Linus Pauling: Great Nobel Prize Winner of the 20th Century

We are hearing a lot about Nobel prize winners just now. - That two-dimensional Graphene material sounds very interesting, doesn't it? - But it is the Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling (1901 to 1994) who has always particularly excited my admiration. He won two Nobel Prizes: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1954) and Nobel Peace Prize (1962).

His interests and contribution to the sum of knowledge and the benefit of our world were many and varied. Read this Wikipedia page about him and be amazed at the list of Honors and Awards he accrued.

As I read that page last night I was interested to see that, "In 1941, at age 40, Pauling was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a renal disease. Following the recommendations of Thomas Addis, Pauling was able to control the disease with Addis' then unusual, low protein, salt-free diet and vitamin supplements.^[54]"

So one of the greatest thinkers of all time lived and worked for decades on a salt-free diet with vitamin supplements. That seems excellent anecdotal evidence of the safety and merit both of a salt-free diet and of vitamin supplements...(o:

Gabby Logan on Radio 5 - today' s vitamin supplements discussion

This programme missed the opportunity to do a great deal of good by giving information that is not widely known. Instead it rehearsed the usual distinctly disputable message that if you eat a good balanced diet you will get all the vitamins you need and the usual warning that if you take too high a dose you could harm yourself. The panel of speakers did correctly mention that certain groups, e.g. the housebound, need extra vitamin D, since food alone does not provide sufficient vitamin D. But I felt the tone of much that was said was on the lines of criticising people for eating poor diets and so it was their choice of poor diets that caused their nutritional deficiencies. We were also patronisingly told that staff in health stores will be trying to sell you supplements you may not need. I can't say that that has been my experience.

I did not hear anyone mention that prescription drugs often seriously deplete the body of nutrients. I wrote about this very recently: Medication often causes nutritional deficiencies. Dr Hilary Jones was one of Gabby's panel of speakers. I wonder whether he himself did not know much about this. Few doctors do. And few patients do. It would have been a good idea to have on the programme a doctor with a special interest and expertise in nutrition, e.g. Dr John Briffa.

Did you know that there are many pharmaceutical drugs that deplete the body of nutrients?

If you take or intend to take prescription drugs you may find it's a good idea to check out which nutrients you may need to supplement while taking the medication.

My first encounter with this sort of nutrient depletion was when I was taking isoniazid for TB when I was a teenager. I suffered greatly from insomnia but did not know why. It was not until many years later that I discovered that it was because of vitamin B6 depletion. B6 is also known as pyridoxine. If I had known at the time, and if I had been able to take supplements of pyridoxine at the time, I would have been saved from those dreadful sleepless years and from the anaemia that is also caused by lack of this vitamin.

Statins, so widely and notoriously over-prescribed, cause the body to be depleted of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), so if you are taking them you may like to consider taking tablets of CoQ10 so as to reduce some of the harm the statins may be causing you.

Steroid drugs such as prednisone have been shown to deplete the body of calcium, magnesium, folic acid, potassium, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin D.

Antibiotics deplete the body of several nutrients as well as adversely affecting the balance of the gut flora. Thiazide diuretics (water tablets) such as Bendrofluazide (aka Bendroflumethiazide or lots of other names) remove some potassium and magnesium from the body. The resultant shortage of potassium and magnesium may well cause you night cramps. Often all you need to do about the shortage of potassium is to make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and your doctor will usually tell you about this and suggest eating bananas for extra potassium.

Depletion of nutrients could affect you in many ways and may well result in lower energy levels and lowered immunity to infection. So check it out. You may find it's a case for nutritional supplements to the rescue!

Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) continues with its high dose supplement campaign

The EU Parliament Petitions Committee have voted to keep open five petitions that question the European Commission’s proposal to limit maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in the EU bloc under the Food Supplements Directive.
Read article at foodnavigator.com

Vitamin D supplementation is linked with reduced risk of cancer including breast cancer

See Dr Briffa's blogpost about this.

