'Healthful' products helped kill son, man says

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http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_10420882

By any visible measure, Amit Zutshi was healthy.

The 30-year-old Fremont man had broad shoulders, a trim waist and a muscular

neck, sculpted through years of working out.

But Zutshi's interest in fitness stretched beyond the gym and into his

kitchen. Rather than eat three square meals a day, Zutshi dined on energy

bars and over-the-counter dietary supplements — a combination that doctors

told his father likely contributed to his death.

Zutshi, a Mission High School graduate, fainted and died March 19 while

visiting his parents, said his father, Jeevan Zutshi, who is pressing for

tighter controls on the dietary supplement industry.

Doctors who treated him said Zutshi's blood pressure and sodium levels were

low and that his heart had weakened, his father said.

Although individual supplements, which may contain a variety of herbs, amino

acids or enzymes, are unlikely to have serious side effects, using them

improperly can be harmful, federal regulators say.

The Food and Drug Administration warns citizens to: " Beware that some

supplement ingredients, including nutrients and plant components, can be

toxic. Also, some ingredients and products can be harmful when consumed in

high amounts, when taken for a long time, or when used in combination with

certain other drugs, substances or foods. "

Zutshi believes Amit, who worked for technology companies and volunteered on

the Barack Obama campaign, died

from using unhealthful combinations of supplements for a prolonged time.

" He got fascinated with this healthy living lifestyle, " Zutshi said. " He was

always on the run. He found this very convenient — energy booster, power

booster. "

He said he noticed that his son had been looking more frail before he died,

but didn't realize the graveness of his condition. He also couldn't recall

the supplements Amit had been taking.

Zutshi, who co-founded the Indo-American Community Federation, has started a

foundation to honor his son. Its top priority is to press Congress and the

state Legislature for stricter regulation of the dietary supplement

industry.

Already, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, has donated $1,000 to the

foundation, which Zutshi said also will include scholarships in his son's

name and efforts to educate people about the risks of dietary supplements,

which are loosely regulated.

Federal law doesn't require that they be proven safe before they are

marketed and doesn't require manufacturers to prove the accuracy of the

claims they put on the labels, according to the FDA.

Zutshi at least wants sellers to distribute supplements the same way a

pharmacy distributes drugs.

" There should be a counter where they tell you how to use them, " he said.

--

Ortiz, RD

The best vitamin

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