| The only way they are going to get the vitamins and minerals they need is by taking nutritional supplements.
In addition, over 70 percent of the food the average American eats has been processed. As explained in Step 1, processed foods are stripped of fiber. Their natural, health-enhancing fats and oils are damaged by heat and chemicals, creating free radicals and harmful trans fatty acids. And the vitamin, mineral, and phyto-chemical content of processed foods is significantly reduced. |
| Manufacturers of herbs and other nutritional supplements are forbidden by law to state on their products what they should be used for and how they will benefit health. This leaves consumers in the dark. Here are a few guidelines to assist you in your selection and use of herbs.
Choose Cultivated, Organic Herbs
Harvesting herbs from their natural environment is called wild crafting. You might think herbs collected in this way would be preferable to cultivated herbs—those grown by commercial farming methods. |
Carol Simontacchi
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 I've given them nutritional supplements from the day they could swallow them. I've tried relinquishing to them the responsibility for taking them, but so far I still have to lay them out each morning. My younger children usually take them if they are simply laid out in a conspicuous place. My older children often have to be "hand-fed," i.e., I have to place the vitamins in one hand, and a glass of water in the other hand, and watch until they take them. Whatever works, do it. Yout child's mental health will flourish when his brain is fed. |
Schuyler W. Lininger, Jr. DC
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 Moreover, before nutritional supplements can be used, effective treatment of the malabsorption problems requires a complete avoidance of alcohol.
Dietary Changes That May Be Helpful
Some of the nutritional deficiencies associated with alcoholism can be caused by a poor diet—a factor that needs correction on an individual basis. Improving the overall diet should be done in conjunction with a nutritionally oriented doctor. Sometimes liver or pancreatic disease associated with alcoholism also contributes to nutritional deficiencies. These problems require medical assessment and intervention. |
| Unless otherwise specified in the text, nutritional supplements and herbs should be taken with meals.
Continue the Healthnotes Experience
Register online at www.healthnotes.com/tnp and you can receive at no charge, via e-mail, the "Healthnotes Newsletter." This newsletter (an $18 per year value) is published monthly and focuses on specific health concerns and related natural remedies. (For more details, see Also Available from Healthnotes p. 617. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 The general public has been denied free access to information concerning the documented health benefits of nutritional supplements and herbs by restrictive labeling regulations established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This restriction of information comes despite the fact that large-scale independent studies have shown that many Americans, especially the elderly, are suffering from nutritional deficits that could be corrected by dietary supplementation. |
Gary Null
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 Tom was also given oral nutritional supplements, dietary recommendations, and was put on an exercise program. As of February 1996, since doing the chelation, Tom has had no heart attacks. He works full time as a police officer, where he outperforms his colleagues in physical endurance activities. According to Dr. Schachter, his stress tests keep improving rather than getting worse, as is usual with this disease.
The amount of infusions necessary to correct a cardiovascular problem varies. |
| Therefore, chelation practitioners usually give nutritional supplements along with the therapy.
Dr. Kirk Morgan advises his patients to drink a lot of good quality water unless they happen to have inadequate kidney function. He also suggests a diet high in fiber and the avoidance of animal fats.
"I simply tell [my patients] to think of cereal for breakfast, vegetables for lunch, and beans and lentils at supper," he says. "I ask them to keep the fat down in the diet similar to what Pritikin has said and I ask them not to skip meals, particularly the overweight patients. |
Martin L. Cross
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 Two officers of a medical equipment company were excluded from Medicare after setting up a scheme to rip off the government by providing "liquid nutritional supplements" to the aged. They had physicians sign a "Certificate of Medical Necessity" in each case, even though the doctors had never examined the patients.
Each year, Medicare "excludes" some 1,500 health providers from receiving payments, and provides the public with both a printed list and diskettes. It also enters the information on IGnet, an Internet resource from sixty federal Inspector General Offices. |
Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.
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 But we are learning that vitamin and nutritional supplements can play an important role in maintaining immune health, and can slow or even arrest the natural decline with age. In particular, studies have shown that supplementing diets with vitamins and minerals that exceed the Recommended Dietary Allowances improves measures of immune response and increases resistance to infectious disease.12 The body especially demands nutrients that assist with the rapid protein synthesis of antibodies and the production of T and B cells. In one study, R. K. |
Dr. Cass Ingram
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 Ideally, the disease should be prevented via the regular application of a healthy diet, plenty of sunshine daily, and the ingestion of potent nutritional supplements. The intake of substances which destroy germs, such as antiseptic spices and herbs (wild oregano is the most powerful), is mandatory.
