SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS: VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS

Twenty-two years of taking care of sick people has convinced me of the need to supplement our diet with a complete multi-vitamin and mineral formula. Vitamin and mineral supplements form an integral part of the Metabolism-Balancing Program and the Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Program. Without them I find the programs get only mediocre results at best.

Quite simply the food we eat today is not as rich in vitamins and minerals as it used to be. There are a number of reasons for this:

• Vitamin content is lost from our fresh foods during transportation from the grower and during storage at the market. For instance, lettuce stored at room temperature loses 50 per cent of its vitamin C in twenty-four hours after picking and also the same amount over three days if refrigerated. The same goes for asparagus, broccoli and green beans.

• Over-cooking, especially the boiling of, fresh vegetables destroys another 25 per cent of the vitamin C, up to 70 per cent of vitamin B1 and 50 per cent of vitamin B2. And these are what we call ‘fresh’ vegetables.

• Poor soils. Because fruit and vegetables are usually grown on over-cultivated and exhausted soils that have been fertilised with phosphate and nitrogen fertilisers rather than trace element and mineral fertilisers (which are a lot more expensive) their vitamin and mineral content is low to start with. These days crop rotation is not practised, land is not left fallow to allow it time to regenerate. Plants grow profusely on modern day fertilisers but lack nutrient content and are usually picked before they are ripe. This limits the time they have to draw from the soil what little minerals and trace elements are in it.

Chemical fertilisers actually create deficiencies in the plants they are supposed to be sustaining. Plants absorb nitrates from nitrogen fertilisers and the nitrates, in turn, destroy vitamin A in these plants.

• Processing of foods. For this reason canned foods arc kept to a minimum on the Metabolism-Balancing, Anti-Candida or combined Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Programs. The foremost American authority on the nutrient content of food, Dr Henry Schroeder analysed 730 common foods. He discovered that the canning of green vegetables destroys more than 50 per cent of vitamin B5 and B6. Canning of green peas and beans destroys 75 per cent of the same vitamins. Canned carrots lose 70 per cent of their calcium, canned tomatoes 80 per cent of their zinc and canned spinach 80 per cent of its iron.

Freezing of meats and vegetables destroys the same amount of B vitamins. These are accurate measures not rough estimates. Frozen foods, although they look fresh and nutritious are very deficient in minerals as they are treated with a chelating chemical called EDTA. EDTA strips off 80 per cent of the mineral content. If this mineral content isn’t stripped off frozen vegetables, they appear dull in color after cooking. With the minerals stripped off they cook and look brightly colored—certainly more of an inducement to buy. In the gut EDTA latches onto as many minerals as possible preventing their absorption.

The space required to describe the metabolic role of each vitamin and mineral is too great for inclusion in this text. Any good nutritional almanac will provide you with this information.

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SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS: THE WHITE BLOOD CELLS AND ALLERGIES

By robbing our T-lymphocytes of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) white flour and sugar predispose us to cancer, colds, ‘flu, Candida yeast infections and allergies, while at the same time causing us to pile on the weight. For the T-lymphocytes to have the vitality to fight viruses, cancer, candida yeast and prevent allergies they need a daily supply of vitamins C, B12 and B6, folic acid, choline and zinc as all of these vitamins and minerals interact chemically to help produce the energy supply for the cells. If just one of these nutrients is missing the necessary chemical reaction will not take place and the cells become fatigued, less numerous and have a shorter life span. These six nutrients are the principals of T-lymphocyte metabolism. However, they still need the support of the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals for optimum T-lymphocyte function.

Allergies can severely disrupt the metabolism by causing a daily loss of the mineral zinc and vitamin B6 through the urine and thus deficiencies of both of these are created. Zinc is necessary to the pancreas for the manufacture of the hormone insulin and an insulin deficiency means that not enough glucose reaches the cells (including the thyroid gland and T-lymphocyte cells) to provide necessary energy and vitality. A severe insulin deficiency leads to diabetes at which point resistance to cancer and infection is extremely low and cholesterol levels rise. The foods that contain zinc also contain chromium. Chromium is needed for insulin to work. A deficiency in insulin and chromium means diabetes. Diabetes is one of the serious metabolic diseases.

