| Critics note that all of the people in this study refused aggressive chemotherapy and speculate that that had as much to do with their increased longevity as the vitamin C.
Dealing with Pain
• Stephen Levine's pain meditations are incredibly helpful.4
• Many writers note that those who reduce their pain, even if they must use large doses of pain-killers, have a better prognosis than those who stoically bear it. Pain-killing drugs are often dramatically less effective for women; don't be afraid to ask for more. |
| Important Constituents: Antioxidants, carotenes, essential oils, flavonoids, phytoestrogens, vitamin C complex. Preparation & Daily Dose: Used 3 weeks a month for 2-3 months. Dried peel: 3-9 grams.
Fresh peel preserved in honey: 2 ounces/60 grams. Citrus Peel Honey: Juice several organic lemons or oranges. Drink juice.With a sharp knife, slice the peels, with clinging pulp, into slivers. Cook with an equal amount of honey on medium heat, stirring frequently, until it boils and billows up. Quickly remove from heat; pour into clean jars. Cover; cool; store in refrigerator. Toxicity: None known. |
| In another, blood samples taken from women 10-15 years before they developed breast cancer showed significantly lower levels of carotenes and vitamin E than blood from women who remained cancer-free. Best Sources: Dandelion leaves, violet leaves, nettles, dark leafy greens, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, watermelon, pink grapefruit, papaya, and apricots.
Important: When foods rich in carotenes are cooked, they are up to five times more active at inhibiting cancer than if eaten juiced or raw. |
Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D.
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| No medications were used—just a diet low in refined sugar and processed carbohydrates, supplemented with a properly formulated vitamin B Complex concentrate, and added brewer's yeast and desiccated liver. And I suspect that the good physician, if ever he does think about this patient, still has reservations about the application of nutrition in gynecological problems. I should add that this response—the disappearance of uterine fibroid tumors— though it is mentioned in European medical articles on nutrition, is rare in my experience, even though in cystic mastitis it is quite frequent. |
Dr. Cass Ingram
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 The positive effects of vitamin C are greatly aided by bioflavonoids. Yet, protein deficiency is the most common nutritional factor accounting for swelling in the extremities. This is because proteins are required for the maintenance of normal fluid balance in the body. This is why individuals with this condition often suffer from low blood levels of albumin and globulin, two important fluid regulating proteins. These proteins are produced by the liver. Thus, liver disease may be associated with persistent swelling of the lower extremities. |
Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D.
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| This is also true of the anti-gray-hair vitamin, PABA.
Selenium, appearing in nature as a gray crystal or a red powder, is as quixotic and contradictory a nutrient as any in the long list of our requirements, for in very small amounts it has been credited with preventing human cancer and in larger amounts it causes cancer in rats—though such an action in human beings has yet to be verified. |
Dr Bernard Jenson and Mark Anderson
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 Lee's assertions about vitamin C appear well-founded according to this United States Government treatise. |
| Thus, if you're eating margarine; if you're eating oleo products, hydrogenated oil products; if you're cooking the life out of your oils; you're not getting vitamin F factors. Then, even if you have calcium, you're not going to put it into the skin to protect the skin against solar radiation.
CAN YOU TAKE THE HEAT?
We've cut this hole in the immune system of the atmosphere (the ozone layer); we're increasingly exposed to higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) rays, which means that if you're cooking at 350°F, maybe you'll get by with stainless steel. |
| What you were deficient in was the vitamin F that would transport calcium from the blood into the tissue.
NOT ALL FORMS OF CALCIUM ARE ASSIMILATED
A first-year student in biochemistry should know that you cannot absorb calcium in an alkaline medium; it turns hard, crystallizes, and can't get through the gut wall. You need calcium in soft, organic form. The acid of the stomach takes calcium and breaks it down by washing it in hydrochloric acid (HC1). Anything washed in HC1 tends to become soft. |
| Animals and humans do not produce antibiotics, nor do they need to, if their endocrine, immune, and nervous systems have the mineral, vitamin, protein, and enzyme substances found in foods grown on mineral-rich soil. Armed with these tools, the Earth's highest forms of life—humans and animals—are well equipped to fight the Earth's lowest forms of life—bacteria and virus. Let's learn how that works, strengthen it, and use it effectively. It has kept human beings surviving for thousands of centuries. Nature's track record for being right should inspire our trust. |
| However, when the ascorbic acid portion of the vitamin C complex is found within nature, it functions as an antioxidant preserving the C complex, preventing oxidation. By analogy, I recently heard a lecturer complain that his country of Nepal does not want tourists, but his country does need tourists' money. The tourists transport the money. As a result, he said, there are three main religions in Nepal now: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Tourism. The tourist is the protective carrier of the money; he comes into the country and drops off the money. |
Neal Barnard, M.D.
