Bill's Daily Supplements
4/16/2004
By Bill Sardi
First there was Neanderthal man. Then there was Java Man. In the
evolution of homo sapiens , an article in the New York Times now
says �Pharmaceutical Man� is here. Last year Americans consumers
spent $163 billion on drugs. Retirees take an average of 2.4
prescription drugs every day.
For comparison, about $18 billion of dietary supplements are sold
annually in the US. The preeminence of drugs over vitamins, mineral
and herbal supplements is rooted in law. Forget that the biological
action of virtually every prescription drug can be duplicated with
dietary supplements. Keep that fact hidden from the public�s view.
No dietary supplement can claim it diagnoses, treats, prevents or
cures any disease. Well, there are exceptions, like thiamin/vitamin
B1 curing beri beri, niacin curing pellagra, vitamin B12 curing
pernicious anemia, vitamin D curing rickets and vitamin C curing
scurvy. More cures could be attributed to dietary supplements except
for the cabal against them by research scientists and physicians.
But if drugs are designed to treat disease, and dietary supplements
can�t say they prevent disease, then we essentially have no
preventive medicine. Except for technology to detect disease at an
earlier stage and prescribe treatment earlier, modern medicine
largely ignores preventive measures.
Despite a prediction that millions of Baby Boomers will develop
age-related eye conditions that will cause the rate of blindness to
skyrocket, there are no preventive regimens for cataracts, glaucoma
or macular degeneration. Only treatment is offered after these
conditions are diagnosed. Undeniable evidence exists that
supplemental vitamin C, at least 300 milligrams per day, prevents
cataracts. Few eye physicians recommend that their patients take
supplemental vitamin C.
It took over two years for Dr. Stuart Richer of the Veterans
Administration Medical Center in North Chicago to get a landmark
paper published showing how supplemental lutein can for the first
time reverse some of the visual defects caused by macular
degeneration. In over a decade the National Eye Institute has yet to
sponsor a clinical study using lutein, a yellow dietary antioxidant
pigment found abundantly in spinach and kale which has yet to be
declared an essential nutrient. Without Dr. Richer�s perseverance,
millions of senior Americans would still have no hope for their
unremitting retinal disease. (See the book User�s Guide to Eye
Health Supplements, Basic Health Publications, by Bill Sardi with
Jack Challem.)
Another example is magnesium. Mildred Seelig MD carefully documents in
her book, The Magnesium Factor, how modern medicine has engineered
studies to make it appear that magnesium supplements do not prevent
heart attacks or lower blood pressure. The public is prescribed
calcium-blocking drugs without being told magnesium is a natural
calcium blocker. Verapamil (Calan), diltiazem (Cardizem) and
nifedipine (Procardia) are commonly prescribed calcium-blockers that
block the entry of calcium into cells. Sodium and calcium frequently
can�t be pumped out from inside sick cells, such as in conditions
like heart disease and diabetes. But the reason why these cells
cannot pump out these minerals is because they are lacking energy in
the form of ATP (adenotriphosphate). Blocking entry of calcium into
cells doesn�t remedy the lack of cellular energy. We�re going to
talk a bit more about cellular energy below.
Another class of drugs, frequently used for high blood pressure, is
beta blockers (atenolol, Tenormin, Timolol, others). But these drugs
deplete the body of coenzyme Q10, an essential nutrient naturally
produced in small quantities in the body that is required, along
with magnesium, for the production of ATP for cellular energy.
Anyone taking beta blockers should also be given a supplement of
coenzyme Q10, at least 100 milligrams per day.
Another commonly prescribed class of drugs, the statins, is employed to
lower cholesterol. Now recognize that statin drugs will only prevent
one person in a hundred from experiencing a mortal heart attack. The
other ninety-nine statin drug users will be wasting their money.
Furthermore, statin drugs are toxic to the liver. They interfere
with normal liver function and frequent tests must be performed to
monitor for elevated liver enzymes. Yet if there was one dietary
supplement that raised liver enzymes it would be recalled from the
marketplace. Statin drugs also deplete the body of coenzyme Q10,
that antioxidant nutrient that is required for cells to produce
energy.
Adults who take statin drugs frequently experience aches and pains.
They are mistakenly told they have fibromyalgia or arthritis. But
when the muscles don�t get a sufficient supply of coenzyme Q10,
muscle tissue begins to break down. Aches and pains result. Some
muscle tissue may get into the blood circulation, clog the kidneys
and induce a mortal event. Any person taking statin
cholesterol-lowering drugs should be placed on coenzyme Q10, at
least 100 mgs per day. Few if any doctors warn their patients of the
potential side effects of statin drugs and how they can be avoided
with coenzyme Q10 supplements.
Yet another class of drugs that deplete the body of magnesium and
coenzyme Q10, the thiazide diuretics (water pills) used to treat
high blood pressure, are frequently prescribed along with any of the
other statin or beta blocker drugs mentioned above.
Incidentally, cancer cells also are weak cells that cannot pump out
calcium from their cytoplasm. Without cellular energy tumor cells
must ferment sugars for energy and the malignant cells then excrete
lactic acid which interferes with cancer drugs (a problem called
drug resistance) and breaks down the connective tissue surrounding
these abnormal cells so they can travel to other locations in the
body. This is how tumors spread. All of the above drugs which deplete
the body of coenzyme Q10 should predictably worsen cases of cancer.
Taking drugs like beta blockers, statin drugs or thiazide water pills,
or all three as some people do, will for certain keep you ill. You
will never get well. But don�t confront your doctors about this.
They will know little about drug-induced nutrient depletion because
they too have been mistakenly taught that dietary supplements
interfere with drugs.
Drugs occupy a prime position in consumers� minds. Time after time
people call this writer on the telephone asking if they can safely
take a certain dietary supplement with the medications they are
taking. Is it OK to take vitamin E with a blood thinner? How about
garlic or ginkgo biloba, don�t those herbs over-thin the blood?
Actually, antioxidants like vitamin E, and minerals like magnesium,
and fish or flaxseed oil, and herbal supplements like ginkgo biloba
and garlic pills can all be taken simultaneously and a person will
never experience over-thinning of their blood. But physicians
prescribe warfarin (Coumadin), which can result in internal
bleeding, and monthly testing has to be conducted to monitor for
prolonged blood clotting time. Doctors and pharmacists continue to
warn the public about ginkgo biloba over-thinning the blood, but the
few case reports used to substantiate this warning involve very
high-dose ginkgo, like 300 milligrams or more per day. If adults
were eating good diets and taking the right supplements they would
not likely need blood thinners.
How dumbed down we all are. Vitamins, minerals, non-vitamin factors
like lutein and lycopene, and amino acids are essential for life.
It�s the other way around. The drugs interfere with essential
nutrients.
An over-medicated society ought to be on guard. The public needs to
know which drugs induce nutritional deficiencies. A good book you
might want to purchase, or have your library place in its reference
section, is the Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook. It can be
purchased at www.amazon.com or any bookstore.
Copyright 2004 Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc. Not for commercial
reproduction.
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