Consumer Publications and Information

If you're looking for information on how to buy and use dietary supplements, as well as up-to-the-minute reportage on nutrition, these links will take you to a variety of informative sites. General guides, newsletters, book reviews and on-line publications are contained in this area.

Alternative/Complementary Medicine
at University of Maryland Medicine
www.umm.edu/altmed/index.html

This consumer-friendly site on Alternative and Complementary Medicine contains easy-to-read articles about dietary supplements in regard to how they are used, dietary sources and how to take the supplement. Additional information includes precautions and possible interactions, and a listing of research associated with the supplement. Covered supplements include all vitamins, minerals and amino acids, plus a substantial number of other supplements. Similar information is supplied for herbal supplements, as well as uses for herbs and supplements, and a comprehensive set of medical conditions from abdominal wall inflammation to yeast infections. One can also find out about interactions between drugs and supplements.

Alternative Medicine Foundation
www.amfoundation.org

Focusing on alternatives to conventional Western medicine, this site provides both "responsible and reliable information for patients and consumers" and "evidence-based research resources for health care professionals." The site hosts both HerbMed (a searchable database of approximately 100 herbs) and TibetMed (an information resource about Tibetan medicine). Other features include lists of books, journals, schools, and herbal medicine courses, plus organizations and referral sources, search services, and Web resources.

Altmedicine: Alternative Health News Online
www.altmedicine.com

Altmedicine.com provides both abstracts of and links to news about alternative, complementary, and preventive health from a wide range of news sources, both layman and scientific. Published by reporter Frank Grazian, the website presents information on health news, diet and nutrition, alternative medical systems, longevity, recommended books, and healthy living. The site has both archives and a search engine. Searching for "folic acid" found sixteen articles; searching for "echinacea" found four.

American Society for Nutritional Sciences
www.nutrition.org/nutinfo

These descriptions of 43 vitamins, minerals and several other nutrients were prepared by nutrition research experts. They describe the nutrient and symptoms of deficiency (often toxicity as well). Both dietary recommendations (how much is enough) and food sources are given, as well as descriptions of recent research. A short bibliography of further information is included, as well as author name(s) and contact information.

Arbor Nutrition Guide
www.arborcom.com

Contains many links to a variety of nutrition information. The clinical area contains several pages of especially useful information.

Arthritis & Glucosamine Information Center
www.glucosamine-arthritis.org

This site about arthritis and glucosamine offers top quality information on arthritis and glucosamine, the latest research, details on arthritis medications and treatments, and tips for effectively managing your pain.

Botanical.com
www.botanical.com

This book promotion site features A Modern Herbal, first published in 1931. A plant and herb index and index of poisons make interesting reading. Includes a hypertext version of the book with medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folklore of herbs.

CRN: Council for Responsible Nutrition - website brochures
www.crnusa.org/about_gen.html

A wealth of information about all varieties of dietary supplements and supplement labels.

Delicious
www.healthwell.com/delicious-online

Online version of Delicious, a monthly paper publication of New Hope.

Environmental Nutrition
www.environmentalnutrition.com

Environmental Nutrition offers authoritative, practical guidance on balancing your diet to protect against disease, manage your weight, minimize risk from pesticides, and live a longer, healthier life. Every month, they review scores of research reports, talk to experts and regulators, analyze the information and provide sensible, practical—and sometimes surprising—guidance on foods that will help lower the risk of heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Among as many as 15 articles a month are also cutting-edge reports on questionable "miracle" supplements and cautions on food safety as well as succinct updates on current research.

HealthWorld Online's Vitamins and Dietary Supplement Center
www.healthy.net/nutrit/nutinfo/dietsup

Articles about all of the major and minor vitamins and minerals cover their sources, functions, uses, deficiency, toxicity, and how much of the substance people need.  Additional articles include other varieties of dietary supplements.

