Solidarity Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Oertle joins The BS Show to discuss which actual supplements are good for you and which might be harboring harmful chemicals. Listen to the interview or read the transcript below!
Bob Sansevere (00:00):
We are joined by Dr. John Oertle, the co-founder and chief medical officer for Solidarity Healthshare at solidarityhealthshare.org. Earlier this month, doctor, you wrote a blog with the title or the headline, we call ’em headlines in the business. How to know if you’re taking a good Quality Supplement. Well, I thought I knew because many of the supplements I take were at your advice. However, you put me into a little bit of a fright when you mention, because I get ’em all off of Amazon and I got to be careful. It sounds like Amazon may have some supplements and I try to get some name brand types where they’re just filled with corn starch and not real. What are we looking for if we do use Amazon and make sure we get the right thing? The proprietary blend, I saw that was one thing. Make sure there actually is one, they tell you what it is and not just glance over it, but you got to be very careful with where you order, right?
Dr. John Oertle (01:01):
So this is one of the things I call out how many people know even if you get a good brand, I’ve talked to a lot of these actual supplement companies that are actually physician grade or pharmaceutical grade supplement brands and they are on Amazon, but I was talking to some of these actual companies and they actually share that they’ve done quality control of their own products that are third party sold on Amazon. Some of ’em actually have had nothing more than when they actually tested the product that they actually have corn starch in the product. So they’ve been altered to be able to maybe utilize the supplement and sell the other supplement, but have the actual just fill it with cornstarch. The other thing that they test as well is what are their expiration dates and making sure that there’s actually a good quality of the herb or the actual supplement in their actual product.
(01:56):
And many times too, they find that the actual product maybe have had a longer shelf life or there’s issues with that actual ingredient. So we do need to be careful. So I’m always recommending, now I don’t love Amazon for supplements. Even with even name brands, I do recommend going directly to the actual, the company and their website to be able to purchase. I also recommend being able to go to your integrative doctor or chiropractor to be able to get directly from the physician’s office of where you’re actually going to be able to get the actual supplement as well. Could be good options to be able to make sure that you’re not falling afraid to some of this actual bad practices on
Bob Sansevere (02:42):
Amazon. As long as your doctor’s not getting it off of Amazon and now
Dr. John Oertle (02:46):
Usually they don’t. Usually they don’t. Many physicians and doctors are ordering directly from the source where they’re actually getting the products distributed.
Bob Sansevere (02:56):
So here’s the thing, again, I think there’s a Nature’s Blend. There are some brands that I do think I can trust, but now my whole world is turned upside down by this corn starch information. But here’s the problem why, and this is why I think it’s distressing to a lot of people. You go to the manufacturer’s website, first of all, you’re going to be paying shipping and if you’re a prime member you don’t. But the other thing is it takes sometimes weeks for them to ship it out. I mean, you could get it overnight in a lot of cases with Amazon. What about going to, and I don’t know where the nearest one is, I’m sure we can trust the GNC store, right? Or supplement stores.
Dr. John Oertle (03:30):
Correct? Correct. Yeah. Going and actually getting it in person at the GNC or other supplement stores in your local area is another great source to be able to get a good quality supplement.
Bob Sansevere (03:43):
Should we look to see who, if the supplier is the actual company, but in many cases it isn’t, right? It is a third party doing in
Dr. John Oertle (03:50):
Many cases it’s third parties on Amazon. That’s correct. Now I do want to say too, this is important because you’re mentioning how do you know, one of the things I think is important, yes, where we get it is important, but also what’s really important too is how do you know that it’s a good quality company that’s supplying those actual medications? I give a couple of these resources to these options too, to be able to say, how do you know analyze a supplement? Well, and they give a couple options. One, a really good way to be able to actually evaluate is the product. If you look at the nutrient facts on that product, are they using high quality ingredients? I’ll give you a couple one. Instead of just folic acid, if somebody is just using folic acid, I would question that actual supplement. It’s a cheaper product and many times people have genetic abnormalities that don’t actually convert folic acid into the active form.
(04:42):
So a better form of folic acid is the active form. It’s called five methyl tetra hydro folate or folate instead of folic acid. Another one is instead of using in B12 instead of just using B12, again, a cheap form of B12 is cyanocobalamin. It’s actually got a little cyanide in it. Again, be careful of that one, right? I don’t like it because obviously your body can process it out. It’s not dangerous for you, but it’s definitely a cheaper version. If you look at your B12, it should be methylcobalamin and you’ll know that if it has methylcobalamin, a supplement company is actually investing into a good quality ingredient. The last one, instead of just using B6, is an active form of B6. It’s all P5P. So this where those are three really simple things and those are in a lot of different supplements, so you can test that.
