I just returned from a nutritional symposium this weekend which really changed the way I view nutrition. To illustrated just how monumental this was I'll use a couple examples. The year is 1490 and you and your sailor buddies are sitting in the pub enjoying some ales when someone says, "you really need to hear what this Chris fellow is saying, he claims he can sail around the world and not fall off the edge". Or it's 161o and you are going to your astronomy class and your classmate says "come to this off campus lecture, some Galileo fellow is teaching that the earth revolves around the sun". Are these bold statements, Yes! . Did they violate conventional wisdom, again, Yes. Were they correct and observe the physical laws which govern this planet, You bet.
Now you are probably wondering what I'm talking about. Well let me start by asking a question. What is the most important nutrient? The one we can't even live 10 mins without? Oxygen you say, well you are correct. So how does it make sense that an anti-oxidant promotes health. Antioxidants push oxygen out of the tissues causing your cells to suffocate. Free-radical pathology has never been demonstrated as a valid scientific theory. It got it's start out of X-ray radiation studies in the '60's. In fact, oxidation is the method by which our immune system destroys pathogens and cancer cells. Studies demonstrate that antioxidants reduce our ability to kill cancer cells. And here is the real kicker. A meta-analysis (a study of studies) published in JAMA, Feb. 2007 , comprised of 68 studies and over 200,000 participants showed that the groups that took antioxidants had an increase in "All-cause" mortality. For those in Rio Linda, this means that the ones taking supplements died sooner and more frequently from everything, heart disease, cancer, etc. Most of these studies were done by folks trying to prove the benefits of antioxidants. Anyone interested can contact me for a nice long list of double-blind, placebo controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journal.
The antioxidant protects the vitamin, it is NOT the vitamin. It's like going to the bank and thinking the guard or the alarm system is of value, not the money and gold locked in the vault.
I've believed for several years this idea that antioxidants only made a small portion of a vitamin but only now do I actually believe that large doses of fractionated nutrients can actually cause damage. I could go on and on about how most of this misinformation comes out of rat studies where ascorbic acid is actually vitamin C to a rat but that in humans ascorbic acid won't cure scurvy which is a C deficiency. Or about B1 not working without B4 to correct heart murmurs or nerve damage. Haven't heard about B4? that's because they can't synthesize it in a lab. I'll cut that short though because it would take up too much space.
So am I saying you don't need supplements? No, we all need them because they just aren't in food anymore and even if they were, we are exposed to increased levels of stress and toxins which deplete our bodies. What you do need is a supplement that is based on whole food concentrates that haven't been isolated and have been raised in nutrient rich soil and processed at low temps to preserve the nutrients and enzymes. One such company is Standard Process.
I am now convinced that 95% of the nutrition products and their advertising is pure junk and that almost no one knows what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition and diet. So whatever super miracle pill of the month you are taking is probably not only a waste of your money but it is potentially shortening your life and no matter how healthy you think you are eating you are probably mislead by some fancy marketing ploy. If you want to know about real nutrition read the works of Royal Lee or Francis Pottenger or Weston Price, or if you want something a little newer, but still the same old info that was discovered by the aforementioned folks, check out William Wolcott or Sally Fallon or Jordan Rubin.
Have I made some bold statements, yes. Has what I said follow the laws of physiology and biochemistry, yes. Has it been demonstrated in study after study, yes.
So do yourself a favor and throw out all your supplements, it might just save your life.