No Deaths from Dietary Supplements: Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids, Herbs

No Deaths from Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids or Herbs
Poison Control Statistics Prove Supplements' Safety
There was not even one death caused by a dietary supplement in 2008, according to the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System. The new 174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other vitamin. Additionally, there were no deaths whatsoever from any amino acid or herbal product.
Read news release at orthomolecular.org

Ban on particular vitamin and mineral food supplements from 1 January 2010 may contravene EU law

The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) has informed the UK’s food regulator, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), that the proposed ban on particular vitamin and mineral food supplements from 1 January 2010 flies in the face of the European Court of Justice ruling on the ANH’s case in 2005.
Read press release on the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) website (UK)

Want to be able to continue to buy vitamin and mineral supplements in the strengths you prefer?

Want to be able to continue to buy vitamin and mineral supplements in the strengths you prefer? - Then you will probably find this interview with Paul Anthony Taylor interesting:

The EU and the "Codex Alimentarius" and global food regulations that may limit your future choice options

Extract from the interview:

"in addition to dealing with ordinary foods, Codex also sets global standards for: vitamin and mineral food supplements; health claims; organic foods; genetically modified (GM) foods; food labeling; advertising; food additives and residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs in foods. In all of these areas, the evidence is now inescapable that Codex is increasingly putting economic interests – and particularly those of the pharmaceutical, chemical and GM industries – before human health."

Birth brain defect - hydrocephalus - could be treated with vitamin supplement

Research suggests that a vitamin supplement taken during pregnancy could prevent hydrocephalus - one of the common forms of birth brain defect. Scientists at The University of Manchester and Lancaster University say laboratory tests have shown that administering a combination of vitamins (tetrahydrofolate and folinic acid), dramatically reduces the risk of hydrocephalus.
Read article at physorg.com

Vitamins may help coeliac disease management: Study

Daily supplements of B vitamins may improve the overall health of people with coeliac disease by reducing levels of an amino acid linked to heart disease, says a new Dutch study. A study with 51 adults with coeliac disease and 50 healthy controls found that people taking daily supplements of vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin B12 had significantly lower levels of the amino acid homocysteine, according to findings published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.
Read article at nutraingredients.com

EU regulations: a major threat to our future health

The regulatory pressure pot that aims to stop 500 million Europeans accessing therapeutically useful natural health products is approaching bursting point. Within two months we should see what vitamin and mineral dosages the European Commission aims to set as maximums across the EU. January 2010 then signals the delayed ban of a host of vitamin and mineral forms that won't have been ‘proven’ safe or bioavailable.
Read article on the website of the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) (UK)

EU Food Authority has double standards

According to an article in Nutraingredients.com, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) expressed a positive opinion regarding calcium fluoride as a source of fluoride in food supplements. That same day, another fluoride compound was approved - sodium monofluorophosphate - but this one was not mentioned in the Nutraingredients report. These opinions appear to be in stark contrast with the over-cautious evaluation of vital nutrients (vitamins and minerals) in progress. A scientific dossier proving the safety of those nutrient sources is required before EFSA will consent to their use in supplements, and limiting dosages are being considered to make sure there is not a shadow of a possibility of an 'adverse effect'.
Read post by Sepp Hasslberger at healthfreedomnet.ning.com

Vitamin B and folate supplements could be the key to fighting the debilitating symptoms of migraines, according to new research.

Vitamin B and folic acid 'help fight migraines'
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"They "significantly" reduced the frequency and severity of attacks in a clinical trial involving 50 migraine sufferers.

Professor Lyn Griffiths, director of the Genomics Research Centre (GRC) at Griffith University in Australia, said the results of the six-month study were very positive.

The findings showed "a drastic improvement in headache frequency, pain severity and associated disability for those treated," she said."

"The success of the trial proved that "safe, inexpensive" supplements - rather than expensive medication that can have adverse side effects - could treat migraine patients, [Professor Griffiths] said."

Avoiding salt and salty food lessens the incidence and severity of migraines and other headaches.

