Reviewed By Susan Schenck

In this provocative, well researched book, Supplements Exposed (New Page Books/ 2009) Dr. Brian Clement challenges everything we think we know about supplements. The first myth he exposes is that we can get our nutrition without supplements, from food alone. He cites a U.S. Senate report dating back to 1936 which proved that our soil is depleted in nutrients, and explains that even organic soil is insufficient!

Another misconception is that synthetic vitamins are equal to natural nutrients, or even effective or absorbed at all. (In fact, many indigested vitamins are found in Port Potties!) As director of the Hippocrates Institute, he has examined the blood of over 11,000 guests who used synthetic supplements and has shown this to be true.

But here is where it gets tricky: Synthetic vitamins are allowed to label their product as being from whole foods or from a food source by legal loopholes—when in fact they simply have a base of algae, yeast or other bacterium or food medium that was spiked with synthetic vitamins! Our best option is to purchase “products that state on their label that their vitamin or mineral or nutrient potencies came from Naturally Occurring Food Sources and mention on their label which exact foods those sources are. Also, any vitamin products that carry the NOS (Naturally Occurring Standard) logo are safe and guaranteed to have vitamin potencies that only come from real, whole foods” (p. 161).

Additional myths exposed are that vitamin studies are reliable, and we are given a list of 5 reasons why. We also learn to mistrust the label “Natural” as it really can include toxic additives. Common additives found in supplements include fillers, binders, disintegrants, lubricants, flavoring agents, coloring agents, coating materials and preservatives.

There is an entire chapter devoted to the fallacy of fish oils. Brian explains that they are based on fish that is toxic, and this creates lipid peroxide contamination. There has been a lot of propaganda to take fish oil especially for its DHA benefits (the brain being about 60% DHA). I disagree with Brian that most people can get their Omega-3s from flax seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts, and let the body convert them to the DHA and EPA that the brain so desperately needs. People who are over 30 (unless they have been vegan most their lives), sick, toxic, or have a history of taking drugs often need to take the DHA and EPA directly---either from fish, algae or eggs from chickens that were fed flax or chia seeds.

An in-depth chapter is provided about the role of specific vitamins, and another on the main minerals. Appendix A gives us food sources for these nutrients. These chapters make this a great resource book!

The end of the book contains alarming information about Codex. Their goal (since 1962) has been that the drug companies will (on Dec 31, 2009!) take over the vitamins, making them available (except minute, ineffective dosages) only by doctors' prescriptions. And they will probably become as expensive as drugs! Who knows whether they will even carry NOS vitamins? We are losing our health freedom because the mainstream media (virtually owned by the drug companies) is silent about this.

Brian R. Clement, PhD, NMD, LNC, is codirector of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. The author of several books, Dr. Clement, has graduate degrees in both nutritional science and naturopathic medicine, has spent three decades researching and practicing nutrition. He has traveled to more than 40 countries conducting lectures, seminars, and educational programs on nutrition and health. He has been commissioned by government-supported organizations to organize and direct health programs in Greece, India, Ireland, Switzerland, and Denmark.

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Susan Schenck is author of The Live Food Factor

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