March 23, 2010

By Kathleen Barnes

If you’ve ever thought that your voice isn’t heard, it’s just not true. I am a strong proponent of letting my elected officials know what I think. I do so often and as politely as possible.

Now I can salute Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for withdrawing support for his own legislation – a bill that would severely curtail Americans’ ability to choose the vitamin supplements we want to take. It’s rare to hear a politician admitting an error and it’s refreshing.

The power of grass roots pressure

On Feb. 4, McCain introduced the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, legislation that would give the pharmaceutical industry-controlled and funded corrupt Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over vitamin supplements. After a massive grass roots campaign against the measure, McCain withdrew his support for the bill in early March.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also played a pivotal role in persuading McCain that increased government regulation of dietary supplements is misguided. Sen. Hatch was a major sponsor of the supplement-industry friendly 1994 DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) and received major campaign contributions from the supplement industry.

McCain’s apparent intention was to regulate the use of steroids by professional athletes with his bill, but he seemed to be unaware that the bill had more far-reaching ramifications.

The bill would have made most dietary supplements available by prescription only.

I’m very aware that the supplement industry occasionally runs riot and that unquestionably there are unscrupulous supplement manufacturers.

Who is making money here?

At the same time, when I look at an issue like the McCain bill, I like to look at the bottom line: Who will benefit the most from the legislation?

The answer is obvious: The pharmaceutical industry.

There is no end to the greed of this industry, which already makes billions on drugs, some of which have been proven unsafe. Now the industry gets a windfall from the 32 million more people who will have health insurance and become consumers of pharmaceuticals. But still, they want a big piece of the action from the millions of Americans who choose preventive care and natural treatment through dietary supplements. This is one if the few times the smaller supplement manufacturers who donate to Sen. Hatch’s campaigns have come out on the upside.

However, I’ve never known the pharmaceutical industry to stay down for long. We all need to stay on the lookout for another bill or an end run around this one.

Did anyone else notice that drug company and hospital stock soared the day after the health care reform bill was passed?

Feb. 19, 2010

If Sen. John McCain has his way, Americans’ access to herbs, minerals and dietary supplements will be severely curtailed.

McCain’s newly introduced bill the Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA) will give the FDA complete control over all dietary supplements.

The DSSA will repeal parts of the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement and Education Act).

I know this sounds like a bureaucratic an alphabet soup and it is. It also has the potential to turn into a health care nightmare.

Bureaucractic alphabet soup

DSHEA, enacted in 1994, protects two types of supplements: 1. supplements that have been in the food supply and are not chemically altered and 2. supplements that were sold before 1994.

DSHEA as it exists today is far from perfect, largely because it gives the FDA control over new supplements and discourages the development of new products. However, DSHEA does prevent the FDA from arbitrarily banning or reclassifying supplements.

The McCain bill, if passed, gives the very much flawed FDA the power to create a list of approved supplements that can remain on the market and to ban all others.

Switching the focus

I’ll return to the flaws of the FDA in a moment, but it’s important to understand that Sen. McCain apparently has the intention with this bill of protecting us against steroid use by professional athletes. The DSSA is supported by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which is funded by major league baseball, football and other sports teams.

It appears that major league sports is attempting to shift the focus away from its shameless drug use by claiming some players were unknowingly exposed to steroids through supplements.

While that is preposterous and I, for the life of me, cannot understand why legislators need to interrogate athletes about illegal drug use when we’ve got two wars, economic disaster and a health care crisis to deal with, the upshot of the McCain bill is to dismantle the dietary supplements industry as we know it.

Who is the beneficiary?

Who would benefit from the dismantling of the dietary supplements industry? Not you and me, my friends. Plain and simple: The pharmaceutical industry will be the only beneficiaries of the McCain bill.

The FDA receives substantial funding from the pharmaceutical industry, so its interests are in protecting the funding source—pharmaceutical industry, not the American people.

