Many substances fall under the category of Natural Health Products including,

• Vitamins and minerals
• Herbal remedies
• Homeopathic medicines
• Traditional medicines such as traditional Chinese medicines
• Probiotics and Other products like amino acids and essential fatty acids

In Canada these substances fall under regulatory control of the Natural Health Products Directorate. Through the Natural Health Products Directorate, Health Canada ensures that all Canadians have ready access to natural health products that are safe, effective and of high quality, while respecting freedom of choice and philosophical and cultural diversity.  This directive is responsible for testing and analyzing health claims made by health products.  One such assurance is that products contain what the label says they contain, and do not contain ingredients not disclosed on the label.  This has been a common problem with supplements from the US and we advise against buying your supplements south of the border.

Knowing where your supplements come from is the key to ensuring effective, safe products.  Companies that are interested in creating a permanent, prosperous business in the health food industry realize that gaining the trust and improving the health of their customers is the key to sustainability.  It is not uncommon for profit-seeking companies to bring a product line to the market in an attempt to ‘cash-in’ on this new natural health revolution.  The responsibility of Health Canada has necessary limitations that allow us to have access to a number of health products that don’t, as of yet, have strong clinical evidence of efficacy, but often have hundreds or thousands of years of empirical evidence supporting their safe and effective use as a remedy.  This same freedom unfortunately allows less reputable manufacturers to bring products to market with little regard for the products’ effectiveness.  Reputable, knowledgeable health food stores won’t carry these lines, they are commonly found in discount or drug stores. Price is often a reliable indication of the amount of research and quality in an end product, as the saying goes “you get what you pay for”.

Another caution is the “standardized extract”.  While this can be an assurance of quality for certain herbal products it shouldn’t be applied to all herbal formulations.  In classic “dissect and isolate” modern-science-style, many herbal products have been found to have “active ingredients” that researchers claim are responsible for their action on the body.  Mother Nature put all the compounds in a plant together for a reason.  Trying to “isolate” that ONE compound is much like trying to see which part of your car is responsible for rolling you down the highway.  It may seem like the tires are the “active ingredient”, but upon closer inspection you’d find that there are many other aspects that are necessary to allow those tires to roll.  It is much the same with a plant.  There may be one compound that seems to exert the effect, but there are many compounds necessary for delivery, safety and overall balancing.   Why do we always think we can improve on nature?

Evolution Wellness only recommends the highest quality natural health products produced by reputable companies that supply research and safety data for all of their products.  You can also rest assured that any known supplement-drug interactions are always investigated.