Let Medicine Be Medicine, Don’t Follow the Trends

“True naturopathic medicine takes no short cuts for the end results will verify the science that was used.”

As far back as I can remember, medicine was produced to be therapeutic, there was no confusion about that. It was produced to the highest possible standards using pharmaceutical grade raw material with precise delivery in order to produce a physiological change in the body. There was the allopathic group that produced synthetic, chemical-based drugs prescribed by medical doctors and dispensed through pharmacies, and traditional, natural medicine that was food based or homeopathic prescribed by naturopathic doctors.

There were also health food stores. The first health food store in the U.S. was Martindale’s Natural Market, founded in 1869 in the newly formed, Oil City, Pennsylvania. The first health food store in Canada was Famous Foods, which opened in Vancouver in 1929, the next in line was Vita Health, which opened in Winnipeg in 1936. The aim of these health food stores was to build food consciousness and provide healthy alternatives for people. It appears as though we have been moving in a very different direction lately as everything seems blurred.

At Life Choice, we have never followed trends. We can see the draw and potential revenue but our goal from the very beginning was to never compromise when it comes to producing medicine. From the onset in 1989, I ordered raw materials from abroad to compound formulas to treat my patients. There is a standard and perception what true medicine should be. This applies to both pharmaceutical drugs and naturopathic medicine—they should contain the highest-grade raw materials and should look like medicine.

A good example of the opposite are the gummies. Apparently, “consumers are seeking convenient and enjoyable ways to incorporate essential minerals into their daily routines”[1] and the gummies are one of these “enjoyable” ways, which “have become one of the fastest-growing categories in the nutraceutical market.”[2] The global gummy market size reached US$ 21.4 billion in 2022. Revenue generated by gummy sales is likely to be US$ 24.3 billion in 2023. In the forecast period between 2023 and 2033, demand is poised to soar at 11.8% CAGR. Sales are anticipated to total to US$ 74.4 billion by 2033.[3]

There is a danger in following trends while using the excuse that capsules and tablets are boring. Well, they are not meant to be exciting but to maintain and restore your health. Changing the delivery and appearance to look like candy sounds like an innovative idea to get children to take their vitamins but I also see it as lessening the respect what medicine should be. I see it as a ploy of pharma in altering the public perception. Yes, they may contain minerals and vitamins, but so does fortified bread. As the gummies look and taste like candy, will the next generation take them less seriously? If you had a health condition, would you have the same confidence in treatment taking gummies?

Of course, the gummy market did not stop at minerals and vitamins, there are melatonin gummies as well but according to a research letter published in JAMA, most of their nutrition label is inaccurate. “The study examined the accuracy of nutrition labels on melatonin gummies and concluded that an alarming 88% of the tested products displayed inaccuracies in their melatonin content claims. This discrepancy raises concerns for people who rely on melatonin gummies to improve their sleep patterns and get some much-needed rest.”[4] According to an article written in AARP by Peter Urban “22 of the 25 products sampled contained significantly different amounts of melatonin than advertised. One contained no melatonin but did contain 31.3 mg of cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical found in the cannabis plant. Another had gummies packing nearly 3.5 times more melatonin than the labeled quantity.”[5] This is worrying considering that “[d]uring 2012–2021, the annual number of pediatric ingestions of melatonin increased 530% and pediatric hospitalizations and more serious outcomes also increased”[6] according to 2022 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This inadequacy has been going on for years, it is nothing new.  The breakdown happens during the blending process of the raw materials, ensuring dosage consistency of the final product, 3 mg of the medicinal ingredient melatonin blended into the total weight of a 1000 mg  gummi, next to impossible. In A 2017 study by University of Guelph researchers[7] in Ontario found that some supplements had nearly three to five times more melatonin than what was listed on the label or contain unlabeled serotonin.

Melatonin has become one of the most popular health products over the last decade, and the global market of melatonin has increased extremely yet the quality of the products available on the market varies tremendously in both strength and purity, which influences not only the products’ effectiveness but also their safety. The problem is not only in inaccurate labels but also in other ingredients occurring alongside melatonin.

Another important factor of melatonin production is the quality of the raw material – which significantly influences the quality of the final product – and whether the melatonin is naturally sourced or synthetic. Natural form, which comes from the pineal gland of animals, may be contaminated with animal viruses or environmental toxins or mixed with unknown synthetic material. The lower grades of raw materials can be also mixed with fillers and the amount put in the capsule can vary as we could see in previous examples. The USP standard raw material, on the other hand, is tested and it must be pure and exact.

I hesitate in making this statement since all natural health products are looked at in the same way by the FDA and Health Canada. Why aren’t the health food manufacturers being more vigilant in what they are producing, where is the standard? There is none as companies self- monitor, and only after an incident happens are they examined. Experts also warned that not all melatonin supplements are the same and that the product on the pharmacy shelf could have higher-than-listed levels of melatonin.

I think most people have become too laxed with melatonin, especially knowing that melatonin is a hormone, and as such, it should be pharmaceutical grade and so should be every hormone. There is a questionable melatonin sourced from China, its quality is anyone’s guess but this is what has flooded the market. From our research, based on the raw material certificate of analysis, this melatonin can shut down your body’s own serotonin production, which is particularly concerning for children. Life Choice sources their melatonin from patented pharmaceutical grade raw material that is tested to pharmaceutical standards—this melatonin does not cause side effects and will not shut down your body’s own melatonin production. It is available in 3 mg capsules and a liquid version Sweet Dreams; 7 drops equal 1 mg, which is the perfect dosage for children.

Melapure® Melatonin has been used in clinical studies for treating insomnia, oxidative stress, preeclampsia, cancer, fibromyalgia, hair loss in women, and several other diseases. And while there are other melatonins on the market, it is important to point they do not work the same way. Synthetically sourced from the amino acid L-tryptophan Melapure® Melatonin is safer to use than the natural sourced varieties because it is free from all biological contaminants and it is vegan. It is derived synthetically from chemical term 5-Methoxytryptamine; it is synthesized through a different chemical pathway and produces a number of important chemical reactions, including serotonin. The patented formula takes a total of four reactions to bring about the change, and each of these reactions requires its own specific enzyme. One of the enzymes act as the rate-limiting enzyme in the reaction pathway, and its activity determines how much melatonin is produced within the body preventing serotonin overloading. The other benefit of Life Choice® Melapure® melatonin is it does not shut down your own serotonin production.

If something appears to be a better option but is priced very low, you must ask yourself how is this possible because in life you get what you pay for. In order to achieve a therapeutic response, the naturopathic formulation must be designed to be effective and not cheapened or compromised to capture a trend. The best assurance to achieve results is by using the highest possible USP grade standards that refer to both the raw materials used and how they are formulated, to ensure cellular delivery. True naturopathic medicine takes no short cuts for the end results will verify the science that was used.

Additional Reading: 

References:

[1] Blatman, Judy. 2023.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Future Market Insights. 2023.

[4] Meyer, Adam. 2023.

[5] Urban, Peter. 2023.

[6] Lelak, Karima et al. 2022.

[7] University of Guelph. 2017.