Look at what I found about ayurvedics

bellezanegra826

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http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-heavymetals27-2008aug27,0,1629345.story

I don't know if anyone takes any of this stuff internally, but it is important to note that things we put on our skin (scalp) penetrate and can affect us internally. That's why some drugs are available in patch form ie birth control and nicotene patches so proceed with caution!


Ayurvedic medicines often contaminated by toxic metals, study says
Ayurvedic
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Chitose Suzuki / Associated Press
Of the U.S. products, 21% contained lead, 3% contained mercury and 3% had arsenic. Among the Indian-made medicines, 17% had lead, 7% had mercury and none contained arsenic.
Lead, mercury and arsenic were found in the traditionally Indian herbal mixtures at levels that would surpass California safety guidelines, says a researcher who is calling for FDA curbs.

By Alan Zarembo, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 27, 2008
Ayurvedic medicines -- herbal mixtures dating back thousands of years in India and increasingly popular in the West -- are frequently contaminated with lead, mercury or arsenic, according to a study published today.

A fifth of the nearly 200 concoctions tested contained levels of the toxic metals that, if taken at the maximum recommended doses, would surpass California's safety guidelines.

Dr. Robert Saper, a Boston University professor of family medicine who led the study, said the findings should spur the Food and Drug Administration to start clamping down on the largely unregulated world of pills, herbs and powders classified as dietary supplements.

"It shouldn't be me trying to figure this out," Saper said.

Ayurveda is a traditional Indian practice that takes a holistic approach to wellness, employing herbal medicine, meditation and exercise to promote good health. It exists alongside modern medicine in India, with its own network of clinics, hospitals and colleges serving hundreds of millions of patients.

It has spread to the U.S. and Europe with the migration of South Asians around the world and been popularized by figures such as bestselling author Deepak Chopra.

There are about two dozen ayurvedic training programs in the United States. A 2002 survey estimated that 750,000 U.S. residents have used the herbal preparations, sold under both traditional Indian names and more marketable labels such as GlucoRite and Ezi Slim.

Saper got interested in the supplements in 2003 after a man of Indian origin showed up at a Boston-area emergency room with seizures. The culprit turned out to be lead in the man's ayurvedic medicines. In an initial study published in 2004, Saper bought 70 ayurvedic products imported from India and found that toxic metals were common components.

It was an unsettling finding, because most of the preparations are intended to be taken as part of a daily regimen to improve health.

"Many, many studies are showing that even small levels of lead in the blood can increase the risk of high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction and decreased IQ," Saper said.

Ayurvedic practitioners lashed out at the research as alarmist, saying that it only showed there were problems with mixtures from India, not with U.S.-made products.

They pointed out that in India, many of these metals are purposely blended with herbs as part of the medicinal recipe. Those metallic mixtures are rarely used in the United States, they said.

In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Saper and his team analyzed 193 products purchased from 25 websites for Indian and U.S. manufacturers. The vast majority supposedly contained only herbs and no metals.

About 80% of the samples showed no detectable metal content. But among the remaining samples, the toxic metals showed up at similar rates in both U.S. and Indian-made products. Of the U.S. products, 21% contained lead, 3% contained mercury and 3% had arsenic. Among the Indian-made medicines, 17% had lead, 7% had mercury and none contained arsenic.

The researchers and other experts surmised that the contamination had less to do with the manufacturing process than with the soils in which the herbs were grown.

"The raw material is all coming from India," said Kush Khanna, who runs Bazaar of India in Berkeley, a manufacturer of ayurvedic medicines started by his father in 1971.

Heavy metals showed up in 17 of the products the researchers ordered from his company.

Khanna said two labs in India routinely tested the 80 or so ingredients he imported.

The problem is that there are no unified standards for what is considered safe.

Lead levels allowed by the World Health Organization are 500 times the California limits.

"Based on WHO standards, our products are perfect," Khanna said. "They have not exceeded any limits."

The researchers found only two products that exceeded the WHO standards for lead content. Both mixtures were from India and purposely prepared with metals as ingredients.

In California, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 requires that products containing certain levels of toxic metals carry warning labels. But the act has no power to ban products, and companies with fewer than 10 employees, such as Khanna's, are exempt from the labeling requirements.

The FDA does not specify any limits for metal content in dietary supplements, leaving it to the manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe.

Jennifer Rioux, a medical anthropologist who runs the Integral Ayurveda clinic in Chapel Hill, N.C., said the research underscored the need for consumers to consult with ayurvedic experts instead of buying and taking products on their own.

She noted that the study showed many medicines to be perfectly safe, but she worried that its conclusions would tar her profession.

"All people need is one study to provoke fear about an entire system of medicine," she said.
 
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This info is great, but of course all of these things are formulated to be taken internally. With farming and transport methods, not to mention different standards in different countries, there's always a risk of coming across something unpleasant. However, this same thing is true for FDA approved drugs.

Whatever you do or take, there's always a risk. This is partly why many people say prayers when they eat.
 
I guess we have to pick our poison. Use the U.S.poisonous cosmetics or get your poison from over seas...Is anything safe????
 
When I get a hold of a lead testing kit, I'll check the powders I have. Would've been nice if the article had listed what brands contained the tainted materials--or at least provided a link to a list =/
 
When I get a hold of a lead testing kit, I'll check the powders I have. Would've been nice if the article had listed what brands contained the tainted materials--or at least provided a link to a list =/


Exactly! The U.S is so corrupt in their reports until it's hard to believe. It's like they'd rather we buy their tainted stuff and tell us the whole world is just like them. I"m going to keep on using amla and vatika which are the only two ayurvedic things I own. I need to grow an Indian gooseberry tree(which is what amla oil is mixed with coconut oil) and make my own or is the ground tainted too???
 
Do your thing, naturalgurl! If we had enough room left on our property we would try to grow gooseberry, too.

We can't run from everything the U.S. and gov't tells us we should or shouldn't use. One day they say something is bad for us, then turn around and in the next breath say it's okay after all. Sheesh! Things my Gramma used and ate all her life should have killed her (and us) a long time ago if the gov't were to be believed about very danged study that they put out. *november wind steps off soapbox*

Exactly! The U.S is so corrupt in their reports until it's hard to believe. It's like they'd rather we buy their tainted stuff and tell us the whole world is just like them. I"m going to keep on using amla and vatika which are the only two ayurvedic things I own. I need to grow an Indian gooseberry tree(which is what amla oil is mixed with coconut oil) and make my own or is the ground tainted too???
 
just like we need to be careful with all the chicken we eat, the veggies we buy, the water we drink, etc...:yep:

NOTHING is "safe" to put on our skin or in our bodies these days...:ohwell:

Amen friend! LOL...I'm pleasantly surprised to see a few skeptics here. In life, there really is no such thing as safe...we take our calculated risks and do the best we can, but there are no guarantees.

My suggestion is that if you are uncomfortable w/ imported goods, don't use them. If a calculated risk is up your alley, don't use them internally and alternate them w/ "safe" western products. It's unlikely things will enter the skin that aren't formulated to do so because that's our skin's job, to block harmful things from entering.
 
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