I’ve been involved in the wellness business for over 16 years. Granted, I’m no ‘herbal gerbil’ or a ‘mega doser’, but I know that there are a lot of vitamins and minerals that are just impossible to get from a regular diet. I tend to agree that we’re not farming in the same fashion that we once were and the soil that we are farming on is not of the same quality…hence, a different quality crop.

I try and keep up with new news about vitamins. Since the big drug companies aren’t making scads of money in that industry, they aren’t funding much research. I was surprised to see in my recent issue of the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC), a publication for critical care nurses, and article entitled, “The Importance of Vitamin C in the Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation” (Keller/Lemberg). I just had to jump right in!

The article speaks of the high instance of a particular heart condition, an odd and potentially deadly rhythm and the circumstances that can lead to it. The research cited shows an exciting (and I say exciting because I’M EXCITED about it) correlation between adding larger than average doses of vitamin C to the diets of heart patients when they are at greatest risk and the significant decrease in the instance of this rhythm, atrial fibrillation.

I’m reminded of several things here. First, eons ago when I was learning about nutrition I recall the name Linus Pauling and his work with vitamin C. Branded as a quack at first, these guys always seem to come around years later and are the unsung genius’ of their time.

Dr. Pauling proposed that there were great benefits to larger doses of vitamin C and was actively working to get the minimum requirements raised. I think currently its 60MG/day. Research from him directly and subsequently from his institute showed benefits with upwards of 6000-10000MG/day. Now that would be some big stinkin’ pills…and lots of them!

We’re not so much worried about scurvy like we once were but the degree that vitamin C affects other conditions is tremendous. The healing process, collagen production, improvement in the health of diabetics, and this information about AFib and atrial remodeling (believe me, you don’t want that!) is pretty exciting.

You don’t have to go far to find detractors though. Right here in my hospital, physicians turning up their noses at the idea that vitamins really play a role in better health. Don’t these guys ever read?

Then there’s that red herring they try and throw up there…overdosing. “You know you can get too much and well, people have died from that” Oh really? I always wondered about that.

A buddy of mine was joking that he had read that we are more likely to die from swallowing a ball point pen than we are from too many vitamins. I laughed but looked deeper. I thought what he said at first was just an exaggeration but guess what? He’s right.

I gathered information on causes of death recorded through the Center for Disease Control. I went back 4-5 years just to see if I could see a pattern. The numbers were ridiculous…ridiculously LOW! Over the last several years you can count on two hands the numbers of deaths in some way related to nutritional supplementation.

Ball point pens outstripped them by a long shot! Realizing that the numbers could have been even lower made it even more odd. If a guy commits suicide with a gun and he’s got a lot of vitamin E in his system…that goes in the vitamin column. So the actual numbers could be even lower.

All that to say this. It’s great to see empirical evidence showing the effects of nutritional therapy on a major serious medical condition highlighted in a reputable medical journal. I knew it. Many of you knew it. It’s like a big, “See, I told you so!”

I’ll continue watching what I eat and taking my supplements because it’s the right thing to do. I’ll continue encouraging others to do the same and not turning their noses up when something new is uncovered in the nutritional arena. I’ll also continue finding every opportunity to rub that docs nose in it every chance I get too! Ha Ha!

Ah, he’s a great friend and we have a great time working together. Hey buddy, you gonna eat that orange?

 

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Technorati Tags: afib, atrial fibrillation, atrial remodelling, linus pauling, nutritional supplements, vitamin c

Alot of people do not realize that soda is almost as bad for your body as cigarettes. I am not going to sit here and preach about your body being your temple. You should of realized that by now or you would not be reading my blog. Soda - Coka Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Sprite - is poison to your body. It puts the natural chemical balance of your body in disarray. You may as well pour straight acid down your mouth. The biggest problem with soda is that in order for your body to digest it, it has to neutralize all of that acid. Now soda is a very acidic “food”. In order for your body to process it, you have to add more alkalinity to it. Your body has a natural source of alkaline reserves.. in your bones. Yes, the calcium in your bones is used to neutralize the acid in soda. So if you are an avid soda drinker, you are constantly taking precious calcium from your bones. This can cause osteoporosis (mineral imbalance) in women and in some cases men.

Your body likes to keep your pH value at around 7. Soda has a pH value of 2 (0.14 being pure acid). By the way, pH stands for potential Hydrogen, in case you were wondering. That may not seem like a big difference but every number between 2 and 7 is 10 times the previous number. So a difference between 2 and 7 is 100,000 times, not just 5. A body pH value is suppose to be between the 7.34 and 7.45 range. Why is maintaining this pH balance so important? For starters, bacteria THRIVE in an acidic environment. The more acidic your system, the more prone you become to sickness and illness. You having a low pH balance can cause modern day ailments like migraines, insomnia, constipation, stomach ulers, the cold, the flu, arthritis, and in extreme cases cancer. I know you are sitting there saying “Woah, I have a lot of those symptoms” and I will say “Do you drink alot of soda or eat spicy foods?”. If you answer yes, that is your problem.

It takes 32 glasses of ALKALINE water (not just regular water but distilled) to help neutralize the alkalinity in just ONE 12oz soda? You are sitting there thinking, so what, I like soda. Well your body does not and this whole blog is about investing in YOURself. Drinking soda is like spending your daily health on credit. One day you are going to have to start paying that bill. One way to help keep your body alkaline is to first of all, stop drinking soda. Another is to take calcium supplements, I actually take coral calcium pills and it has actually help cure me of my GURD or acid reflux. Any coral calcium supplement will work as long as its natural and not over processed. Some companies will over process the calcium trying to clean it and stretch it out further into more doses. You need to stay away from those companies.

Now you may have heard the the negative reviews of coral calcium. I actually suggested coral calcium because its naturally ionized for easy absorption into the body. Actually you can supplement directly with calcium. You can drink more milk, eat yogurt, cheese, etc. Pretty much any dairy product and with yogurt, you get the benefit of “good” bacteria digestion. If you are lactose intolerant (and part of this problem is caused by an out of whack balance of your natural chemicals), obtain pre-treated milk. It has almost no lactose at all. A lot of people out there that have lactose intolerance can start drinking milk again once they get there chemical balance back on track. This will not cure everyone with lactose problems as some bodies just refuse to process it but for you heavy soda drinkers out there, this may be the answer.

If you are still looking for calcium in a pill, make sure you get the ones heavy in “elemental calcium”. Elemental Calcium is the amount of calcium in a supplement that the body will actually absorb. If the calcium supplement you have found interest in does not have this listed, you can figure this out on your own by reading the label. Every 10% of Daily Value listed is 100mg of elemental calcium. You also need to take note of the serving size. Some supplements will try and trick you by placing a high percentage of Daily Value but make you take 4 pills to achieve that dosage. Stay away from this type of marketing gimmick to try and make you buy more pills to fill the supplement companies pockets. Stay away from pills that have unrefined substances like bone meal or oyster shell. It is possible these type of calcium pills will have toxic properties and you and YOUR body does not want that.

As with all supplements, make sure the product you pick has a USP (U.S. Pharmacopia) label. If you are out of the USA reading this, try to get one that is approved in your country (some countries do not even worry with supplements).

Joseph Geyer

 

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Technorati Tags: calcium, coral calcium, GURD, osteoporosis, pH balance, soda