Friend,

Yes, I think that the dietary supplement industry should be regulated, as long
as that regulation is driven by science and not politics.

Regulation, based on scientific findings, would only help the natural
medicine biz, because it has gone awry with wild claims thanks to a circus
of hustlers, preachers and wanna-be guru’s who study sleazy marketing
more than medicine. Promoters of cinnamon supplements laced with chromium
picolinate are proof of this.

[Related: Nature's purest cinnamon and milk thistle at http://alturl.com/otmmb -
all orders today get free eBook on living the glycemic lifestyle!]

$15,000 Helps Find Supplement that Defies Diabetes and Obesity

In my book, Over-The-Counter Natural Cures, I showed how modern day
chemistry methods discovered the unique ability of cinnamon to control
blood sugar, and subsequently defy Type II diabetes and obesity in place of
commonly used drugs like Avandia™. Scouring the shelves of Wal-Mart, Rite
Aid, GNC and Walgreens, I spent over $15,000 testing various supplements to
find “the right” cinnamon product (all readers get free access to this
testing). Spring Valley Cinnamon from Wal-Mart proved to be among the best
choices. But not all Spring Valley Cinnamon is the same; a nasty adulterant
has been added.

Nasty Adulterant Added to Cinnamon

In the name of controlling blood sugar, a pharmaceutical lab creation known
as chromium picolinate has been stuffed into select cinnamon supplements.
The rational is that your body needs it to lower the fat storing hormone
insulin. But that hypothesis has failed scientific scrutiny.

[Related: Nature's purest cinnamon and milk thistle at http://alturl.com/otmmb -
all orders today get free eBook on living the glycemic lifestyle!]

Researchers at Harvard University found that supplementing with chromium
picolinate failed to elicit any significant weight loss. The big fat
failure of chromium picolinate to induce weight loss probably results from
the fact that the obese are not deficient in this metal.

Biologically active chromium (vastly different than its pharmaceutical
counterpart) is readily available in common foods such as whole grains,
processed meats, coffee, nuts, brewer’s yeast and even wine and beer. And
because it is a “co-factor,” the body requires very little of it to use
insulin. Thus, every one of these sources can provide the required amount.
But if you take synthetic chromium, ineffectiveness is the least of your
worries.

The Nutritional Supplement that Slices DNA

Early in my career as a medicinal chemist, I had the honor of working with
some of the brightest minds in the field. One of those was professor Diane
Stearns who studied chromium picolinate and how it behaved when exposed to
the genetic map, DNA. Using state-of-the-art imaging, she looked at
chromosomes before and after exposure to the Franken-chemical. I got to see
the photography first-hand, and it wasn’t pretty.

Looking at the snapshots of exposed DNA, it looked like a grenade went off
in a lumber factory. Tiny pieces of DNA floated aimlessly in the
Petri-dish. If this happens in the body, cancer can develop and spread like
fire on a windy day.

The doses used in her study were similar to what a nutritional supplement
would provide. But even so, people who supplement with the pharmaceutical
chromium compound may be getting a lot more. Talking to the New York Times,
Dr. Stearns said that, “Chromium accumulates in the body and you can get
much higher levels in the tissues. Once inside a cell, it is very slow to
leave.” Others have had similar findings.

Chemistry Professor Stephen Woski published his chromium picolinate
research in the chemistry journal Polyhedron. Looking at its ability to
slice DNA, he wrote, “The compound [chromium picolinate] was found to
significantly increase lipid peroxidation in vivo. Thus, oxidative DNA
damage (and lipid damage) from [chromium picolinate] in whole animals has
been observed for the first time.”

Don’t Let Cinnamon Accidently Poison You

These findings show that cinnamon supplements should not be adulterated
with chromium picolinate. If regulations existed, consumers could rest easy
knowing that natural, meant “natural,” and that their products
weren’t going to accidentally poison them.

[Related: Nature's purest cinnamon and milk thistle at http://alturl.com/otmmb -
all orders today get free eBook on living the glycemic lifestyle!]