Vitamins and Minerals

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. Though it seems like everyone is supplementing their diet with some form of calcium, most people are deficient. Your body can’t process calcium if you don’t have enough magnesium and you can’t absorb calcium without ample stores of vitamin D. You need vitamin K to regulate your blood calcium. And if you don’t have enough calcium, you won’t be able to process zinc. If you don’t have enough zinc, you won’t be able to process vitamin A.

Too much calcium can reduce the effectiveness of vitamin A and magnesium, and can cause anxiety (while too little causes depression). Also, people taking too much (and the especially wrong kind) of calcium are calcifying their soft tissue. And if your diet is acidic, your body is going to pull minerals (especially calcium) from wherever it can get it (teeth, bones, organs, etc.) to keep your blood at its proper, slightly alkaline pH (read more about this in Acid vs. Alkalinity).

To make the issue more confusing, most of the calcium supplements on the market are not digestible. Some of them are downright toxic; they can cause kidney stones or a host of other problems. Got milk? Well, throw it out. You and your family don’t need to be drinking that toxic soup of antibiotics, pesticides, and bovine growth hormones. Even if you buy organic milk, it’s a dead pasteurized food. Besides, although milk does contain calcium, even the Harvard School of Public Health questions whether it’s the best source. 

That’s just calcium.  We could go on and on with every other vitamin, mineral, or other essential nutrient in similar fashion.  

Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and most of our other nutrients are all about balance. Growing strong and healthy bones is not as simple as taking a calcium pill. Let’s take a look at other vitamins and minerals to see what some of their roles are. 

Minerals are found in rocks and soil. Plants get their minerals from the soil in which they are grown. If you grow the same vegetable in the ground year after year, the ground becomes deficient in the particular minerals that vegetable needs for development. Consequently the vegetable becomes deficient and so do the creatures that depend on it for nutrition. Through crop rotation, we replenish the soil. This is why crop rotation is so important.

Vitamins and minerals are necessary to sustain life and must be obtained from food because they are either not made in the body at all, or are not made in sufficient quantities.

Even if you only eat organic, remember big business has joined the industry and is now growing organic foods, using mono-cropping methods (without crop rotation). The organic label does not guarantee that produce was grown in nutrient rich soil. GMOs are invading organic fields and contaminating organic seed stores and the FDA has just authorized irradiating lettuce and spinach (regardless of whether or not it is organic). 

While it was previously stated that we should consume five to nine servings of raw fruits and vegetables per day, the National Academy of Science now states that we should double that amount due the decreased nutrient content of our food. But compared to 50 years ago, many foods don’t have 50% of their former nutrition; they have 10% or less. In addition, toxins so easily accumulated in our modern society, require us to consume even more nutrients for optimum health. Obviously it can be very difficult to get enough vitamins and minerals from the foods we eat, and though that is exactly how we should get our vitamins, supplementation has become a necessity for optimum health.

That said, don’t ever fool yourself into believing vitamin supplementation is a substitute for a healthy diet. Your body needs a diet filled with the healthiest foods available. Vitamins alone have no energy value. They can’t be assimilated without food. Choose whole food vitamins, not synthetic chemical reproductions (there are very few exceptions to this rule in the world of supplementation), and eat plenty of raw, fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. Other than growing our own organic food, this is the best we can do. 
Through crop rotation, we replenish the soil.

Some vitamins and minerals have specific preventive and therapeutic effects when taken in larger amounts. For example, niacin can be used to lower cholesterol and vitamin B6 is very useful in treating premenstrual syndrome. But never take a singular B vitamin for any length of time; take B complex. Studies have proven that taking one B vitamin alone seriously depletes the others. And many doctors don’t know this! But this warning is actually true for all vitamins and minerals in general.

Large doses of vitamins and minerals may slow, or even reverse many diseases previously thought to be an inevitable part of aging such as cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, impaired immunity, nerve degeneration, and other chronic health problems. Many experts consider larger doses of some vitamins to be necessary for optimum health. While OLM firmly believes that people should be fully responsible for their own health and strive to learn everything they can about how to heal and be healthy, we strongly recommend that significantly large doses of vitamins and/or minerals should only be taken under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care practitioner. 

