 Welcome back. A lot of us swear by them. Supplements are all natural alternatives to high-priced prescription drugs. And one would figure if you buy them at the corner of a pharmacy or supermarket, they've got to be safe. But hold on. Supplements don't undergo the same rigorous standards as medication improved by the FDA. And now the U.S. military is funding research to see if members of the armed forces are carefully reading warning labels on supplements, packages, and purchasing them from reputable manufacturers. Joining us for more on tonight's topic is Jerry Zivick, a government benefits consultant and consumer watchdog. Jackie Eubanks, a registered nurse with the Professional Supplement Center, and joining us by Skype is Dr. Kathy Dinal, a preventative medicine physician. And Dr., let me start with you because when we were talking earlier today, you were talking about the challenge of whether people are purchasing supplements at their neighborhood pharmacy or supermarket. That is not an automatic guarantee, you say, that they are actually of good quality. That's absolutely true. Basic supplements are available almost anywhere that sells retail food. Grocery stores, pharmacies, big box wholesalers sometimes. But the quality isn't always there. There are so many companies that are entering this very high profit industry that we are simply not getting high quality supplements. It's really important to get a quality supplement from a quality company, take as directed, and make sure that it is stored properly and used properly and monitored. And Jackie, that's where you come in. I really believe just as the physician does, is that we need to be our own advocates, and we need to do the research on the products that we're putting in our body. We need to look at companies that have been in business for a long period of time, not just coming on to the market, but have been there and doing research for 20, 30, 40 years. But that's not always the environment that we live in these days. We're a fast-paced environment. We go out to the grocery store, we buy this and that, and we go into the corner of a pharmacy, and I don't want to mention the big chains. That's really looking at the inexpensive or saving the dollar. But not always is that the best choice for the patient. And I want to get in a little bit later when we have more time in terms of what the consequences of that is. But Jeremy, let me start with you in terms of what is this military research all about? Well, there's the old expression, you are what you eat, so you have all of these servicemen that are trying to build up their bodies, be healthy, be strong, and they were taking low-quality supplements or questionable supplements, and they created a website that's called OPSS.org, and you can check and verify if the supplement you're taking is healthy. And this is just not limited to the military. Any citizen can go to that same website, and there's a tremendous amount of really useful information on that website. Because the problem is, correct me if I'm wrong, some people were ordering these supplements online, so you're not even going into a store and knowing exactly what you're buying. Are some facilities or some companies that do allow you to talk to a healthcare provider before you make the purchase and who do education about the product? We work with professional-grade products, and so if you were to call in and you were going to buy something over the Internet, you could also talk to me prior to purchasing that. I would probably talk to you about what medications you're taking. Okay, hold on just one second. Jerry, I know you wanted to jump in there. We are just getting started with our discussion of dietary supplements, and we'll continue right after we check the weather. Welcome back. If you're just joining us, we are discussing dietary supplements and what impact they have on your health. Our guest tonight are Jerry Zivica, Government Benefits Consultant and Consumer Watchdog, Jackie Eubanks, with the Professional Supplement Center, and joining us by Skype is Dr. Kathie Donnell, a preventative medicine physician. And we were talking before the break about the importance of knowing where these supplements are coming from and what are in them. And, Dr., I believe you have a story of a salesperson coming to your office and trying to sell their product to you, and you discovered it is not what they claimed it was. The story was actually a little different. It was a salesperson coming to the office and at the same time that a patient was coming to buy a supplement from my office. And we were talking about counterfeit supplements and the importance of having a reputable company and reputable source. And she pulled out the bottle that she'd received from the internet and the one that she was going to buy at my office to replace it. And the labels were visibly different. The rep from the company verified that it was a counterfeit. And that is the underlying problem. But, Jerry, let me ask you this because we talked about this a little bit before our broadcast. The difference between supplements and prescribed medication that you buy at your pharmacy is that there are so many strict guidelines with the FDA that supplements don't undergo, go through. And the quality control, therefore, the real question mark there? Well, I think you actually have quality question marks with FDA-approved drugs and dietary supplements. The key is these are dietary supplements and they're not regulated by the FDA. Back in 1994, a law was passed that allowed them not to be regulated by the FDA. However, and we've talked about it on the show, but just recently there was a new ruling issued by the FTC because of problems with GNC products and the manufacturers of supplements, they can't make a claim unless there's scientific evidence to back up what they're saying. But that is a huge debate in terms of the FDA oversight, whether they should oversee supplements. And, you know, it's a huge industry and therefore you could imagine the battles that take place in Washington. But Jackie, this brings us to the most important point. For all the people who are watching this right now, what are the red flags out there? What should you be looking for in terms of the labeling of these products and where you get them from? Well, I think the clinician had a really good, when she was talking that there are counterfeits out there. There are people who are trying to make a dollar fast and so they may put the same label, the same coloring, but it may not be the same substances that's in that product. It may be filler, it may be pedits, it may be allergens and we have to watch for those things so we have to buy from a company that is attesting to what they say is in that bottle actually is that way. Doctor, what is the consequences of taking a counterfeit product which, as we were talking about with Jackie, may have fillers and a lot of things that you don't know exactly what they are? One of the biggest consequences