Big Pharma threatened by "Big Herba"

I think Big Pharma is starting to feel the heat from the increasing popularity of natural supplements. How can I tell? Because I just read a news story that dubbed the larger supplement distributors "Big Herba."

It's an intriguing new chapter in the ongoing war against herbal and natural supplements. And I find it particularly fascinating that natural supplements are being painted as "bad" because they are distributed by huge companies.

Bruce Silverglade, the top attorney for the public watchdog group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, says that herbal supplements "used to be mom and pop operations, but now they're major companies."

And to some degree, this is true. Not too long ago I wrote to you about how here in the middle of the current recession, more and more people are turning to natural supplements as an affordable alternative to expensive drug prescriptions. And the fact that the supplements have grown in popularity in recent years has certainly been a factor.

It's true that many makers and distributors of supplements have annual revenues that exceed $100 million in sales. New York-based NBTY, Inc. - makers of Nature's Bounty, Puritan's Pride and other supplements - had a staggering $2 billion in sales just last year.

To which I say: so what?

It's unbelievable to me that the anti-corporate vibe in Obama's America has reached such a fever pitch that natural supplements could possibly be equated with the concoctions of Big Pharma - as if these companies had "sold out." Because the products have become popular and caused the companies to be a success, these companies are being vilified. As though successful companies could not possibly produce anything other than evil.

Silverglade says that the natural and herbal supplement industry masks its actual mega corporation heritage behind the small-time image of the corner supplement store because "this is what the consumer sees while they're shopping."

There's much wrong with this argument. Are some natural supplements made by big corporations? Of course. But to compare a corporation that's made $100 million in a year - or even the $2 billion that NBTY made last year - to Big Pharma? Well, it's a lot like comparing a skateboard to a Ferrari. Because even the smallest pharmaceutical companies have annual profits that make NBTY's $2 billion seem like walking around money. Big Pharma profits run into the TENS OF BILLIONS - every single year!

Some of the arguments put forth to attack the "Big Herba" are laughable. For example, Jana Hildreth of the Analytical Research Collective actually suggested that just because some supplement makers are big, it doesn't mean that their products are safe - she suggests that some big companies are likely to seek out bulk suppliers in less developed countries. Meanwhile, Big Pharma has a terrible recent history of getting shoddy and sometimes LETHAL supplies from countries with questionable standards like China!

Of course, you should always do your research before embarking on any supplement regimen. But you're not about to hear me bashing the herbal supplement biz simply based on its size. If you can see through the smokescreen of this argument about "Big Herba," you'll realize that at the end of the day, we're still talking about NATURAL supplements, not drugs.

BPA: It keeps getting worse

It seems that the more attention that's been focused on BPA, the more we find out how truly horrendous its potential health impact really is. The scary part is that this stuff has been used regularly for decades - who knows how many maladies of past years really started because of BPA exposure?

Now research has found that exposure to BPA can cause arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) - especially in women already at risk for this condition.

Wait - there's more. Apparently, the high amount of estrogen in BPA can also impact the future fertility of children whose mothers were subjected to unsafe levels of the chemical.

Now you can add these problems to the already long list of health issues connected to BPA like diabetes, cancer, developmental problems in children, and heart disease. Thankfully, there's been a groundswell of anti-BPA sentiment in government as some states seek to ban the use of the chemical in the making of plastic baby bottles. Even the sluggish FDA has "reconsidered" its opinions that BPA is safe.

That's all well and good, but this is yet more proof - as if we really needed any more - that the only acceptable fate for BPA is a complete ban on its use in ANY product.