FDA Warning Letter to Lipton's: Green Tea is a Drug and Lipton's is in Violation of Federal Law. Wow.

I buy Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated - I bet you do, too. It's the little yellow and green box, and sometimes the price is right. Who knew I was buying a drug from a criminal?

However, that's apparently the case, because in August 2010, the FDA sent an official warning letter to Unilever, Inc., the company that provides us all with Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated - and the letter's online for us all to read at the FDA website.

Here's some juicy tidbits for you:

"Based on our review, we have concluded that this product is in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) ...

"Your website, www.liptont.com. also promotes your Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated product for conditions that cause it to be a drug under section 201(g)(1)(B) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(g)(1)(B)].

"For example, your webpage entitled "Tea and Health," subtitled "Heart Health Research" and further subtitled "Cholesterol Research" bears the following claim: "[F]our recent studies in people at risk for coronary disease have shown a significant cholesterol lowering effect from tea or tea flavonoids ... One of these studies, on post-menopausal women, found that total cholesterol was lowered by 8% after drinking 8 cups of green tea daily for 12 weeks ...."

"The therapeutic claims on your website establish that the product is a drug because it is intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. Your Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated product is not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced uses and, therefore, the product is a "new drug" under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without prior approval from FDA as described in section 505(a) of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 355(a)]. FDA approves a new drug on the basis of scientific data submitted by a drug sponsor to demonstrate that the drug is safe and effective.

"Your Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated product is offered for conditions that are not amenable to self-diagnosis and treatment by individuals who are not medical practitioners; therefore, adequate directions for use cannot be written so that a layperson can use this drug safely for its intended purposes. Thus, your Lipton Green Tea 100% Natural Naturally Decaffeinated product is misbranded under section 502(f)(1) of the Act in that the labeling for this drug fails to bear adequate directions for use [21 U.S.C. § 352(f)(1)] ."

I could add more, but you're more than able to go read the whole thing for yourself.

As for me, Lipton's Decaf Green Tea may not be my preferred brand, but you can bet I'm gonna be buying an extra box or two -- just because this FDA action makes me mad.

Hoarding: a Lifestyle in Opposition to Simple Living

I admit it, I do catch the occaional episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC TV.  I couldn't tell you when it airs, but I can tell you that everytime I watch the show, it makes me get up and dust or vacuum or do a load of laundry.  Something.  Maybe part of this is because (personal revelation, dear reader!) my mother, looking back, was obviously a hoarder.  So was my first husband's mother.  Wow, there's some food for thought.

Me?  I don't hoard.  Maybe living this lifestyle of voluntary simplicity in some way is reacting to that background - that's sounding plausible.  All I know is that organizing and simplifying seems smart and wise and it's a peaceful, joyful life.

Hoarding - The Reasons for It

As a result of the show, and as I pondered this personal connection with hoarders, I did go surfing around investigating hoarding.  I learned hoarding is a compulsion, with both psychological and physical components.  I learned that lots of professionals discuss anger and anxiety as emotions felt by haorders when faced with the idea of throwing anything away.

I'm not arguing with any of that -- from my experience, this all sounds true.  However, from my experience, there's something that isn't being discussed here.  From what I know of hoarding, it's a twisted way of dealing with a major loss.  It's a grief thing.  It's got a depression component and a thread of denial runs through it, but at its core - its a strange way of fighting against loss. 

Why share this with you, Dear Reader?  Because There's Simplifying Lesson Here for Us All

In the process of simplifying your life - be it downsizing, going green, living frugally or living slowly or moving to a one-income household, or expatriating - and there are lots of varieties of simple living, some of those hoarder reactions seem familiar.

There's the stuff.  Stuff you don't want to get rid of, even if you don't need it and will never use it.  There are all those boxes of memories - the kid's school papers, your old college textbooks - that need to be culled. 

Letting go of stuff is hard.  It involves loss.  Simplifying is hard.  There's an emotional component to the process.  It's worth it, but in no way is it easy.  Simplifying your life may not be simple at all. 

God bless you, Dear Reader.

Doctor Mark Hyman Decries Conventional Medicine in HuffPo: The Rising Awareness of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr. Mark Hyman (M.D.) practices medicine and writes bestselling books (he's made the New York Times Bestsellers list four times so far). Dr. Hyman also founded The Ultra Wellness Center, and is considered to be a world-wide leader in "functional medicine" - so when he writes an article for the Huffington Post (the top blog in the country per Technorati), people pay attention. 

The article is entitled, "Millions Die Due to Withheld Medical Treatment" and if you can't read it at the link (it will be archived at some point), feel free to check Dr. Hyman's website or contact me -- I've saved a copy in OneNote because I don't want to lose it.)

Practicing Physician Claims Conventional Medicine Corrupted by Greed

You should, too.  Why?  Because Dr. Hyman is standing up against a huge contingent of his peers when he writes that conventional medicine today is corrupt: that by its co-dependence upon the big pharmaceutical companies, the true cures for such major diseases as diabetes and heart disease lies in lifestyle medicine. 

What is Lifestyle Medicine?

Since lifestyle medicine isn't as profitable as conventional methods, it's being ignored according to Dr. Hyman and the result is akin to the Tuskegee Experiments of the 1920s (and if you don't know about this  horror, it's worth your time to stop and read what Dr. Hyman's written - just to learn about this).  

Dr. Hyman's providing lots of information on the web to help people - his website is great, so is the UltraWellness Center.  For example, check out his free series of articles online, "7 Keys to Ultrawellness."  Great stuff in here. 

Lifestyle Medicine Incorporates Simple Living.  Wow. 

Dr. Hyman promotes many of the things that simplifiers value.  Things like eating whole, fresh, organic foods.  Foods that you cook yourself in ovens and on stovetops.  Avoiding bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup and mercury.  Exercising.  Getting enough rest.  Avoiding stress.  Drinking lots of good water.  Taking vitamins. Taking herbs, too. Understanding detoxification. (Did you know that internalized stress can make you fat? Wow.) 

Want to Learn More About Lifestyle Medicine?

To learn more, check out his personal site or Dr. Hyman's UltraWellness website (where he offers a free ebook and lotsa free videos), follow him on Twitter (http://twitter.com/markhymanmd), or surf around for "lifestyle medicine" where you'll find good sites to learn from, including: 

American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Harvard Medical School's Lifestyle Medicine Institute
The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine