Page 115
The Willner Window Product Reference Catalog, Spring 2014
since 1911
• Willner Chemists •
the nutritional supplement professionals
Kosher and Vegetarian
Supplements
What about people who because of
religious or moral beliefs seek out
products that are labeled as kosher
or vegetarian? Such products are
available and may be appropriate
for those who need them. Some may
be seeking out such products for the
wrong reason, however, and getting
something other than what they
think.
A product labeled as vegetarian, or
suitable for vegetarians, would be
expected to contain no animal prod-
ucts. Does that mean it contains no
milk or dairy foods? Does it mean
that it contains no ingredients
derived from meat, fish, or dairy
products? Does it mean that a per-
son who is allergic to milk protein
can safely use the product?
A product labeled as kosher would
be expected to contain no ingredi-
ents derived from those foods that
are prohibited in the Bible. For
those who are strict in their beliefs,
this prohibition is carried to great
lengths, and extensive precautions
must be taken to ensure that no con-
tamination with nonkosher materi-
als takes place.
For the strictly observant, reading
the ingredients on the label is not
enough. The product must contain a
special seal of approval by one of
several rabbinical organizations
whose duty it is to inspect and mon-
itor the manufacturing process for
total compliance with the kosher
guidelines.
Third-party intervention in this
instance can be helpful because it is
not always easy to tell from the
ingredient listing whether or not an
item is meat- or dairy-free. Some
people might not realize, for exam-
ple, that gelatin is derived from ani-
mal tissue. They might not realize
that capsules, unless the label says
otherwise, are made with gelatin.
While that may seem obvious,
what about stearic acid and magne-
sium stearate? These are not so
obvious. These two ingredients are
often used in tablets and capsules in
very small amounts as excipients.
Stearic acid is usually derived from
animal fat.
In each of these instances,
non–animal-derived alternatives are
available. There are vegetable
stearates and nongelatin capsules
available. You have to read the label
carefully to ascertain which is being
used in any given product.
If you have food allergies, you
need to exert extra care. The label
on a nondairy creamer is a good
example. Can anyone be blamed for
thinking that nondairy would mean
the product contains no milk or
milk-derived ingredients? The fact
is that most nondairy creamers con-
tain as one of their key ingredients
sodium caseinate, a milk derivative.
But what about kosher products?
Can you assume that a product is
free of certain ingredients because it
is certified kosher? The answer is
no, and this may surprise many peo-
ple. Shellfish (lobster, oysters, crab)
are not kosher. Glucosamine, a pop-
ular nutritional supplement, is
derived from shellfish. How, then,
can a product containing glu-
cosamine be certified as kosher?
Apparently it can be. In an attempt
to get an explanation, we contacted
one of the kosher certification
groups, but were refused an expla-
nation. We found this very disturb-
ing. We can only speculate, then, as
to what the reasoning may be, and
our best guess is that the ingredient
is sufficiently processed such that it,
at least from a religious standpoint,
no longer shares the properties of
the starting material.
Step Two: Considering
Your Unique Health
Requirements
We have explained the role of sup-
plements in preventing overt clini-
cal deficiency diseases (scurvy, pel-
lagra, rickets, beriberi). And we
have pointed out that there is a dif-
ference between adequate and opti-
mal when it comes to the amounts
needed to ensure good health, vital-
ity, and longevity.
A balanced multivitamin blend,
with extra calcium and magnesium,
may be all that is needed. In addi-
tion, an antioxidant blend would be
a good idea. This may be enough to
help prevent health problems, fight
off disease, and retard the aging
process.
But what if you already have a
health problem? Or if you are at
high risk to various diseases? You
may have a family history of heart
disease, glaucoma, diabetes, or can-
cer, for example. Or your lab tests
show you have elevated LDL cho-
lesterol. Perhaps your blood pres-
sure is high. Or you are overweight
and smoke cigarettes.