A lot of alternative health care practitioners recommend a hair mineral analysis to determine what minerals a person needs. A lab will analyze a sample of your hair and tell you which minerals are in your system, their ratios, and which heavy metal toxins you have accumulated in your body. Using your hair analysis as a guideline, your alternative health care practitioner will tailor a supplement program to get you body in balance and help you eliminate your accumulation of heavy metal toxins, while teaching you how to avoid heavy metal toxicity in the future. 

There is some debate as to the reliability of hair analysis as a viable test for minerals, though the alternative health community does agree the test is accurate for heavy metals. All agree it is imperative to use a competent lab. 

It is important to detoxify, as toxins can impede your ability to process vitamins and minerals. And detoxifying can “reset” your minerals and vitamins. Many detox programs require a juice fast, while others limit the foods you eat. Whichever detox program you choose, make sure you don’t rob your body of nutrients during the process, whether you are doing a “radical” detox or just a gentle cleanse. It is also imperative that your diet be alkaline, not acidic. You will never come close to optimum health with an acidic diet, no matter how many vitamin and mineral supplements you consume. 

Once you get your body balanced properly, it becomes much more efficient at digesting and assimilating vitamins and minerals. Provided your body is not toxified, you will easily pull much of what you need from the foods you eat. You can then supplement your diet with a good whole food multi- vitamin/mineral for optimum health. 

Choosing the right supplements is a whole other story (which we will get into in our next issue). For now we highly recommend Raymond Francis’sThe Roadmap To Choosing Supplements available for free at his websiteBeyondHealth.com. For that matter we recommend anything Raymond Francis has ever written.

In our first issue, we stated that vitamin tablets are usually not absorbed properly, and we recommended capsules. But Raymond Francis states, “A well-designed tablet is superior because the ingredients are tightly packed and are protected from exposure to the ill effects of moisture, light, and oxygen. Vitamins in liquid and powder form do not have this protection and degrade rather quickly after being opened.” 

But note that most tablets and most supplements for that matter are not “well-designed”. “It takes a vast amount of knowledge, care and extra expense to create an effective supplement,” Raymond says. “Since the basis of competition in the supplement market is price, there is little incentive for companies to spend the money to create quality.”

For a list of toxins, reasons to detoxify, and how to detoxify, check out How Burdened is Your Body by Ryan Harrison, OLM issue 3. We also recommend Dr. Shillington’s detox program.

Click here for the Harvard Study

Thorne Research and Beyond Health (Raymond Francis’s company) produce some of the highest quality supplements on the market

 



Meat Eater Guilt Trip

My girlfriend and I were driving down the freeway the other day when we passed a pickup truck hauling three huge, white cows that were lying down and eating hay.

“Awe, how cute!” she said as we passed them.

“You do realize where these cows are going, don’t you?” I asked.  I wasn’t sure, but something told me they were on their way to the slaughterhouse.

“Oh, don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it. I’ll never be able to eat a hamburger again!”

This from the woman who adamantly refused to become a vegetarian? Oh, we’d talked about it often enough.  I wanted to make the change. And though I’m the one who does most of the cooking, she wouldn’t budge. I’d finally given up. Our relationship didn’t need the strain. But I’m not a man who misses opportunities. I seized the moment.

We’d passed the cows by this point, so I slowed down.

“Stop it! I don’t want to see them again!” she said.

I insisted I was just driving the speed limit, which was true, but I never drive the speed limit.

“Speed up!” she said.

I did as she asked. I sped up, just enough to stay right beside them.

“Wanna go get a steak?” I asked. “Wanna go get a big juicy burger?”

“No, I think I want to be a vegetarian,” she said, whining like a small child as she looked out the window at her three new friends. She sighed. I knew she was thinking about her karma and all the cows she had consumed in her life.

This was it—my moment of victory, her moment of change. I let it sink in for a few minutes, and then I sped up.

A half an hour later she said, “I’m hungry, but I can’t eat beef… I want chicken.”

Next week I’ll take her to a chicken farm. Then she’ll only eat pork. Oh well, one step at a time.



Issue 3 – Sugar

Times Have Changed – Letter From the Editor

Ask OLM

How Burdened is Your Body?

