I have been discussing supplements with some of my Religion Forum friends.
The discussion arose after revelation of a recent study in San Francisco of Saw Palmetto indicating it may not be as efficacious a once thought in the prevention of prostate problems in men.
It was suggested that what separates the pharmaceutical industry from the health and wellness supplement industry is double blind studies. The implication is that drugs are better because they have been tested on humans for a few years in some sort of isolation and that the results from te tests are unbiased.
Don't get me wrong, I want drugs tested in double-blind studies.
However, double blind studies cannot anticipate the most serious issues with drugs: interactions.
They are appropriate for new products. Most supplements, if
they are of quality grade and not faddish, are nothing new. They are
based on decades of experience and previously examined scientific and
nurtitional knowledge. They are not artificial for the most part and
are also for the most part, not dangerous and seldom addictive.
In other words, nutraceuticals are products put together as naturally as possible from "products" that are taken from the earth and placed on earth by God for our food and health.
Granted, there are poorly made supplements, and kooky products with
kooky claims. There are extracts being offered when whole foods are
available. And there are vitamin products that are mostly filler.
Beyond that, there are products that are synthetically produced with
poor results.
We do know some things from research - at least I think we do.This is a
layman's view, but I am my own primary care giver and these I assume.
As my own primary care giver, I am committed to educating myself. Here are some sources:
* Dr, Ray Strand - What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You.
What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You
By Ray D. Strand, M.D. / Thomas Nelson / W
After seeing tremendous results in patients receiving nutritional therapy, Dr. Strand started researching this controversial branch of medicine. His documented findings are dramatic. Discover what the evidence indicates about the real root cause of cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. Understand your body's silent enemy---oxidative stress---and learn to turbo-charge your natural healing power! 256 pages, hardcover from Nelson.
* Better Life Institute
1. The body needs nutrients to function properly.
2. Certain nutrients have certain effects. Some of the chemical
compounds have been identified; some haven't. Some plants and herbs
contain these nutrients and we have known that all along. Others exist
in nature and we are not aware of them yet. As long as we can keep from
destroying every habitat we do not feel is useful to our economy on
this planet, we will keep finding them.
3. Not all of those nutrients are found in processed foods at the
levels they used to be found because processing and time deplete the
nutrient levels in food and failure to practice responsible agriculture
has depleted soils of important minerals. In the healthiest of all
possible worlds, we would all have our own gardens and practice crop
rotation and natural farming without perticides.
4. It is possible to freeze dry plant products from organic farms
within 45 minutes of harvest and capture the nutrients that are in
danger of being depleted.
5. Those freeze dried plant products can be compressed under
pharmaceutical grade conditions into the size of what we call
"supplements."
6. We can swallow the product and get nutrients that promote optimal
health by engaging the body's natural ability to heal itself. When we
do this, we are eating food. It should not be a substitute for other
kinds of food.
7. We have to beware that we trust the producer because what is says on
the bottle may not be in the bottle. There are some farms and factories
that are open for tours and scrutiny and submit themselves to thrid
party evaluation of the quality of their products.
There will be quacks. But not everyone is a quack. Of course we should
be careful, but we also need to be careful about drugs. Seldom is one
practioner on top of all a patient's medications who actually
understands the interactions of the chemicals. No one understands them
all.
The national epidemic of diabtes among young people is related to
eating habits and lack of activity. I don't want to see all of the kids
on insulin and other medications for the rest of their lives. No one
can predict the long term effects over decades of these drugs on their
kidney and liver functions. And I don't want someone who is in
immediate danger and needs medications not to have them.
We need to make ourselves aware and take charge of our own health
issues. We may not have all the tools, but ultimately, we do have to
make all the decisions.
My basic assumptuion is that God is smarter than us about these things and has provided most of what we need for good health in nature.
>>Or, he may linger, neither getting better nor getting worse. In which
case the remedy's enthusiast explain that as in the previous case.
