Actually I wasn't really talking about your product in particular. I have no idea how you source and make your product. I was however making a comment about the supp market as a whole. If the whole chain of production isn't regulated; have lab results for purity of your ingredients (for every new batch you make), then, well, if even "you" don't know what's in it 100%, then it all just works on a matter of hope and believe. As I said, most supps are just ordered from china and have your logo printed on; say what you need, and they'll send you the pills. And it's up to you to believe them, that what they say is in it - is actually in it. This is what I was referring to. And again, no idea on how you make your product.
As for the OP's blood pressure ...
I agree as I've pointed that out my self (and I also think adaptogens are a great thing btw). It's just the supp oriented mindset that got me triggered here. "Oh, there is something wrong with me, what supp can I buy to help with that?". Know what I mean ... High blood pressure can be chronic and if it lasts, you don't want to tackle it by yourself with OTC product, yet alone with unregulated supp market products. You want to find the cause for it with your dr. and handle it with either lifestyle changes and if needed, with regulated products that are registered as medicine; as this is presumably something you'll be taking for a long time. And under dr. supervision off course.
The issue that led to my reply is if you go back and look at his post, he was specifically asking about our products, not products in general. He asked specifically about our Stress & Anxiety Support and KannaEase. You quoted his post asking about those in your post that you made the reply to that 'This are just your standard off the shelf adaptogens sold by unverified sources from china.' So it seemed like your reply was directed at our products specifically.
I think you have a misconception of the industry. There are a lot of raw materials that are from China, but 99%+ of the encapsulation of products is done in the US. The only capsule products that you typically see from China are the basic single ingredient vitamin type capsules. Now, that isn't to say that a lot of companies don't cut corners and do things the wrong way; that unfortunately happens a lot. Companies blindly trusting suppliers and a huge problem is companies using non GMP compliant contract manufacturers, or worse there are some companies that literally buy capsulation equipment and do it themselves which is completely illegal and unethical. I always shake my head when I see companies saying that raw materials just came in and the product will be out within a week - because right there acknowledges they didn't do proper testing, including microbial testing. Unfortunately, most customers get excited that whatever it is will be out that fast and don't really realize what the company is actually telling/admitting to them.
^^ That was my whole issue with what you said being said about our products. And maybe you didn't realize he was specifically asking about 2 of our products. I don't like being lumped in with companies like the above. All SNS products are made in GMP compliant facilities and we do things the right way, including being FDA registered and inspected. That costs a lot of money to do things the right way so of course its frustrating as hell seeing and competing against companies that don't.
About the blood pressure part - This was an accidental duplicate thread by the OP and he got some good advice in the other thread. At the time it was posted, one was on top of the other and I think most people just replied to one. You can see my original reply in this thread - I acknowledged the thread and his post and said something about posting more detailed info in his other thread. I never took him at all as asking to use supplements and not do anything else; I took him as posting a question in the supplements section about supplements he may could use to help while he made other changes and tried to figure it out.
I think its definitely important for people to try to figure out what's causing their high blood pressure. Some people can figure it out and some people can't. I don't think there's anything wrong with people wanting to take supplements to help them during that process and many people find that they can avoid the use of prescription medicines by using supplements. I think that medications have their place, but I will definitely never fault or criticize anyone for wanting to avoid a medication by making healthy lifestyle changes and trying to find the right supplements that work for them.
I'm a good example. Family history of high blood pressure. Mine would run high normal from the time I was a teenager. And what made it worse was that sometimes it would spike dangerously high for no apparent reason. Went to 2 cardiologists, no answers. And it did the same thing no matter how I ate, how I trained, etc. Ironically, the 'better' I was eating and the stricter my diet was seemed sometimes to lead to the spikes being more common. Doesn't make sense at first glance, but I think that may could be attributed to the stresses of training harder during those periods. I have a very stressful life and my baseline blood pressure has been much better since I've started Stress & Anxiety Support; and that's likely from both direct and indirect benefits. Direct in that some of the ingredients do support cardiovascular health and can help with BP and indirect in that I think a lot of my BP issues do come from stress (which is what the cardiologist told me, so I'm not just assuming that). Now, that isn't all I use in the way of blood pressure supplements. I use Hawthorn, MegaNatural BP, AmealPeptide, and VASO6 and its the first time my levels have ever been consistently in the normal range. But supplements are going to help some people with this and some people will likely need to wind up on medications no matter what. But I use my case as an example because I went thru the process - I didn't just blanket use supplements and do nothing else. I did everything I could to find the actual reasons and then made the personal choice to try to find a regimen that would work for me to try to avoid medications.
I'm fine with letting this conversation go. I don't want to debate it. I see how you took his post and why you replied the way you did; and I hope you understand why I did as well. I tried to explain myself in great detail above for anyone reading now or in the future.
