Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
(blah blah blah blah, snip)
The recommended allowances for vitamins and minerals are the intakes that have been shown (sometimes by experiments on humans that would probably be considered unethical today) to prevent disease associated with deficiencies. Recommended allowances are not ideal intakes. There is no way to determine an ideal. Megadoses of some vitamins can have side effects and sometimes severe complications. They should not be chosen by someone who is just thinking of supplementing dietary intake.
Recommended intakes are not fixed in stone. They are updated as new information becomes available. It does not mean older numbers were wrong; they were based on the best available info at the time.
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You're so in the tank for conventional medicine approaches that you obviously don't have a clue ...
I can cite from personal experience:
1) Hawthorn controls my trend in advancing old age increase in blood pressure. Historically, a 120/65 w 60 HR, it started to slowly gain a few points in pressure in my '60's. Prescribed Lisinopril 2.5 mg daily, my blood pressure dropped back to the historical range, but with massive side effects that were undesirable. Under my cardiologist's supervision, I stopped taking that stuff after the first 4 days and switched to Hawthorn supplementation. Monitoring my BP/HR several times per day, I verified the numbers.
2) Potassium w/Iodine brought my marginally hypothyroid numbers (T-3, 4) back into normal ranges. Prescribed Synthroid, which I took for a month, that didn't do as good a job as just taking the supplementation at much higher than RDA rates. Blood testing confirmed the results along with no side effects that I'd experienced with the prescription med.
3) 25 years ago, I started having symptoms of BPH. Was prescribed a med for that, which gave some relief, but again with some side effects that weren't pleasant. I dropped the prescription and changed over to Saw Palmetto, which continued the improvement to where I have no symptoms whatsoever of BPH. And I've had the appropriate testing to confirm the results, along with the blood tests for Prostate cancer at less than 1.
4) Was starting to get "floaters" in my eyes 20 years ago, and my OD was saying that I was headed for cataract surgery in due course .... (no big deal, right? routine, happens to everybody in their advancing years ...). Started taking Billberry and later a B&L herbal formulation; within a year's time, the floaters were not discernable and subsequent OD exams don't show the deterioration that was previously reported.
5) Was having a problem with stiff joints, especially in my hands, 35 years ago. As a mechanic with repetitive hand motions on a daily basis, this was a serious issue. The doc's prescribed several different NSAID's which provided relief, but at the expense of havoc with my intestinal tract and risk of ulcers/kidney/liver damage. I dropped the stomach problems in favor of Arnica 200C pillules; not only do they work much faster and more effectively without any side effects, but they work so well that I can take them on a given day when I start to feel stiff fingers and I'll forget to take the stuff for days afterwards because the symptoms don't return for that long.
6) Was having cardiac issues related to a genetic condition, and the doc's put me on Calcium channel blockers ... with absolutely horrible side effects far in excess of any benefit. They switched me to a Beta blocker with similar results. I'm an active person in recreation and employment, so this was devastating to my life. I was able to use homeopathics and minerals to achieve the desired benefit, all under the doc's supervision. Ultimately, I received a (then) experimental surgical procedure which addressed the underlying causation of the problem ... but when I was first diagnosed with the issue, it was considered untreatable and essentially the doc's notice was that I was at risk of catastrophic heart failure at any time. I didn't just "beat the odds" by surviving as many years as I did until a procedure was developed to cure the symptoms, but the regimen I kept with the alternative approach brought me through those years in good enough condition to pass my flight physical every year. As mentioned in many threads on C-D, I'm a pilot and as such, health issues are monitored closely by my AME every year, so we watch these concerns very closely.