Raw Vegetables Prevent Cancer

10 Easy Things You Can Do To Improve Your Health Immediately

Sugar

Stevia

Agave Nectar

Addicted to Soda

Sick Of High Gas Prices?

10 Easy Things You Can Do to Get Better Gas Mileage



Times Have Changed – Letter From the Editor

I came up with the concept of Organic Lifestyle Magazine about 4 ½ years ago. When I talked about it, people really didn’t get it. “Why digital? No one reads that stuff!” and “Organic lifestyle? What the heck is an organic lifestyle? Like, tree hugging, granola eating stuff? Good luck!” People didn’t think it would be popular. Today is a very different time in some ways. More people than ever care about the environment and health. People are taking interest in self education. People are not so quick to take the word of a so-called expert without doing their own research. I thank Al Gore for getting people interested in protecting our environment, and I thank the Bush administration for making people distrustful of what they are told by government and major corporations like pharmaceutical companies and oil companies. I also thank people like Mike Adams, the Health Ranger at www.healthranger.org, and Graham Hill, founder of www.treehugger.com, for their part in making truthful information so easily accessible on the Internet. And I will go ahead and thank Al Gore again (for those of you who don’t know, he did play a large role in creating the Internet as we know it today). We have a long way to go, but I do see a lot of progress. What if we quit thinking there is only one way to do things? What if surgeons weren’t so quick to take out a kidney? What if medical doctors weren’t so quick to prescribe an antibiotic? What if acupuncturists and chiropractors got together and researched why their methods work for some patients and not for others? What if you were in a car wreck and before you were taken into surgery you were given a massive dose of easily assimilable systemic enzymes and an IV of natural antibiotics, the kind you’d find in healthy supplements? And what if an acupuncture specialist was your anesthesiologist who eliminated or reduced your pain so anesthesia and pain killers weren’t needed? Sound crazy? Unlikely to happen anytime soon? I suppose. But can you imagine it? I have seen a lot of things change in the past 2-3 years, and now I share my vision for the future. Imagine a health industry and a food industry that truly have our best interests at heart. Imagine an open-minded approach that combines East and West, old and new, and all disciplines into a truly holistic approach. Imagine the possibilities.

Michael Edwards

Signature

Editor in Chief



Ask OLM

Distilled Water

I have been drinking distilled water exclusively for a long time, however, I met with a consultant from the N company who told me distilled water is too acidic. They have several unique types of water filtration systems. According to your post, you feel that distilled water is best but what do you think of these N filter systems? I value your opinion.

Susan

DR. SHILLINGTON ANSWERS: The only time Distilled Water gets too acidic is when it is left out without a cover since it picks up CO2 very easily. As soon as you make your distilled water, put it into an old gallon apple juice glass bottle, put the top on it, and you’ll have no pH problems with it. As far as the N system you mentioned, I am down on all MLM and this one is no exception.

Distilled stored in glass bottles is BEST.

Yours in Knowledge, Health and Freedom,

Doc

Enzymes

Dr. Kelly, you mentioned in last month’s article that there are three main kinds of enzymes, but you only mention two. I am a vegetarian, and I do not eat meat. Do you have a recommendation?

Adam

DR. KELLLY ANSWERS: Adam, the third kind of enzyme, the one I did not bring up, is plant based digestive enzymes. And I recommend them when eating plants like fruits and vegetables unless the produce is fresh, and I mean just picked from the ground or the tree fresh. Pineapples and papaya retain their enzymes better then others, but most produce releases most of its enzymes as it sits on the shelves. In fact, an orange has lost about 50% of its enzymes within the first 30 minutes of being picked.