(05:33):
The other thing that I watch out for too is that if you have a supplement company that says it’s just proprietary, they don’t actually list out the exact quantities in the actual supplement in the nutrition facts. That’s concerning because what they do is they can hide these. Think about it. If you’re a company trying to cut costs, you have very minimal amounts of some of the really important that could do a lot of good, and you fill it with other things that are cheaper. And so you don’t know the quantity. So you say it’s a proprietary blend and that’s a real concerning thing. The other thing that I give too is that saying, again, be careful of artificial additives and dyes. It’s so wild to me that there’s, even in our supplements, there’s a lot of dyes. The FDNC dyes, the ingredient for fillers is titanium dioxide. Be careful of that. Or magnesium steroid. Any of these chemicals that you don’t know that you’ve never heard of before, stay away from that. Your supplements should not be having other chemicals in the product. So these are some ways to be able to just look at a supplement fact and say, what are some keys to be able to say, is this a good one or not? And any of those things that I talked about avoid those companies. Obviously they’re cutting corners or they’re not the actual best ingredient.
Bob Sansevere (06:58):
Now I look for name brand companies, companies I’m familiar with, and when I get it, I mean the packaging, they got the little plastic wrapper around it or they have, plus they have the little capper or piece of cardboard or whatever you want to call it on the bottle itself. You have to peel off is that a good sign or are they going, are these companies they’re actually opening the bottles and dumping out what’s in it and putting something else in and really doing a great job of making it look like it’s packaged properly or is that something that it has all that I should be okay, please tell me it should be
Dr. John Oertle (07:30):
Okay. Yeah, if you have that, I think it should be okay. So that’s at least a better option. The other thing that I like to say too that this is really surprising to a lot of people is that these are helpful tips. But the other tip and trick that I use too is being able to, if you do take supplements, don’t get the tablets. Those are very difficult to digest. Many times supplements in the form of capsules are easier to digest and absorb or powders or liquids are easier for the body to digest and absorb. So those are the other things that, again, if it’s in that tablet, those are with a hard coating that’s very difficult. There’s actually studies done where even waste treatment processors of the sewage will actually find undigested medications and supplements that are in that tablet form.
Bob Sansevere (08:24):
So
Dr. John Oertle (08:24):
It’s just going right through the body.
Bob Sansevere (08:26):
What about-
Dr. John Oertle (08:26):
And so this happens all the time and it actually clogs the waste treatment centers up. And so when you actually see this, maybe if you’re going to spend money on a supplement, you want it to actually do the work that you’re intending it to and not just move right through the body. And so being able to get it in a capsule or getting it into a powder or a liquid can also be a much better way to be able to allow the body to digest, absorb and utilize that supplement that you’re taking time to and intake. Well,
Bob Sansevere (08:56):
The only tablets that I take one is a probiotic which melts in my mouth because I fill my mouth with a lot of these supplements and they could feel it dissolving that and like a baby aspirin and that dissolves too. So as long as it’s not coated, I should be okay and none of the other ones are coded.
Dr. John Oertle (09:11):
That’s right. I always try to say, avoid those coated those tablets. You want it to be utilized, not just go right through you.
Bob Sansevere (09:19):
Yeah, that would not be a good thing. It’d be like if people know about corn going right through you. It’s that sort of thing. Right. All right, doctor, this is great, great information. It’s a wonderful topic and it’s helpful and frightening, but I’m confident that many of the things I’m taking are good. I mean, one of ’em I’ve mentioned to you, I order that and it’s helped me keep my blood sugar levels down because an all natural product and I trust that because coming right from the company and they do a good job of packaging. But I want to remind people of Solidarity Healthshare, solidarityhealthshare.org, a great alternative to traditional healthcare.
Dr. John Oertle (09:56):
And Bob, Solidarity shares into, we actually share into doctors who prescribe supplements and we actually share into supplements they work are good. So look into Solidarity Healthshare as an alternative to health insurance because it’s one of these areas where you want to be able to actually find the right doctors and get the actual right medications and supplements that are actually going to turn your health and make you well. So again, please take a look. Check out solidarityhealthshare.org.
Bob Sansevere (10:26):
Thank you so much, doctor. We’re going to take a quick break and the BS Show will be right back.
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