Either didn't take enough, or didn't begin soon enough.<<
I know - we all have blinders - but I think I am talking mainly of
prevention and wellness and my friend was talking about big-time disease
cures in a short period of time. Prevention is where it is Happening. Maximum health - no matter where we are in our current state of health.
I' may have to confess that I had a cheese sandwich for lunch and fried
eggs with my coffee for breakfast if you confess to taking a
multi-vitamin with your tomato juice <s>.
Health and Wellness Books
Trust Me
I heard our President ask us to trust him again today. It caused me some concern - especially for a guy who does not like to polarize himself or others politically. I think most of the distinctions we draw are unnecessarily divisive and intrinsically false.
But he said, "Trust me," and it struck me as troubling. It was nothing new. He asks that of us a lot. But he really is asking a lot and needs to know that.
This time it was about foreign control over East Coast ports. President Carter agrees that we should trust him and the process. Most governors and congressional representatives of both major parties seem to disagree.
So the appeal has gone out to the American people to step up to the plate again and trust their government. After all, the government always has our best interests at heart and the government is always honest - even with itself - and never mistaken, not to mention all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful.
It seems that "trust me" is the one thing Americans should not be asked to do by a democratically elected government. The founders assumed that we would elect good leaders who had a strong moral compass. Yet, they understood the ambiguity of power and the need for checks and balances. So they built them into the system.
I like the President and respect him as a man of integrity and good intentions. I tend to admire presidents and always hold them in high esteem for the sake of their office, responsibility, and sacrifice. The President is a good man. I agree with him on quite a few issues including his stand against abortion and for faith based initiatives. I think less government is better ... wait a minute ... Is that one of his positions?
It seems that he is gravitating away from the traditional conservatism of less government toward more government as long as it is in the interest of "national defense."
He is not a state's rights advocate as he federalizes more and more crimes that ought to be handled locally or as he sets national standards for everything from education to drug policy. State's rights used to be a conservative position.
He is advocating less government oversight and more presidential power to be trusted to take care of everything.
The problem is with precedent. You can never get the horse back in the barn very well. Faces change; leaders come and go. Give your government an inch and it will take a mile of trust. Connecting patriotism with this blind trust is disturbing, but even now, as I question the politically correct assumptions of the day, I fear being labeled unpatriotic,
Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death."
The current trend is toward, "Liberty is worthless if we are dead."
I thought those who were willing to lay down their lives for liberty were the people we called patriots. Is the Patriot Act really the Anti-Patriot Act? I would not want to apply that label or any label to those who disagree with me.
Conservatives of yesteryear touted, "Better dead than Red." Where did that go?
"Trust me," he says with all sincerity and the best of intentions. And he has done a lot to help us and there are many conveniences and "freedoms" that we should be willing to voluntarily and temporarily relinquish - but to trash the Constitution and Bill of Rights for safety? Is that what America is all about?
I don't think the President really understands what he is asking. If I thought he did, I'd have to reevaluate my high opinion of his morality and ethics. But I really think he is caught up in the responsibility of the moment to protect us - so caught up that he cannot and will not rein himself in. It is the checks and balance system that must do so. His job at the moment is to push the envelope as much as possible.
If we just sit back and trust our government, we are relinquishing our authority and responsibility as citizens. We are the line drawers and the line holders. We are the conscience of the nation. We are buck stoppers and fire starters. We are the citizens and we need to be able to look over the shoulders of our government.
Apparently, the President does not trust the judges on his own secret courts because he refuses to follow procedure that enables him to get a warrant after the fact. I can't imagine any other reason for not complying with an already accommodating set of rules in the war on terrorism.
If he cannot trust the government (Yes there are three branches), why should he ask us to do it.
Again, I stress that this man is a hard-working, morally sound, ethically driven, good natured, kind leader who is my brother in Christ. I doubt none of that. I would trust him with my wallet ,or my wife, but I cannot give him the rope to hang himself with unrestrained absolute power. It is not right and it is not American. It is certainly not patriotic in my understanding of the term.
I am praying for the President of the United States and our troops. May the heroes return safely to their families and may freedom ring throughout the earth. God bless America.
Just my opinion.
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