Dr. Kelly

Fish Oil

Why fish oil? I can’t stand the smell of that stuff! It smells like fish!!! I take flax seed oil. Andrew DR. KELLLY ANSWERS: Our bodies need fatty acids EPA and DHA. Flax seed oil is ALA which can be partially converted to EPA and DHA, but at less than a 15% conversion rate. I recommend Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil. You are getting your DHA and EPA without any need for conversion this way. And it doesn’t smell fishy at all. If you are taking a fish oil that smells fishy, you are taking rotten fish oil. Dr. Kelly

Sensitive Teeth

I have very sensitive teeth. I can’t eat cold foods at all. What’s wrong with my teeth and what can I do? I take calcium supplements, and I do eat veggies and drink milk. Can I still be low on calcium? Patricia

RYAN HARRISON ANSWERS: Sensitive teeth can have several causes. Most commonly, as a person’s gum line recedes, the roots of teeth can end up exposed. These roots can be very sensitive to hot and/or cold or to pressure. Another cause is the exposure of a tooth’s root when the tooth’s enamel is broken, cracked, or chipped. Finally, as with many other health issues, there can also be an emotional or psychological component; the pain manifests in the teeth, but really starts somewhere else. For teeth that are sensitive due to receding gums or pores in the tooth itself, most dentists prescribe a toothpaste that contains potassium nitrate, which fills pores and helps numb the pain. Unfortunately, like many other components of standard dental care, potassium nitrate is a toxic chemical.

Its MSDS registration lists it as “harmful if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin” and states that it “causes irritation to skin, eyes and [the] respiratory tract.” Is this really something you want to put in your mouth, where chemicals are quickly and easily absorbed through oral membranes? More natural approaches to calming sensitive teeth include herbal, nutritional, and energetic recommendations. As far as herbs go, you might find a blend of nervine (nerve-calming) herbs to be very helpful. Capsules containing equal parts of herbs such as lavender, hops, valerian, chamomile, and skullcap, when taken regularly, can help decrease pain and soothe irritated nerves. Be careful, however, in your dosage and usage of these herbs. They can also have sedative effects. Check with a knowledgeable herbalist before starting any herbal regimen. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that tooth enamel can be “rebuilt” – a process referred to as “remineralization” – if the proper steps are followed.

I personally have regrown my own tooth enamel. I had a cavity that was so bad there was a visible hole in my tooth, a rather large one. At the time I had no access to healthy food. When I did again have access to healthy food and was back to living an organic lifestyle, in a few months my teeth looked good as new.” – Editor’s Note

In large part, this requires adherence to some dietary instructions that reduce the acidity of saliva while also introducing foods and/or supplements high in calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D. Additionally, some essential oils such as myrrh, clove, and goldenseal may be used to help cleanse the mouth and safely reduce pain. Speak with a qualified naturopath to determine what would work best for you. Finally, I would suggest that your first step be approaching the issue from a psychological angle. While it may seem strange, it’s well proven that a person’s state of mind can affect her physical wellbeing. And though we are making great strides in understanding the mind’s relationship with the body, it’s still pretty hard to tell when a physical ailment is (or isn’t) caused by some kind of mental/emotional stressor.

There’s a very powerful, efficient, and surprisingly simple energetic technique that helps alleviate a host of physical conditions by removing mental/emotional charges called EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). It has an impressive track record for calming the body and mind and reversing even deep-seated complaints, sometimes within minutes. A professional EFT practitioner will be able to help you explore this possibility.

Cold Sores

How can I get rid of cold sores?

Andy

RYAN HARRISON ANSWERS: Cold sores are caused by a Type I herpes simplex viral infection. Typically, cold sores appear after a sensation of tingling or itching and then blister and heal over a course of two weeks. During this time, cold sores are highly infectious and the virus can be easily transmitted by contact. Fortunately, there are several things that you can do to help heal and prevent cold sore break outs. Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is well known for its ability to prevent a break out and to boost the immune system. It quickly and efficiently mobilizes the body’s defenses and helps disarm the herpes virus. The downside? It tastes awful! To use it, mix 1 part of the extract with 9 parts of water. With a cotton swab, dab any blisters that you may already have and then drink the rest of the mixture. (Brace yourself for the bitter aftertaste. It’s certainly okay to follow it with water.)

It’s worth noting that GSE has a mixed reputation.

