Filled turmeric capsules.

When I visit health food stores I’m often shocked by the costs of supplements that contain generic ingredients.

For example, consider turmeric; it’s being studied for a host of supposed health-promoting qualities against diseases like cancer, arthritis and degenerative illness. While there’s only preliminary evidence so far, turmeric and turmeric derivatives have already become very popular supplements. There are countless different forms of extract available, often delivered along with a purported potentiator like piperine.

But many supplement companies also offer unrefined turmeric powder in capsule form. For example:  Read more ›

And why would you want to drink it?

When I tell people that I’m a huge herbal tea geek, the most common reaction is “Why?”

To many people, herbal tea is something to drink only when sick, if at all. It’s sad, boring and it all tastes the same.

But herbal tea has just as much to offer as tea or coffee, both of which are now treated as delicacies all over the world.

There are hundreds of different types of herbal tea — in fact, there are probably hundreds left I haven’t even tried. Give me a few minutes and I’ll try to convince you that the world of herbal tea is definitely worth exploring.

Clearing up a few misconceptions

First, let’s establish what herbal tea isn’t.

Green tea is not herbal tea. Green tea is a processed form of Camellia sinensis (the “tea plant” or simply “tea”) from which all varieties of true tea are made. Black tea, yellow tea, oolong, pu-erh, green tea, white tea — it’s all Camellia sinensis. The difference in the appearance and taste of the final product comes from the different ways these teas are oxidized, dried and cured — but that’s another post. The important thing is that Camellia sinensis makes up the group of drinks we call “tea”.

Read more ›

Well hello there!

Welcome to the Supplement SOS blog. This is going to be my new home on these-here internets, and I’m very excited about it!

Credit: lieslree

I’ve been writing about food and health from a scientific perspective for around three years now. I’ve written for a bunch of different types of sites and quite a wide variety of topics–everything from body building to raw food dieting.

The thing I’m most excited about with this new project is that I get to set the agenda. Supplement SOS is all about providing trustworthy information on nutritional supplements, but this little corner is about anything nutrition-related I’m researching that I think is interesting and important for people to know about (although if I’m feeling very generous I may feature the occasional guest post from John or Rosalin). Read more ›