The pharmaceutical industry is hostile to supplement companies because natural supplements can prevent diseases that are treated by drugs sold at enormous profits by these very same drug companies.

It’s not a very big leap of logic to the certainty that under the McCain bill, the FDA will be hostile to supplement companies and our access to dietary supplements, minerals and herbs will be severely curtailed.

Here’s where you can read the entire bill.

Contact Sen. McCain and say “NO”

I am very careful not to engage in political partisanship in these pages. However, I feel compelled to engage in political advocacy here for the benefit of every American.

Sen. McCain’s bill, if passed, will have far-reaching and potentially disastrous effects on preventive h ealth care and on eevery single one of us. All of us need to tell Mr. McCain right now that this bill is very misguided.

Contact Sen. McCain by e-mail or by calling (202) 224-2235.

Please contact him now and often until we are absolutely certain this bill is dead and buried.

Unprecedented shortages of dessicated or natural thyroid hormones like Armour thyroid and Nature-Throid are causing serious problems for patients with hypothyroidism.

Shortages of Armour thyroid have become fairly common in recent years, but the recent shortage of Nature-Throid indicates the pressure to take patients off the natural hormones that have been available for 100 years and force them onto synthetic thyroid hormones.

Minimum 90-day back order

Both Armour and RLC Labs, manufacturer of Nature-Throid and a similar formula called Westbrook, have announced that the most commonly used strengths of their products are on back order for at least 90 days and quite possibly considerably longer.

Is FDA forcing naturals off the market?

Thyroid patient advocate Mary Shoman has written on About.com that the FDA is attempting to force the manufacturers to go through a new drug application, a process that typically takes years and is patently absurd for a medication that has been in safe use for more than a century.

Dr. Hyla Cass, who works with many patients with hypothyoidism, suggests that patients shop around. She also suggests they consider taking a natural compounded T3/T4 formula.

Steve Metcalf, R.Ph., owner of my little compounding pharmacy in Brevard, NC, says he is unable to get dessicated thyroid in any form . He is currently using up the last of his supplies of tiny 1/4 grain tablets.

“We don’t know where this is going, but if you can find it anywhere, I suggest you buy a year’s supply or more,” he said.

Shomon writes, “Bottom line: at some point in the next several months, some patients will likely face a complete unavailability of all desiccated thyroid drugs, manufactured and compounded.”

Dessicated thyroid hormones are made from pork thyroids. Shomon reports that the raw materials supply has been interrupted and suggests that manufacturers may be abandoning their efforts to produce the hormones.

If you’re among the millions of Americans diagnosed with hypothyroidism, you know how difficult it is to get diagnosed and to find a hormone that works for you. To have the rug yanked out form under us is simply unacceptable.

Take action

You can make your feelings known to the FDA through its website, or by phone at: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332):

–Kathleen Barnes

Aug. 3, 2009

More and more studies are verifying the benefits of vitamin D for everyone at all stages of life and underscoring the premise that the majority of us are “D” deficient.

Recent contributions at both ends of life include a London School of Medicine study that adds to the evidence that higher vitamin D blood levels from supplements slow the aging process and the progress of age-related diseases.

There are several new studies on vitamin D and children. One of the most interesting shows that vitamin D deficiency appears to contribute to insulin resistance in obese African-American teenage girls. What’s more, increasing vitamin D levels can improve glucose tolerance, say researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

And according to a new Boston University study, vitamin D deficiency itself may be a contributor to the obesity epidemic among teenagers.

Mounting evidence for Vitamin D

There seems to be absolutely no question that most of us need more vitamin D and that getting sufficient amounts of the sunshine vitamin will provide protection against a host of deadly disease, perhaps even prolong your life.

I’ll be going into this information in greater detail in coming weeks as I prepare to publish a new book on the sunshine vitamin that is being kept in the dark. I promise you’ll learn everything about how vitamin D contributes to everything from healthy bones to a strong immune system to blood sugar balance and long life.