I recently came across an article about it that suggests GSE is less than healthful. You can check out terressentials.com to read more. But before you read it, let me add that I had never heard of or read an advanced practitioner of natural/holistic health suggest GSE is anything but a marvelous natural product with a myriad of uses, and have only had good experiences with GSE. OLM will do some research on this and get to the bottom of it. Other approaches include the use of essential oils to help disinfect and speed healing. Essential oils with strong antiseptic properties such as tea tree oil, bergamot, lemon balm, and chamomile are great. They act as disinfectants, help relieve inflammation, and also discourage viral proliferation. Tea tree oil is one of a very few “neat” oils – meaning it can be used undiluted on the skin. Most other oils should be diluted using a carrier oil. Either way, you can dab them on cold sores to help speed the healing process.

Nutritionally, cold sores can be helped by taking immune-boosting supplements such as vitamin C (2,000-3,000 mg up to four times daily), zinc (5-20 mg up to three times daily during outbreaks), and beta-carotene (5,000-10,000 IU daily). You can help prevent cold sores by limiting your intake of chocolate, dairy products, cereals, almonds, and chicken, as they suppress an acid that retards the growth of the virus.

SunlightHeadaches

I have really bad headaches when I get into the sun. I am hearing more and more how important the sun is, but it hurts me. What should I do? Can I get over my sun allergy?

Tina

RYAN HARRISON ANSWERS: Sunlight is a tricky thing. Too much of it and you can end up burned and blistered, increasing your risk of skin cancer. Too little of it and you could end up with a vitamin D deficiency, which also relates to an increased risk of cancer. And that doesn’t even mention the possibility of a “sun headache.” What’s a girl to do? Headaches caused by sunlight typically are the result of the sun’s heat dilating blood vessels in your brain and raising skin temperature.

Additionally, if you spend a good amount of time squinting due to bright sunlight, the muscles of your face and around your eyes may contribute to your headache. You can prevent sun-induced headaches by wearing sunglasses (to prevent squinting) and a hat or cap, and by limiting your exposure to direct sunlight. If it’s too late for that and you already have such a headache, try retreating to a dark, cool room and sipping a large glass of ice water to help bring down your body’s temperature. If you can, soak your feet in cool water, as well. And let your eyes relax either by closing them or allowing them to settle on something far away. Herbal preparations of lavender, feverfew, skullcap, and white willow bark can help relieve pain and tension.

And if you’re worried about vitamin D deficiency, be sure to take a broad-spectrum multivitamin that includes it in at least an amount that guarantees the RDA. People who are deficient in vitamin Bs and/or vitamin D can get headaches from sun exposure, too. Otherwise, if you feel that you have a legitimate allergy to the sun, I’d suggest you contact an EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) practitioner. EFT is an energy psychology technique that is easy to learn and apply and which has a strong anecdotal base suggesting its usefulness in helping people reverse allergic responses.



Stevia

Stevia comes from the leaves of a tropical plant native to South America. Though it is 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar, stevia is not a sugar. Unlike other popular sweeteners, it has a glycemic index rating of less than 1 and therefore does not feed Candida (yeast) or cause any of the numerous other problems associated with sugar consumption. 

Stevia has been used as a sweetener for centuries, but as is often the case in our country, the interests of big business have superseded common sense and fair play. By law, stevia cannot be sold or labeled as a sweetener or food additive, only as a supplement. 

Some people complain of its strong licorice-like aftertaste, but now some companies claim to have a refining process that eliminates it. Even with its aftertaste, stevia is a perfect sweetener for strong sour flavors such as lemons. (It makes great lemonade!) You can also use stevia with other sweeteners to strengthen the sweetness of a recipe while still preparing a meal with relatively low sugar content. 

For more information about Stevia and the FDA’s decision not to allow stevia as a food additive, check out NaturalNews.com



Agave Nectar

Agave nectar is produced from the juice of the agave plant, the same juice which is fermented to make tequila. Agave juice is filtered and heated then concentrated into a liquid, with a viscosity similar to maple syrup. It is much sweeter than sugar but has a much lower glycemic index.

Agave nectar is high in fructose and low in glucose. Lighter grades have a mild, neutral flavor. The amber and dark grades offer the delicate flavor of agave with increasing intensity.

We at OLM do not recommend agave as an alternative sweetener. Too much fructose is no better for you then too much glucose. How much is too much? Not much at all. Excess fructose cannot be processed in the liver and gets converted into insulin resistant fatty triglycerides. And raw agave nectar is still heavily processed and not really “raw”.