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Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem
By: ANAHAD O’CONNOR, 11/03/2013
Americans spend an estimated $5 billion a year on unproven herbal supplements that promise everything from fighting off colds to curbing hot flashes and boosting memory. But now there is a new reason for supplement buyers to beware: DNA tests show that many pills labeled as healing herbs are little more than powdered rice and weeds.
Using a test called DNA barcoding, a kind of genetic fingerprinting that has also been used to help uncover labeling fraud in the commercial seafood industry, Canadian researchers tested 44 bottles of popular supplements sold by 12 companies. They found that many were not what they claimed to be, and that pills labeled as popular herbs were often diluted — or replaced entirely — by cheap fillers like soybean, wheat and rice.
For more on this story visit http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem.html?ref=science&_r=2&
Source: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem
If the study will not name names of companies then it is just hearsay or propaganda in my opinion. Here are some alternatives to herbs in a pill or capsule:
Bulk Herbs here:
http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/home.php
Live medicinal and culinary plants here:
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/
Seeds for medicinal and culinary plants here:
http://www.horizonherbs.com/
I have purchased from all three of these companies as well as buying bulk herbshe pound and haslf pound from a local Chinese herb shop. My favorites are Danshen, jiaogulan, fo ti, astragalas, gotu kola, and ginko biloba. I have read over 1000 pubmed research abstracts over the years. A couple of years ago I had my blood and urine analysis done as well as heart rate and blood pressure for a life insurance policy. Apparently this fifty something has the physiology of a twenty something. I also take a multi vitamin as well a s extra vitamin c and magnesium among other things. The only herb that I am currently buying that is in a capsule or pill is Noni.
Check these herbs out for yourself on pubmed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed