Misleading advertising? Seasilver…you be the judge!

There is more and more evidence which suggests that a reasonable life span for humans should be around 120 years. I have no doubt that myself and my family, plus others who apply the correct knowledge will achieve this. Over the coming months…and years, I will try and pass on to you through this newsletter and special reports as much of this knowledge as possible so you can apply it for yourself if you wish.

Even more important than longevity itself is ensuring that these additional years are free from disease right up until the end. Senior citizens with sharp minds and healthy bodies enrich our society with their wisdom and knowledge rather than becoming a burden. Make sure that you are one of them!

The point of this issue...

What has this got to do with the subject matter of today's newsletter? Not much…in fact nothing at all! I mention my research because during the course of doing it I come across a lot of products that claim all sorts of things. A lot of these product claims are very well put together and extremely convincing to the general public, and when it is true and based on good science I think "that's great" as those people and Companies are providing a worthwhile service.

However, when I come across companies that are taking unfair advantage of peoples fear, whether it be related to a perception of personal health safety such as we have seen in the specter of bio-terrorism or whether it be related to general health, I have to confess I get somewhat irritated…IF their products are questionable and their claims are suspect! There are many good companies in the dietary supplement industry supplying quality products at fair prices with accurate claims. Unfortunately they are in the minority and you don't hear much of them. The companies that you hear most off are those that make wild claims and due to excessive pricing structures have the most money to spend on promoting them.

Seasilver…a good example!

There is a product called 'Seasilver' that is being promoted heavily at the moment and by all accounts selling to the public in truckloads. I would be all for this if the public who are purchasing the product were truly being given correct information and getting value for money.

I have had quite a few emails from people asking about this product and the occasional one from those who would appear to be distributors of Seasilver but do not actually say so. Here is an example of one that I got last week.

"Hi., There are so many companies claiming they have the best this or that. And they make it sound so good. Why would I want to take a pill or a capsule that is only about 10-20 % absorbable? Why not take a liquid form made from natural ingredients *(fruits, vegetable ) which is 98% absorbable? One other thing... most vitamins are made from shale. Wolfe"

Mm'm, that's interesting... vitamins made from shale? I responded but not surprisingly I did not get a reply.

Anyway, shortly after this email I received quite coincidently in my 'in box' a promotion for Seasilver which is what promoted me to write this newsletter. OK, so what's wrong with Seasilver? Let's examine the main points in the advert that I received.

The main points...

• “Seasilver claims 98% absorption because it is liquid and bypasses the digestive system”. Impossible! The only way you can bypass the digestive system is via a sublingual delivery system or by injection. Seasilver is taken orally as a drink and therefore there is no way it can bypass the digestive system.
• “They claim vitamin ‘pills’ are only 10 – 20% absorbable”. This is true for many products in the market place particularly the mass supermarket type which use cheap ingredients such as calcium carbonate which has extremely poor absorption. However, a few companies have developed delivery systems such as we have with our Total Balance that is designed to be absorbed through the upper intestine with bio-availability around 85 – 90%. This is the delivery system used by many pharmaceutical drugs. Therefore the claim that they are making is misleading at best.
• “They claim that they have ‘perfected’ a special way of growing aloe Vera which is the main ingredient and that somehow this growing method creates a more potent product that nature itself.” There is no scientific basis for such a claim. Faster growing products generally have less nutrients present.
• “They add silver which they say there is a deficiency of in the body”. More nonsense…the body does not require silver. Take too much of it and your skin will turn blue and you will have serious health problems!
• Seasilver provide a big list of the ingredients that are included in their product. This also encompasses all the trace elements. Their list is dishonest for two reasons. One... the amounts of these substances are so small that the benefits that you will derive per helping is probably less than a few forkfuls of cabbage. Two, they have removed from the list other elements that are present but would ‘put off’ the public such as arsenic which is also present in trace amounts in vegetables. But, arsenic is not a problem because the amounts are far too small to have an impact on the body as are the other trace elements.
• Another claim concerns the purity of the sea ‘vegetables’ another term for seaweed. Unless it goes through an extraction process and strict testing it may not be as pure as you think. I personally would not eat seaweed harvested in the northern hemisphere. The level of toxins is quite high in many northern waters, particularly mercury.
• What about vitamins coming from shale which they refer to. This is more nonsense. Although a lot of manufacturers use synthetic vitamins because they are cheap versus the natural versions which are generally plant derived I have never heard of any coming from ‘Shale’. They may of course be getting confused with minerals. I have no doubt that some mineral dietary supplements are nothing more than rock ‘scrapings’ but the high quality mineral supplements certainly are not from an inorganic source.
• They also say that “if you take this product that you don’t need anything else”. This may possibly be the case if you drank a months supply every day but on the recommended dose rates that is just not possible. Of course they don’t list the exact amount of ingredients in each dose so it is hard to assess.

In summary...

My opinion is that you could receive the same benefits if not more by growing some organic cabbages in your back yard and using them to make up 4 oz's of vegetable juice per day and drinking that! It would also cost you a LOT less! This is a typical case of a product being developed by a 'marketer' as opposed to a scientist. As with many MLM (multi-level marketing) schemes the presentation is excellent and within a short space of time there will no doubt be thousands of distributors singing its praise all hoping by doing so to supplement their income... a noble cause, but sadly an unrealistic one as the MLM structure can rarely be sustained unless the products are competitive at retail level and give value for money which this does not.

Until the next time.

In good health,