is that it simply doesn't work. Another is that there can be side effects, there can be anything from jitteriness to stomach upset and it's very hard to tell whether the problem is from the supplement or from the underlying condition. They were taking the supplement for. We've had patients call me and tell me that they got a supplement from the internet and there's a horrible smell. Is it supposed to smell that way? Probably not. It's probably deteriorated, expired or something else and so sometimes as with prescription medications there can be unpleasant side effects or serious side effects. High quality products are not going to have serious side effects. And that really brings us again to these dos and don'ts because I was looking up earlier today the subject that was on men'shealth.com and I saw the list of some of the three best supplements and it was protein powder, creatine and multivitamin. I have a son who is going to be a college athlete. That's what he's taking, but when it comes to creatine, Jackie, you were saying not all creatine is created equal. And I think the physician will totally agree with me that what you need to do is you need to make sure that you are getting a product, that you know who the manufacturer is, you know it's in the product, that the person who or the company that is producing that product has been in business for a long time. It is a trusted and has done clinical, has done research including placebo research and has done testing and so that you know that that is validated and that is working. And I often see where young athletes will come in and they will bring in a product that I say, you know you're really working hard to build your body and to be healthy, but you're really putting some things that are not healthy for you. One of the things I think the consumer can look for is there's two types of labeling. It's NSF and it's USP labeling. And these are companies or agencies that certify that the ingredients in that product are the ingredients that they say they are. So if you're buying a supplement, if you don't have somebody like Jackie to consult, you can turn around and at least look for those labeling. It provides assurance and a protocol and quality that that product every time is going to be made that way and that there are procedures and written procedures for that product. Doctor, I'm hoping that you could respond to one thing if you saw our reporter raise story earlier where we have a local physician who says, you know, supplements are great, but there is no scientific evidence that they do what they say they're going to do. I've seen studies that do show scientific evidence. We've seen studies that show macular degeneration can have its progression halted by certain supplements. Vitamin D can prevent tooth decay in children as well as a number of falls, bone density problems. Glucosamine has been shown to really help arthritis in the knees. There actually are studies out there. Some of them are large group studies, population studies, and some of them are case controlled, high scientific evidence studies. Okay, let's take a quick break and when we return we'll have final thoughts from our guest. What some of our viewers are saying about last night's topic, the increasing use of roundabouts. Welcome back. Should you be taking a dietary supplement? Are you better off without them? Our guests join us right now for final thoughts. And Dr. Danal, let me start with you. People are watching this tonight and they're walking away saying, I've been taking this or that from our corner place. Is this a good idea? And you say what? I say if it helps you, if you can see that it helps you, it's probably a good idea. But be sure you tell your doctor at your annual physical or your next visit that you are taking it. There can be interactions and the doctor needs to know. He or she may have other suggestions. Jackie, I was reading one article today about somebody who was taking a supplement in terms of building back strength and they did in the short term. Then they had some really unanticipated side effects that led their doctor to eventually believe that their liver was impacted on this and this underscores the care that you need to take in terms of where you're getting this stuff from. I would just like to say in our community I work with a lot of pain management physicians and I'm an old pain management nurse of many years and so I work with a lot of people who are in pain. So what you want to do is you want to look at the lab work. I do micronutrient testing. So I test people to actually see where their micronutrient deficiencies are so I'm not going to say you need this supplement if you actually do not need that supplement. So it's going to be looked at with data to be able to identify what your needs would be. And Jerry, your advice is not going to make a lot of our retailers out there happy. Well, I want to leave the viewers with some things to consider before they buy a supplement. I think you should stay away from a big box store. I think you have to use some common sense which is actually the FTC rule. If somebody is saying you can lose 100 pounds in two weeks, it's probably not true. If you get what you pay for, if it's too cheap, you shouldn't do it. I don't think you should buy from eBay. I think if it's on Amazon you should question who the seller is, click in to see who the actual seller is. And we haven't talked about the pyramid type sellers. If the product is so good, they don't need a pyramid scheme to sell the product. Those are things I would consider before I would buy a supplement. Okay, we have to leave it there. But before we go, we want to share with you what some of our viewers are saying about last night's topic, the increasing use of roundabouts on the Suncoast. Boy, did we get a lot of feedback. Transportation experts say they reduce the number of accidents and particularly fatal accidents at intersections. They also say roundabouts increase traffic flow. However, some Suncoast residents say people ignore yield sides and aren't educated on how to navigate them. Here is what some of you are saying. Sylvia Kampfeld writes, safer for whom our out-of-town people and a huge chunk of elderly are scared of them as a result they hold up traffic as they are fearful to pull out. Terrible idea for our aging and visitor-friendly community. Cameron Tucker writes, I almost die every time I use the Jacaranda Circle because people cut me off constantly. Ernest Franch writes, if used properly, they are excellent. The issue is not many living here know how to use them properly. Well, there's a lot of people who live here don't know how to use them properly. Well, what do you think about dietary supplements? Do you swear by them? Maybe you want to take them off the shelves joining tonight's conversation by visiting our Facebook page at facebook.com. And the FYI, you can watch past roundtable discussions. We'll be back with our primetime headlines after we check the weather, so stay with us.