Dietary Supplements

It’s become nearly impossible to find food that hits all the nutritional marks our bodies actually need. For people already dealing with health issues, balancing a diet is an uphill battle. That’s why the demand for dietary supplements is skyrocketing.

More and more companies are jumping into this space lately. What’s your take on the trend? Anyone here have much experience with them?

I was chatting with a friend yesterday—she’s struggling at 250 lbs—and I tried to explain that you can't just starve yourself to drop 90 pounds. It’s dangerous. You end up wrecking your system by stripping away essential vitamins and minerals.

Amy Fox97 said:I was catching up with a friend of mine yesterday—she’s struggling with her weight, sitting at around 250 pounds right now—and I tried to explain that you can't just starve yourself to drop 90 pounds... It's dangerous. You end up wrecking your body because you're missing out on all those essential vitamins and minerals you need to actually function.

The real question is, what is she even eating? Starving isn't the solution here... the answer is actually eating the right foods.

What kind of dietary supplements are you talking about? Are we classifying multivitamins or protein powders as dietary supplements?
It’s a total myth that finding healthy food is impossible these days. If you just cut out the pork, sunflower oil, alcohol, chocolate, pastries, pancakes, and butter... you can eat perfectly healthy without breaking a sweat. The real issue is that most junk food tastes a hell of a lot better than the nutritious stuff. You can find a million recipes online or in books for diets that are undeniably healthy.
Your friend who weighs 250 lbs doesn't need to starve herself to lose weight; she just needs an incredible amount of willpower and persistence.

dustycanyon6 said:So what's her diet actually look like? Fasting isn't the solution—it's about eating the right things.

She’s just now deciding to eat healthy after years of eating whatever she wanted. I honestly don't think her approach will work for weight loss. She's too stubborn, and she's too cheap to spend a few hundred dollars on actual nutrition to get herself back in shape. If she'd just listen to me, she might actually lose the weight and find a new husband.

George Bailey2 said:Which dietary supplements are you talking about? Are we talking multivitamins or things like protein powders?

Plant-based stuff. All natural and healthy.

It’s not actually impossible to eat healthy these days. If you just cut out pork, sunflower oil, alcohol, chocolate, pastries, pancakes, and butter... you'll be fine. The real issue is that most unhealthy food tastes way better than the healthy stuff. You can find millions of recipes online or in books for diets that are definitely healthy.

It’s possible, but tough for a lot of people. Take folks living in massive cities like NYC—they have no clue what they're actually buying at the local markets. Or think about an elderly woman dealing with brittle bones who needs calcium; she isn't going to go out and eat a bag of seitan. She needs something that works fast.

Your friend who weighs 250 lbs can lose weight without starving herself. She just needs a massive amount of willpower and persistence.

That's hard. She needs something to help her flush all those toxins out of her system, and she's carrying about sixty pounds of them. She needs a specific product for that.

Look, there isn’t some magic supplement that’s just going to flush all the toxins out of your system. If you actually want results, you have to fix your diet first. You need to load up on Vitamin C and get a solid combo of Vitamin E and selenium. On top of that, I personally swear by ALA (alpha-lipoic acid) from Twinlab, plus some flaxseed oil—you can find that at any local health food store (I know you've got one right above the pharmacy in your neighborhood). I don't have the time right now to write an essay on why ALA and flaxseed are essential, so just Google it. Also, do some research on Coenzyme Q10.
If you head down to any local farmers market, you can find great food, fruit, and veggies. Those small-scale growers definitely aren't growing Monsanto crops.
And you absolutely have to stay active and exercise.
Here's a link:

Man, are you kidding me right now?

George Bailey2 said:You can find decent food—fruit and veggies—at any local farmstand... those small-time growers definitely aren't messing around with Monsanto products.

If you walk into any local garden center, they'll tell you what the biggest issue is with these small farms: they use herbicides even on crops like onions! It’s just easier than actually pulling weeds—they can't be bothered—so they just spray everything and completely ignore the safety windows for harvesting. Don't be naive, they grow different stuff for their own tables...
I'd suggest sticking to the big retailers—there's a much higher chance that large-scale producers actually follow strict oversight protocols.
Any agricultural expert would tell you the exact same thing...

They tried to convince me of the exact opposite...
I remember reading an interview in USA Today where Radman was making some pretty bold claims—and when he speaks, people tend to listen. He went as far as saying that Monsanto products are actually the ideal food choice and that he’d recommend them to anyone. On top of that, he insisted there’s absolutely zero proof of any danger, despite this stuff being monitored for its impact on human health for thirty years now.

If an elderly woman needs calcium because her bones are practically crumbling, she isn't exactly going to eat a whole bag of junk food to fix it.

I was taught that once osteoporosis really takes hold, you can pour all the calcium you want into your system—it won't do a thing.

The body builds up those reserves before menopause; after that, it just starts draining them.

Take people living in massive cities, for example—they have zero clue what kind of stuff is actually being sold at their local farmers' markets.

Hmm... what about organic grocery stores?

It’s tough! She needs something to help flush out all those toxins—we're talking thirty pounds of them. So, she'll need some special "detox" product for that.

Right—and that "special product" is called exercise and a decent diet.

It's pretty much like when I stopped believing in Santa Claus—I also stopped buying into these "miracle" supplements.

You can find great food, fruit, and veggies at any local roadside stand; those folks definitely aren't growing Monsanto crops.

A lot of those vendors don't even grow what they sell—they grab it from wholesalers over at the Green Party market, though they'd never tell you that.

