Common Sense Living

Posts Tagged ‘supplements’

Image by Saquan Stimpson/monstershaq2000 via Flickr

I subscribe to a lot of health ezines and newsletters, so I get a lot of these “phenomenal new discovery” ads touting the newest latest discovery. Except usually they’re not.

Like this morning I got one that says researchers have just discovered that there is a link between MS and a Vitamin D deficiency. That’s not new. If you own High Energy Eating, you already know that. It’s been in my book for like 5 years.

I’m so glad that I know these facts because otherwise I would probably be tempted to fall for every one of these hyped up supplement sales letters. I mean, they are written by top copywriters, and they sure make you want to buy every single thing that comes out to protect your health, don’t they? I wish I could write sales copy like that – but I digress….

With all this commercialism and hype in the food, drug, and supplement industries, you really need to be informed. But with all the information, mis-information, and slaes hype – it’s really hard to keep up, let alone figure out the truth.

I’ve made it easy for you at Rebel With a Fork. You could immediately look up Vitamin D, find out what it does, where you get it naturally, and whether you may need to supplement.

Do you need to supplement with Selenium?

Should you eat soy burgers instead of real burgers?

Are eggs good for you or bad for you?

Whenever you have a question like this, you can look it up at Rebel With a Fork. or you can do a search on the Internet. Don’t ever take the information at face value and go buying a lot of stuff you may not need. There’s a lot of things that you can prevent, or improve just by changing your diet. And sometimes a supplement is needed.

The first thing you need to remember is that everyone is out to empty your wallet. Sales materials are written to make you want their product so bad that you’ll whip out your credit card. Even though the sales letter sounds like they have your best interest at heart, most of the time they don’t.

Like the corn syrup thing. Companies are pulling it out of products and looking like great saviors for being so concerned about your health. Bull. The price of corn products went up.

Always look things up before you buy into the hype.

Say you get an email touting the wonders of a newly discovered mineral. It seems we get new ‘discoveries’ every day.

Today I received an ad for a mineral discovery that even the F.D.A. says may help to prevent cancer.

Here’s part of the sensationalism –

“One natural ingredient has cleared every hurdle with its astounding results and now this revolutionary mineral is not only available to you, but it’s available like never before – coupled with one of the most powerful immune discoveries of the 21st century.

If you’re “in the know” you may already know that selenium is helping us turn the corner in cancer protection.

Your body only needs a small amount, but it’s extremely important…”

If you’re like most people, you’ll head right over to your vitamin bottle to see if it contains selenium. Whew, it’s in there. But you’re left wondering, is it enough? You’re tempted to click that link and buy. After all, if it helps prevent cancer….

Whoa, hold your horses! According to Department of Health and Human Services – Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry –

“People may be exposed to low levels of selenium daily through food and water. Selenium is a trace mineral needed in small amounts for good health, but exposure to much higher levels can result in neurological effects and brittle hair and deformed nails. Occupational inhalation exposure to selenium vapors may cause dizziness, fatigue, irritation of mucous membranes, and respiratory effects.”

Do not exceed 200 micrograms a day.

Isn’t that frustrating?

So I head over to my handy nutrient guide inside High Energy Eating,  and you’ll find that Selenium is a mood-elevator. Your brain functions better when you’re in a better mood – ever notice that? Somehow the two are tied together. Mysteries of the brain.

New research is finding that selenium is a cell protector, and starts a process where the cells repair damaged DNA. More studies are being done to determine if selenium can repair damaged cells from prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer – and whether a deficiency may actually cause disease.

Selenium and Vitamin E are a powerful combination. Together they slow down aging, hardening of the arteries, relieve menopausal suffering such as hot flashes, helps keep your muscles flexible, and even helps prevents dandruff.

You can get selenium naturally by eating Brazil nuts, chicken, eggs, fish, garlic, nuts, meat, milk, onions, seafood, seeds, and tomatoes.

If you eat any of these foods regularly, you probably don’t need to supplement with more than what’s already in your multi-vitamin.

Always do your homework and don’t fall for the hype!

Carole

P.S. – You can find all of the information you need to stay young, thin, healthy, and full of energy inside High Energy Eating.

Playing with supplements is never a good idea. It’s downright dangerous. How do I know? I’ve done it.

I’ve always been leery of herbal medicine because I don’t think enough is known about long term consequences. Should a situation ever arise where I want to go the herbal route, I would definitely want to find an expert.

But for some reason, supplements seemed safer. We all know not to play with Vitamin D or Vitamin A. It’s common knowledge that if you take too much Vitamin C, you get the runs. But overall, it seemed like safe territory.

I recently picked up a liquid magnesium & calcium supplement to see if it really would help my teeth. And had I just used it as a rinse like the one article suggested, I probably would have been OK. But I drank it too. The verdict is still out on whether it would actually help rebuild tooth enamel or help gums re-grow.