Get more sunshine

The message I want to convey today, here in the middle of summer, is how important sun exposure is to you vitamin D status.

The human body cannot manufacture vitamin D. It must get D from outside sources, and the sun is the best source. Best of all, it’s free!

You can get vitamin D from some foods and many foods, including dairy products, now have vitamin D added.

But why not get it from the sun when it’s so easy?

Ditch the sunscreen—for short exposures

The skin cancer scare has become a double-edged sward. While most light-skinned people need protection from long exposure to the sun, brief unprotected exposures will give you the vitamin D your body so desperately needs.

You don’t need a lot: Just go out for a 15-minute walk three times a week sans sunscreen. Be sure at least your face and arms are exposed and better yet, your legs, too.

Even if you’re very light-skinned, you won’t get burned in those brief exposures, but you will drink in that life-giving vitamin D.

Your body can store vitamin D or a certain period of time, so now in August you can store up your vitamin D against the winter when you’re not very enthusiastic about walking around coat-less and the sun’s rays are much weaker anyway.

Even if you’re really bulked up on your D levels, you’ll be running low by January or February. Low vitamin D levels have been shown to negatively affect mood, and that’s why many of us get the mid-winter blues. That’s nothing a week at the beach won’t cure, but if that’s not in your budget or work schedule, try some supplements.

Vitamin D supplements

All vitamin D supplements are not created equal. The natural form is vitamin D3 (cholecaliciferol), the type your body makes with sun exposure.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that vitamin D3 is the most powerful and most effective form of he vitamin, but, sadly, admits that most doctors prescribe formulations of vitamin D2 (ergocaliciferol), which has fewer beneficial effects and a shorter shelf life.

You’ll need to have your blood levels of vitamin D tested to determine if and how much of a supplement you should take. If you do, insist on a D3 formulation.

Better yet, get out there in the sun whenever you can.

–Kathleen Barnes

Turn Back Your Body’s Clock

by Kathleen Barnes

Imagine having all the energy you need to get through your busiest day – and then some. Imagine slipping into a form-fitting dress for a party and not having to worry about lumps and bulges. Imagine waking up in the morning feeling refreshed, alert, pain-free and happy to greet a new day and actually seeing a younger, brighter face in the mirror.

If it’s been years or even decades since you felt or looked that way, you’re not alone. But now animal studies presented to the National Academy of Sciences suggest a supplement combination can bring it all back, giving you the skin, the brain metabolism and the energy you haven’t enjoyed since your youth.

Speed weight loss and more

The supplements are acetyl l-carnitine (also known as Alcar) and alpha lipoic acid or ALA. They’re already well-known in the nutritional health community and they’ve been the subject of extensive human research that shows Alcar speeds weight loss and boosts the body’s ability to burn fat for energy and ALA is one of the most potent anti-oxidants and disease-fighters ever discovered.

But put them together, experts say, and they may literally turn back the hands of time by rejuvenating the mitochondria, the tiny “furnaces” inside of every cell in your body. Mitochondria provides 99% of the energy that keeps us alive and healthy, but over time, the little furnaces get damaged and burn fuel less efficiently, releasing free radicals, making us more likely to show signs of aging, disease and deterioration.

Boost energy

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley tried out the Fountain of Youth combo on aging rats: “With the two supplements together, these old rats got up and did the Macarena,” says UC cell biologist Bruce Ames, Ph.D., one of the nation’s most eminent scientists and chief researcher on the ALA/Alcar combo. “The brain looks better, they are full of energy. Everything we looked at looks like a young animal.”

Dr. Ames and his colleagues are in the early stages of human studies on the combo, but they say the signs are good that what works in animals also works on humans.

Try ALA and carnitine to:

Keep you going and going and going:

Dr. Ames’ conducted one small human study that showed half the older men who took the combo for just five weeks reported feeling better, with more vigor and a greater felling of well-being. His animal research shows that mammals lose approximately half of their mitochondrial function as they age, but taking the miracle combo for just a month boosted the mitochondrial activity by about 50%, increasing the distance they were able to walk and their speed of movement dramatically. He also found that old rats only moved about one-third as often as young ones, not because of pain or inability to move, but simply because their metabolisms had slowed down.