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ANTI-CANDIDA/ANTI-ALLERGY PROGRAM SHOPPING LIST

Because the Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Program is so particular, you must be careful about what you buy. The wrong brand can make the difference between success and failure. Twenty-two years spent taking care of allergy sufferers has taught me what brands are safe. I have listed these brands so that you may get optimum results from this program. Some of the material is the result of my research and some of it the result of trial and error experimentation by my patients. 1 would like to now thank those former patients on behalf of myself and all those who are going to benefit from their efforts.

FROM THE HEALTH STORE

EVENING PRIMROSE OIL: Nature’s Own brand only, 1000 mg capsules.

MARINE LIPID CONCENTRATE: Nature’s Own MaxEPA, 1000 mg capsules.

COMPLETE MULTI-VITAMIN AND MINERAL FORMULA: Formula Six brand only, available from better health food stores or by mail order.

VITAMIN C POWDER: Any brand, either sodium or calcium ascorbate.

IRON TABLETS: FAB Co brand only. For women only, for four to eight weeks only, if required. Wash coating off the tablets.

COD LIVER OIL: Blackmore’s deodorised brand is good but any brand will do. For those who don’t want to take MaxEPA capsules.

ODOUR CONTROLLED GARLIC: Kyolic Garlic—won’t repeat on you as garlic normally docs. LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS CAPSULES: Bio-Organics brand only— marketed as Megadophilus.

OTHER CANDIDA KILLERS: Kyolic garlic capsules.

HERBAL LAXATIVE: Cascara Sagrada—Nature’s Sunshine brand is mild and won’t give you gripe pains. Take only if required.

FROM THE CHEMIST

LUGOL’S IODINE SOLUTION (PLUS EYE DROPPER): NO doctor’s script is necessary. The chemist will mix this up in the dispensary. Keep Lugol’s iodine away from children, it’s toxic in large doses.

NYSTATIN POWDER: Mycostatin is the first choice. Nilstat is the second choice. Doctors script is needed.

NYSTATIN TABLETS: Doctor’s script is needed. Wash coloured coating off tablets before use. Don’t use Nystatin capsules—they contain milk products.

DUST MITE COVERS, SPRAYS AND NOSE MASKS: Allersearch brand only.

FROM THE SUPERMARKET OR HEALTH STORE

WHOLEMEAL PASTA (WHEAT), A NUMBER OF VARIETIES: Eden

WHOLEMEAL PASTA AND A WIDE RANGE OF WHEAT-FREE, GLUTEN-FREE PASTAS: Freedom Foods—Orgran.

WHOLEMEAL SPAGHETTI (ORGANIC): Pure harvest.

WHEAT NOODLES (EGG-FREE): Demeter.

CORN SPAGHETTI (WHEAT-FREE): Westbrae Natural.

CORN NOODLES (GLUTEN/WHEAT/EGG-IREE): Country Harvest.

WHEAT FLOUR (STONE-GROUND): Russell’s or any other stone-ground brand.

RICE BRAN (EXTRUDED): Russell’s.

BROWN RICE BAKING MIX: Abundant Earth brand-only—especially for wheat and gluten sensitive people. The bread recipe on the back of the packet may be used by those who are wheat and gluten allergic though not milk, egg or soya bean allergic. The amount of milk and honey in the recipe won’t affect the candid-killing effect of the program if only one loaf per week is consumed. Going without the sustenance of bread will do more damage than the milk and honey (to those who are not milk allergic).

POPPED BROWN RICE: Abundant Earth.

POPPED CORN: Abundant Earth.

POPPING CORN: Russell’s.

TOMATO PASTE: Leggo’s brand only.

POTATO FLOUR: Selected Foods brand.

SALT: Celtic Ocean Salt.

SOYMILK: Soya King Soya Drink (no malt) by Tixana Pty Ltd.

SOYA POWDER (TO MAKE MILK): Herbal Valley Natural Soya Bean Powder.

RICE MILK: Rice Dream by Imagine Foods: Aussie Dream by Pure harvest.

SOYA FLOUR, BARLEY FLOUR AND BUCKWHEAT FLOUR: Russell’s.

POTATO CRISPS: Plain Kettle Chips (contain salicylate—not in first four weeks of Anti-Candida Program).

MINERAL WATERS, STILL (NITRATE FREE): Koala Spring, Crystal Spring, Mt Franklin Still, Russell’s.

MINERAL WATERS, CARBONATED/SPARKLING: Taurina Spa.

