Over the years, we’ve been at the forefront of nutritional health. Our scientifically supported formulas boast relevant yet safe potencies and always meet rigorous specifications. We guarantee you won’t find any crazy-sounding nutrients, unusual exotic herbs, or eyebrow-raising devices promising to miraculously cure ailments of all shades. With this in mind, we refuse to stock the following culprits, many of which you’ll be able to spot in other mail order catalogues. Enough said!
Endangered herbs
People have always turned to the healing power of wild plants to support their wellbeing. And while many indigenous communities still collect herbs in a responsible way – adopting sustainable harvesting methods and ensuring habitat protection – the commercial farming needed to satisfy the global demand is leaving species perilously exhausted, unable to regrow, and, in many cases, extinct. We believe such resources are enormously precious and deserve protection, which is why all the herbs we do sell are commercially grown. Currently, you won’t find the endangered Cat’s Claw, Pau D’Arco, Hoodia, or Pygeum in our nutritional range.
Goldenseal
Prized for its far-reaching medicinal and therapeutic properties, the plant, Goldenseal, was once widespread in eastern North American forests. Now it has found itself on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, teetering on the cusp of extinction. The main risks to Goldenseal are historic and continuing deforestation along with the unregulated wild collection. And yet national and international demand for the plant is increasing at an ever-growing rate. For these reasons, we’re wholeheartedly against stocking Goldenseal.
Libido boosters
Despite the scores of highly illegal and frankly scandalous claims made by mail order companies, typically for the purported aphrodisiac ‘horny goat weed’, there’s a dearth of evidence to suggest so-called libido booster actually work – and certainly not at the negligible doses being sold. We think these misleading products reveal more about the companies selling them…
Glucosamine gels and ointments
Glucosamine in a gel-form that can penetrate the skin and leach into the tough cartilage capsule that encases the joint is just mind-blowing. For it to then act as a ‘natural painkiller’ – well, that’s even more impressive. Sound too good to be true? That’s because it is. Glucosamine doesn’t work in this way; it helps rebuild the cartilage around the joints – a process that takes weeks, if not months. This nutrient needs to be swallowed, end of.
Glucosamine patches
We’re familiar with HRT patches, nicotine patches, and morphine patches – drugs transferred to the skin by ‘transdermal’ compounds and released in tiny quantities over a sustained period. This can’t be said of glucosamine. Firstly, glucosamine is needed in large quantities to work its magic. And secondly, this nutrient is most readily absorbed when taken in tablet form. Glucosamine patches are just another fad – sorry!
Breast enhancing pills
We’ve never comes across anything that can augment breast size in isolation. If you’re taking something to make them bigger, don’t forget everything else will be getting bigger, too.
Emu oil
It’s been called a new tool in the fight against joint pain. But, in our view, the benefits don’t add up. It’s a big turkey, after all!
Colloidal silver
After swallowing this cure-all pill, it’s supposed to kill all the bacteria it encounters. Our problem: it even eradicates good bacteria? Fortunately, we needn’t waste our energy worrying; it’s a load of nonsense anyway.
Glandulars
Raw cow innards that ostensibly offer healing properties. Ludicrous!
Oxygen tablets
According to some nutritional supplement companies, a ‘lack of oxygen causes disease’. To that, we advise: take a deep breath!
Bibliography:
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IUCN. (2019). Unregulated wild collection and habitat loss lead to Vulnerable status for medicinal Goldenseal. Available online: https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201711/unregulated-wild-collection-and-habitat-loss-lead-vulnerable-status-medicinal-goldenseal [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].
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American Botanical Council. (2019). HerbalGram: Protecting Goldenseal: How Status Assessments Inform Conservation. Available online: http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue119/hg119-feat-goldenseal.html?ts=1552065605&signature=31af42283ec7d7eb51d93d864f9cb7bc&ts=1552411585&signature=e8717099b8b8a3cd6e95bf1c4cab8f45 [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].