HealthWorld Online search engine
www.healthy.net/library/search.htm

The HealthWorld Online website has 30,000 pages covering a wide range of medical information, both conventional and "alternative", which you can access through their search engine.  HealthWorld Online's mission is to empower individuals to take charge of their own health — through "well care" or "Self-Managed Care" rather than "disease care".

The Herbal Bookworm
www.herbological.com/bookworm.html

Informal, highly literate and gently humorous, The Herbal Bookworm is in simple form a short compendium of book reviews relating to herbs and their medicinal use. But there is more here than meets the casual eye. General editor Jonathan Treasure, an English herbalist currently practicing in Eugene, Oregon, is about the fascinating business of "developing a practical constitutional physiology for western herbal therapeutics." This site, like a bright fire on a chilly night, illuminates a host of issues while inviting long contemplation.

Herbnet
www.herbnet.com

Sponsored by the Herb Growing and Marketing Network, Herbnet offers a wide range of information on herbal associations, gardens, herbal studies, publications, special events, and more. Includes an "Ask the Herbalist" feature.

HerbalGram
www.herbalgram.org/browse.php/defaulthome

HerbalGram is the journal of the American Botanical Council (ABC) and the Herb Research Foundation (HRF). It contains a wealth of detailed information on the most up-to-date research on herbal supplements, as well as information about health benefits, news about rainforests and other horticultural regions, plus news about FDA regulations on herbs.

LEF Magazine
www.lef.org/magazine/mag.html

Online version of the Life Extension Foundation's monthly magazine publication. Selected articles are published on the website, going back to 1995.

Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org

Life Extension Foundation is a nonprofit organization. It conducts research and sells supplements and other substances that it has found to be life extending. From its website: "Life Extensionists are people who believe in taking advantage of documented scientific therapies to prevent diseases and slow aging.  The medical literature contains thousands of papers on the use of antioxidant supplements, hormone therapies and medications that have been shown to improve the quality and quantity of life. Life Extensionists attempt to use this scientific information to improve their chances of living longer in good health.

NIH Clinical Center, Facts About
Dietary Supplements
www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/

These fact sheets about dietary supplements were developed by registered dietitians (RDs) at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, which is the clinical research hospital at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda MD, in conjunction with the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Each undergoes extensive scientific review by recognized experts from the academic and research communities. As of June 2004, this growing series includes vitamins A, B6, B12, D, E, and folate—plus the minerals iron, selenium, and zinc.

Nutrition Health Directory
www.nutrition-guides.com

Contains many links to websites about alternative health, dietary options, disease prevention, nutrients in foods, organizations and resources, as well as chats and forums. Especially useful are their links to websites about dietitians and nutritionists.

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter
www.healthletter.tufts.edu/index.html

An outstanding example of a university-sponsored newsletter, this site benefits from a direct relation with the Tufts School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Tufts was led for many years by Jean Mayer, a world authority on health and nutrition. The newsletter includes numerous articles on dietary supplements and their use. On-line article indexes date back to 1995.

USDA National Nutrient Database
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains a National Nutrient Database. The database contains approximately 20,000 raw foods, cooked foods, and brand-name packaged foods, and gives data on calories, protein, fiber, carbohydrates, fats—plus vitamins, minerals and amino acids. One can get information for a variety of serving sizes, including cups, grams, slices, and whole items of fruits and vegetables in various sizes.

For each of 38 nutrients, one can also get two reports showing how much of that nutrient is found in these foods. One report lists the foods alphabetically; the other by nutrient content (the best sources first). These nutrients include seven macronutrients as well as 11 vitamins, 10 minerals, and several phytochemicals as well as caloric, protein, carbohydrate and fat content.

VitaCost.com
www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Index/Drug.htm

Information on drug-supplement interactions is available via HealthNotes at this online supplement store.

Vitamins and Nutrition Center
www.vitamins-nutrition.org

The Vitamins and Nutrition Center provides a wealth of information about vitamins and nutrition, including research and descriptive articles about vitamins and important minerals.