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 OTHER TREATMENTS
In chapter 11, we saw how vitamin B6 can help stop the nerve pains of carpal tunnel syndrome. It also helps in diabetes. It can reduce pain, although it may not improve the function of the nerves.10 Like medications, B6 should be viewed as an adjunct to a low-fat, vegetarian diet and exercise for those who need extra help, not as a replacement for them. The usual dose is 50-150 mg per day, and it typically takes several weeks to see benefits. Higher doses should be avoided, as they may actually cause nerve problems. |
| Some care providers have also suggested the use of vitamin E, 450 IU per day, although the evidence that it helps is only modest at present.3,4
MILLET, YAMS, AND CYANATE
In the early 1970s, researchers discovered that a simple molecule, called cyanate, could prevent cells from sickling. Cyanate attaches to the hemoglobin molecule and holds on for the life of the cell. It does not cure the disease, but a report in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that it could cut the frequency of crises from an average of 3.6 per year to 2.1, a drop of 40 percent. |
Carol Krucoff and Mitchell Krucoff, M.D.
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 Seniors in particular may benefit from food sources of vitamin D, such as fortified milk or dietary supplements.
Hormones
Estrogen has a powerful stimulating effect on the bone-making cells (osteoblasts). When a woman's estrogen levels drop after menopause (either natural or surgical), bone formation slows down. If a young woman stops menstruating—sometimes as the result of an eating disorder—the associated lack of estrogen can prevent her bones from growing properly.
Exercise
Physical impact and weight-bearing exercise stimulates bone formation. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 A person with heart disease may want to use the fodowing vitamin, mineral and herbal regimen to help control or reverse the condition, says David Edelberg, M.D. |
Michael Castleman
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 A Shopper's Guide to the Supplement Aisle
The debate over recommended vitamin and mineral intakes will likely continue, as ongoing research turns up more information about the relationship between supplementation and disease prevention. But at least many nutrition experts agree on some basic guidelines for buying and using supplements. Here's their advice.
First and foremost, eat healthfully. They're called supplements for a reason: They're intended to support a nutritious diet, not replace it. They can't undo the damage caused by poor eating habits. |
| But even vegans can get as much vitamin B12 as they need through supfruits and vegetables. Still, those who ate the most produce had the lowest incidence of cancer.
If you decide to go organic, look for fruits and vegetables that carry an "organic" seal. Currently, several regional monitoring organizations grant these seals. The federal government is in the process of developing nationwide guidelines for their use.
If you opt to stick with conventionally grown produce, you can still minimize pesticide exposure. Just follow this advice. |
| At breakfast, for example, have a glass of orange juice (which is rich in vitamin C) with a bowl of hot wheat cereal (which supplies 9 milligrams of nonheme iron, or 50 percent of the Daily Value).
Vegetarians can't get enough calcium. Dietitians recommend that Americans consume 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day. You can get all the calcium you need from low-fat or nonfat milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy
Should You Buy Organic Produce?
Many environmentally conscious Americans are nervous about pesticide residues on their fruits and vegetables—and with some reason. |
| One pint of fresh carrot juice contains 20,000 international units of beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A.
Juicers are sold in department stores and some health food stores. You can also purchase them through mail order, from companies that advertise in vegetarian publications. dietitian in Charlotte, North Carolina. "If you eat a reasonable variety of foods, you won't have a problem getting enough protein. In fact, as long as you consume enough calories to meet your energy needs, you'd have to work hard to devise a protein-deficient diet."
Vegetarians can't get enough iron. |
Bob LeBow, M.D., M.P.H.
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 In this brand of cooperation, drug companies conspire to keep prices high, as in the vitamin scandal, for which they paid a fine of almost a billion dollars. Why couldn't cooperation involve some kind of joint efforts to produce drugs that are really needed, not look-alike drugs, such as a tenth new ACE inhibitor to treat high blood pressure?
Prevention vs. Cure
Americans are great at coming up with quick fixes. A free clinic to help the uninsured or a bake sale to finance an operation. |
Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D.
