Dietary supplements are wholly unregulated

+ how Bob Marley built a marketing empire – posthumously US Edition - Today's top story: Dietary supplements and protein powders fall under a 'wild west' of unregulated products that necessitate caveats and caution [View in browser]( US Edition | 6 February 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [Trump ballot ruling stress-tests Supreme Court]( - [Apartheid’s end offers hope for Mideast peace]( - [Your pet’s poop is more than just a smelly mess]( Lead story Weight-loss and weight-gain supplements, energy elixirs, dietary aids for building muscle mass, immunity boosters – all of these are among the numerous products that make claims on their labels that have no scientific backing. What’s worse, because these products aren’t classified as drugs, manufacturers are not required to prove their efficacy or safety. Such misbranding and false advertising are [rampant with dietary supplements](, explain eating disorders specialist Emily Hemendinger and biomedical researcher Katie Suleta, both from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. These products can be not only misleading but downright dangerous, they add. And the fact that these dietary supplements are increasingly being used by teens is another growing concern. “The unregulated market of dietary supplements is setting consumers up to be misled and potentially seriously harmed by these products,” the scholars write. “Ultimately, the impact of long-term use of these supplements, especially in adolescents, is unstudied.” [ [Sign up for our weekly Global Economy & Business newsletter, with interesting perspectives from experts around the world](. ] Amanda Mascarelli Senior Health and Medicine Editor Dietary supplement labels can be misleading. Charday Penn/iStock via Getty Images [Dietary supplements and protein powders fall under a ‘wild west’ of unregulated products that necessitate caveats and caution]( Emily Hemendinger, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Katie Suleta, George Washington University Although most Americans believe dietary supplements are safe, these products often make health claims that are unproven or downright false. Politics + Society - [Supreme Court heads into uncharted, dangerous territory as it considers Trump insurrection case]( Jessica A. Schoenherr, University of South Carolina; Jonathan M. King, West Virginia University With their upcoming decision concerning whether Donald Trump can appear on the Colorado ballot, Supreme Court justices face the possibility that the ruling could be ignored or defied by the public. - [There are reasons to believe a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is closer than ever]( Benjamin Case, Arizona State University While the conflict between Hamas and Israel is unique, the case of South Africa’s border war – and subsequent fall of apartheid – might offer lessons that apply to the Middle East. Education - [Peer review isn’t perfect − I know because I teach others how to do it and I’ve seen firsthand how it comes up short]( JT Torres, Quinnipiac University Politics and the lack of compensation are among the factors that can undermine the peer review process, which is important to the quality of knowledge in academic journals. Arts + Culture - [From rebel to retail − inside Bob Marley’s posthumous musical and merchandising empire]( Mike Alleyne, Middle Tennessee State University How did a musician whose songs were suffused with messages of anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism become so commercialized? Economy + Business - [Driving the best possible bargain now isn’t the best long-term strategy, according to game theory]( Kate Vitasek, University of Tennessee ‘Winning’ in negotiations isn’t always the best approach. - [Black travelers want authentic engagement, not checkboxes]( Alana Dillette, San Diego State University; Stefanie Benjamin, University of Tennessee Black travelers want the tourism industry to recognize their full identity. That will require more than procedural checkboxes and targeted advertising. Science + Technology - [Perils of pet poop – so much more than just unsightly and smelly, it can spread disease]( Julia Wuerz, University of Florida The signs that remind you to pick up after your pet are not just trying to keep public spaces clean; they’re urging you to help safeguard your community’s health. - [AI helps students skip right to the good stuff in this intro programming course]( Leo Porter, University of California, San Diego; Daniel Zingaro, University of Toronto Learning to program requires mastering the nitty-gritty of code syntax. Generative AI turns out to be good at that. Adding AI to intro programming courses frees students to focus on problem-solving. Environment + Energy - [What is an atmospheric river? With flooding and mudslides in California, a hydrologist explains the good and bad of these storms and how they’re changing]( Qian Cao, University of California, San Diego These giant rivers in the sky are both destructive and essential for the Western U.S. water supply. - [Self-extinguishing batteries could reduce the risk of deadly and costly battery fires]( Apparao Rao, Clemson University; Bingan Lu, Hunan University Lithium-ion battery fires are becoming increasingly common as electric vehicles spread, and are hard to extinguish. A new approach uses an electrolyte based on a commercial fire extinguisher. Trending on site - [Super Bowl ads: It’s getting harder for commercials to score with consumers]( - [How can I get ice off my car? An engineer who studies airborne particles shares some quick and easy techniques]( - [What do your blood test results mean? A toxicologist explains the basics of how to interpret them]( Today's graphic 📈 [The more extreme a person's political views, the more immoral they rate political opponents on a scale of 1 to 5. This trend remained even when study participants were treated kindly by a person on the other side of the partisan divide and applied to both liberals and conservatives.]( From the story, [Republicans and Democrats consider each other immoral – even when treated fairly and kindly by the opposition]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( Follow us on social media: • [Threads]( • [Bluesky]( • [Mastodon]( • [Post.news]( • [LinkedIn]( • [Instagram]( • [Facebook]( • Or [get a daily text from us]( - - About The Conversation We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](