The introduction and conclusion were wonderful, and the general information about basic supplements.
Books such as 'Vita-Nutrient solution' and 'Orthomolecular medicine for everyone' had far more detailed information, and would be better choices for those new to the topic, but this book was still great. I really liked this doctors enthusiasm and explanations of the political problems and erronous belief systems that are holding back orthomolecular medicine from being mainstream, as it needs to be.
I'm not convinced however by the argument we all need to be almost vegetarian. This sort of diet just does not agree with me. It might if I could eat a lot of, or any, eggs, soy or dairy, but if you can't and you have a disease that means you deal with high carb foods very very poorly... I feel this advice is not helpful, or perhaps not detailed enough. None of the problems with eating dairy, wheat and nightshades such as postatoes are even mentioned, it's a strange omission.
But overall, I agree with the authors ideas about medicine and our responsibility for our own health very much. Supplements such as ubiquinol, carnitine and others have made a very significant difference to my quality of life. (I have the severe neurological disease Myalgic Encepahlomyelitis). I've found this book very helpful in writing a 'Quick start guide' to treating M.E. with supplements and vitamins.
Recommended, though not as a sole resource as it skims over how to treat many common diseases and the information given on each disease is very brief. It's just a good introductory text for those very interested in this topic. Having said that however, I did also find several very interesting facts in this book that were not even mentioned in the dozen or so other books I have read on this topic, such as the topical application of vitamin C in a paste to treat rashes and lesions.
Check your local library for a copy, at the very least.
Some parts of the book were so good I felt compelled to go to the (for me) enormous effort to type them up as quotes, to use in my 'Quick start guide.' I hope the author wont mind my reposting them here, they really to deserve to be read as widely as possible as they get right to the heart of the matter as it were, I think.
Quotes:
'In newspapers, magazines and on television, the public has been warned off the very vitamins and other supplements that have been repeatedly proven to reduce illness in practically every instance. The effective use of food supplements and natural diet saves money, pain and lives... and you have been told not to do it. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself. This especially includes your healthcare. One of the most common questions about vitamin therapy is, are huge doses safe? This book will help answer that question once and for all, and while we are at it, here's the answer in advance. Yes. Megadoses of vitamins are very safe. Vitamins do not cause even one death per year. Pharmaceutical drugs, taken as directed, cause over 100 000 deaths annually. Still it is granted that we need access to all the tools that medicine and technology can provide, when used with caution. We must also fully use our natural resources of therapeutic nutrition and vitamins. To limit ourselves to pharmaceutical medicine is like going into the ring to fight the champ with one hand tied behind our backs.'
'Most people's fear of self-care centres on three common fallacies.
1. You are not educated enough to treat yourself, that is what doctors are for
2. Natural therapies are not powerful enough to cure real diseases
3. Megavitamin therapy is dangerous
These are not facts, these are beliefs, and they are all unfounded. Jazz musician Eubie Blake said it best "It is not what we don't know that harms us, but what we do know that ain't so". If your doctor does not believe in using vitamins, not only is that doctor behind the times, that doctor is not being scientific. Therapeutic nutrition is not a matter of belief; it is a matter of confirmed clinical experience. Belief systems can be wrong.'
'Modern drug based medicine is as incomplete as a novel written with three vowels. As discordant as a symphony constructed using only some of the notes. High dose nutritional therapy is the much needed missing part of our vocabulary of healthcare. The fight against disease needs all the help it can get.'
'Modern medicine is not scientific, it is full of prejudice, illogic and susceptible to advertising. Doctors are not taught to reason, they are programmed to believe in whatever their medical schools teach them and the leading doctors tell them. Over the past 20 years the drug companies, with their enormous wealth, have taken medicine over and now control its research, what is taught and the information released to the public.' Abram Hoffer MD
'There are absolutely times when we need professional help, but we can act to greatly reduce the frequency of those times and far beyond what we have been told. Time in front of a computer screen can teach us a lot more than time in front of a movie screen. But hasn't health information on the internet been described as the mother lode of all quackery? Of course it has, but as you learned in kindergarten, calling names does not make it so. There is a practical alternative to blind trust, use your noodle and see for yourself. Be your own doctor; manage your own case, live healthier today.'
'Good nutrition and vitamins do not directly cure disease, the body does. You provide the raw materials and the inborn wisdom of your body makes the repairs. Someday healthcare without megavitamin therapy will be seen as we today see childbirth without sanitation or surgery without anaesthetic.'
'There is virtually no funding for pharmaceutical companies to fund vitamin research. Why is that? Because there is no money for them in a cheap, non-prescription cure which already exists and cannot be patented. For decades, nutritionists and dieticians have preached tat vitamin and mineral supplements are not needed if you just eat a balanced diet. It is a nice story, but it is only a story. Daily supplements are the only way Americans can possible get the 800 IU of vitamin e per day, the amount that prevents most cardiovascular disease. Daily supplements are the only way to get several thousands milligrams of vitamin C per day, the amount that is protective against many forms of cancer. Nutritional deficiency is the rule not the exception in America. It is simply not enough to keep cholesterol and saturated fat out of your diet, you have to put something good in.'
'When pharmaceuticals are versatile, they are called `broad spectrum' and `wonder drugs.' When vitamins are versatile, they are called `faddish' and `cures in search of a disease.' Such a double standard needs to be exposed and opposed at every turn. People often ask, `if vitamin therapy is so good, why hasn't my doctor told me about it?' I do not know the answer to that question. Quite frankly, over time, I have grown to be less and less fired-up about even wanting to know. Theer are too many sick people that need positive help.'
'Vitamin C is the world's best natural antibiotic, antiviral, antitoxin and antihistamine. This book's recurring emphasis on vitamin C might suggest that I am offering a song with only one verse. Not so. As English literature concentrates on Shakespeare, so orthomolecular (megavitamin) therapy concentrates on vitamin C. Let the greats be given their due. The importance of vitamin C cannot be overemphasised.'
