Paul A. Offit, M.D.m Bonnie Fass-Offit, M.D. and Louis M. Bell, M.D.
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 For example, many studies showed that substances such as garlic, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin E, and ginseng either enhanced certain immune responses or directly killed bacteria or fungi. Laboratory studies fall into two categories: in vitro studies and in vivo studies.
If an investigator wanted to see whether garlic treated certain bacterial infections, she could do a number of things. First, she could see whether garlic killed bacteria in a test tube. |
James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch
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 For example, a deficiency of vitamin D may cause rickets, and a deficiency of vitamin B12 could tesult in a form of anemia. vocal cords Two folds of tissue located in the larynx that vibrate when air passes over them, producing the sound waves associated with talking and singing. vulva (vuL-vuh) The external organs of the female reproductive system. white blood cells Colorless cells in the blood that help combat infection. Some white blood cells act as scavengers by engulfing foreign particles (such as bacteria) and destroying them. Others produce antibodies or destroy dead cells. (See AIDS. |
Paul A. Offit, M.D.m Bonnie Fass-Offit, M.D. and Louis M. Bell, M.D.
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| Because it is not clear what would be considered a high dose of vitamin C in children, we would recommend using vitamin C in the form given to us by nature—orange juice or pineapple juice.
Zinc
In July of 1996, a study was reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine entitled "Zinc Gluconate for Treating the Common Cold: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study." The study was performed in adult volunteers, and treatment with zinc was begun within twenty-four hours of the beginning of symptoms. |
Patrick Holford
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 High levels of vitamin A (retinol) in the blood have long been associated with reduced risk. Recent research has shown that two metabolites of retinol, 13-cis-retinoic acid and trans-retinoic acid, are powerful anticancer agents. A study by Dr. Huang found that trans-retinoic acid puts acute myeloid leukemia into complete remission.29 Another study, by Dr. Wann Ki Hong and Dr. Scott M. Lippman, found that 13-cis-retinoic acid suppressed carcinomas of the neck and head. |
| Jariwalla discovered that adding vitamin C to NAC created an eightfold increase in anti-HIV activity.
Diet advice
Eat a high-energy whole-food organic diet packed with fresh fruit and vegetables and their juices. Eat fish rather than meat. Drink cat's claw tea twice a day to boost the immune system. |
| Eating for vitality
One secret of longer and healthier life is to eat foods high in vitamin and mineral vitality, but this is not the only criterion for judging a food. Good food should also be low in fat, salt, and fast-releasing sugars; high in fiber; and alkaline forming. Nonanimal sources of protein are desirable. Such a diet will also be low in calories, but then you will not have to count them because your body will become increasingly efficient and not crave extra food. |
| Check out your diet
Many people would like to believe that as long as they take their vitamin supplements they can keep eating all the "bad" foods that they love. But you cannot rely on diet, supplements, or exercise alone to keep you healthy. All three are essential.
DIET CHECK QUESTIONNAIRE
Score 1 point for each yes answer. Maximum score is 20.
] Do you add sugar to food or drink almost every day?
] Do you eat foods with added sugars almost every day?
] Do you use salt in your food?
] Do you drink more than one cup of coffee most days? |
John Lauritsen
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 Megadoses of one vitamin can deplete other vitamins, thus artificially creating malnutrition. The best guide is still: "Nothing in excess".
Yoghurt and kefir have much nutritional value, and contain friendly bacteria that act against the yeast syndrome. They are easy to make at home, using starter that can be purchased in a health food store.
Garlic has been believed, by many different peoples over many centuries, to have healing powers. To take garlic raw, peel the skin off a clove, cut into several pieces, and then gulp down with a lot of water. |
Patrick Holford
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| Results are not dependent on whether you eat oranges that are high in vitamin C, or on whether you absorb and utilize food well, as dietary analysis is. Some people have criticized this method because it relies on subjective information from the person concerned—yet the large majority of medical diagnoses are based on subjective information from the patient. If you want to find out how someone feels, isn't it obvious to ask? I always ask my clients why they think they are ill. More often than not they are right. |
Stanley W. Jacob, M.D., Ronald M. Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D.
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 Once you are healthy again, your body would not need the high level of the vitamin, and large doses would once again cause diarrhea. It is just below these bowel tolerance levels, the experts say, that vitamin C has its most powerful therapeutic effect.