Tuberculosis combat kit
• Superstrength oil of oregano — take a few drops under the tongue three times daily. Also, take 5 to 10 drops in juice or water three times daily, or take 1 to 3 Oreganol caps three times daily.
• oil of lavender — take 2 drops twice daily in juice. |
Dr Bernard Jenson and Mark Anderson
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 When medical reports discuss nutritional supplements, invariably the assertion that vitamin and mineral supplements can be toxic comes up. It is usually not mentioned that unrealistic pharmacological dosages are needed to induce toxicity, and that natural food source supplements never come close to approaching those levels in recommended doses. Only synthetic vitamins approach these mega-levels in the name of "high potency". What is ironic about such expressed fears of toxic levels of nutrients by medical people is that toxicology itself is the cornerstone of their approach. |
| So, why take expensive nutritional supplements that are only going to go into a toxic system? Cleanse first, fortify second. Then, during the fortification, be consistent in a detoxifying lifestyle with the right variety of certified organically grown foods, and you will be as healthy as is possible, given the limitations of the world that we've created. |
Michael Janson, M.D.
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 For most nutritional supplements, the doses used for treatment and prevention are far removed from the doses that may be harmful. In fact, only a few of them have any potential toxicity. Vitamin C, for example, can be and has been taken in enormous doses (over 80-100 g) without significant side effects. No matter how much vitamin C you take, it is probably safer than the water with which you take it.
My colleague Alan Gaby, MD, stated the situation elegantly in his book, B6 The Natural Healer (Keats Publishing, 1987): "We are grateful to modern medical science for what it has given us. |
| You may have inherited a strong constitution, but is it really wise to wait 40 or 50 years to find out? nutritional supplements help people who have greater genetically determined needs to remain vigorous and active well into old age. Many poor health habits, such as consumption of sweets, alcohol, caffeine, highly processed foods and artificial food additives, lack of exercise and high stress, increase nutrient needs. The typical American diet is a sad joke. It would be hard to design a diet that could do more harm to health than the one most Americans eat every day. |
Neal Barnard, M.D.
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 VITAMIN B«, TRYPTOPHAN, AND GINGER
Researchers are testing certain nutritional supplements to see if they can help back pain. While these findings are still emerging, they are well worth a closer look.
Vitamin B6, which has long been used to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, has also been used for back pain, and evidence suggests that it helps. It does not relax muscles that are tied up in spasms or restore a damaged disk, but it apparently does increase your pain resistance. |
| In this chapter, I will show you how to plan your own antiarthritis menu and, if you need more help, how to use nutritional supplements that
72 fight pain much like anti-inflammatory drugs, but without side effects. For example, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania showed how the natural oil in borage seeds reduces arthritis pain, stiffness, and swelling. Likewise, ginger has been used for thousands of years as an anti-inflammatory medicine in Asia, and modern science is starting to tease out why it works. |
Michael Janson, M.D.
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| Health History
You may have heard of someone's grandparent who lived to a ripe old age with little attention to diet or nutritional supplements. This is quite possible. However, it is important to realize that potential human life span is well over 100 years. Living to 80 or 90 years may result from growing up with cleaner air and water, fresher food, fewer chemical exposures and lesser availability of highly processed foods. Also, many people who survive a long time have numerous health problems. |
Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.
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| Are you taking nutritional supplements?
• How do you relax?
Which Tests Are Necessary?
You expect to have some tests done when you go in for your yearly checkup, but which ones are really necessary? In my view, conventional practice suffers from overtesting in several areas — testing that gives us no therapeutically useful information or that may lead us further and further down a path toward unnecessary surgery or medication. |
| At the same time, it's clear that there are many other ways to generate the same effects through good nutrition or nutritional supplements, without the clearly demonstrated risks and dangers of alcohol to the liver, to nutritional uptake from the digestive system, and to the nervous system. It's not clear that we want to make the French bargain: a reduced rate of heart attacks and a high rate of liver disease.
Alcohol does create some direct risks for other types of cardiovascular disease than arteriosclerosis. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 1-800-858-8833
Herbs, homeopathic remedies, nutritional supplements, kits, educational services, Bach flower remedies.
Capitol Drugs, Inc.
8578 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
1-800-858-8833
Herbs, homeopathic remedies, supplements, books.
