BY GRETCHEN LIDICKER
Do you ever wonder where your supplements come from? How ironic would it be if your liver support supplement had pesticides in it? Or if the supplement you recommended to your friend for her gut health contained gluten and added sugars? If you're taking something for the sake of your health, you should know the facts. But the way supplements are regulated can make it hard to find the facts you need.
I’ve done my research into supplement manufacturing processes and regulations, but I wanted to go further, to the place where my supplements are produced, so I boarded a plane and flew to Gaia Herbs organic farm and manufacturing facility to ask my most pressing questions. Back in New York, I met with Dr. Barry Ritz, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at Atrium Innovations and a board member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, and Dr. Robert Graham, a Harvard-trained physician board certified in both internal and integrative medicine, to get their take on supplements and facts we should all know.
Here are the questions I asked and the answers I got. They’re the questions you’ll want to be able to answer about your supplement.