George Bailey2 said:They definitely tried to sell me a different story...
I remember reading a USA Today interview where Dr Radman was insisting—and when he makes a claim, people actually listen—that Monsanto food is basically the gold standard. He’d recommend it to anyone. To top it off, he brushed off any safety concerns, claiming there’s zero proof of harm after thirty years of tracking its impact on human health.

Well, were you really expecting anything else?

Propaganda is a hell of a weapon—it works best on folks who are just waiting for someone to come along and tell them what to think.

So, you actually know who Radman is?

Unfortunately, there’s zero proof that Monsanto stuff isn't harmful either... it just hasn't been enough time to see the fallout yet.
But honestly, I think it’s totally wrong to look down on regular people and act like they're just "dying to be brainwashed." It makes sense to ask established scientists for their take—I mean, most of us aren't experts, so we can't just wing it on complex issues. Then again... maybe even those scientists don't have all the answers either...

A good chunk of this talk about healthy eating is nothing more than pure propaganda and urban legends. For instance, what exactly is supposed to be harmful about pork?

Or take one of these topics—it even uses the term "immunoprotectors" right in the headline. I mean... what is that even supposed to mean? 😕

Lisa Ortiz17 said:If you walk into any local farm supply store, you'll hear the same thing about the biggest issue with industrial farming: they're using herbicides on everything, including onions! It’s just easier than actually weeding, and honestly, people couldn't care less about following the safety wait times before harvest.

Exactly. Or maybe some middleman picked up this stuff from god-knows-where.

I just found out the other day that some bakeries actually dye white bread just to pass it off as whole grain, which is what I’ve been buying all this time. I thought I was eating healthy, but honestly, I’m just so pissed off about it...

George Bailey2 said:They tried to convince me of the exact opposite...
I remember reading this USA Today piece where Radman was being interviewed, and he’s out there claiming—and when he speaks, people actually listen—that Monsanto food is basically perfect. He’d recommend it to anyone. Plus, he insists there’s zero evidence of any danger after thirty years of tracking how this stuff affects the human body... if you believe him, anyway.

And then there's Radman, who honestly sounds like an idiot in this article. He claims gene manipulation is all about reducing pesticide and herbicide use. Like, seriously? According to him, Monsanto food is somehow the cleanest and healthiest option out there! Then he starts reminiscing about how our grandparents used to eat, implying they ate junk because they sprayed everything with chemicals. But he completely ignores how farming works today—we don't even use nearly as many harsh chemicals as we used to. As far as I know... the whole point of messing with genes is just making plants more resistant to those pesticides, so farmers can do less work. They just spray everything and don't have to worry about weeding corn or whatever since the toxins kill everything else. It's just a fairy tale. By the way, where's that other guy's piece, Jost or whoever? The one who’s actually against Monsanto? Our media outlets clearly don't have a clue what "objectivity" means... 😉

rustyridge said:I actually found out just the other day that some bakeries dye white bread to make it look like the whole grain stuff I used to buy all the time. Trying to eat healthy and then finding out... I was just so bitter.

That really turned my stomach too. I remember an older lady buying this "whole grain" bread at a different bakery once, and I took one look at it and thought, man, this looks almost identical to white bread, just darker... and the taste isn't even that different! Total crooks. They should be run out of town...

And don't even get me started on the term "vegetable oil." For crying out loud, what plant is that even from? I'd bet anything it's just the stuff I have in my pantry, probably soybean oil. It has that same weird hint to it, kind of like soy milk... and soy is garbage. It’s super unhealthy, even though USA Today keeps advertising it as some health food.

dustycanyon6 said:That idiot Radman claims in this article that... ...

Oh sure, because you definitely know way more about genetics than Dr Radman does... 🙄

shadowfalcon33 said:Oh yeah, you definitely know way, way more about genetics than Dr Radman does... 🙄

Look, he doesn't know, obviously—but honestly, who cares? We're talking about RELIGION here, and you can't fight that with logic or actual facts. It’s just like the whole homeopathy craze: the believers always insisted they were just "believing" in it, while anyone throwing real arguments at them just got hit with results from some sketchy, non-reproducible studies.

Btw, if I remember correctly—and don't quote me on this because I'm too lazy to look it up right now—that stuff they used to use to color white bread wasn't even dangerous since it isn't biologically active once it hits your system.

Another thing that just drives me nuts... whenever I hear people going absolutely overboard trying to eat "healthy" and "clean"... like, how much do they actually understand about nutrition, chemistry, biochemistry, or physiology? Do they actually get *why* white bread is labeled "bad" and whole grain is "good"? Or are they just picking up snippets of info from some trendy magazine or a clickbait headline?

soy is garbage

Actually, soy is incredibly healthy—it’s just one of those crops, along with corn, that ends up being heavily modified by companies like Monsanto.

rustymoose54

Look, I know plenty of scientists here in the States, but let's be real: half of them are basically just highly paid puppets—brilliant minds working for the wrong people.

I was actually reading this "independent" study yesterday—just happened to be left out on my desk—and I could tell immediately which massive corporation was footing the bill for it.👎

placidjackal97 said:A huge chunk of scientists out there are basically just hired guns... or brilliant minds working for the wrong side.

Interesting take. But honestly? That’s a massive generalization and just plain wrong—especially that second part 😬
Look, regardless of what anyone thinks, those people pushing some "perfectly healthy" lifestyle who claim someone like Radman is an idiot? They don't have a clue about nutrition. Seriously. They wouldn't even know why you'd pick whole grain over white bread if their lives depended on it.