Gaia Herbs
12 Lancaster County Rd. Harvard, MA 01451 Almost 300 herbal extracts, salves, oils and alcohol-free products.
Herb Pharm
P.O. Box 116 Williams, OR 97544 Tinctures.
Herb Products Co.
11012 Magnoha Blvd. P.O. Box 898
North Hollywood, CA 91603-0898 Herb products and essential oils. |
Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.
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| I prescribed nutritional supplements (see later in this chapter for specific recommendations) and encouraged her to check her blood sugar levels using home tests. (The "finger-stick" glucose test involves placing a drop of blood on a strip of paper that is inserted into a reader with a photometric cell. The reader provides an instantaneous glucose determination.)
Often, people with noninsulin-dependent diabetes are told not to bother checking their blood sugar, since it's not essential in calculating the dose of their medicine. |
Schuyler W. Lininger, Jr. DC
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| Part Two: nutritional supplements Look here for information about specific vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients (such as CoQ10). Each nutrient entry includes information about where it is found, health concerns in which the nutrient might be supportive, suggested dosage ranges, and possible side effects or interactions. Part Three: Herbs Look here for information about specific herbs. |
Ronald L. Hoffman, M.D.
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| Try a change in diet, try nutritional supplements, test for the presence of heavy metals like lead or cadmium, exercise to keep the arteries flexible, take up a stress-reduction program. If possible, use the body's own chemistry and natural responses before you use drugs that tamper with fluid metabolism and heart rate.
Exercise: The Best Prevention Strategy
Over the past twenty or thirty years we've made remarkable discoveries about the benefits of exercise for everything from strengthening bones to keeping the body limber and enhancing the immune system. |
James S. Gordon, M.D.
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 For example, even if my diet seemed adequate, and my doctor told me my lab tests were within normal limits, I might still need nutritional supplements. And the only way I would be likely to find out if this were the case would be to experiment for and on myself. Similarly, even though the blood levels of medications I might be taking were "within the therapeutic range," the dosage might be inappropriate for me. The therapeutic range, Williams was telling us, is only an average. It may be therapeutic for one person but toxic for another and entirely inadequate for a third. |
| Though some struggles between straights and mixers persist, most recent graduates combine manipulation with a variety of other nonpharmacological remedies—including nutritional supplements, herbs, acupuncture, and massage.
Though osteopathic manipulation and chiropractic have always been appreciated by significant sectors of the population, manipulation has been consistently ignored or scorned by all but a few orthodox M.D.'s. The reasons for this schism between medicine and manipulation are not altogether clear. |
Michael Janson, M.D.
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| Certain nutritional supplements can help counter the ill effects of many of these poisons. They include vitamins C, E and B complex, carotenes, bioflavonoids, and others. Of course, it is also wise to choose untreated foods as much as possible.
Stress Increases Needs
Although we seem to live in a time of great stress, I believe that this is not unique to our age. There have always been many stressors that have adversely influenced human health. Earlier generations did not have the advantage of high-dose nutrients to help diminish the toll of these stressors in their lives. |
Stanley W. Jacob, M.D.
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 The same is true of natural remedies and nutritional supplements. One gram of MSM may give you a shot of energy but your brother may need five grams to feel the same effect.
Over the years, Thousands of patients have experienced healing benefirs by taking 2 to 8 grams (2,000 to 8,000 milligrams) of MSM a day, the amount depending on their gastrointestinal (or GI) tolerance and their condition.
For general maintenance and health, a dosage of around 2 grams (2,000 milligrams) or less is usually adequate.
Higher doses are typically necessary to experience therapeutic effects. |
| That's because nutritional supplements, based on vitamins, minerals, herbs, and natural substances such as MSM, are not patentable.
The major impetus behind MSM's growing popularity is word of mouth. As people experience the healing benefits of MSM, we find they often become enthusiastic emissaries eager to tell family members and friends who have pain problems. One such example is Father Sam, a 46-year-old parish priest in rural Pennsylvania. An avid jogger who has also enjoyed lifting weights in the past, he suffered two sports injuries that left him with a bad shoulder and bad knees. |
| Within this overall medical shift a new attitude has developed toward nutritional supplements. Prior to 1990, vitamins and minerals were viewed narrowly by most physicians as necessary elements contained in food that prevented nutritional deficiency states such as scurvy, beriberi, rickets, and pellagra. The prevailing attitude held that supplementation was unnecessary because a balanced diet was supposed to provide all the good nutrition our bodies needed. |
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