Industry attacks supplements to eliminate weight-loss competition.
Big Pharma is at it again, this time teaming up with other anti-supplement cohorts to spearhead a petition that urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement stringent new limitations on manufacturers of weight-management supplements. Of course, it should come as no surprise that the particular large pharmaceutical corporation which helped launch the petition is the very same company that recently released the first-ever FDA-approved over-the-counter (OTC) weight-loss drug. It’s as transparent as it seems: Big Pharma is after big bucks, and it will stop at nothing to eliminate the competition.
The pharmaceutical industry has a lot riding on OTC weight-loss pills. Safe, natural nutrition that works with the body to support healthy weight management is a considerable threat to Big Pharma’s OTC weightloss drug profits. Consumers are increasingly aware that while nutrition supports health as nature intended, drugs can subject them to side effects and even neutralize nutrition’s benefits.
The recently approved OTC weightloss pill exemplifies this: By acting on the body’s absorption of fats within the intestines, the drug inhibits the body’s ability to absorb important fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E and K. As for the weight loss drug’s potential side effects—suffice it to say that the drug’s manufacturer cautions that users may have to wear dark pants and bring a change of clothes to work.
Being Overweight Is a Disease?
As questionable as the OTC weight-loss drug may be in and of itself, it is the latest development—the drug’s manufacturer urging the FDA to crack down on weightmanagement supplements— that is most disturbing. The petition’s logic: Nutritional supplements should not be allowed to claim that they support healthy weight management because being overweight really should be regarded as a state of disease. According to the law, only drugs may claim to have an effect on disease. But since when is being overweight, even just a few pounds, a disease?
Even more absurd is the petition’s next illogical leap: It claims that since being overweight can be associated with disease states, then supplements that support healthy weight management are, by proxy, claiming to have an impact on those diseases. That’s quite a stretch! The petition’s authors appear to be trying very hard to create a link between weight management supplements and disease claims that simply does not exist—as a result, the petition appears desperate and nonsensical.
Weight Loss the Right Way
Meanwhile, nutritional supplement manufacturers market their products truthfully: Any quality supplement intended to support weight management is promoted in conjunction with healthy diet and exercise. If Americans consistently choose healthy diet, exercise and natural nutrition, not only will they lose weight, they will elevate their overall state of health. Such a scenario is Big Pharma’s worst nightmare. If America is happy, energetic and at a healthy weight, there is no need for synthetic medications—and Big Pharma makes no profits.
So how do you feel about Big Pharma’s latest gambit to undermine natural nutrition? If the petition to limit weight-management nutrition fills you with outrage, start your own petition supporting natural health. Let your elected officials know how you feel! Another way to make your voice heard is through the dollars you spend: Patronize independent natural health food stores and purchase safe, natural nutritional supplements from companies that have no pharmaceutical industry ties. To join with other people who feel as you do, become a member of the Nutritional Health Alliance (NHA) health freedom advocacy group. For the sake of health freedom, join the NHA today!
Reprinted with permission: Nutritional Health Alliance (NHA)