There are many situations (preg-
nancy, illness, stress, old age) that
create additional nutritional needs,
and there are diseases that can ben-
efit from the therapeutic and healing
actions of vitamins, minerals, and
herbs. Your supplement program
has to be modified to accommodate
these additional problems. We will
examine some examples in this sec-
tion and then, in the next section,
show you how to incorporate the
prophylactic and therapeutic aspects
of supplementation into an effective
and comprehensive program.
Heart Disease
Cardiovascular disease in the lead-
ing cause of death in the United
States. If you have a family history
of heart disease or if you have ele-
vated cholesterol, elevated LDL
cholesterol, high blood pressure, or
elevated homocysteine, you should
consider using dietary supplements
to control the condition or lower
your risk.
Folic acid, vitamin B12, and vita-
min B6 have been shown to lower
homocysteine levels. Elevated
homocysteine is thought to be a spe-
cific risk factor for heart disease.
Supplementing with extra amounts
of these harmless, inexpensive B
vitamins may significantly lower
your risk of heart disease.
Elevated cholesterol is another risk
factor for heart disease.
Supplementing with water-soluble
fiber supplements (oat bran, psylli-
um, guar gum, pectin) can lower
cholesterol. Many herbs (gum gug-
gul, fenugreek, garlic) can lower
cholesterol. Certain plant-derived
substances, phytosterols and phy-
tostanols, are very effective.
Vitamins such as niacin and pan-
tethine can lower cholesterol. The
antioxidant vitamins can prevent the
oxidation of LDL cholesterol. A
combination of these nutrients and
herbs can be as effective as drugs
for many people, without the side
effects.
Hypertension can sometimes be
controlled with supplements.
CoQ10, fish oils (EPA, DHA), cal-
cium, garlic, hawthorn, coleus,
European mistletoe, and olive leaf
extract are some that have been used
with success.
Those with cardiac arrhythmia
should definitely consider extra
magnesium in their supplement pro-
gram. Those with angina should add
additional CoQ10 and L-carnitine.
Several studies have found supple-
mentation with 400 to 800 IU of
natural vitamin E to be of general
benefit to those with heart disease.
Eye and Vision Problems
Cataracts are the result of oxida-
tive damage to the lens of the eye.
Those at risk to cataract formation
should definitely take additional
vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin C,
carotenoids, and other antioxidants.
Age-related macular degeneration
(AMD) is a leading cause of perma-
nent vision loss in the elderly, as is
glaucoma. Both conditions are con-
sidered to be irreversible, so preven-
tion is important. Treatment of
AMD with dietary supplements is
accepted medically.
There are two forms, dry AMD
and wet AMD. Ninety percent of the
time, it is the dry form. The wet
form of AMD usually begins as the
dry form.
According to the Merck Manual of
Diagnosis and Therapy, the treat-
ment for AMD is (1) Dietary sup-
plements (dry or wet), (2)
Intravitreal anti-vascular endothe-
lial grow factor drugs or laser treat-
ment for wet AMD, and (3) support-
ive measures.
The acceptance of dietary supple-
ments by conventional medicine as
a treatment for AMD is due in part
to a study published in the October
2001 Archives of Ophthalmology,
publicized by the National Eye
Institute, National Institutes of
Health in 2001. The headline read
“Antioxidant Vitamins and Zinc
Reduce Risk of Vision Loss from
Age-Related
Macular
Degeneration.”
While the study concluded that
what they considered “high levels”
of antioxidants and zinc significant-
ly reduced the risk of advanced age-
related macular degeneration
(AMD) and its associated vision
lossm, they were unable to demon-
strate the same effect on the devel-
opment or progression of cataract.
“Scientists found that people at
. . . continued from page 114
The Best Supplements For Your Health:
Chapter 2: How to Choose The Right
Supplement
To continue reading, please go to our web-
site, www.willner.com. Links to this chapter,
and others in The Best Supplements For Your
Health, will be found in the Reference Library
section.
Chapter Two: The Best Supplements
For Your Health - Revised
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. . . continued on page 117