7) Was having issues with slowly becoming "pre-diabetic" in my advancing years. Although my docs insist that it's a genetic trend and that I must have had family members that were diabetic, none (to my knowledge) were ever diagnosed with diabetes and none ever exhibited symptoms or were treated for it. Aside from the medical problems that diabetes in and of itself presents for a person, it's the end of a pilot's medical certification ... and so, I embarked upon the program suggested in Balch's "nutrional healing" book. End of "pre-diabetes" elevated blood tests. Again, quick, efficacious, simple, and inexpensive without side effects. Of course, I'd already eliminated many other factors in my diet and lifestyle before needing to resort to the further measures to ensure those good test results. I'll repeat this ... I'm under frequent monitoring of the results, by urine test and by blood work ... so I know that I've got the benefits and results that count. Having seen the health decline of numerous people with diabetes, I'm especially pro-active about not developing it, too. I've learned that many common carb sources in the conventional USA diet trigger incredible spikes in blood sugar levels and I've eliminated the excesses there in my personal diet. It's been years since I've headed to a fast food place for an order of fries .... and yes, I did have that personal experience with potatoes and blood work shortly thereafter. If folk knew of the cycles they're putting their bodies through with their fast food habits, they'd quit eating that crap ...
8) Years ago, the repetitive motions of my work lead to tendonitis in both arms. Told I needed surgery to correct, I wasn't a happy camper. I sought out the advice of an ND, and he suggested a couple of homeopathic and mineral supplements. Started with those, and over the space of several months, the tendonitis symptoms were alleviated. Within a year, the symptoms were totally gone and have been so for 18 years. I take the formulation the ND suggested a couple of times per month at the most anymore, and have enjoyed not having those little tweaks from various impact motions that used to trigger my attacks.
Now, that's just one person's first-hand view of using alternative, unregulated, undocumented by conventional medicine results with a host of ailments that befall many other people. You can cite all the damn studies you want that say ... Arnica doesn't work, Saw Palmetto doesn't work, or xxxxxx doesn't work in a double-blind study performed by the most prestigious hospital or university study program or pharmaceutical research study or the FDA. Know what? I personally know otherwise, and the beneficial results that I've achieved are far beyond any possible placebo effect ... especially in light of the continuing monitoring of my physical condition under doctor's supervision.
OTOH ... you mention that folk who seek alternative medical results could wind up like Steve Jobs ...
OK, I'll tell you about a few folk that I know who went through cancer with nothing but conventional medical treatment ... surgery/chemo/radiation ....
Like my Mom, who developed breast cancer. Underwent difficult treatments the first two times she reached the blood numbers that said stuff was going on, finally had a radical mastectomy. Developed this a third time, which despite ongoing chemo/radiation ... was fatal. Interesting to note that she achieved substantial relief from the side effects by Acupuncture, which isn't a conventional medicine therapy.
Like my Dad, who developed Parkinson's and struggled along for 20 years in essentially a disabled condition with Symmetral and a host of other prescriptions. It was only in his last year, when he finally said "what the heck, I'll try anything at this point" that he tried some of the homeopathic/vitamin/minerals approach from an ND. He got more relief from that approach in his last few months than he'd gotten in a decade from conventional medicine; most significant, it came without the "freezing up" episodes that attended his prescription meds.
Like my good friend, an internal medicine doc, who started passing blood in his stool at age 54. He knew what that meant, it could be serious. Went in for a lower GI exam, and they didn't let him out of the hospital that day, he then underwent exploratory surgery. Once opened up, they determined that nothing could be done for him ... his colon cancer had spread so far that he was not treatable. He underwent several experimental therapies ... chemo and radiation ... debilitating and very painful ... only to pass away within a few months.
Of all coincidences, the father of one of my best friends had virtually the identical experience within months of my doc friend. Passed blood in his stool one morning, went in for an exam, and had a similar set of surgeries/treatment in the 5 months before he passed away.
Both of those men were active, healthy guys ... with a knowledge of preventative diet and routine medical exams. Y'know, the colonoscopy suggested after age 50 to check things out. Both were belivers in conventional medicine, and "safe" levels of various intake of stuff in their diets. Both passed away rather quickly under the most extremely debilitating medical treatment from the time they were diagnosed with cancer.
Yet another friend, a high school buddy ... passed away with lung cancer at age 63. He'd been under treatment for that for 6 years, increasingly limited in what he could do physically. Had one lung removed at the outset of his diagnosis and went downhill from there. Those 6 years were almost as painful to watch as they were for him to live with.
