Q:What is the history and reason why supplements and vitamins are not regulated by the FDA like food and medicines? What are the consequences for this lack of oversight? A: In 1994, all “health supplements” fell under protection of the DSHEA (Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act) which allows all dietary supplemental products (powders, gels, capsules, etc) to go directly to market, most proliferating unfounded claims of what the product does (the miracles it supposedly performs for your health), with the responsibility of proving the product is unsafe rests with the FDA, after the fact. This is problematic because there are so many supplemental products on the market (as of 2021 Dietary Supplements is $151.85 billion industry), that it would be nearly impossible for the FDA to monitor every new product that rolls into public spaces. This is not a mere oversight, but actual politics. DSHEA was backed by Senator Orrin Hatch with a huge sum of money by the supplement industry, which was already booming at the time. It wasn’t just something that the FDA (David Kessler, the director at that time, has ridiculed DSHEA time and time again) merely let slide, it was a ghastly political loophole which set up an entire industry to go unregulated. The consequences are obvious: Anyone can create a supplement and put it on the market, boasting of it’s healing properties and benefits which are often dubious. The ingredients themselves are unregulated–from sourcing onward–and even those rare brands/companies known for their transparency do not rely on actual science, but on holistic claims equivalent to wives’ tales. The FDA technically does have the ability to take anything they have proven unsafe off the market, yet it has to exist on the market before being regulated, recalled, or prohibited. Many supplements have been removed from shelves because of tireless work by the FDA. How they got onto shelves to begin with is the real issue, as private companies are supposed to monitor and report adverse effects found before moving to market. However, if they use common ingredients, they can skip multiple steps in the private trial process, regardless of where or how those ingredients were sourced. For instance; they could buy their ingredients off of multiple third party sources who had mixed ingredients with different agents to improve coloring, shelf life, or fillers. There could be an additive that is contaminated, thus contaminating thousands of different products. MLM’s like Shakeology, doTerra, and JuicePlus have run rampant and created entire lifestyles for their followers (who populate their entire salesforce), sucking innocent middle class housewives into pyramid schemes who move on to spew false claims, conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and the like. In short, it's all just a slippery slope into anti-vaxx cults. A great article (though published in 2016) which documents the frustration of multiple FDA board members and former directors over this issue can be found below. Why Vitamins and Other Dietary Supplements Can Contain Anything, by James Hamblin Q: Please explain the reasoning behind the following claims: 1.Fish pose will cure all diseases. 2.One must rotate to the Right first before rotating to the Left due to the way the transverse colon empties. 3.You can't go upside down while menstruating. A: For those of you who do not/have never practiced yoga asana, I am going to give you a brief rundown of why pseudoscience exists in the yoga world: All of these claims above were written as statements by one BKS Iyengar in his book Light on Yoga. As it happens, I know a great deal about the contents of this book because it was required reading in my first YTT. While I loved all of the Hindu mythology Iyengar would slip into descriptions and origins of the postures, I was slightly skeptical of the medical claims made on nearly every single page. When I inquired with the lead teacher of the program I was in, she laughed and said “It took you long enough!” She then proceeded to lecture the entire group on the pseudoscience of yoga. I kid you not, this super woo, ayurvedic obsessed, tall, mysterious white lady crashed through the facade we had all created for her and opened up about power dynamics, critical thinking, and knowledge over nonsense. Over the next few months, I dove into almost every claim Iyengar made, and found the vast majority of them to be false at the worst, and a stretching of the truth at the very best. Years later, when I began leading teacher trainings, I required my students to read Iyengar and talked about pseudoscience, power dynamics, and misleading “facts,” within the yoga world. It was an open discussion, which encouraged their critical thinking skills. I didn’t wait for people to question Iyengar, I required them to. I was never the perfect yogi, I was never the most conscious, but I did at least try to combat the cycle of harm where I knew how. You see, when we are enamored by any system wherein there is teacher and student, our brains tend to romanticize, glorify, and put the thoughts, musings, preferences, styles, and beliefs of said teachers on a pedestal. Those teachers grow a following. These followings develop a cult-like mentality, and the teachings of these teachers are passed down through generations of new teachers–often further muddying false claims like those listed in the question above. So if you have ever heard any of these claims in the middle of a yoga asana class, chances are that your teacher was exposed to a “master teacher,” who came up in a certain yoga lineage known as Ashhtanga. They likely recycled cues, mythology, and pseudoscience in order to make their classes seem intoxicatingly “factual,” thus lighting a spark around intellectually minded people who enjoy philosophical discussion over topics within which they have no training; like medicine. So let’s go through each of these pseudoscientific claims one by one to clear up any confusion:
