr. Wysong is a former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. He is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy now in its eleventh printing, a new two volume set on philosophy for living entitled Thinking Matters: 1-Living Life... As If Thinking Matters; 2-The Big Questions...As If Thinking Matters, several books on nutrition, prevention and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly health newsletters. He may be contacted at Wysong@Wysong.net and a free subscription to his e-Health Letter is available at http://www.wysong.net

---

Positive People Power - Taking Control By Being Proactive NOT Reactive!

WE MUST PUT A STOP TO THE EVER-INCREASING PRICE OF... Read More

Arrogance Of Terror

The man on the tape raised his hand, pointing a... Read More

Secret Clandestine Facial Recognition Countermeasures and The Future of the CIA

Presently Universities and Private Enterprise are working to build more... Read More

Social Security Rant

As the Baby Boomer Generation continue to get older, one... Read More

The True Power of Terrorism

Those of us hundreds of miles from ground zero sat... Read More

Self Destruct Strategies in UAV Construction

All UAVs Need a Self Destruct BLOS DeviceWhat do you... Read More

The Reconstruction of Europe

The Second World War was the continuation of World War... Read More

Chinese Military Build Up - Sun Tzu and Chinese War Machine

We are currently seeing a build up in China of... Read More

Media Advertising: New Alcohol Advertising Codes - 1 October 2005

Businesses advertising alcohol either in TV or non-broadcast format need... Read More

Whats Right About Nebraska: How the Democrats Lost the Heart of American Populism

(Note: This article was written slightly before the 2004 election;... Read More

So How Far Have We Come? Here are some of the 2001 Anti Terrorist Projects

An article in Information Week in January 14, 2002 discussed... Read More

For they know not what they do; Federal Regulators destroying business

Federal Regulations on Business Destroy America, these regulations are a... Read More

The World of Diplomatic Backstage

De-classification of official documents have been a routine practice in... Read More

Cloning; The Possibilities and Advantages of Thought Swapping

We can all see the issues involved in the cloning... Read More

Philosophical Thoughts from a Road Warrior; Part II

Continued thoughts while driving down the road in a huge... Read More

Mexican Tariffs on American Goods?

Mexican has tariffs on goods, which come into its country... Read More

The Pilgrims and Beacon Hill Mob

In 1966, Dr. Carroll Quigley, a professor of history at... Read More

How to Become a Whistle Blower

Since the United States Government is promoting the whistle blower... Read More

Six Sigma Can Improve Government Practices

Government bodies at any level, local, state, and Federal, can... Read More

The Looting of American Taxpayers Social Security Disability by Fraudulent Employers Pt. 1

For more than a decade, you the American taxpayer have... Read More

NASA and the Crisis Aboard MIR

Some people say that we cannot put a colony on... Read More

Anti Government, Pro Democracy

Many Americans feel betrayed by their government, our government. I... Read More

The Cost of the COLD WAR

Many people who are expert in the issue of the... Read More

Is it just hubris, or ...?

In what the Americans love to describe as the war... Read More

Ohio Department of Transportation; Sector Economic Reality

Ohio's transportation sector seems to be strong, even with Ohio's... Read More

Iranian Elections - Roadmap To Continued Apathy

The recent first round of the Iranian elections somewhat resembled... Read More

Wealth Distribution and Inheritance, What Will They Buy? Cars

Wealth Distribution is often discussed at length in periodicals such... Read More

Federal Trade Commission Will Not Monitor MLM Companies

Having been to every city in the country over the... Read More

Watergate Scandal

On June 16, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate... Read More

Tax Dollars and Transparency of Government Agencies

As we watch fewer Americans voting it is no wonder... Read More

Rule of Thumb For Exporting Technology

Rule of Thumb for exporting technology. The American People need... Read More

Ex-CIA Folks are Problematic

Those who are above the law or act as such... Read More

Oil Pipelines and Rates of Flow

How much oil can travel through a pipeline? It depends... Read More