| Upon closer examination, supplementing individuals with low background levels to a normal range may be beneficial, but high-dose supplementation leading to markedly elevated blood levels may be harmful, especially in oxidatively stressed individuals, such as smokers in the case of (3-carotene or in unhealthy or older patients in the case of vitamin E.
1. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Therefore, supplementing with a complex of B vitamins may restore the proper metabolism of estrogen and thus have a role in treating DUB. A study done over 50 years ago was undertaken to determine if the B-complex vitamins were effective in the treatment of these menstrual conditions. Although the study, done in the 1940s, was not up to today's scientific standards, a series of consecutive cases showed that a B-complex preparation was effective in "prompt" improvement in both menorrhagia and metrorrhagia. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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 Soon after, manufacturers of white bread began supplementing their product with the thiamine (vitamin B-i), riboflavin (vitamin B-2), and niacin (vitamin B-3) stripped from the whole grain in the 'whitening' process.
Vitamin B-i was the first B complex vitamin to be identified, followed by two other water soluble vitamins, vitamin B-2 and vitamin B-3. The B complex vitamins are very powerful, so only low quantities are needed to prevent deficiency diseases. For example, only 12 mg daily of vitamin B-3 is required to avoid developing pellagra. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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 Aspirin has also been found to deplete vitamin C. supplementing with these nutrients while using any NSAID—all of which work by the same general mechanism— is advisable.
The mechanism for folate depletion with these drugs is complex. Basically, the therapeutic effect of these drugs operates through a biochemical mechanism that also depletes folate in the bloodstream. The fall in blood folate levels over only a few days suggests a strong risk of deficiency within a short period in people who take these medications.
Folate intake is often lacking to start with. |
Ron Garner
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 The main sources of B vitamins are liver, brewer's yeast, wheat germ, and rice polishings. When supplementing, we should always look to food sources that supply the whole complex of vitamin B rather than taking the chemical versions of individual, or combination, vitamins. The body only recognizes nutrition from whole, living foods and herbs as complete vitamin sources.
Iron
Closely related to the B vitamins for energy production is iron. A deficiency of this mineral can lead to anemia, with symptoms such as fatigue, short attention span, weight loss, and irritability. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Consider increasing the intake of green leafy vegetables and/or supplementing with 150 to 500 meg per day of vitamin K.
Vitamin K
150-500 meg per day
Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps to reduce heavy bleeding by strengthening the capillaries. In at least one study, vitamin C was able to reduce heavy bleeding in 87 percent of the women.8 Vitamin C also is an important supplement for women who have acquired iron-deficiency anemia from menstrual blood loss. It helps to increase iron absorption and can be used to prevent anemia as well as to treat it.
Vitamin C
2,000-4,000 mg per day
Bioflavonoids. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 Perlmutter suggests that "supplementing with this vital amino acid in midlife, when levels begin to decline, may help prevent this brain degenerative disease in the first place."
Membranes Matter
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a member of a class of biochemicals called phospholipids. It's a naturally occurring nutrient that's found in the cell membranes, but it's most concentrated in the brain. As neurologist Jay Lombard, M.D., author of The Brain Wellness Plan says, "The first step in treating patients with Alzheimer's disease is to rebuild defective membranes." Membranes matter. |
Ron Garner
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| The necessary raw proteins are contained in foods such as raw greens, hemp, spirulina, chlorella, and other cold-processed protein supplement foods. supplementing meals with digestive enzymes further helps the digestion and nutrient conversion process.
You are encouraged to do further reading or consult with alternative health practitioners who are able to provide detailed instruction on how to balance hormones.
Feeding Your Body
Provide your body with:
Food that is full of life and nutrition—raw, organic, mostly alkaline. Water that is pure? |
Ray D. Strand
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 The synergistic effect of supplementing all of these nutrients together is the key. That is why cellular nutrition is so critical to our health.
Turn the page and meet the new kid on the block . . . homocysteine.
SIX Homocysteine: The New Kid on the Block
Have you ever heard of homocysteine? Or better yet, has your doctor ever recommended a blood test to check your personal homocysteine level? Probably not. After reading this chapter I guarantee you will wonder why. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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 A number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which may result from poor dietary choices, digestive dysfunction, or food allergies, can also affect sleep:
• L-tryptophan is a precursor to melatonin, the hormone needed for sleep. supplementing with L-tryptophan can ameliorate the symptoms of insomnia and other sleep disorders.15
• The B vitamins (particularly B6) are also important for sleep, as they regulate the body's use of L-tryptophan. In the absence of adequate vitamin B6, the body cannot convert L-tryptophan into melatonin. |
| A diet low in iron is one cause of anemia and can also cause hypothyroidism.50 supplementing with iron has produced significant relief of symptoms in restless legs syndrome.51
Food sources: Kelp, organ meats, egg yolk, blackstrap molasses, lecithin, certain nuts and seeds, millet, and parsley.
