Claim to fame You know how much I love the sweeping generalizations made by the mainstream media about supplements. Well, I think I may have come across the worse example yet, courtesy of none other than CNN. In an article titled "No Scientific Evidence Diet Supplements Slow Aging," the reporter sets the stage to make supplements look, at the very least, like an enormous waste of money (although there are also several underhanded attempts to paint them as dangerous substances). The most offensive paragraph comes about halfway down the first page: "To look at the labels, you would think that vitamins and supplements are powerful medicine. Yet for all the money spent, and growing interest from mainstream physicians, virtually no evidence exists that supplements can improve your health." I beg to differ -- on all counts. First of all, pointing the finger at supplement labels as selling a false bill of goods is a bit rich. Supplement manufacturers are not legally able to make any sort of disease claim on their product packaging or any advertising surrounding it. Only the most generic statements -- things like "supports a healthy immune system" -- are permissible. And I hardly think that qualifies as a statement that would give anyone the idea that any supplement is "powerful medicine." Not that supplements aren't powerful. They certainly are -- more so than their manufacturers could ever hope to print on a label. What I take exception to here is the impression that the CNN reporter is trying to give readers, that supplement manufacturers are modern-day snake-oil salesmen, making claims that their products just don't live up to. In fact, although this article makes a lame attempt to refute it, most supplements' actions and benefits go well beyond any "claims" made on the product packaging. But the "evidence" the reporter feels is so lacking often comes in the way of patient testimonials, not necessarily that mainstream gold-standard: the double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial -- although there are plenty of those to be found in favor of the healing potential of nutrients if you take the time to look, as this so-called journalist obviously did not. Once again, the message here is simple: There are two sides to every story. And the truth usually lies somewhere in between. | 