BREADS FOR THE METABOLISM-BALANCING PROGRAM: There is no brand restriction on the Metabolism-Balancing Program. Pritikin, Demeter and any other wholemeal bread (not wholegrain), raised with yeast, are all suitable.

BREADS FOR THE ANTI-CANDIDA PROGRAM: Any of the self-made unleavened breads; Pure Life sprouted wheat unleavened bread; or PAVS Allergy Bakery yeast free wheat.

BREADS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WHEAT SENSITIVE: Peter and Vicky’s bakery 100 per cent unleavened rice bread.

There are many more varieties of bread; some contain yeast or sourdough. You must read the labels carefully.

CHEMICAL FREE SPRING WATER: Neverfail Spring Water, home delivered.

CHEMICAL FREE SOAPS, SHAMPOOS, CONDITIONERS AND DEODORANTS: AS tastes are so individual it is best that you choose your own from the health store.

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THE METABOLISM- BALANCING PROGRAM: ALCOHOL

Go easy on alcohol. Responsible drinking levels recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council are as follows:

Safe: Up to 4 standard drinks a day for men.

Up to 2 standard drinks a day for women.

Hazardous: 4-6 standard drinks a day for men.

2-4 standard drinks a day for women.

Harmful: More than 6 standard drinks a day for men.

More then 4 standard drinks a day for women.

Note: A standard drink = 1 middy of regular beer (285 mL), 1 glass of wine (120 mL), 1 glass of port or sherry (60 mL) or 1 nip of spirits (30 mL).

Don’t think that saving up your daily safe levels of alcohol and having them all at once on a Friday or Saturday night is safe. It’s not, and it will do your liver and brain significant harm. If you are on medication check with your doctor before drinking any alcohol.

The early warning signs of alcohol damage to the brain are:

1. Light sleep, shorter sleep duration, unrested after sleep, repressed dreaming, irritability, argumentativeness, denial.

2. Light tremors of the hand (most noticeable where fine motor performance is necessary, e.g. making model aeroplanes, plucking eyebrows or applying eye make-up).

3. Tendency to pessimism, depression and anxiety. Reduced foresight, judgement, creativity and memory. Difficulty in putting things back together—most noticeable when doing repairs on the car or around the house.

Take heart, the brain is resilient and will regenerate on the Metabolism-Balancing Program if over-drinking is stopped early enough. The body can recover from the occasional binge. It is regular alcohol abuse that does the damage. More than four drinks a day produces deficiencies in vitamins A, B3, B6 and C, minerals magnesium and zinc and the essential fatty acids. Remember, the female liver has less alcohol-burning enzymes (alcohol dehydrogenase) than the male liver and females have less muscle to burn alcohol.

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STRESS: SELF-ENHANCING ATTITUDES

These lower the stress levels. Adopt these:

1. ‘My life is my responsibility. I will co-operate with others but won’t demand continuous support from them.’

2. ‘I will remain flexible in my views of others and will not make rigid rules for them or myself.’

3. ‘No one is perfect. We all have the right to make mistakes. I will not condemn myself or others even when I intensely dislike my or their behaviour.’

4. ‘I am adventurous enough to take risks that are not foolhardy and to do what I want even if there is a good chance I might fail.’

5. ‘I am not the centre of the universe and although it would be nice if I was, I’m not. Therefore I will always be interested in others and will always act morally to protect their interests where possible.’

6. ‘I am profoundly interested in myself yet I am willing to make sacrifices for those I care about—without becoming a martyr.’

7. ‘My focus in life is not on being the centre of other’s attention, but on those absorbing activities that I enjoy.’

8. ‘I accept that I live in an impartial world that offers no guarantees for my well-being and that the uncertainty of life can upset my plans.’

Some bad luck is a mathematical probability for all of us during our passage through life. Fear of bad luck can significantly raise stress levels and is a waste of time—all the statistics prove that very little, if any, of what we fear ever befalls us. Fear, for the main part, is simply False Evidence Appearing Real.

In addition to imagining the worst, humans have a tendency to exaggerate the seriousness of any given life situation or predicament. This habit of ‘awfulising’ and ‘catastrophising’ can be overcome by vehemently disputing these thoughts as they arise. Looking for perfection in an imperfect world is a futile and stress-raising exercise that many fall victim to. Demanding (‘should’, ‘ought’, ‘must’) that we should find the perfect partner, have perfect sex, have the perfect friends, kids, house, car, job and that we should perform perfectly and always succeed, is expecting too much from life. It sets us up for bitterness, resentment and frustration, which can lead to anxiety and depression. The happiest couples are not those who are the most compatible, but rather those who are most tolerant of each other’s differences.

