Vitamin Therapy or Micronutrient Therapy - NewsGrabs 18 May 2008

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For his chemical work, Pauling received a Nobel Prize. For his political activism, another Nobel Prize, for Peace. But when he began to stump for the desirability of large doses of vitamin C in particular, as well as the benefits of other supplements, he was labeled a crackpot who had lapsed into senility. Yet his argument for such “orthomolecular” practice was eminently reasonable: he pointed out that the “minimum daily requirements” established for vitamins and minerals were based only on clinical knowledge of the minimum amounts needed to avoid illness; it seems very likely that the optimum amounts for healthy functioning would be greater than those minimum amounts. As to vitamin C, he pointed out that our vegetarian primate cousins get far more of it from their diet than we do.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? VITAMIN THERAPY BAD, MICRONUTRIENT THERAPY GOOD
“Micronutrients”, then, offer benefits to Africans suffering from TB and also “HIV-positive”. Still, castigation and calumny are heaped upon Dr. Matthias Rath http://www.dr-rath-foundation.org.za/ for his research on the role of nutrition in various illnesses, including HIV/AIDS, and his advocacy of a variety of supplements. Rath had worked with Linus Pauling and had been Director of Cardiovascular Research at the Linus Pauling Institute in Palo Alto (CA). Rath is now vilified just as Pauling was; and just as with Pauling, some of Rath’s insights are likely to be accepted belatedly by consensus medicine.

Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, & Toxins
Here we have an absolute abundance of peer reviewed literature that no drug can match - and the looney bin faction of the medical fraternity continue to ask for evidence on the efficacy let alone use it? All researchers, MDs, health professionals and/or anyone interested in health worth their salt must read this book. It will allay any doubts once and for all on the value of Vitamin C and for that matter on Orthomolecular solutions to disease!

Vitamin/mineral deficiency stunts nearly half of India's children
Nearly half of the children under five years of age in India have stunted growth mainly because of zinc, iron and vitamin A deficiency, according to a new study.

A major fallout of the under-nutrition till two years of age is that the children develop lifestyle diseases like diabetes and heart problems.

Juice 'prevents clogged arteries'
Juices made from apples or purple grapes - and the fruit themselves - protect against developing clogged arteries, a study suggests. The researchers say their findings suggest the amount of phenols contained in a food have a direct effect on its antioxidant properties. Other antioxidant compounds in the fruits, such as vitamin C and carotenoids, could also contribute to their effects, they added.

That beats trying to get your cholesterol down to prevent the clogging of arteries, especially if we look at all the side effects of these "medications".

Nutrients as Environmental Health Hazard - California Agency has it wrong
The meeting, styled as a workshop, discussed a proposed regulatory concept being floated by OEHHA that would essentially exclude any listed "beneficial nutrients" from the definition of carcinogen and reproductive toxin if the person causing the exposure can show that it is indeed a beneficial nutrient and if the levels of such a nutrient in the food do not exceed the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for the nutrient (or if no such level had been set, then no more than 20% of the nutrient's Tolerable Upper Intake Level)./1 Anything above such levels for listed nutrients would have to be labeled as cancer causing and/or a reproductive toxin.

The logic seems impeccable. If you get more of a nutrient than you absolutely need to prevent a deficiency, you better stay away from it because it may "cause cancer". Congratulations - you just found the cause of cancers and a way to prevent them in the future. Great work! Way to go.

Cotton Seed: Deadly gift from Monsanto to India
The new generation cotton seeds, called ‘Research Hybrid seeds'; are all male sterile. In short, they are terminator seeds; and proven by the high-level government committee in 1993. I have the report of it. The breeder then published an article advising farmers that they should not use the F2 seeds of such hybrids, as the plants coming out of them are 100 percent sterile.

Terminator Seeds are "Grossly Immoral" say Theologians
Biotechnology companies claim that 'Terminator' seeds would be used to produce GM crops and trees which are engineered to stop GM traits spreading to other plants by inserting a 'suicide' gene. But Father Sean McDonagh, writing in the new publication, says: "There is simply no such thing as a safe and acceptable form of Terminator".

Manufacturing a Food Crisis
The Mexican food crisis cannot be fully understood without taking into account the fact that in the years preceding the tortilla crisis, the homeland of corn had been converted to a corn-importing economy by "free market" policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and Washington. The process began with the early 1980s debt crisis.

That the global food crisis stems mainly from free-market restructuring of agriculture is clearer in the case of rice. Unlike corn, less than 10 percent of world rice production is traded. Moreover, there has been no diversion of rice from food consumption to biofuels. Yet this year alone, prices nearly tripled...

Video: all jacked up - hungry for the truth?
Cori Brackett, producer of "Sweet Misery", a video about the dangers of asparatame, says about this new video:

"A devastatingly brilliant film investigating the food habits of today's teenagers, the effect of our corporate-focused and soulless food industry upon everything from school lunch programs to the training of the modern taste bud and the devastation left in its wake. This is absolutely mandatory viewing for any parent and teenager. Eat a meal at the family dining table (with the television off!), do the dishes and then gather the family together to watch this modern, fashionable tale of loss and hope of rebirth."

Action: FDA Reopens Public Comments on Amalgams
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reopened public comments on a rule first proposed in 2002 that would place precapsulated amalgam in Class II, with "special controls."

Bottom line: Amalgam should be placed in Class III, and the manufacturers forced to prove that it is safe, not in Class II, where old assumptions of its safety can live on. Here are some talking points that you can use in your letter...

Action: Support U.S. House Resolution that deems FDA’s Policy on Estriol "Not in the Public Interest"
The resolution also calls on the need of FDA to “respect the physician-patient relationship” and recognizes that doctors, not the FDA, are in the best position to “determine which medications are appropriate for their patients.” It also points out that the “FDA has acknowledged that it is unaware of any adverse events” associated with the use of estriol over the past three decades.

Action: Unique opportunity: comment to the FDA about MSG (glutamate)
There is currently a Citizens Petition about removing MSG from the list of safe food additives (the GRAS list). The petition is open for worldwide comments until mid
June 2008. The petition itself (submitted by John Erb) is an excellent summary of the dangers and toxicity of MSG.

Petition Demanding Transparency of Talcum Powder and Ovarian Cancer Link
This Petition ... requests the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to require that all cosmetic talc products bear labels with a warning such as, "Frequent application of talcum powder in the female genital area substantially increases the risk of ovarian cancer."

Johnson&Johnson Loses To Red Cross Over Symbol Dispute
A federal judge ruled today that the American Red Cross can continue using its iconic symbol, 10 months after J&J filed a lawsuit demanding the relief agency halt its use of the red cross emblem on products it sells to the public and licensed to others. Amid a flurry of negative publicity, J&J claimed the Red Cross violated its trademark and was barred from using the symbol for commercial purposes.

Action: Canada: Stop Bill C-51
The Canadian government, afraid of the public reaction once people find out what they are trying to pull, is currently fast-tracking a Bill which threatens to strip you of your rights to access a wide range of natural health products. If it passes, and y