Imminent German natural product ban and post-exercise antioxidants

The two times of year you’d better keep a close eye on what legislators get up to in Europe are during the August summer holidays and the Christmas/New Year break. Last week, we filed our objection to the removal of complementary therapies from The UK NICE guidelines for the terminally ill. We found this move to be contrary to the NHS’s own constitution and the consultation was barely publicised and then only posted only on 3 January with a deadline just 26 days later. We submitted last Thursday and our submission is now live on our website.

The German Bundestag (parliament) seems to be playing a similar game with a law that should be about protecting the public from psychedelic-pharma-drugs-turned-recreational-ones. We’ve been working with partners in Germany to fully understand the law and its implications. We’re now starting the process of raising awareness about it along with grassroots political action in Germany. There isn’t much time so we’re calling on you to alert anyone you know in Germany who’s interested in raising the issue with their elected representative.

A month into 2016, there’ll be plenty of you who are deep into a re-activated physical exercise campaign that might be intended to shift some unwanted weight or blow out some wintery cobwebs. But, in the wake of another paper blasting the use of ‘antioxidant supplements’ used in conjunction with, or after, training, we offer our views, based on the best available science and know-how.

As always, we round-up the week’s natural news, covering issues ranging from proton beam therapy for cancer, through to HPV vaccine warnings and statin health risks. We ask that you do what you can to share—as widely as you can— these stories along with our two main articles. Thank you.

In health, naturally

Rob Verkerk, PhD

Founder, executive & scientific director