Adopting the eight self-enhancing attitudes will not entirely do away with feelings of dissatisfaction—terrible and distressing things can happen in life. However, they will prevent feelings of dissatisfaction escalating into feelings of emotional disturbance; that is, they will keep stress down to non-health-affecting levels.

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EXERCISES MAINLY FOR THE LOWER BACK AND ABDOMINAL STRENGTHENING EXERCISES

The following exercises are suitable for most people with backache; it has been found that low back pain is more common in people who are overweight, have poor posture, weak abdominal muscles, stiffness and tight hip muscles, especially the psoas, and the hamstrings. These exercises, if performed regularly and thoroughly, will help diminish all these pain-causing problems.

To get down on to the floor comfortably, go on to your knees first, then your hands; turn on to one hip and elbow and lower yourself down gently on to your back. To get up, reverse the procedure: on to one hip and elbow, turn on to hands and knees, then one knee, and stand up.

Abdominal strengthening exercises-Start by lying on the floor with knees bent.

1. Rest one hand on your abdomen. Take a deep slow breath in; as you breathe out, gently

pull in your abdominal muscles. Repeat 5 times.

Get into the habit of breathing out when tightening your abdominal muscles: this should help you avoid holding your breath while exercising, which causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure and thus increases the stress on your spine. You do not have to think about breathing in; it happens automatically.

Practise tightening your abdominal muscles frequently during the day; strong tummy muscles give your back extra protection.

2. Flatten the hollow of your back down on to the floor, at the same time squeeze your

buttocks together so that the lower part of your pelvis lifts slightly.

This is a very important exercise which mobilises the lumbar spine, as well as strengthening

the abdominal and hip extensor muscles. Practise it in sitting as well as lying, and do it

frequently during the day.

3. Lift head and shoulders and slide hands up to knees, keep feet firmly pressed on to the

floor. Hold for a count of 4 and lower your head and shoulders.

4. Cross arms across chest; lift head and shoulders and reach with the elbow in the direction

of the opposite knee; hold for a count of 4. Repeat to the other side.

5. Lift both bent knees on to chest: straighten legs towards ceiling; hold; bend knees and put

feet back on to floor.

This exercise strengthens the abdominal muscles and stretches the hamstrings.

6. Bend knees on to chest: lift buttocks off floor and hold for a count of 4. This is a very

strong abdominal exercise.

7. Lift both bent knees on to chest. Lift head and shoulders and put hands on knees. Try to

push knees away with your hands, at the same time resisting the pressure with your knees.

This is a strong static, or isometric, exercise.

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UNDERSTANDING BACK TROUBLE: PREVENTING A RECURRENCE-WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOURSELF

It is important to identify positively the things that do not make matters worse, and to concentrate on them as a basis for an improvement of life. Assuming you can find some activity-such as short walks or swimming or even walking in a heated pool, or simple exercises which do not upset your back – do it regularly, a bit more and a bit faster or farther every day. Almost any exercise (not jogging!) will do to start with, as the basis for improvement, and help you to become generally more physically fit.

People who are physically fit are generally able to tolerate pain better than the unfit. Their sensation of pain may be no different but it affects them less and they are better able to ignore it

Some of the things you can do which should make your life easier include:

• keep a check on your weight; extra pounds mean extra stress on the spine

• eat a healthy balanced diet

• learn to relax

• learn to live according to a routine, and plan ahead, so that you never need to rush

• give careful consideration to the movements or actions which aggravate your symptoms and

try to avoid them

• when you have a ‘good’ day, do not try to catch up on all the neglected things: having further weeks of misery because you rushed to do too much on the ‘good’ day is not worth it. Increased mental stress will lower your pain-threshold

• make sure that you have a suitable chair and bed – ask advice from the physiotherapist, occupational therapist or osteopath before buying new furniture

• keep active. Rest is appropriate for acute back pain; chronic back pain tends to benefit from the right kind of exercise, preferably of the most enjoyable type and as strenuous as you can manage

• change patterns and positions as needed to ensure that your sex life can continue on as regular a basis as possible. Prolonged back pain can have a devastating effect on sexual activity. Back pain can also be used (often unconsciously) as an excuse for not engaging in sexual activity. The situation deserves understanding and sympathetic analysis from both partners. Postures can be experimented with. For example, experimenting which partner is on top; side to side positions; one partner sitting on a chair, the other astride.