There have been accounts in the medical literature of occasional minor skin rashes associated with DMSO. Because MSM is a related substance, the potential for a similar reaction also exists. Again, reducing dosage usually takes care of the problem. |
James Trefil, Joseph F. Kett, and E. D. Hirsch
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| For example, a deficiency of vitamin D may cause rickets, and a deficiency of vitamin B12 could tesult in a form of anemia. vocal cords Two folds of tissue located in the larynx that vibrate when air passes over them, producing the sound waves associated with talking and singing. vulva (vuL-vuh) The external organs of the female reproductive system. white blood cells Colorless cells in the blood that help combat infection. Some white blood cells act as scavengers by engulfing foreign particles (such as bacteria) and destroying them. Others produce antibodies or destroy dead cells. (See AIDS. |
Bruce Fife and Jon J. Kabara
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 This is why eating processed vegetable oils can cause a deficiency in vitamin E and other antioxidants. The antioxidants are used up fighting off free radicals. When we put these types of oils on our skin they create free radicals, causing permanent damage to connective tissues. This is why you should be very careful about the types of oils you use on your skin. If you use a lotion or cream containing this type of oil you are, in effect, causing your skin to age faster. The lotion may bring temporary improvement but accelerate aging of the skin and even promote skin cancer. |
| They also discovered that antioxidants such as vitamin E protected the bones from free radicals. In addition, they found that saturated fats, like those in coconut oil, also acted as antioxidants and protected the bones from destructive free radicals.7
Fresh coconut and perhaps virgin coconut oil contains fat-like substances called sterols which are very similar in structure to pregnenolone. Pregnenolone is a substance our bodies manufacture from sterols and is used to make hormones such as DHEA and progesterone. |
| Because MCFA are easy to digest and improve vitamin and mineral absorption they should be included in the meals of older people. This is easy to do if the meals are prepared with coconut oil.
Unlike other fatty acids, MCFA are absorbed directly from the intestines into the portal vein and sent straight to the liver where they are, for the most part, burned as fuel much like a carbohydrate. In this respect they act more like carbohydrates than like fats.2
Other fats require pancreatic enzymes to break them into smaller units. |
| He was given a multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. Within a month Bert reported a 90 percent reduction in heart palpitations and dizziness and was able to resume his favorite sports. It took nine months on high doses of supplements for his body to recover completely from the damage caused by the giardia infection.
It was assumed that Bert became infected with giardia while he was in the wilderness, but that may not be so. Tap water can also be a source of contamination. The water treatment process doesn't remove all contaminants and parasites. |
Arthur Agatston, M.D.
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 OJ (all that vitamin C).
Of course, that view is wrong based on what we know now. That's what can be most frustrating about science: What's praised as good today may be condemned as bad tomorrow, and vice versa. It's not necessarily that we were wrong then and right now. It's just that our knowledge is constantly growing, and along the way we sometimes have to unlearn what we thought was true.
Breakfast is a good example of this. Back before World War II, eggs were considered healthy—high in protein and other nutrients. |
Patrick Holford
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| Peppers, broccoli, and fruit are rich in vitamin C and other phytonutrients. Seeds and nuts are rich in essential fats. Beans and grains provide both protein and complex carbohydrate. Foods such as these should make up at least half, if not all, of your diet.
The perfect diet pyramid below gives you the kind of balance of foods to aim for in your diet.
Fat-
1 heaped tablespoon of ground seeds or 1 tablespoon of cold-pressed seed oil.
Protein-
3 servings of beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu (soy), or "seed" vegetables. |
Healing Children's Attention & Behavior DisordersDr. Abram Hoffer, M.D., FRCP(C)
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| This can be corrected by giving the missing B-6 or by giving more vitamin B-3 which will force greater production of NAD. Scientifically they should be called NAD deficiency diseases. This raises the interesting speculation that anything which increases NAD concentration in the body will be therapeutic. This would mean that one might expect tryptophan to be effective as well since some of it is converted to NAD. NAD and NADH, now coming on the market in special preparations to avoid destruction in the stomach should also be effective. |
John Croft
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 With respect to brain disorders, research has indicated that a reduced concentration of vitamin B12 (and, incidentally, taurine) is a significant factor in Alzheimer's disease (Mitchell, T; Csernansky et al.).
A mineral that is very important where alcohol consumption is involved is zinc. Unfortunately, when alcohol is consumed, it is excreted in the urine more rapidly. However, oyster extract contains a healthy level of zinc that functions to synergistically enhance the activity of its natural taurine content. |
| A product from New Zealand that combines an extract derived from the Pacific oyster, and an extract from a marine alga with vitamin B12 and magnesium in a capsule has received wide acclaim for its ability to completely eliminate the "morning after" feeling that follows a drinking session. For those people who suffer hangover effects, even if they have only enjoyed a few social drinks with a meal, this product from the seas, in addition to providing relief and a clear head, performs the more important function of minimizing the more subtle adverse effects on the liver and brain cells. |
| In the absence of adequate sunlight, supplementation with vitamin D is essential.
