I’m a fan of Celebrity Apprentice and this past Sunday it came down to the final two, actress Holly Robinson Peete and rocker Bret Michaels. Both are fighting for causes that are personal to them. Holly is fighting for autism and Bret is fighting for diabetes.
In this last episode, Holly and Bret had to come up with a new flavor for Snapple tea. I loved that Bret focused on diet Snapple, as a way to help those dealing with diabetes. This is a product that is helpful to those who are dealing with diabetes.
Many of us are more aware of the need to live healthier lifestyles. The risk of developing certain conditions, like diabetes, is causing many people to change their diets. If someone is dealing with heart disease, then they will look for food products that will help, such as foods that lower cholesterol. The problem is that we can’t always believe the label.
Can you imagine suffering with allergies and picking out a medicine to help alleviate your symptoms but you find out it really doesn’t help with allergies? If medication is held to a truthful standard, then shouldn’t our foods be too?
Supplements are another source of sometimes misguided claims. A supplement can make the same type of claim, that it lowers cholesterol, but it could be completely untrue.
I believe that the FDA needs to put the same standards on claims made by foods and supplements as they do on medication. We spend our money and put our hope in these items, only to find out that many times the claims are completely false.
If you are dealing with a serious condition like heart disease and need to lower your cholesterol, how unfair is it to be convinced that a particular food is helping when in reality it isn’t. This couldn’t happen with medication and I believe it shouldn’t happen with food.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think that there should be regulation over the health claims that are made on foods and supplements?
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