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PHYSIOTHERAPY: MANIPULATIVE PROCEDURES-TRACTION

This is a longitudinal stretching force applied along the axis of the tissues and is a form of regional mobilisation. It has been known for centuries that back pain can sometimes be relieved in this way. It is not known, however, why traction works when it does. Some practitioners have claimed that pulling the vertebral bodies slightly apart eases the pressure on a prolapsed disc. But this in itself would not make the extruded disc material shrink back, nor repair the ruptured outer casing. One theory was that the vacuum produced in the intervertebral space would withdraw the extruded disc material away from the nerve, but bio-engineering experiments have now shown this to be unlikely. Studies have suggested that the amount of traction necessary to achieve actual separation of vertebral bodies is far greater than that ever applied by way of pelvic traction in a physiotherapy department. Possibly traction works by increasing input into the spinal nerves ‘blocking’ the pain pathways or by reducing tension or spasm in the back and hip muscles, or by easing the strain on the facet joints. There is no conclusive evidence. Many people have found relief in this way, but if you are one of the people for whom it does not work, there is no point in persisting with it.

There are several ways of applying traction involving, in many cases, the use of special apparatus. The magnitude of the pulling force, the position in which it is given and the time for which it is applied will determine the effects of the traction. If the traction makes the pain worse at the time, the treatment is stopped. If the pain is worse after traction, the treatment should be discontinued. Patients with severe back pain may be admitted to hospital for traction.

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WHEN THE PAIN STRIKES

An attack of back pain can take several forms. It may occur as a sudden, acute pain at a particular site, and be so severe that you cannot move; it may begin as a dull ache that becomes more severe during the following 24 hours; it may appear as a less painful sensation of stiffness in the muscles down one side of the body.

Back pain may follow a bout of unaccustomed exertion, such as digging a garden bed, or moving heavy furniture at spring cleaning. Or you may bend down awkwardly or with a sudden jerk, and feel that something has ‘gone’ in your back, but not experience really severe discomfort till the next morning, when inflammation will have built up in the damaged tissues. An attack may come on after a spell of mild, nagging backache which you had ignored in the hope that it would go away.

If you have had back trouble before, quite mild and accustomed exertion can cause it to recur; for example, reaching across the car from the driver’s seat to open the passenger’s door.

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PROLAPSED DISC

If the protrusion or the bulge does not press on any sensitive structures there are no symptoms, because the disc has almost no nerve supply of its own. If the bulge presses against one of the ligaments which bind the spine together, or against a nerve root, the pain can be intense. This condition, called a prolapsed disc, is what is popularly, but incorrectly, called a slipped disc. A disc cannot, in fact, slip out of place, because its fibres are knitted into the bone of the adjacent vertebral bodies.

Any disc may suffer a prolapse but, for reasons that are not well understood, those most frequently affected are the last two in the lumbar spine – the one that lies between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae and the one between the fifth and the sacrum. One reason why discs at those sites become affected may be because those are the points of maximum movement for the lumbar spine.

The commonest direction for a prolapse is backwards and sideways. The symptoms arise from the irritation of the sensitive structures and the associated inflammation, similar to the inflammation following any injury. This develops over a day or so, and spreads to involve other tissues at the same vertebral level. It may cause back pain or sciatic pain (down the leg), depending on whether it affects the tissues of the spine or of the nerve root, or both.

Prolapsed discs resulting from violent injury are probably likeliest to occur in young people who are most apt to go in for strenuous games, ‘working out’, disco dancing, and so forth; young nurses also have a fairly high rate of disc injury, through lifting and turning patients.

In middle-aged people, however, it is gradual degeneration of the casing of the disc, rather than violent exercise, that is the commonest cause of disc prolapse. The fibrous outer casing of the disc gradually weakens and grows stiffer, developing cracks through which the nucleus can leak out.

As a small compensation, disc prolapse becomes much less common once middle age is past and this, too, is due to degenerative changes. The nucleus, losing much of its moisture, shrinks considerably, and though it may spread out, it is less apt to leak out of the casing. However, this change brings its own problems, as the disc loses some of its shock-absorbing ability.

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