I'm one person, with a limited exposure in the scheme of things to the overall numbers of folk who receive conventional medicine and I see a huge percentage with less than desirable outcomes. My wife has watched the passing recently of several of her friends from breast, colon, stomach, and uterine cancers ... all women at relatively young ages, some younger mom's in their 30's, some of them in their 50's.
But another friend with pancreatic cancer ... and a family history of this ... was diagnosed at age 38 with it. He headed to conventional treatment, and was "cured" in a year, no signs remaining of blood markers. It came back a year later, so again he was back in for treatment and "cured" in a year of radiation/chemo.
Two years later, it came back. He'd already been under the care of an ND (at my urging), and the third time around, he had the option of going the conventional treatment or alternative therapy. The docs at the oncology hospital he'd been going to gave him a very poor prognosis, while the alternative hospital gave him a better outlook. He went to the alternative ... which cost him over $100K out of pocket since his insurance didn't cover this approach ... and within a year was again declared "cured". This time, without the pain and debiliation of the chemo and radiation programs he'd undergone previously; it was all done this time with diet/vitamins/minerals (no "monkey **** and sawdust" hocus-pocus, but well grounded nutrional therapy). Now has 5 years of no recurrence ... and he's still flying, which is a strong credential of having been restored to good health because he gets to undergo a full 1st class medical every 6 months.
I don't have a lot of anecdotal experience with folk such as him because it's not the normal path for many to pursue, especially since insurance doesn't cover this approach while it covers conventional medicine. But it's certainly a better outcome that he's achieved this way than so many others that we've seen over the past decades.
Oh ... I'd add ... my F-I-L is an old school formulating pharmacist. A solid believer in the benefits of conventional medicine and one who cast aspersions upon my other approach ... until such time as he personally started to decline in his advancing years and his golf game was adversely affected. He finally tried Arnica ... topical oil, and then 200c's to help with his joint pain. Now he's back on the golf course and admitting that maybe there's something to all this alternative stuff despite what he's read professionally for 60 years. Even started taking chondroitin for his joint pain, and appears to be getting relief.
I'd mention too, that Aspartame ... which you casually dismiss as a factor because it's not a nutrient, hence not under a minimum RDA ... has been found to be a causation of vision problems. Not here in the USA, where it's gotten a pass, but I'll take the word of the Canadian medical community on this one, where it is a banned substance for Canadian military pilots because of their observed and documented adverse side effects. In short, this is one of those substances commonly found in our food chain here in the USA and ingested in more ways than you can count ... beverages, baked goods, processed foods ... which has been found to be a poison. The word is out in the USA pilot community to avoid this item; again, it comes down to economics. As in, if you want to keep your vision intact to a level that will allow you to maintain your medical certification, you'll avoid this stuff or risk losing your flying privileges ... livlihood.
I'll not take this time to go into the massive effects upon public health that the neurotoxins unleashed in our food chain have wrought, but we're seeing over 1,000 different ones in trace forms coming in from our own domestic commercial food supply and imported foods. Interesting to note that many banned in the USA pesticides/herbicides are in common use overseas so still get consumed here. You can look up these concerns youself in publications in the industry, such as "Food Safety" magazine. These aren't trivial concerns, these are being documented by the industry where a primary issue is the potential for a food processor/distributor to get their butts sued off when their products injure people. It's taken the pressure of a litigious society and the potential to now be able to identify and trace microgram levels of contaminants back to the source that's been the driving factor into this area of the food industry .....
Where I'm taking this is to assert that despite the FDA's mandate to recommend appropriate nutrition and intake levels, the actual methodology is hugely flawed and ignores ... if not outright attacks ... proven benefits from other approaches. Such is the environment in which RDA's are created and proclaimed as "safe" and appropriate ... and as you post ... correct amounts of intakes to ward off such diseases as scurvy.
I'll suggest here that there are "safe" and appropriate levels of other vitamins/minerals/trace elements that are just as tied to other ailments and could be highly beneficial to many people ... like taking Niacin for control of cholesterol/ldl's/hdl's ratio; at intake levels that are far in excess of what are now FDA RDA guidelines. There's a lot more to this health industry than meets the eye in conventional medicine ....
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