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| Such results illustrate the double protection yielded by a generous supply of vitamin B Complex—both against the carcinogenic effect of estrogen and that of food additives. They also point to a third possibility. Cancer-producing factors may interact with each other, with food, with pollutants in the environment, or with chemical substances normal to human metabolism. Such cross-reactions may be beneficial, reducing the cancer-causing potential, or they may increase the danger. No one knows, for we rarely study anything more than the isolated action of a single substance. |
Carol Krucoff and Mitchell Krucoff, M.D.
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| The body uses the soft, waxy substance to build some hormones, cell membranes, brain and nerve tissues, and vitamin D. Cholesterol also aids digestion as an ingredient in the bile acids. Actually, it's only when excess cholesterol is deposited like "sludge" in the blood vessels that this basic body building block becomes a mediator of disease.
Cholesterol comes from two sources: your body and the foods you eat. Blood cholesterol is made in the liver, and most people produce enough cholesterol naturally to meet their needs. |
Michael Castleman
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| In effect, the National Cancer Institute is recommending a vitamin C intake that's eight times higher than what the Food and Nutrition Board considers the maximum safe amount."
Around the time all this was going on, the Food and Drug Administration released its own nutritional guidelines. Called Daily Values, they're essentially averages of the RDAs for each nutrient. The Daily Values are what appear on food and supplement labels.
After considering the opinions of Dr. |
Neal Barnard, M.D.
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| She also began a course of vitamin and mineral supplements to strengthen her immune system, along with a regular exercise regimen. Her pain and fatigue gradually diminished and eventually disappeared completely, and her energy came back better than ever.
The test that identified her sensitivities was developed by Russell M. Jaffe, a former National Institutes of Health researcher who found that, for many patients, sensitivities to foods and environmental chemicals play a major role in fibromyalgia. |
| The amount of B6 that you need may depend on how much protein is in your diet, since this vitamin is used to metabolize protein. The typical European or North American diet is high in protein from meats, dairy products, and eggs, so it can tend to deplete the amount of B6 you have available. Plant products have adequate protein and help you avoid the excesses.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, prostaglandins are involved in muscle contractions and menstrual pain. |
| Pain clinics sometimes use vitamin I>6, which is also used in carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetic pains, and other conditions. The usual dose is 100-150 mg of P>6 per day.48
A broader role for food is suggested by the fact that some cases of TMJ disorder are manifestations of rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, although nailing down specific food triggers or using essential fatty acids as treatments awaits future research.
Some investigators hypothesize that estrogens may play a role. |
| If you wish, you can take 1,000-2,000 mg per day of elemental calcium, with 200 IU (5 meg) of vitamin D. Regular physical activity will keep calcium in your bones where it belongs.
IF A MIGRAINE HITS
If a migraine occurs, try the following:
• Although caffeine can be a migraine trigger for some people, for others it works as a treatment. The dose is one to two cups of strong coffee at the first sign of an attack.
• Have a starchy food, such as rice, potatoes, crackers, or bread. |
Carlton Fredericks, Ph.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| In the next chapter, this nutritionist will attempt to guide you into an understanding of the vitamin B Complex, protein, selenium, and iodine as armor against breast cancer, and excessive intake of sugar as a predisposing factor. Which makes the upcoming chapter the most important in the book. Permit me to illustrate its importance by means of a story:
The Spanish say God does not subtract from a man's appointed life-span the hours he spends in fishing. |
| Actually, intake of this vitamin is at least as important to the thyroid as is iodine and perhaps more so, because the effects of iodine deficiency are, at least to a point, reversible, but thiamin deficiency can cause irreversible drops in the efficiency of the gland. And, by way of illustrating the interaction of dietary factors, excessive sugar intake can cause thiamin deficiency. Other dietary errors can be involved, too. Some foods contain antithyroid factors and, if taken in excess, can cause trouble. These include cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kale. |
Carol Krucoff and Mitchell Krucoff, M.D.
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| Exercise should be made an honorary vitamin," asserts Shape Up American's chairman, C. Everett Koop, who says if he had been able to do one more thing during his tenure as U.S. surgeon general, it would have been to launch a campaign against obesity. "If you don't have it daily, then you're deficient."
EXERCISE 1%
The general rule of thumb for weight loss is to create a 300- to 500-calorie deficit each day. This means consuming 300 to 500 fewer calories than you expend through a combination of eating less and exercising more. (See "Calories Burned" chart, page 23. |
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