Supplements: The heme form of iron, found in desiccated liver or a liquid liver extract, is most easily absorbed and has fewer side effects. Of the nonheme forms of iron, ferrous fumerate and ferrous succinate are recommended.
Typical therapeutic dose: 30 mg daily between meals. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| After supplementing with CoQIO, the frequency of headaches fell significantly. Those affected went from having migraines an average of 19.2 days per month to 12.5 days per month. That's a big difference when you are experiencing a migraine, and when you're a teen whose state of mind and feeling of well-being play a big role in determining how successful your social life is.
Another study done in 2005 examined CoQIO's effect on adult migraine sufferers. |
| Another study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition showed that supplementing with 500 mg of magnesium a day (even without the B6) dropped stone formation by 90 percent.
"Unfortunately, many doctors remain unaware of this simple, safe, effective, and inexpensive treatment for recurrent kidney stones," Gaby says. |
Ray D. Strand
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| It will take years of study to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that supplementing our diet with potent antioxidants that readily cross over the blood brain barrier can effectively protect us against these horrible diseases. But I believe the evidence available in the medical literature is strong enough now to advise my patients to supplement a healthy diet with antioxidants at optimal levels. Such a regimen can only help!
FOURTEEN
Diabetes
Warning! Do not skip this chapter—even if you have never been diagnosed with diabetes. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| While adding B6 may not result in a complete turnaround for autistic behavior, there is certainly enough evidence and reason to try supplementing in children.
Other Benefits from This Great Vitamin
Vitamin B6 is one of the most utilized vitamins in the body and plays a vital role in managing such critical conditions as asthma, diabetes (especially diabetic neuropathy), and some forms of heart disease.
In general, people with asthma have a defect in the metabolism of an amino acid called tryptophan, which is the raw material from which the body makes serotonin—the happy neurotransmitter. |
Ray D. Strand
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| In a clinical trial supplementing vitamin K in patients with osteoporosis reduced urinary calcium loss by 18 to 50 percent. This means vitamin K helps the body absorb and retain calcium rather than excrete it.16
Manganese
Manganese is necessary for the synthesis of connective tissue in cartilage and bone. Like magnesium, manganese is lost in the processing of whole grains into refined flour. A study of osteoporotic women showed their manganese levels were only 25 percent of those of the women in the control group. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Since these nutrients need to be absorbed by the digestive tract, having a clogged colon can lead to deficiencies. supplementing these nutrients while cleansing the intestinal tract can effectively reduce or eliminate the cause of migraines.
You may also be able to stop headaches by stimulating your body's natural painkilling ability. By applying pressure on a nerve just under your eyebrow, you can cause your pituitary gland to release painkilling endorphins. |
Bill Sardi
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 New understandings of the role of vitamin D in regard to prostate cancer, and compelling data that links low vitamin D levels with early and aggressive forms of prostate cancer, should prompt most adult males to begin supplementing their diet with vitamin D pills.
Review the compelling data below.
