Marketing for Diet Supplements Often Deceptive

Walk into a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe and you'll see row after row of super pills in brightly colored bottles claiming to eradicate all the world's ills, from blindness to athlete's foot!

So then, why are we spending billions on medical cures for cancer and obesity? We already have all the magic pills we need. Yeah right.

That's why the U.S. government is looking to crackdown on deceptive marketing practices for herbal and dietary supplements.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says an undercover investigation found some supplements run afoul when it comes to advertising their benefits, such as claiming to prevent heart disease or diabetes.

One investigator was told it is perfectly harmless to take aspirin and ginkgo biloba together - fail! The FDA warns that combo can cause internal bleeding.

Remember, a lot of people working at those vitamin stores are just high school kids. And, I'm not sure I would take any health advice from someone who splits time between Myspace and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Also, in many cases the supplements were uncovered to be unsafe, containing pesticide levels higher then allowed by FDA.

So, some lawmakers and politicians, like Senator John McCain, are proposing legislation to bolster the FDA's oversight of magic pills.

It's about time. I have first hand experience here. Teeny-tiny makers of supplements and pills do need strict monitoring. They all think their products are "cutting edge" or "revolutionary." Shenanigans!

In the end, you could just be buying overpriced snake oil.