When
it comes to detox products, it may seem
difficult to assess the pros and cons. Which ingredients are safe? Which are
effective? At what point do potential side effects outweigh the supposed benefits?
In
some cases, the evidence of risk is so distinct that it's hard to imagine why
anyone would subject their body to such danger in search of unproven gain. One
such ingredient is eleuthero, sometimes known as Siberian ginseng.
Available
in the United States as an unregulated Chinese import since 1976, eleuthero
falls into a gray area between food and medicine. It isn't held to
Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines that limit pesticide
residue—private research found that 12 out of 22 eleuthero products contained
toxic fungicides, and yet it's still on the market. It doesn't undergo United
States Department of Agriculture inspection for pathogens such as E. coli and
salmonella, a standard to which even fast food hamburgers are subjected.
Importers of eleuthero don't even have to prove its safety or effectiveness to
the Federal Drug Administration.
Eleuthero
plants are not commonly grown in the United States. Instead, they are foraged
in rural areas of Asia, where the plain green leaves and white blooms cause it
to be frequently confused with similar species—some poisonous, others merely
unidentified—and then shipped halfway around the world to consumers who have no
way of knowing what exactly is in the product.
Even
if a product labeled eleuthero is indeed pure eleuthero, beware! The Penn State
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center warns of side effects that include irregular
heart beat, confusion, high blood pressure, and vomiting. Eleuthero can also
interact dangerously with common medications such as anticoagulants, prednisone,
lithium, and most diabetes medications.
Why
take the risk? Stick with detox products thathave been carefully developed using only the highest quality herbs.
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