Q: Hot yoga detoxifies. (your kidney and liver detoxify - when I looked into this claim sweating may help release some toxins but not as many as Hot Yoga peeps like to claim). A: YES! I love that nurses and doctors are part of our Pack! Let’s expand on what you’ve uncovered with your expertise, shall we? First, YES, your kidney and liver are responsible for detoxifying the body. Maybe you do release some topical toxins when you sweat, but I promise you that Hot Yoga in and of itself is a hoax. Don’t believe me? Bikram–the dude who “invented” Hot Yoga–was a sketchy, sexually abusive, ethically unsound, egotistical asshole who lied about many things and captivated thousands of students in the 90’s and early 2000’s with his ludicrous teacher training programs that caused mass harm. Hot Yoga used to be called “Bikram Yoga.” People call it “Hot Yoga” now as a way to distance this still very fucked-up practice from the guy responsible for causing so much harm. Watch the documentary “BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR” on Netflix for further education on this topic. Q: Yoga cures depression and anxiety. A: Hey, nope. Here I am both depressed and anxious* after consistently practicing yoga for almost two decades. Mindfulness–ie: meditation, breathwork, etc.--can help manage anxiety. Moving your body releases endorphins, which can be very helpful for temporarily alleviating depressive thoughts/moods. This qualifies as toxic positivity and gaslighting, which we see much of in westernized wellness and yoga. This idea of mind over matter/live laugh love/magical thinking is harmful because it leaves the practitioner feeling like there is something innately wrong with them and their practice for not being able to banish anxiety and depression. This has become a huge selling point within this industry, both for yoga studio franchises, MLMs who feed off of new age yogis, and white men and women who label themselves as “leaders” in yoga and wellness while appropriating ancient cultural practices and misusing them by making them part of their brand–ie: ”I am a shamanic healer who helps you overcome self-doubt.” *I am medicated and I attend regular therapy sessions via Zoom. These paired with yoga and meditation help me immensely, but my chronic anxiety still has an affect on my ability to function in the world. Last words… Pseudoscience has blended magical thinking with ancient healing practices in the worst way. Not only has it created marketable schemes, but it perpetuates the idea that western medicine is a harmful evil. I utilize many eastern medicinal practices alongside modern western medicine because there is no need for an “either/or” circumstance in my life. I am not part of a cult, I do not have a spiritual guru or coach or wellness organization to answer to. Those who do are put in the difficult position of selling a product, an ideology, or being a “good student” by adhering to the cultural code they were sucked into at the beginning of their yogic/spiritual/wellness journey. For this reason, the lines are blurry as to who we blame. Do we blame the teachers and their students, or the system of Whate Supremacist Capitalism for selling ancient spiritual practices to fuel their massive, manipulative greed machine. If politicians within certain political parties (the GOP) are on board to not only back and support a free market for supplements, oils, and powders, without certified approval from the FDA from the get-go, then imagine how unregulated and irresponsible the pseudoscience within yoga studios and teacher training can be? Many teachers were trained in what I refer to as a “puppy mill program”--a training course which lasts less than 8 weeks and teaches people to spit out cues at a fast pace without much knowledge attached to them. I have led these programs and tried to add as much philosophy and science as I could, but admittedly fell short. I did it for the money and the status. I was part of the problem, and I know first hand how much harm I caused and am now doing my best to be more mindful in my own life and practice. Younger yoga teachers are often enamored with the magic of their teachers and mentors, and therefore repeat common cues without question, because they sound cool or make them feel like they’ve leveled up as a teacher. These cues are often pseudoscience mixed with word vomit, and lead student within those 60 minute classes down rabbit holes of mystery and enchantment, landing some in a fast-paced teacher training program which promises to elevate their minds, bodies, and spirits. Once they have a teaching certificate in hand, they begin mimicking their current teachers while exploring new methodologies. Some dabble in private coaching and within a span of months, market themselves as a brand on Instagram and lend to Pastel-Q rhetoric unknowingly. They pay for a coach, learn how to sell to clients, build spiritual mentorship programs, become influencers, sell products like essential oils and nutritional powders and supplements, and create an echo chamber of misinformation for themselves and others. That is how and why the Wellness/Yoga industry accounts for 65% of the COVID/Vaccine misinformation floating around the internet, infiltrating the minds of the young and old; conservative and liberal;wealthy and those on the poverty line, alike. Comments are closed.
|