Again, the miracle combo to the rescue: In just a month, the animals doubled their activity levels. What’s happening, Dr. Ames theorizes, is a dramatic reduction in the mitochondria’s ability to produce free radicals, which cause the aging process and a host of age-related diseases including heart disease, cancer, arthritis and diabetes.

While Dr. Ames doesn’t claim to have discovered the Fountain of Youth, it may be the Fountain of Middle Age, he laughs. His animal studies were “the equivalent of making a 75- to 80-year-old person look and act middle-aged,” he says.

Sharpen your memory

Alcar has been proven to promote overall brain wellness and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease because of its powerhouse effects on the mitochondria. Now Dr. Ames’ animal research proves the miracle combo reduced the time required to do simple memory task by more than half and put the young rats and old rats on an almost equal mental level. Human studies are needed, says Dr. Ames, but these results suggest the aging process can actually be reversed.

Erase the signs of aging

ALA alone is considered one of the most effective skin smoothers you can take, says dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, M.D., author of The Wrinkle Cure, who calls ALA “the universal antioxidant.”

Research shows it helps pump up collagen, prevents sun damage and actually repairs the skin damage you’ve already sustained. Dr. Perricone’s research shows that ALA creams erased puffiness in just a day or two, shrank enlarged pores in as little as two weeks, almost completely erased fine lines around the eyes within as little as four weeks and decreased the depth of deep facial lines in as little as eight weeks.

While no research has been conducted on the effects of the ALA/Alcar combo on skin, researchers say each of the ingredients enhances the other for a “synergistic effect, so it stands to reason that this would work at least as well, or even better than either one of the ingredients alone.”

Improve fat-burning

Chinese research shows that l-carnitine promotes fat burning in a dramatic way: overweight young women who took one gram of carnitine a day for 12 weeks lost a whopping 11 pounds, compared those who simply ate a healthy diet and got moderate exercise!

“Carnitine is the forklift that takes fat to the fat incinerators in our cells called the mitochondria, where it’s magically transformed into energy,” says Boulder, CO carnitine researcher and nutritionist Robert Crayhon, M.S., author of The Carnitine Miracle. Alcar is an enhanced form (more biologically active) of l-carnitine, and, again, thought the combination has not yet been studied, researchers says the ALA helps burn glucose and Alcar helps burn fat, so the two together have extra impetus to help you lose weight.

What to take

You can buy ALA and Alcar separately at any health food store. Dr. Ames recommends going for a high quality supplement and taking 500 mg of Alcar and 200 mg of ALA twice a day.

Be sure you’re getting acetyl l-carnitine for the maximum benefits.

April 14, 2009

Americans are using more supplements and paying more careful attention to their health in this difficult economic climate, according to the April 20 issue of Time magazine.

Time surmises that the economic climate and fear of illness is driving sales of vitamins and other supplements that have risen 8 percent in the past year. The Vitamin Shoppe chain reports a 20% increase in sales.

All of us need to take supplements all of the time since our soils are so nutrient depleted that it is virtually impossible to get all the nutrients we need for optimum health. For several years now, the staid American Medical Association has recommended a multi-vitamin for every man, woman and child.

Supplementation should be a part of everyone’s wellness strategy.

Two facts explain the sorry state of our collective health:
* Most of us haven’t paid that close attention to our nutrient intakes;
* Three-quarters of us do not eat the minimum five servings of fruits and vegetables a day

If the loss of health insurance and the fear of illness in a declining economy are prompting more of us to take supplements to prevent illness, it is one positive sign during hard times that I can only hope will have lasting positive effects.

