Articles Index-Integrated Healthcare
 
Patrick Quanten MD Independent Health Adviser
 
Vitamins and Supplements
 
The medical world is very sceptical about the use of vitamins and supplements in relation to restoring health. They believe that vitamins should only be used for the prevention and treatment of specific deficiency states or where the diet is known to be inadequate. The use of vitamins and supplements as general "pick-me-ups" is of unproven value and, in the case of preparations containing vitamin A or D, may actually be harmful if people take more than the prescribed dose. The "fad" for mega-vitamin therapy with water-soluble vitamins, according to the medical authorities, is unscientific and can be harmful.
 
This contrasts sharply with the increasing number of studies showing an important impact of the so-called mega-vitamin therapy on people's health; not least, the positive effects of high dosages of vitamin C on health as described by Linus Pauling - effects that have been confirmed by many others. The story is similar for most other supplements.
 
So, if we want more information about the effects of high dosages of vitamin and mineral supplements, then we will have to find it somewhere else. It is our own western world research that has listed vitamins as crucial elements and has discovered their function, as well as the impact of various concentrations when taken as supplements. There are many different lists and concentrations recommended, which adds to the ease with which the medical authorities can dismiss the whole idea. However, it is science that has turned away from investigating "the whole" and has concentrated on the minute that has discovered the chemicals and elements that are important, if not crucial, to our health. These research results have been welcomed as long as an "active ingredient" could be isolated and, later, produced in a laboratory. All this happens in the same society that, for profit only, has de-vitalised and de-mineralised our food. For instance, we remove all natural fats from the food, only to start supplementing food items with essential fatty acids, the very ones we have taken out. Only this time, they are not natural any more, and the consumer has to pay more for the "high quality" product, strengthened with supplements, he/she is buying now!
 
Supplementation in the form we know it today only started after society allowed the food industry to de-vitalise our food, with the pharmaceutical industry only too eager to mass produce "vital supplements".
 
Here is a brief selection of some supplements with their major effects. Bear in mind that supplements are only a very small part of a big imbalance, if we are talking about diseases, and that, even when an initial positive effect is seen, it isn't wise to keep increasing the dosage. Don't forget that homeopathy taught us that less is more: the lower the concentration of an element, the greater the effect.
1. VitaminA: infection fighter, skin protector Massive overdose can cause rough skin, dry hair and an enlarged liver.
2. Carotenoids: cancer and heart protectors, antioxidants
3. Vitamin B Group: liver support
4. Vitamin B 6 (pyridoxine): peripheral neuritis
5. Pantethine/Pantothenic Acid: better than cholesterol pills
6. Inositol: nature's sleeping pills
7. Biotin: diabetes benefactor
8. Vitamin B 12: the vitality shot
9. Vitamin E: liver and bile congestion, neuromuscular abnormalities
10. Vitamin K: production of blood clotting factors, proteins for normal bone calcification
11. Choline and Lecithin: nerve rebuilder
12. Magnesium: the heart's most important mineral, improves nervous communication
13. Zinc: immune booster, wound healer
14. Copper: arthritis reliever
15. Chromium: blood sugar balancer
 
Vitamin D supplements are not required. It is much more effective to expose the skin to direct sunlight (no sun-blocks!) to stimulate the body into producing the necessary variants of vitamin D.
 
Calcium supplements are not required. It has been known for a very long time that up to 95% of the calcium intake is transported directly to the kidney, where it is excreted as soon as possible.
There are plenty of other minerals and elements that are used for supplementation. I think that it is important to consider two major points on all supplement use.
1. As far as efficacy is concerned, regarding all supplements, we must take note of scientific evidence that suggests a significant difference between the positive effects seen by taking a large dose of a natural product and its equivalent, artificially made. The so-called "purified" element always makes far less of an impact than the real, total, stuff.
2. If the most effective element is the one in its natural state, then we must consider carefully the kind and quality of the food we consume, and the way we prepare our food. Natural food, grown under good natural circumstances, not artificially preserved, eaten fresh and prepared well, should indeed nourish us fully, which should dismiss the need for supplementation forever.
 
© By Patrick Quanten MD
 
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