SFist: Kelp Supplements: Not The Cure You’re Probably Looking For

dlindy2730

Wed, 02 May 2007 19:40:03 -0800

Hey does anyone have experience brewing kombucha tea.. I know it is crazy healthy and I am thinking about getting a mushroom. mmmm . Does anyone know how hard it is to brew? Thanks.

dlindy2730

Wed, 02 May 2007 19:37:43 -0800

Hey does anyone have experience brewing kombucha tea.. I know it is crazy healthy and I am thinking about getting a mushroom. mmmm . Does anyone know how hard it is to brew? Thanks.

Diana

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:05:52 -0800

Why has nobody questioned the "study" done on the kelp supplements? If you look at the study, ALL of the supplements tested were the same brand. Furthermore, three of the positive results came from the same bottle. This was not a broad test, but a very small test ( 9 bottles total) that the media picked up on and sensationalized. Try taking a look at numerous other studies that show the benefits of preventive supplements.

Happy Chandler

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:33:44 -0800

Now I remember what I was leading up to. Natural supplement ingredients come from unregulated Chinese factories. Cat food comes from unregulated Chinese factories. Nuff said. I include the much-vaunted by the Trader Joe's sect "Airborne" in this category. You have no idea what's in there. Whatever it is, it ain't proven to work, and it's basically unregulated.

Kevin

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:26:19 -0800

All herbal and most vitamin supplements go to show there is STILL a sucker born every minute. These "health food" stores and such are nothing but modern day snake oil wagons masquerading as "health and nutrition". Every few years, something like selenium or HGH or anything high in antioxidants comes along with some get-rich-quick quack backing it up as the next panacea. Millions of dollars and poor suckers later, science proves it to be not only ineffectual at it's proclaimed effects, but in many cases harmful. Let science speak for itself and when you hear about something, ask for the scientific proof. IF there isn't any, you have faith that what you're taking works. Therefore, you are a faith-based health practioner, not science (reality) based. And stupid people suffer. Especially stupid hippies or desperate fools who want to believe something magically works. In that case, you might as well try prayer (also proven ineffectual).

Lynne Eldridge M.D.

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:43:46 -0800

This is a good reminder, to try and take a dietary approach as much as possible to get the phytochemicals we need for good health. Lest the arsenic in supplements issue causes us to run from seaweed, kelp as an ingredient in recipes may well have value in a cancer prevention diet. In Japan, where kelp is used in miso soups, as a snack, and as a thickening agent, there is a low incidence of breast cancer. Kelp is thought to have ant-estrogen properties, and studies have shown that women who consume more kelp dietarily have more time between menstrual periods, and significanctly less menstrual pain. At home we use kelp in soups to disguise it from suspicious children! Lynne Eldridge M.D. Author, "Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice for Preventing Cancer"

Happy Chandler

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:21:42 -0800

Herbal supplements are a crapshoot. There is no good way to tell what you are getting, there has been case after case of mislabeled supplements (anywhere from ~0% of the labeled ingredient being there to many times over) and no requirement that the product be proven either safe or effective before it's sold. Ephedra was long sold as an unregulated supplement, and it was a very dangerous substance that is now illegal. It was sold for years without proof that it was safe or effective. I think most supplement ingredients come from China. Production regulations in China are non-existant. There is no control over what gets put into these pills that you willingly put in your body. This is just another sad chapter in the tale of supplements.