Rant
March 30 2018
The 14 Mega Corporations That Own Your Supplement Brand
Posted by: Neal Smoller
In reality, about 14 mega-corporations own over 100 of the most popular supplement brands. One corporation will even own COMPETING brands. Many of these mega-corporations are private equity companies or pharmaceutical manufacturers. Boom. Mind blown.
February 28 2018
Pet Nutrition is Fundamentally Broken
Posted by: Neal Smoller
I know what you’re thinking. Why the heck is Village Vitality ranting about Pet Nutrition? One reason, is I enjoy snausages. The real reason is that our stores have always sold pet food, treats, and supplements for the same reason we sell vitamins and other natural products: the pet nutrition...
February 01 2018
Flu Shots Are Nothing To Sneeze At
Posted by: Neal Smoller
A question being asked of us is “Do you believe in the flu shot?” as if we were discussing dragons or the tooth fairy. Yes, we do. This is will be the definitive “Skeptic’s Guide To Flu Shots.” The gloves are coming off, people. Buckle up.
January 09 2018
Calcium Doesn't Work?!
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Calcium made the news again recently. A meta-analysis (a study of past studies) was published in JAMA stating there is no benefit of using calcium supplementation in adults over 50. To which we elegantly replied, “No duh.” That’s not the whole picture; there’s more to understand before we all stop...
July 04 2017
Essential Oils
Posted by: Neal Smoller
When you hear the word essential oils, what comes to mind? Amazing scents? Tranquility? Us too. But one more phrase sticks out with us supplement nerds, and that’s “misleading claims.”
June 01 2017
Lyme Disease Revisted
Posted by: Neal Smoller
We’ve ranted about this before, yes, but we feel it is time for an update. This year will be a bad one for ticks, Lyme infections, and misinformation.
April 30 2017
Is CBD really magic?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Today we rant about the proliferation of CBD into the conversations at health food stores, pharmacies, and natural practitioners’ offices nationwide. And we also turn our sarcasm up to a 10.
March 31 2017
Let's Anti Our Oxidants!
Posted by: Neal Smoller
In today’s super-long, sarcastic rant, we will discuss why the term antioxidant is misleading and how many commercial antioxidant supplements are kinda worthless.
February 28 2017
The Monthly Rant: Vitamin C
Posted by: Neal Smoller
For Heart month, we want to focus on antioxidants. As we were discussing this, though, we kept getting hung up on a very popular antioxidant, Vitamin C.
January 31 2017
Resolutions!
Posted by: Neal Smoller
I write this rant today, 4 weeks late, for many reasons. It's about resolutions. I've made many myself as I'm sure you at home have. Josh and I made a bit of a resolution too. We resolved to not let up on our vision for Village Vitality.
June 30 2015
It's Time To Re-Rack Your Sports Supplements
Posted by: Neal Smoller
It HAD to be done. We absolutely had to talk about Sports Nutrition, in particular the rampant use of mega-dose, poor quality supplements.
May 10 2015
Qualifying Quality
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Perusing the supplement industry “rags” I noticed something I really hadn’t paid much attention to in the past. Everyone, I mean, EVERYONE, talks about quality.
April 01 2015
Becoming Better Researchers
Posted by: Neal Smoller
This month I want to take on research. My cortisol levels spike daily reading about the new “research” in the media. The way it’s portrayed to us, the public, compared to what the data is or actually showing is appalling.
February 03 2015
Herbal Adulteration - Dangerous, and Timely!
Posted by: Neal Smoller
We all like to think that when we buy a product at the store we are getting what it says on the package. Are there not laws on the books that protect the consumer? As with most things in the supplement industry, consumers get the short end of the stick....
December 31 2014
The Detoxin' Concoctions
Posted by: Neal Smoller
The New Year ushers in excitement, change, and endless possibility. This, coincidentally, runs parallel to the “oh my god I just ate waaaay too much” regrets and corresponding action plan to get back on track.
November 01 2014
Another one bites the dust
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Recently we received some bad news. A raw material supplier who was supplying truly whole food vitamins to a few of our high quality brands has decided to sell out. This has made us sad, so this rant will be less “ranty” and more educational.
October 31 2014
Magic magnets and metals move muscles more...
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Since it’s Halloween, let’s talk about “costume” treatments - stuff you can wear that they say makes you a superhero - stronger, faster, or healthier. No, we’re not talking about capes... but copper bracelets, magnetic bracelets, and knee, wrist, or ankle braces that have magnets or metals inside.
