Nature’s Fulvic

Many supplement marketers, in an effort to get you to buy their products, suggest if not outright claim that if something is found in nature, then it must be good for you. Of course this is not true, for reasons that go beyond bear attacks.

But Nature’s Fulvic takes it a step further, boasting on its website that its products contain a “100%” plant-derived ingredient called fulvic acid, which it claims has been described in scientific studies as a “miracle molecule.” The company, which TINA.org investigated after receiving a tip from a reader, then lists a number of health conditions that it claims its supplements and creams provide “natural relief” from. The list includes acid reflux, arthritis, immune disorders, eczema, psoriasis, IBS and Crohn’s disease. Nature’s Fulvic also claims its products “eliminate” and “displace” viruses.

First, we have read a lot of scientific studies and we have yet to come across one that described an ingredient as a “miracle” anything. Perhaps Nature’s Fulvic is referring to how the ingredient is marketed by some but that is quite different from researchers concluding that the ingredient is a “miracle molecule.”

Moreover, according to Gary Soffer, M.D., an integrative medicine specialist at Yale Medicine who was recently interviewed by the consumer health website Everyday Health, it’s unclear whether the effects of fulvic acid in humans are “helpful or harmful to the body.” This is due in part to the fact that nearly all studies on fulvic acid have been performed in lab settings and not in people, Soffer told the website, which publishes “medically reviewed” articles including the one in which Soffer is quoted.

Second, marketing supplements as having the ability to treat, cure, alleviate the symptoms of, or prevent developing diseases and disorders is not permitted by law. If a health product really could do all that, then it would be a drug subject to rigorous study and testing to gain FDA approval.

The takeaway? Consumers should find much of what this supplement marketer has to say tough to swallow.

TINA.org reached out to Nature’s Fulvic for comment. Check back for updates.

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