The Sea in the Prevention of Osteoporosis
Supplementary calcium is available from a variety of sources such as proprietary formulations based on calcium carbonate, dairy products, and powdered oyster shell.
Dried and powdered oyster shell has been used for many years as a supplementary source of calcium and has the advantage over many other supplementary sources of a limited content of other minerals due to its origin in mineral-rich seawater. |
Jack Challem
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 University of Missouri, Columbia, found that supplemental vitamin B12 and folic acid could improve hand-grip strength in men and women with osteoarthritis of the hands.
The herb ginger also may be helpful. A study in Arthritis & Rheumatism found that patients taking a ginger extract benefited from moderate improvements in knee pain. The study confirmed ginger's use as an antiinflammatory agent in Chinese medicine, dating back more than twenty-five hundred years.
Two topical treatments also can help. |
| A minimum of 500 mg of vitamin C may be needed. Additional sulfur, also essential for cartilage formation, can be obtained in glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, or methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and small amounts of manganese can be obtained in a multimin-eral supplement.
What Else Might Help?
A variety of other nutrients, herbs, and habits also may reduce inflammation and pain associated with osteoarthritis. The least expensive change is to drink more water. According to Hugh D. Riordan, M.D. |
| A number of other antioxidant supplements might also be protective, including vitamin C, coenzyme Q10, and alpha-lipoic acid. Specific dosages are hard to determine because of the limited amount of research on these antioxidants and Alzheimer's disease. Extracts of the herb Ginkgo biloba also might be beneficial, though the research has been conflicting. Ginkgo serves as both an antioxidant and as a dilator of blood vessels in the brain, improving blood circulation to neurons. |
| Physicians also can be as gullible as the rest of us, swayed by the limitations of their own training, pharmaceutical company advertising, and misleading articles that question the value of diet and vitamin supplements.
Nutritionally oriented physicians have suggested that the best way to talk about nutritional therapies with a skeptical doc is to be firm but non-confrontational. Physicians don't have a lot of time to keep up with their specialty, let alone delve into another one, such as nutrition. |
Richard P. Brown, M.D., and Patricia L. Gerbarg, M.D.
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 Of 60 foreign students enrolled in Russian high schools, 20 received 660 milligrams a day of Rodaxin, a Rhodiola rosea preparation with vitamin C. Another 20 took a placebo, while the remaining 20 took nothing. The students given Rodaxin had less mental fatigue and anxiety. They also showed better work performance, coordination, and well-being.26
• Researchers tested the ability of 60 foreign students to learn Russian. Twenty of the students began taking 660 milligrams a day of Rodaxin, while another 20 took a placebo, and the rest took nothing. Those given Rodaxin showed a 60. |
Dr. Jonathan Prousky, BPHE, BSc, ND, FRSH
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 B-12) that seem to be more efficacious when used regularly. Glycine can be recommended to patients as a backup when they have an acute exacerbation of their anxiety.
GABA appears to have a similar mechanism of action to that of glycine and may also be effective for acute panic attacks. There is some evidence that GABA can be effective when taken daily for chronic anxiety.
The serotonin precursors (L-tryptophan and 5-HTP) may also benefit patients suffering from anxiety disorders. These amino acids are not associated with any significant side effects. |
Stephen Fried
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 He eventually started using vitamin A on the skin instead. It didn't work. So he experimented with its active metabolite, retinoic acid. Reti-noic acid did work, but not for the reason Kligman thought it would. He initially believed that vitamin A acid would eliminate pimples by slowing the normal process by which skin cells slough off. He later came to think that it instead normalizes that process and prevents cells from coming together to make a pimple in the first place.
Kligman realized his future wasn't in treating patients full time. |
Frank A. Oski, M.D.
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 The removal of the fat also removes the vitamin A. Some products are therefore fortified with vitamin A. Check the label to be sure.
Powdered milk is marketed as powdered whole milk or powdered skim milk. Both have had most of their water removed. The powdered skim milk has also had most of the fat removed before it is dried. Powdered milk of either variety is much less expensive than the fluid form from which it is derived. In general, powdered milk costs only one-third as much as whole milk. |
William Evans, Ph.D., and Irwin H. Rosenberg, M.D., with Jacqueline Thompson
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 We've found a provocative link between vitamin C and HDL-cholesterol levels. However, we need to examine the relationship further before we even arrive at any preliminary hypothesis.
¦ We didn't include the decline in older people's perceptual and neurological abilities in our list of Biomarkers because we don't have enough solid evidence yet on how we can intercede to halt the slide. However, this is one instance where a dietary/ nutritional intervention may eventually turn out to be beneficial.
We know that the amounts of vitamins B6 and B12 in the body decline with age. |
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