TESTIMONY OF MARILU HENNER

Before

The Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness\
of the House Government Reform Committee

U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 22, 2004

Chairman Burton and Honorable Members of the Committee, I am Marilu
Henner, actress, author and health advocate. As a consumer who
recognizes the value of dietary supplements, I thank you for the
opportunity to speak here today.

I would like to provide testimony on why I believe it is important for
consumers to have **information about dietary supplements,** and to have
**access to supplements through their government and private health
plans.** The information and access is important in order to help people
make better decisions and lead healthier lives than is possible through
a healthy diet alone. That is why I believe that dietary supplements
should be part of a campaign to improve our nation's health.

I feel qualified to say that because I am not only the author of six
best-selling books promoting a healthy lifestyle, but I am also known as
one of the healthiest eaters in Hollywood. I believe that healthy food
without dietary supplements is not enough. It is not always possible to
get everything we need from our food; no matter how carefully we plan
our diet.

**Before I get into my personal story, I'd like to talk first about the
need for information.** According to the Center for Disease Control,
approximately 400,000 Americans a year die as a result of an unhealthy
diet and a sedentary lifestyle. While I personally think this estimate
is low, it's high enough for us to recognize that something must be done
to get people moving and eating better. As the waistline of the average
American continues to expand, illnesses related to obesity, such as
diabetes and heart disease are reaching epidemic proportions. People are
stuffing themselves with processed foods and fast food while they are
literally starving their bodies of the nutrients they need. The solution
for too many people is fad diets that only perpetuate their unhealthy
eating habits.

As I have described in several of my books, I was raised on the Standard
American Diet, and spent many years yo-yo dieting as I tried to control
my weight. The result of course, was that I was consistently in bad
health and never could control my weight eating that way. Both of my
parents died in their fifties of diseases associated with poor diet. As
I have since learned, my father's heart disease could have probably been
mitigated using Vitamin E, and the severity of my mother's arthritis
could have been alleviated using Calcium and/or glucosamine. My parents'
deaths were the impetus for my never-ending quest for better health for
myself, my siblings, my children and anyone else who would listen.

My journey to good health took many years. Mine was a story of trial and
error, because it was so difficult in the 1970's and 80's to find
information about optimizing health through diet and supplements. There
is more information now than ever before about health, but unfortunately
the same chatter about fad diets and miracle drugs drowns out the sound
information that people should be getting. I believe that people are
ready to take the right steps toward becoming healthy, but without the
proper guidance and the support of their insurance providers, health
organizations, and the federal government, they will continue to be led
into seeking false solutions. One of my goals as an author is to show
people the way to optimize their health, by encouraging them to
disregard false solutions such as drastic weight loss with no sacrifice,
or better health through miracle pills.

Through my many personal appearances advocating good health, my books,
and my Web site at Marilu.com, I come into contact with and mentor
thousands of people who are on their own quest for good health. I hear
many personal accounts of how people have turned their lives around,
from debilitating illness to vibrant health, when they get the
information needed to make good choices. By good choices, I mean
specifically rejecting the manufactured foods of our society, with their
over-reliance on sugar, meat and dairy and the chemicals, hormones and
steroids that usually accompany these products. Instead we should be
moving towards an organic, vegan diet that produces a sense of physical
well-being. I also believe that a healthy diet includes the use of
appropriate dietary supplements.

**Finally, I'd like to describe why I think it's important to have
access to dietary supplements**. When I was pregnant with my first son,
I began to take prenatal vitamins and supplements, and found that I felt
better than ever before. I continued to take dietary supplements after
my pregnancy to benefit from the essential nutrients that I knew I
couldn't get from food alone, even though I'm committed to a very
healthy diet. I was lucky enough to have a doctor who not only
understood the value of dietary supplements, but also encouraged me to
use them to maintain my health.

Since then, I have taken dietary supplements each day, and I recommend
them to my family and friends, as well as in my books and classes. The
general public needs more access to dietary supplements to maintain
essential good health. Supplements are the result of American research
and development, but for some reason, they have been stigmatized by the
American Medical Association and the drug companies. As a result, most
Americans do not have access to these supplements because they are not
covered by their health plans, nor recognized as effective by the
federal government. I think this needs to be changed.

In closing, I want to thank the committee for examining this issue and
inviting me to speak today. I would like to encourage you make this
information on dietary supplements available to all Americans so that
the health of the American public can be improved.

I wish you all the best of health.