My ongoing series of YouTube Videos addresses Lifestyle Choices and Long-Term Health, with discussions of diet, natural supplements, herbal remedies, and other factors that impact health. A video introducing the series is available at https://youtu.be/G_7pac5x1Xw .This video series was motivated by the insights I developed during my 45+ year career in positions responsible for the evaluation and regulation of dietary and pharmaceutical products, which made me realize that many widespread beliefs about the health benefits and risks of food and drug products, botanical supplements, and herbal remedies, including food additives, pesticide residues and organic and GMO foods are often the opposite of the facts supported by scientific evidence.
The second video in this series is: “Botanical Supplements and Herbal Remedies: Not as safe as you think!” This is a discussion one of the most significant health risks of natural products--that of herbal remedies and botanical supplements. In addition to a lack of adequate safety testing they are often adulterated with dangerous drugs or biologically active chemicals, their chemical composition is often not known, and unsubstantiated health claims are permitted. This video is available at: https://youtu.be/p7zhNI_kpEg .
The series will cover topics such as:
- Dangers of botanical supplements and herbal remedies
- Why plants are not benign & contain potentially toxic chemicals
- Illegal adulteration of botanical products
- Why an apparent safe history of use doesn’t assure safety of natural products
- Examples of serious and deadly effects of botanical products
- Relative risks & benefits of conventional vs. organic and GMO foods
- Dietary and lifestyle factors proven to improve long-term health
- Why requirements for safety evaluation & advertising of natural products are often insufficient
- Legislative and regulatory needs for better assurance of natural product safety
Many of these topics are covered in my recent book “A natural Mistake: Why natural, organic, and botanical products are not as safe as you think”, which contains more in-depth information and references for further reading. The book is available at Amazon.com and you may want to refer to this in conjunction with the videos.
Videos will be announced as they become available on this website and on Twitter, @jtmacgregor2, or I can notify you by email if you send a request to jtmacgregor101@gmail.com. Questions about the topics presented in these videos can be submitted to @jtmacgregor2 via Twitter and answers can be viewed by following @jtmacgregor2 .
Please encourage, your colleagues, friends, and relatives to follow me on YouTube and on Twitter @jtmacgregor2, and to participate in the Twitter dialog as the videos become available.
Lifestyle Choices and Long-Term Health