I have long mainatained that I will not use "vitamins", "Minerals" or other "supplements" as these only serve to speed up the rate of aging. The body can use/process only a certain volume of nutrients in a lifetime so the quicker we put it into the body, the quicker this capacity runs out.

A new article just published in the New Scientist once more support this stance:

On

www.newscientist.com/article/dn17108

you may read:


Free radicals have long been thought to contribute to the ageing process, which is one reason why people take antioxidant supplements such as vitamin C or E.

However, other studies have hinted that taking antioxidants may hasten death through an unknown mechanism. One possibility is that they interfere with the beneficial effects of exercise, as there are hints that free radicals might be used by the body to prevent cellular damage after exercise.

So remember: "Supplements" are there primarily to "supplement" the bank balances of the "manufacturers" and distributors. The only manufacturer with no "ulterior motives" is "Mother Nature". Please DON'T believe the nonsense preached nowadays that modern food is void of nutrients.. analysis don't confirm this. And anyway, IF nutrients are deficient due to synthetic agriculture and processing, how on earth can you "Make up" for that by adding things that are even more processed (typical "supplements")?

André

Just happened to come across the following article while researching the relationship between "supplements" and health:

www.risiko-elektrosmog.de/Forschung/Studien/Krebs20Jhdt.pdf

from all the graphs one can see how the incidence of malignancy (cancers) has increased since the start of the "vitamin" industry in the 1940's to 1950's: It seems these chemicals are very succesful in keeping cancer cells alive!

André

Dr. Andre, I totally agree with you that supplements should not be taken.

However, I have two questions re: supplements:

1. How should a woman supplement her low Iron (due to heavy menses)especially if she is a not read meat eater? What is your suggestion?

2. In his book, "Apple Cider Vinegar," Paul Bragg says:

"Daily, even on most days during our fasts, our friend Linus Pauling inspired us to take 3,000 mg of mixed vitamin C powder in liquids. This is a potent antioxidant and flushes out deadly free radicals that produce harmful effects, cancer, etc. Vitamin C also promotes collagen production for new healthy tissues and is especially important if you are detoxifying from prescription drugs or alcohol overload."

Personally I do my fasts now (thanks to you, Dr. Andre) only on water. Your simple theory that whatever is bad is already in our body and we should not add anything else to make those bad toxins, debris, etc. get flushed from our body makes sense. Yet I know there are lots of fasters who are trying to "speed up" the process of detoxifying their bodies ...

More about Linus Pauling here:
nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/la...954/pauling-bio.html

1. The typical western diet contains about 20 mg of iron per day. A man needs about 2 and a menstruating woman about 5. Vegetarian sources should be adequate as this is all the cattle eat.. and just watch how much blood drains from the abbatoirs!

Avoiding all fluid 30 mintues before to 2 hours after meals tends to improve digestion and thus absorption.

But some people do not absorb iron well, so overwhelming the control mechanisms with a huge dosage sometimes bypasses them and increase the stores. I have never been against giving medicine to ill people!

2. Decades ago I also "took" vitamin C but after much research I stopped that silly habit. Recent studies indicated that we actually need some oxidation to help mobilize toxins, thus anti-oxidants during a fast could negate its benefit. And over-production of collagen could give you keloids..

If you want to speed up detoxification, do the 5 step detox cycle a few times a day during your fasts. A non absorbable gut flush once a year or so might help a bit, but don't rely on that. Nothing you put IN is going to take things OUT..

I stick with the pure and natural.

André

The Fast Doctor wrote:


But some people do not absorb iron well, so overwhelming the control mechanisms with a huge dosage sometimes bypasses them and increase the stores. I have never been against giving medicine to ill people!


André


So, as a parallel, would you agree for a person who has food absorption problems (missing some enzymes involved in the digestion of food) to take some enzymes (supplements) with their meals?

Of course! As I mentioned, ill people often "need" medicine. I also inject drugs where necessary, administer, prescribe or dispense antibiotics, antidepressants, etc., in really ill people. We should not blind ourselves to the ability to alleviate suffering. I keep everything from Aspirin to Morphine, antibiotics and antidepressants in my consulting rooms and regularly renew my license to run this little pharmacy, where I have over a 100 drugs. But the nedicine will go down the drain upon expiry, rather than into some patient that is not overtly ill.

