April 29, 2001 "Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A."

Written by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of more than 200 natural healing articles with over 3,000 scientific references.

I CATCH FLAK from supplement partisans now and then when I urge you (as I did last issue) to get your most of your nutrients from Mother Nature and not from the latest "magic bullet" tablet. But I get a lot MORE letters of support from people who appreciate that I will not take sides, nor will I sell out to commercial interests. Remember: foods are NOT enough to supply all your needs for vitamins, especially vitamins C, E and the B-complex, and the minerals magnesium, zinc, and chromium. But good whole foods, veggie-juice supported, raw-food rich, near-vegetarian eatin’ remains the best way to get the most nutrition for the least cash. There I stand; and to my critics, I say: if you don’t like my peaches, don’t shake my tree, and go unsubscribe at http://www.doctoryourself.com/newsmail.html

For the rest of us, we are too busy staying well and sharing how to do it, cheaply, with those who are sick of sickness.

We tend to overeat and still be undernourished. One possible explanation is that we overeat because we *are* undernourished. Overeating is a perhaps a natural craving which attempts to increase our vitamin intake. The problem is, the more we eat, the more vitamins we need to metabolize the food, specifically more of the B-vitamins and more lipid-protective vitamin E. And the more we eat to try to get this nutrients, the more calories we take in, and the more we weigh.

The way out is to just get off that train. Dieters, take your vitamins. You need plenty of them every day. You also need plenty of water every day. Unless you have a limiting medical condition, you do NOT need food every day. If you are overfat, you do not even need food every WEEK. Fat is stored food. So use it! Make your body go to your fat reserves and burn ‘em… by simply not eating. Drink lots of vegetable juice for fluids and electrolytes (minerals) and for some carbohydrate. The carbohydrates prevent ketosis and spare protein. So you will not poop out, and you will not lose muscle doing this. You will gain energy, and you will lose fat.

I often get the most work done when I fast. This is illogical, yet true. While fasting, I still take lots of vitamin C, with calcium as a buffer, and I drink lots of water alternating with veggie juice or watered-down fruit juice, as well as multiple vitamin several times daily.

More on this is posted at

DID YOU KNOW that Atilla the Hun died of spontaneous pinpoint hemorrhaging? Did you know that is doc-talk for a bloody nose? Yes, the great warrior, that Scourge from the East, was laid low by vitamin deficiency… vitamin C deficiency, to be precise. (Time Lab 2000, The History Channel)

DID YOU KNOW that you can soak cooked eggshells in "Real-Lemon" juice and make your own calcium citrate solution? I have little idea as to just how much calcium a given ounce of such a solution would contain, but what else are you going to do with those eggshells, anyway? So this summer, make calcium-fortified lemonade. And while you are at it, toss a little vitamin C powder in. No need to tell the kiddies that it’s good for them.

DID YOU KNOW there are over one million REPORTED accidental hypodermic needle pricks per year in the US? And the Centers for Disease Control has said that there are several million more that go unreported. (USA Weekend, April 8-10, 1994)

TODAY’S *THREE, count ‘em, THREE* REASONS TO BECOME (MORE OF) A VEGETARIAN:

I think I know why all those cows are so mad: we kill 100,000 of them for food every single day, just in the USA. Worldwide, it is a bovine holocaust. India excluded.

And it is far worse for turkeys and especially chickens: we kill MILLIONS of them daily. Chicken is America’s favorite dead-animal flesh food (only slightly decayed by the time you buy it) easily eclipsing beef and that "other white meat," dead pig. Before your next mouthful of bird muscle, please consider the following:

Hens by the thousands raised in such claustrophobic, crowded cages that the birds will literally peck each other to death. To reduce prison-yard aggression in chickens, red tinted contact lenses are now marketed for poultry workers to slip into the birdy’s eyes. It takes a trained operator just a few seconds per bird, the manufacturer claims. I do believe I have my nomination for the World’s Worst Job.

There is so much colon bacterial contamination in chicken meat that there is now a product to close off the bowels of dead chickens. It is called "Rec-Tite," and it is essentially super glue for chicken anuses. And I am NOT making this up.

Bon appetite!

Sure. Naturally, I prefer "natural" vitamins with the following considerations weighed in:

1) Can you can afford them? If not, I’d rather you take vitamins from Wal-Mart than not take vitamins at all.

2) The differences between vitamin brands are usually not great. There are a few exceptions One example would be Standard Process vitamin C, which is concentrated entirely from beet tops; the tablet has 5 milligrams of (really, really natural) vitamin C in it. If you have in your hand a 500 mg vitamin C tablet, and it is smaller than a hockey puck, you can be sure it is made with laboratory vitamin C… and that is OK. It works. Is the beet-top C better? I’m sure it is… but it is simply too cumbersome and too expensive to give to a pneumonia patient that may require 100,000 mg a day for prompt recovery.

3) Natural products tend to have stood a longer test of time and are generally recognized as safe. Synthetics may be only an approximation of the natural substance. But the best way to get lots of entirely natural vitamins cheaply is to eat only really good foods, leaning towards fresh and raw every chance you get. THEN, you also supplement for the extra quantity of vitamins that you do indeed need more of (vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, chromium and the B-complex, mentioned above). I drink orange juice and eat fruit… right along with my 10,000 -15,000 mg of ascorbic acid each day. I eat nuts, whole grains and fresh butter… right along with my 600 to 800 IU of vitamin E every day. Easy!

I more or less backed into the alternative health field. When I was an undergraduate, biology professor John I. Mosher asked me if I wanted to go to medical school, or if I really wanted to help people. This somewhat unexpected question started me reading. I have not been the same since I read The Pattern of Health, by British physician Aubrey Westlake, M.D., discussed at

The Pattern of Health (a boring title if there ever was one) is a rather unspectacular-looking (and now out of print) paperback, but it's probably one of the most important volumes I've ever read. Westlake was a conventionally educated English medical doctor. He felt that, after many years as a practicing physician, he'd spent too much of his time just bailing out leaking boats. He was frustrated by his medical inability to get to the fundamental cause of disease, to promote self-help, and to effect practical, deep-down cures. The Pattern of Health is the story of his personal discovery of alternative healing techniques. That book inspired me to read more on the subject, and one thing led to another. I soon started using basic naturopathic methods myself - such as fasting, switching to a vegetarian diet, and taking vitamin supplements - and I actually started feeling better. This book changed my life, defined my career, and kept my family well.

How’s that for a positive review? Try a used book search, or an interlibrary loan, to read The Pattern of Health. (Berkeley California: Shambala / Random House Books, 1973)

DoctorYourself Recommended WEBSITE(S) OF THE MONTH:

My Dad always said, ask the organ grinder, not the monkey. Go right to the top for your information. Well, here is the best there is: the twin all-text websites of Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD. For information about megavitamin (orthomolecular) treatment for psychosis, depression, OCD, schizophrenia and more, please visit
www.islandnet.com/~hoffer/hofferhp.htm

For information about the orthomolecular treatment of cancer, please see
www.islandnet.com/~hoffer/homepage.htm

Dr Hoffer is the world’s most experienced nutritional physician, an excellent writer, and a must-read.

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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision.

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