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Cellular
Nutrition
We have
no choice but to live in our present environment.
Our bodies are affronted
daily by excessive production of free radicals caused by our
polluted environment, stressful lifestyles, and
over-medicated society. Though we can certainly reduce the
amount of free radicals our bodies produce by: not smoking,
decreasing stress levels, and avoiding toxic chemicals, most of
our bodies are still unable to fight the overwhelming daily
attack on the natural defense system. Remember balance is the
key--we need enough
antioxidants available to neutralize the free radicals produced.
Over the past
50 years, nutritional medicine and supplementation has focused
on replenishing a nutritional deficiency. Countless hours and
dollars have been spent trying to determine exactly which
nutrients our bodies are depleted of. Blood tests, urine tests,
hair samples, muscle testing, and more have been conducted in an
attempt to determine which nutrients we need to supplement.
However, we have been aiming at the wrong target. The presenting
problem is not a nutritional deficiency, but rather, underlying
oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress has now
been shown beyond any shadow of doubt via medical research to be
the root cause of over 70 chronic degenerative diseases.
Diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes,
arthritis, Alzheimer’s dementia, macular degeneration, lupus,
MS, and the list goes on and on.
Because
oxidative stress
is our concern rather than specific nutritional deficiencies, we
must determine what is the best approach to preventing or
controlling oxidative stress. This is accomplished by bolstering
one’s natural defenses through cellular nutrition.
Cellular nutrition is
simply providing ALL nutrients to the cell at optimal
levels. This allows the cell to determine what it
actually does and does not need. I don’t have to worry about
determining which nutrients the cell is deficient in. I simply
provide all of the important nutrients at optimal levels--those
levels shown to provide a health benefit in the medical
literature. Any nutritional deficiencies will be automatically
corrected over the next few months by this approach and all the
other vital nutrients will be brought up to their optimal levels
as well.
Cellular
nutrition is providing the body with all the antioxidants along
with the supporting B vitamins and antioxidant minerals at
optimal levels. This is "preventive medicine" at its best
because we can literally attack the disease process at its core
by preventing
oxidative stress
from occurring.
You may be
wondering if we can control oxidative stress by simply improving
our diet and eating more fruits and vegetables. This is
definitely a good start. By simply eating 7 to 9 servings of
fruits and vegetables each day you can decrease the risk of
heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s dementia, and cancer, two to
three fold. We certainly want to supplement a good diet—not a
bad diet. However, even if you eat a great diet you can barely
obtain the RDA level of all essential nutrients. Medical studies
have shown that less than 1% of the American population
accomplishes this on a consistent basis.
Recommended
Daily Allowance (RDA):
Research
studies reveal standards of recommended daily allowance (RDA’s)
have absolutely nothing to do with chronic degenerative
diseases. RDA’s were developed to avoid what are known as
acute deficiency diseases like scurvy (deficiency of vitamin
C), rickets (deficiency of vitamin D), and pellagra (deficiency
of niacin). In other words, if you consumed the RDAs for vitamin
C, vitamin D, and niacin, you would not develop any of these
illnesses.
Admittedly, the
RDA’s have done their job—how many people do you know suffer
from these diseases? RDA’s first developed in the 1920’s and
1930’s. The list of nutrients included in the RDAs grew over the
next two decades and in the early 1950s, the definition of RDAs
expanded to include the amounts of nutrients needed for normal
growth. Despite the fact that RDAs have proved useful, most
physicians and laypeople tend to assign more meaning to RDA
standards than they should.
After
researching medical literature on the topic of oxidative stress
and the amount of nutrients needed to prevent it, I found the
optimal levels of nutrients known to provide health benefits are
significantly greater those suggested by RDA levels. For
example, the optimal level of vitamin E is 400 IU. The RDA is
only 10 to 30 IU. That being the case, you may consider eating
400 IU of vitamin E. You would only need to eat 33 heads of
spinach, or 27 pounds of butter; 80 avocados will do, or an
alternative 5 pounds of wheat germ each and every day to obtain
that level of vitamin E.
Similarly, the
optimal level of vitamin C is approximately 1200 to 2000 mg
daily, while the RDA is only 60 mg. To eat the optimal levels of
vitamin would need to consume 18 oranges, or 17 kiwifruit, or
160 apples. Put in this perspective, it becomes clear that the
only way to obtain these levels of nutrients is to supplement
our diet. And this requires more than a generic multiple
vitamin. One-a-day multiple vitamins are primarily based on RDA
levels, thus providing no measurable health benefits.
Significantly more potent supplements are needed each day to
provide the optimal levels to provide cellular nutrition.
The "Magic
Bullet" Approach
Most scientific
studies done on nutritional supplements are approached in the
traditional way of testing drugs—hoping to discover a "magic
bullet". A disease is isolated and targeted by one specific
drug. The pharmaceutical results of that drug are then measured.
Research trials
have been similarly conducted for nutritional supplements. For
example, calcium and vitamin D have been tested for their
effects on osteoporosis; vitamin E for heart disease, magnesium
for irregular heartbeats or selenium to reduce the risk of
cancer.
One problem
remains, however: vitamins such as C, D and E are not drugs.
They are natural nutrients that our bodies get from our foods.
The various antioxidants and supporting nutrients work on
different types of free radicals and in different parts of the
body. Vitamin E is the best antioxidant within the cell
membrane. Vitamin C is most effective within the plasma.
Glutathione is works most efficiently within the cell itself.
Literally dozens of antioxidants are at work in various parts of
the body and are effective against particular types of free
radicals. They work together—synergistically-- to control
oxidative stress. This means that 1 plus 1 does not equal 2, but
8 or 10. Medical research separates these nutrients out and
tries to study their individual effect. The amazing fact remains
that the overwhelming majority of studies actually does show a
health benefit with even an individual nutrient. However, since
oxidative stress is the underlying problem we must concern
ourselves with, it is important to realize that all of these
nutrients work together—synergy.
Vitamin C
actually replenishes vitamin E and intracellular glutathione so
it can be used over and over again. Alpha lipoic acid also
regenerates vitamin E and glutathione. In addition, these
antioxidants need optimal levels of the B vitamins—folic acid,
vitamin B1, B2, B6, and B12—in order to perform at optimal
levels. They also need the so-called antioxidant minerals such
as: selenium, manganese, copper, and zinc to do their job right.
If you have all the glutathione in the world available but are
depleted in selenium, which glutathione needs to work, there
will be very little health benefit.
When all of the
necessary nutrients are provided to the cell in a complete and
balanced nutritional supplement, the combined effect is
phenomenal. The potency of these nutrients in optimizing our
body’s natural antioxidant, immune, and repair systems is
certainly possible. Oxidative stress can be controlled and our
health will be protected.
I also apply
these principles for my patients who are already suffering from
a major chronic degenerative disease. I provide them with the
same basic cellular nutrition I recommend for all my patients
and then I add additional potent antioxidants to the regime
tailored to each specific disease. When physicians take
advantage of the most tremendous healing asset, the host--our
bodies, and support it rather than denying its importance in the
healing process, amazing clinical improvement is possible.
Cellular
nutrition is about health, not disease. "Attacking" the root
cause of chronic degenerative disease is true preventive
medicine. By applying these same principles, you who are in good
health can decrease the risk of developing these chronic
degenerative diseases.
OXIDATIVE
STRESS
BASIC NUTRITION
CELL NUTRITION
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