–Kathleen Barnes

March 5, 2009

Everyone suffers the occasional bout of anxiety, but for about 19 million of us – more women than men – it’s frequent enough to interfere with daily activities. Why are women more prone to anxiety? A new study from the American Psychological Association suggests it’s because estrogen lowers the level of an enzyme believed to regulate anxious thoughts.

But there’s no need to worry about worrying: whether you have the jitters over a new job or you’re nervous about money or anything else, nature has its own pharmacy of little-known, but well-proven herbal remedies that can calm you down in a hurry, including:

California poppy. Lab tests show it promotes relaxation during stressful situations and inhibits the production of the stress hormone adrenaline. French researcher found that people with high anxiety were able to reduce their anxiety symptoms by nearly 25% in as little as a week. That’s why Germany’s reputable Commission E has approved an herbal remedy that made primarily of the gentler non-narcotic cousin of the opium poppy to treat nervousness and anxiety. “California poppy helps improve mood by reducing monoamine oxidase (MAO) in the brain, in much the same way prescription anti-anxiety drugs do, without the side effects,” says Pacific Palisades, California natural physician Hyla Cass, M.D., my co-author for 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health: A Take Charge Plan for Women.

Your best dose: California poppy comes in a liquid extract form. Because of the varying strengths, it’s best to follow manufacturer’s directions.

5-HTP. Your body uses 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) to manufacture the brain chemical serotonin – and a serotonin boost has been shown to alleviate anxiety. It also has a unique way of helping boost your body’s natural production of the sleep hormone melatonin. “I love 5-HTP because no other drug restores your body’s natural production of serotonin, even prescription drugs that simply block the serotonin cycle, but don’t fix the problem,” says New York City nutrition scientist Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., author of The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book. Studies from the National Institutes of Health lengthened the time subjects spent in anxiety banishing REM sleep by about 25%, making a huge difference in their ability to awaken feeling rested and refreshed.

Take 50-100 milligrams one hour before bedtime. If that’s not enough, increase by 50 mg. a day until you reach a maximum of 300 mg. The effect is boosted by a vitamin B-complex supplement.

Passionflower. In a recent Middle Eastern study (EDS: from Iran), 32 people suffering from general anxiety disorder took passionflower liquid extract or the anti-anxiety drug oxazepam (Serax. Similar to Xanax and Klonopin). Passionflower actually worked better and with no side effects. Plus, French scientists found that a preparation that includes passionflower relieved anxiety in 43% of subjects after just four weeks. “Passionflower removes the anxiety and tension that prevents you from relaxing without making you feel drowsy,” says Dr. Cass, author of Natural Highs. Dr. Cass says passionflower works best when combined with other herbs and nutrients like GABA, L-theanine, hops and B-vitamins. You can find the perfect blend in Dr. Cass’ Calm formula, available at cassmd.com or by calling 800-362-2950.

Your best dose: 100 mg unless in a combination formula where you need only 1/10 the dose.

Rhodiola. This arctic herb actually changes the way your body reacts to stress, making you feel relaxed and upbeat, says Columbia University psychiatrist Richard Brown, M.D., author of Stop Depression Now. Russian animal studies showed that subjects exposed to extreme stress chilled out an improved their performance by an astounding 159% when they had rhodiola in their systems! “It works to give you a boost when you need one and calm you down when you need to calm down,” says Dr. Brown.

Your best dose: Take 100-300 milligrams daily. Dr. Cass’ Energy formula contains 100 mg per dose, along with two other adaptogenic herbs. The best standardized product is Rosavin, available at health food stores.

–Kathleen Barnes

http://www/kathleenbarnes.com

Over the years, I’ve noticed those little wrinkles at the corners of my eyes and around my mouth.

I can rationalize those eye crinkles as laugh lines, and they honestly don’t bother me too much.

But the wrinkles around my mouth are something else. I hate them. I think of the as smokers’ wrinkles. But I’ve never smoked. It’s not fair, but they’ve started. I decided to nip them in the bud.