But then I read about a new cancer treatment where you actually spray magnesium on your skin and it is absorbed. And since magnesium is also important for vein health, I thought I would try putting it on some of my spider veins and see if it did anything.

Well, I already get a lot of magnesium in the foods I eat. And I take a calcium and magnesium pill supplement everyday. Can you say overload?

I started getting cramps and runs, so I knew right away to stop – but it was too late.

I blew out another vein last Saturday. Partially because I work on my feet all day, but I believe it is tied to the extra magnesium.

Then I started having the eye problems I wrote about in “My Recent Health Scare.”

I seem to be ok now, but I found that overdosing on magnesium can cause kidney failure. I don’t think I did the experiments long enough to cause long term damage. I hope not.

I also learned the hard way that you can’t just stop taking CoQ10.

So, learn from my mistakes. Eat right. Take normal supplements – and don’t go over the RDA.

I’ve always taken a multi – a Vitamin C, a Vitamin E, a Calcium & Magnesium with D, and a Fish Oil – and I’ve done great. I started taking CoQ10, and it was fine – until I ran out and didn’t take it for a few days. So I guess it’s permanently in my vitamin ritual now. And that seems to be OK. I think I’ll stay away from any more experiments for a while….

A couple of days ago, I was asked to pop over to a website and send a canned letter to my congress-people on the issue of DHEA, which is a supplement.

This is a substance in every cell in your body. As we age, our bodies produce less of it. Many people choose to supplement.

It seems that there is a bill going in front of congress to label this substance as a steroid. This is on the heels of the latest FDA escapades with the red rice yeast, or is it red yeast rice?

Now I don’t personally take either of these supplements. Why should I care?

I want these supplements to be available should I find that I need them to stay healthy for one.

And second, will they continue to errode the availability of supplements? Will I need a prescription to take vitamin C? And will the regulated permissable dosages be enough to make any difference?

I take 6 supplements a day. And most, I just take the RDA level. But there are a couple where, according to research that I’ve done, don’t do any good in those small Recommended Daily Doses.

And I’ve had subscribers from countries such as Belgium, tell me how difficult it is to get just the simple supplements that we take for granted. It’s all government controlled.

That’s my freedom being erroded. Don’t you agree?

Anyway, I sent the canned letter. I got a canned response back from Melissa Bean. Fair enough, I sent a canned letter, got a canned response.

But I got an actual thoughtful, well informed response back from Barack Obama. It was perfectly political and gave no indication of support or not, but he was well informed on the issue.

What bothers me the most about the whole thing is that the vote will go to whoever pays the most money, or who can make the issues the most visable. If they can get by with the money vote and not be seen, they will. That’s my opinion.

I’ve yet to see one single person in government stand up and say, “Listen, we could cut health care costs in this country if we took all chemically laced foods off the shelf.” or “Why don’t we see if there is a natural solution to this health epidemic that people could start using right now for little cost?”

That’ll be the day, right?

If you’re interested in finding out more about the DHEA issue, try
The Douglass Report – http://www.douglassreport.com/

And if you would like to send the canned email and see what kind of response you get back from your congress-people – it’s located here – http://www1.youreletters.com/t/1373182/16255855/832262/0/

I’m off to take my supplements.

Good Night -

Carole

a.k.a. ‘Mother’

How much happier would you be if you were naturally thin, healthy, and full of energy?

You might have read recently that the FDA is stopping the sale of Red Yeast Rice
because it contains a substance on their regulated substance list.

The problem is – the substance has always been there. It’s natural. It’s benefitted people for eons. But a big pharma company was able to recreate it in the lab and patent it. So now it’s a regulated substance.

You have to ask yourself – what is wrong with the FDA? They will stop at nothing to discredit natural substances that you can take cheaply now to protect your health. All the research, all the studies – means nothing to them.

How much it’s costing you once you become sick – that means a lot to them. It drives a big part of our economy. The food industry, pharmaceutical industry, doctors, hospitals, big clothing manufacturuers, weight loss industry – what would they all do if you stopped eating the junk and got healthy?

Now they’re looking at pulling DHEA supplements. One by one, they’ll be pulled, leaving you with no alternative but to see a doctor for a prescription supplement that will still only be a watered down version.

That’s what’s happened in Europe.

Please join me in urging Congress to protect access to dietary supplements

Please urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to support policies that protect your access to safe, effective and affordable dietary supplements. Just click here, or visit SaveOurSupplements.org and enter your ZIP code to work for healthy policies and make your voice heard. Thanks for your support!

To find out more about how you’re being manipulated everyday -
And how to get your sweet revenge >>>

To Your Good Health -

Carole

a.k.a. ‘Mother’