EC registers vitamin upper limit concerns

The Irish Association of Health Stores (IAHS) has come away from a European Parliament Petitions Committee meeting confident its concerns about appropriate maximum permitted levels (MPLs) for food supplements are being listened to at European Union level. The meeting was attended by four Irish MEPs, one UK MEP as well as EU delegates, with the Petitions Committee chairman insisting a 60,000-strong, IAHS-backed petition submitted to the European Parliament in December, 2007, be kept open.
Read article at nutraingredients.com

Georgian seniors need nutrient supplementation, finds study

Researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) report that elderly people across the state are largely deficient in vitamin D, calcium and B12, and should consider dietary supplementation. The new study conducted by nutrition researchers at the university noted that nutrient deficiencies are making the elderly more vulnerable to chronic health problems such as osteoporosis, anemia and cognitive impairment.
Read article at nutraingredients-usa.com

EU reviews ludicrously low vitamin limits after Irish petition

Restrictive vitamin supplement standards due to be set by the EU are to be re-examined following an Irish petition. The standards, introduced by EU directive, would restrict doses of vitamin D to the equivalent of that produced by 25 seconds of sunlight and prevent the sale of high-dose vitamin C products without prescription. The EU food supplements directive was given the go-ahead in 2005. However, the maximum permitted levels of ingredients to be contained in supplements has not yet been set. The standards currently being considered would restrict the sale of vitamins and minerals to very low doses. It would become illegal to sell vitamin A in a dose that can be found in more than half a carrot or to sell selenium, an important mineral, in doses larger than in a quarter of a Brazil nut.
Read article in the Irish Times (Ireland)

Dr Matthew Rath compares/contrasts the pharmaceutical approach to cancer with the more natural micronutrient/vitamin therapies he advocates...

Read here the
Response by Dr. Rath to the Invitation
to Become a Reviewer of
the International Journal of Cancer

Dr Rath is an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical approach to cancer and a scientific pioneer for new and natural approaches to cancer like vitamin supplementation. (My apologies for spelling Dr Rath's name incorrectly in the title of this post. His first name is Matthias, not Matthew.)

I largely go along with Dr Rath's philosophy on health, but my personal hobby horse is the damage that SALT intake causes in so many people - people who are sensitive/vulnerable to salt - especially children and especially people who have taken certain prescription drugs, including steroids like prednisone and prednisolone and HRT, and tricyclic anti-depressants like amitriptyline, which many doctors prescribe inappropriately, often in recklessly high doses and for ill-advisedly long periods. - It is best for most people's health to avoid prescription drugs unless they are strictly necessary, and if they take them at all, to take in the lowest effective dose and for the shortest time necessary. - Remember also that many prescription drugs deplete the body of essential nutrients, so you may like to consider taking nutritional supplements if you are taking prescribed medication/s, e.g. steroids deplete the body of calcium, potassium, magnesium and possibly zinc, and certain diuretics - like bendrofluazide - deplete the body of potassium and magnesium, and some antibiotics deplete the body of other nutrients.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

See FAT RETENTION

advice for pregnant mothers

If you take vitamin/mineral supplements and want to continue in the doses you prefer

You may like to visit this site http://www.consumersforhealthchoice.com/ and/or sign this petition http://www.consumersforhealthchoice.com/phpPETITION/

I don't usually sign petitions but I've signed this one.

Vitamin D supplements may protect children from type-1 diabetes

The overwhelming body of science supports vitamin D supplements for protection against the development of type-1 diabetes, indicates a new meta-analysis. According to data from five observational studies, infants who received vitamin D supplements were 29 per cent less likely to develop type-1 diabetes than non-supplemented infants, reports the review in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Read article at nutraingredients.com

Vitamin D supplements can help young children to 'ward off diabetes'

Vitamin D supplements 'ward off diabetes'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Supplements of vitamin D can help young children to ward off diabetes in later life, researchers report.

The chance of developing Type 1 diabetes fell by almost a third in those who received extra doses of the vitamin.

The disease is caused when the body destroys cells in the pancreas, which regulate insulin. It often starts in early infancy and is on the rise across western Europe.

It is the most common form of diabetes among people under 40 and affects about 350,000 people in Britain, including 20,000 children.

A review of more than 6,000 cases found that children given additional vitamin D were around 30 per cent less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes than those not given it.

The higher and more regular the dose of the vitamin, the less likelihood there was of developing the disease."