I found a few things that help. I’ll tell you there is no magic answer. But here as some methods that have worked for me:

* Omega-3 fatty acids: We all need them and fish oil is great for heart and joint health. It’s also great for skin health. Be sure you get a good products. I particularly like PharmaOmega’s ultra-purified fish oil products because I can feel the difference in my energy levels when I’m taking them. They also have no fishy smell or belchback, a real plus for me since I really dislike the taste of fish. I also like krill oil products because the tiny crustaceans are harvested in unpolluted deep cold waters and they have a good source of the antioxidant astaxanthin.

* Vitamin C: This ubiquitous nutrient should be in your regular vitamin regimen for a number of reasons, not the least of which is increased skin health. That’s because vitamin C helps your body re-build its stores of collagen, the fibers that kinds together the connective tissues of your body, including the underlayers of your skin. Studies show that people who eat a diet low in vitamin C have significantly more wrinkling, so an orange a day . . keeps your skin smooth. Most of the studies used ascorbic acid, just one of the elements of the complex vitamin C molecule. While ascorbic acid is cheap and available everywhere, I prefer to get my vitamin C from food and from supplements formulated from vine-ripened fruits grown in mineral-rich soil. I’ve taken a whole food vitamin C product produced by Innate for a couple of years now and I’m haopy with its many benefits, including skin plumping.

* Emu oil: My first two recommendations are for internal remedies for wrinkles. But if you want a quick fix followed by a longer term solution, you can’t go wrong with ultra-rich emu oil is one of the best kept anti-aging secrets in the world because it helps plump up skin, reduce wrinkles and reduce the inflammation that causes puffy eyes and eye bags. Dremu is one of my favorite brands because of the variety of products that address a multitude of sins. There’s Deception, a smoothing cream that provides instant results by filing in those fine lines. Its secret is tiny nanoprisms that refract the light to eliminate the visible shadow created by a wrinkle. Deception is a great quick fix while you’re working on the longer term solution with Dremu oil, a thick luxurious oil you apply at night that also relieves itching and even softens calloused feet.

Having youthful skin isn’t all that difficult. Try one of these remedies. Better yet, try them all. Not only will your skin show remarkable changes, that glowing skin will truly reflect your inner health.

–Kathleen Barnes
Natural Living Now

http://www.kathleenbarnes.com

Olive leaf extract is a staple in my medicine cabinet all the time, but even more so during cold and flu season.

That’s because it’s a broad spectrum anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal compound that knocks out whatever is ailing you.

That means there’s no need to know if that cold caused by a virus is deteriorating into bronchitis caused by opportunistic bacteria that can move in after you’re weakened by the virus.

If you’re anything like my husband, who thinks he is about to die of pneumonia at the first sign of a scratchy throat, olive leaf extract can be immensely comforting, not to speak of exceptionally effective whether it is a cold, the flu or something more serious.

Oleuropein, one of the active ingredients in olive leaf extract, has been shown to search out and inactivate harmful bacteria. Unlike synthetic antibiotics, it leaves the good bacteria alone, so you don’t risk swinging into dysbiosis or unbalanced gut bacteria by taking it.

In fact, olive leaf extract is one of the most effective treatments for dysbiosis recommended by Dr. William Crook, author of The Yeast Connection and other books on yeast overgrowth.

Oiive leaf extract is increasingly being used in Europe instead of synthetic antibiotics.

Because it helps strengthen the immune system many practitioners recommend taking olive leaf for several months for optimal immune system strengthening effects.

Dr. Ray Sahelian recommends 1500 mg or more daily. You can find scientific sources for the benefits of olive leaf extract at his website.

There are no adverse side effects from olive leaf extract, although some people experience a rather unpleasant flu-like effect often called die-off or, more scientifically, Herzheimer’s reaction, caused by toxins released by microorganisms killed by the extract. This usually passes within a few days.

