Washington, D.C.—Renowned physician and natural medicine proponent Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., briefs Congressional staff members about the value of dietary supplements.
Low Dog spoke September 9 at a briefing held by Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus entitled, "Life Fortified: A Physician’s Case for Dietary Supplements,” referencing data from the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting millions of Americans are deficient in numerous key nutrients. Such deficiencies include vitamin D (affecting 90 million Americans), vitamin B6 (affecting 30 million Americans), vitamin B12 (affecting 18 million Americans) and vitamin C (affecting nearly 16 million Americans.
“I’m extremely concerned when I hear misleading soundbites on the evening news that people don’t need vitamins because they get all the nutrients they need from their diet because it isn’t just patients who hear this, doctors also hear it repeatedly,” Dr. Low Dog said. “This mantra that Americans get all the nutrients they need from food is simply not true and the data demonstrates it is false. It is much harder than you think to get the nutrients you need from food alone.”
She also mentioned that low-income Americans (many of whom are affected by these and other deficiencies) can use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to buy junk food and soda, but not multivitamins.
The briefing was held in cooperation with the American Herbal Products Association, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the Natural Products Association and the United Natural Products Alliance.
Published on WholeFoods Magazine Online (9/11/15)