September 28 2014
What spreads faster - ebola or misinformation?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
We wanted to push this for September 28th (Neal’s Birthday WOOOP WOOP) but we’re glad we waited. Ebola has come stateside so the conversation is really just heating up. This horrific, currently incurable illness is, of course, becoming quite the Internet craze.
August 28 2014
When Life Hands You Lymes, Make Lemonade
Posted by: Neal Smoller
There are many herbal regimens for Lyme in books and on the internet. There are dozens of different protocols that are purported to work. These various protocols are based on combinations of herbal products to treat and kill the Lyme infection and other co-infections. Guess what all of these herbal...
July 28 2014
Attack of the Clowns
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Nothing makes our blood boil more than seeing bloggers and TV snake oil salesmen promoting miracle cures and crusades. Seriously… Enough is enough! Let’s have a chat about the clown car called, “The Internet and TV ‘Health’ Personalities.” Are they willingly deceiving us or are they just ignorant of the...
June 28 2014
The Misunderstood, Mistreated Thyroid
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Ah, the thyroid... Who knew one little gland could cause so many problems. There are few other health topics that elicit such strong reactions and have so many crazy theories. Who are we kidding? With the Internet, that can mean every health topic.
May 30 2014
Can You Trust your Pharmacist?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Pharmacists are the natural (pun intended) choice as experts of supplements. We have the most extensive training in therapeutics and medicinal chemistry. It's as simple as slightly extending our pharmacy "database" in almost all cases. We know how drugs interact. We have access to the newest literature and references, and...
April 28 2014
USDA Organic: More Than Meets the Eyes?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
We believe people should have access to clean, safe food. Big corporations are making this industry the Wild West. There are brands out there fighting the system to do the right thing, and we’re happy to be the sheriffs.
March 30 2014
Are Herbs Safer Than Medicines?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
It’s super critical to tell your doctor or pharmacist what herbs you take because drug interactions are actually more common with herbs than with traditional medicines. Some of the interactions can be life-threatening.
February 28 2014
Pyramid Schemes
Posted by: Neal Smoller
I’ll come right out and a say it. We don’t like pyramid companies. We also don’t believe that multi-level marketing (MLM) is ANY different than a pyramid company. Especially as it pertains to the ultimate goal - using peer influence to increase the bottom line for stuff that isn't really...
January 31 2014
Something Fishy
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Today we present you with more than you’d ever want to know about fish oil production. Many patients are telling us, “I've heard fish oil processing is bad.” Recently this has been paired with, “Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO) is the way to go." This rant will be a thorough...
December 31 2013
Multivitamins Don't Work!
Posted by: Neal Smoller
New research has shown that long-term use of multivitamins doesn't provide the health benefits we once thought. We've already ranted on the topic so we were going to let it go. Then, however, we read the comments from consumers on different websites and the rage crept back in. This month,...
November 30 2013
Our Monthly Rant From Neal and Josh
Posted by: Neal Smoller
The talking heads and supplement companies are going after people who participate in Raw Food Diets trying to extract every last penny and misdirect them (as usual). We're here to protect our Raw Foodies and educate others in what a Raw Food Diet really is.
October 31 2013
Why Having Non-GMO Month is Hypocritical
Posted by: Neal Smoller
To say there’s a lot of confusion about GMOs is an understatement. Many people for one reason or another are trying to avoid them. Hey man, we’re all for supporting you in whatever health decisions you make… as long as you’re deciding for yourself, based on sound evidence and ignoring...
September 30 2013
What's In The Bottle?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Our tagline is “Honesty in Wellness” but that’s only because we didn’t want to use “Knock off the B.S., Supplement Industry”. People often think we’re overly dramatic or, perhaps, make things out to be worse than they really are. In fact, things are much worse than people could even imagine....
August 31 2013
Got Fake Milk?
Posted by: Neal Smoller
The vultures of corporate America have created numerous alternatives for people to consume: almond, coconut, hemp, rice, soy, oat, or hazelnut milk… I am sure there are others because the food industry has not met a byproduct they couldn’t convince us to eat.
July 31 2013
The Truth Behind Your Juice
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Juice companies hire flavor companies - the same ones that formulate perfumes for Dior and Calvin Klein - to engineer flavor packs to add back to the juice to make it taste fresh. Those in the industry will tell you that the flavor packs are all natural. But, whether made...
June 30 2013
Our Monthly Rant
Posted by: Neal Smoller
Almost on a daily basis information comes out showing isolated and synthetic vitamins are bad for you. Article after article, study after study. All confirming what we’ve have been shouting from the rooftops: Vitamins, the way people currently think about them, won’t help you be healthier.
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