Olive leaf extract has also been shown to:
• reduce blood pressure and cholesterol
• reduce inflammation
• improve blood sugar control
• have antioxidant effects that slow the aging processes
• boost energy
• improve symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
• diminished herpes viral infections, including shingles

Olive leaf extract is available online and at nutrition outlets and health food stores everywhere. Be sure to get a product that is standardized to at least 15% oleuropein.

Although there are no known drug interaction or side effects, be sure to check with your health care professional before you use olive leaf extract or any other supplements.

—Kathleen Barnes
http:www/kathleenbarnes.com

by Dr. Robert Thompson, co-author, with Kathleen Barnes,

The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You (InTruth Press, 2008)

Are you overweight? Is someone you love overweight?

No doubt your doctor has told you to eat less and exercise more while discreetly adjusting a lab coat to cover a personal paunch. Take a good look. Is your doctor an example of good health? If not, maybe your doctor doesn’t have the answer.

You’ve struggled. You faithfully get up at 5 a.m. every day for a morning jog. You’ve tried Atkins, South Beach, Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. You gulp down chromium picolinate, 5-HTP, garcinia cambogia, hoodia, Alli and every fad supplement. You’ve probably had some success, but for almost all of us, the success is temporary. The weight begins to creep back on until you’ve regained all you lost and then some.

Why is that? Are we all weak-willed, unable to resist the temptation of the dinner plate? Is our willpower so lacking that we can’t even do the basic exercise of pushing away from the dinner table?

No! We are turning into a fat nation (Generation XL) because we are quite literally starving.
That’s right: In a time of unparalleled food wealth, we cannot get the nutrients our bodies need to function. Specifically, mineral deficiencies and imbalances, especially excess calcium intake, are leading us to metabolic failures of unprecedented proportions.

Starving for minerals

What are we starving for? Minerals. What are we stuffed with? Calcium.

Our society is obsessed with one of the most deadly medical myths ever perpetrated: That we need calcium in order to have strong bones. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our bones are made of a dozen or more minerals, and calcium is just one of them. We need all of these minerals in the proper proportions

Most of us get way too much calcium and nowhere near enough of the others minerals we need, not only for strong bones, but for our overall health.

Calcium hardens concrete

Did you know that construction workers actually use calcium to harden concrete? That explains a lot about the harmful effects of excess calcium in your body.
It’s a vicious circle: We are starving for the minerals we need, and so we are driven through cravings to eat more and more food in an effort to get those minerals into our cells where they are essential for literally trillions of metabolic functions.

But our foods are low in minerals because of our mineral-poor soil and because few are vine ripened. So we eat more and more.

Our metabolism is slowed because of calcium excess, adrenal suppression and thyroid hormone resistance (Type 2 hypothyroidism).

Digestion is impaired; stomach acid is deficient or improperly released.

Protein is not fully digested and essential amino acids are not absorbed.

Amino acids can’t make it into our cells due to sodium pump failure. More cravings are stimulated by amino acid deficiencies and resulting neurotransmitter deficiencies.

Downward spiral

It’s a terrible, uncontrollable, downward spiral. Since we all know the well-documented risks of being overweight, it all seems so sad to think that we are killing ourselves in a desperate struggle to get the nutrients we need to survive and all the while we are admonished to get our calcium, diet and exercise.

Here’s the answer in short: Get all the minerals you need with the liberal use of unrefined sea salt.

I’m here to tell you that if you exercise like a hamster on the wheel and eat nothing but lettuce for the rest of your life, it will cause no permanent changes unless you treat your underlying metabolic imbalances by balancing and raising your mineral levels.

All meaningful weight loss must involve treating the underlying metabolic problem. Only proper mineral balance in the body can do this.

You’ll find a more detailed explanation of the effects of excess calcium on your weight and a host of other health problems in The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You, my book written with health writer Kathleen Barnes. You’ll also find loads of material on our website, www.calciumlie.com.

–Dr. Robert Thompson is a physician practicing in Anchorage and Soldotna, Alaska.