Vitamin D is produced in the skin from sunlight exposure. It is known that cancer develops, on average, about 4 years earlier among those living in less sunny areas. [Lancet 358: 641-42, 2001]
Incidence of Prostate Cancer by Races and Ethnic Groups
O Q o - -o ? |
| Cancer 63: 1621-23, 1989] A 47-year-old man who happened to be supplementing with progestagen (progesterone) developed a secondary tumor in his lung after his right kidney had been removed due to cancer. The removal of the hormonal supplement caused the long tumor to disappear, which was confirmed by x-rays. The remission was reported to persist for at least 3.5 years. [Dutch Medical Wochenschr 1 14: 420-23, 1989]
Cancer remissions and immunity
Another case is that of a 69-year-old woman who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 40. |
| He began supplementing his diet with extra vitamin D, some herbs (curcumin, green tea and resveratrol) along with some vitamin C. About a year later, with a large growing 3.2 centimeter lymphoma on his neck, he had to do something. He increased the amount of resveratrol. Suddenly, within days the primary lymphoma on his neck had visibly shrunk to half its size. Something remarkable was happening. |
| Public health authorities have such a dim view of vitamin pills that they don't emphasize the importance of supplementing the diet. Folic acid has been fortified in foods, but only in moderate amounts, and it is subject to spoilage during processing and cooking. Furthermore, folic acid in foods is not nearly as well absorbed and bioavailable as folic acid from dietary supplements. [British Journal Nutrition 95:181-7, 2006]
Should everyone supplement with folic acid to prevent cancer? A large body of data indicates this. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 A 2005 review examined the cholesterol-lowering powers of National Cholesterol Education Program-recommended combination therapies, one of which involved supplementing the diet with functional foods such as oat bran, plant sterols, and fish oil. Supplements containing these compounds, combined with exercise, decreased total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations by 8-26%, 8-30%, and 12-39%, respectively, while increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels by 2-18%. The two oat bran studies included in the analysis also included exercise. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| Point is, you can do really well with supplementing in the 15 to 50 mg range, although for some situations (like macular degeneration or fighting off a cold or healing a wound) it's perfectly okay to use a higher dose for a short time. In general, a basic 15 mg a day seems to help fend off most common problems. Certain seafoods, notably oysters, along with milk, whole grain breads, dark meat poultry, and nuts like cashews also provide plenty of the mineral. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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| In one study concerning vitamin E and restless legs syndrome, a 78-year-old female with a history of restless and jumpy legs was cured after supplementing with 300IU of vitamin E daily for two months.35 In another study, a 37-year-old female with a 10-year history of severe nightly restless legs experienced complete relief after taking 300 IU of vitamin E daily for six weeks and 200 IU daily for the following four weeks.36 Food sources: Cold-pressed polyunsaturated vegetable oils (such as sunflower and safflower), leafy green vegetables, avocados, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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| In response to this deficiency and the potential for pellagra, very small amounts of vitamin B-3 (nicotinamide) have been added to flour since 1942, a supplementing practice that has almost eradicated classical pellagra.
Dogs and Cats
The vitamin B-3 requirements of many mammals, including the dog, can be met partly by the synthesis of this vitamin from tryptophan. However, the cat's ability to convert tryptophan to niacin is now negligible. |
Ron Garner
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| Because of this, they should be reintroduced on a regular basis by supplementing the diet with a probiotic product that is a synergistic formulation of natural and requisite live bacteria. There are many strains of probiotics. Acidophilus and bifidus are the more commonly recognized strains available in healthfood stores. Others, such as L. Salivarius and L. Plantarum are more powerful.31
Fiber—the Colon's Friend
Fiber is vital to the body's detoxification process. The colon depends on it for efficient elimination. |
| On the road to recovering health, supplementing with hemp oil, olive oil, flax oil, or a combination of these oils is a good measure. They are rich in linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids?more commonly known as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids—which are the key components of healing oils.
Officials of the World Health Organization, Health Canada, Japan, and Sweden, recommend a 1:4 ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 for oil consumption. Hemp oil is closest to this range among naturally occurring oils with a ratio of at least 1:3. |
Dr Ron Roberts
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 Asthma, sinus problems and catarrh can be the result of a mineral deficiency, particularly zinc, and supplementing the diet can bridge the deficit. Zinc has potent antiviral functions and stimulates the immune system. However, if you are considering a zinc supplement, you will also need more Vitamin A.
It is also common for asthmatics to have below normal red blood cell counts, that is, anaemia. Symptoms include constant tiredness, palpitations, severe headaches, tachycardia (racing heartbeat), loss of appetite, shortness of breath, dizziness and ringing in the ears. |
| We suggest you begin supplementing with only a pinch or so of ascorbic acid powder, building up to a quarter to half a teaspoon daily.
If you don't want to take supplements, rosehip syrup is the richest food source of Vitamin C, with an average of 520 mg per 100 g. Blackcurrants, parsley, horseradish, turnip, cabbage, strawberries, grapefruit, pineapple, tomatoes and watercress, along with most fresh fruits and vegetables, are also rich in it. |
| So a lot of the population would benefit from supplementing their food.
You don't have to worry about exactly how much you need, either, as large amounts of vitamins taken in a natural form are not generally harmful and will be excreted by the body if in excess. Very few people take into consideration the harm done to the body when they consume large amounts of tobacco, alcohol, chocolates, sugar and the like. Why then do people object to taking 'too many vitamins'?
Which Vitamins?
Vitamins all play their parts in the body. |
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