BUT: For every really ill person, in my experience, a dozen or more are diagnosed with all and sundry "diseases" and so captured for the pharmaceutical industry (Which includes the "supplement" industry of course).

Medicines saves lives. But we should use it in the lowest effective dose for the shortest period of time necessary. The same holds for the specific class of drugs called "supplements".

André

Allright, great topic, I have been taking supplements on and off for the past, 18 years.

I have always doubted the effectiveness of taking "Fire Grade" supplements which have been heavily processed then capped or shaped and thrown in a bottle and told I need it for this and that.

Over the years I have refined things during the periods where I am on a supplement kick. Often I will hit the gym for heavy workouts for 6-8 months whereby I will be drinking even more water than usual but also taking vitamins and namely creatine to round things out. Over the past 5 years I have evolved my diet to a point where I question supplements. I do believe the standard north american diet may need proper supplementation as there is a reason most agricultural soils dont grow anything unless pumped with fertilizer then sprayed with chemicals for weeding. The soils are likely inert and void of any microbes (not sure if that is the right word).

Anyways, my current regiment of supplementation involves a morning smoothie with some form of quality milk (never soy), frozen organic fruits, fresh organic fruits, then some powders which are really bitter greens, some protein (hemp or brown rice), vitamin C (acerola cherry), then some liquids, B complex, Joint formula, 2:1 Calc Mag and some flax or hemp oil.

During the day I take a multivitamin of this brand for lunch:
www.gardenoflifeusa.com/ProductsforLife/...bid/668/Default.aspx
and same brand different vitamin for dinner:
[url]http://www.gardenoflifeusa.com/ProductsforLife/THEVITAMINCODE/MultivitaminFormulas/MensFormula/tabid/1369/Default.aspx

Now the vitamins above I do not believe are the typical junk, but as the doctors analogy went, these may be worse then passing the typical junk through as they are as active as it gets for a commercial for profit vitamin. Thoughts?

Also the liquids and powders above I believe have very little processing, but again with the analogy they may be worse.
The liquids are all from Prairie Naturals here in Canada, the Garden of life vitamins are from the US as I could not find a better quality in Canada, and the powders are all canadian with what looked to be very reputable sources and ingredients.

When working out and on creatine, I take a supposedly healthy green bulge creatine pills from controlled labs in the US.

When I am feeling really drained, which happens a fair amount I make a vegan powder shake with some milk. The poweder is from vega naturals that has no corn, soy, gluten or dairy and all reputable looking ingredients.

This is a typical regiment during the week, on the weekends I dont take anything, and generally try not to eat much, but rather drink lots of water and be active.

I guess the whole point of this is what are the thoughts of others. I am starting to think with the quality of food I eat, I should start cutting back on all this supplementation but may need a further little nudge of sound arguments to cut them out entirely.

Just to add to one of the doctors comments about digestion, "drink water 30mins before or 2 hours after meals", also pulverize your food in you mouth thoroughly before swallowing. Enjoy it for as long as possible, the doctor will be able to explain this better, but as my understanding goes your stomach will have a substantially easier time digesting food that has been thoroughly mixed with saliva and crushed with your teeth before swallowing, it is somewhat predigested in this state.

Well, Slim Pickens, in a nutshell I can assure you I will never take any of the "supplements" you mentioned in this post.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to study Soil Science at university for a few years and unfortunately have to disagree with the notions that agricultural soils are depleted. The reason why crops grow so fast nowadays is because good farmers know how to feed their plants. Bear in mind that the plant (Chlorophyll) forms the interface between the inorganic and organic realms. Plants canNOT use organic nutrients, the soil has to degrade it into inorganic before the plant can absorb it.

Sure, when the food itself is over-processed, their nutrients are depleted but I can promise you modern fruits and vegetables are really rich in the nutrients we need, likely much more so than a few decades ago.

Also bear in mind that these "supplements" are made from those same plants but being processed so much more than the fresh product, its quality is severly compromised.

All the misguided stories about our modern food soource being so "depleted" is only a marketing ploy of the behind-the-scenes pharmaceutical giants wanting us to buy their "supplements".

I do agree with the long chewing.. it helps your brain determine what is in the food, so it can prepare your digestive system for what is "on its way" there. Simple meals like one food per meal also helps a lot improving digestion, absorption and allocation of nutrients. But diluting the stomach juices (by drinking) can lead to fermentation and malabsorption.

André