Tag Archives: natural approach for colds and the flu

Supplement with Vitamin D NOW!

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Several weeks ago, the local paper printed a story by the Associated Press that was entitled “Vitamin D deficiency widely overestimated, experts warn patients.”  This story was carried by most major news’ outlets at a time when supplementation for vitamin D is necessary in the northern latitudes.  The article was based on a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) by four scientists that were on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) food and nutrition board for vitamin D and calcium.  The IOM reported in 2010 that you only needed 600 to 800 IU per day of vitamin D from all sources whether you were a ten-pound baby or a three-hundred-pound adult.  What the NJEM paper and the news article fail to mention is that there was a statistical error found in the study and confirmed by several universities.  The real value should have been reported at over 7,000 IU per day of vitamin D3. Follow link to read about the error.

One of the researchers, JoAnn Manson of Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, is doing a study given 26,000 patients 2,000 IU per day.  She hopes to compare the study against statistics from the general population. The problem for Manson is that her study is extremely flawed because now most of the population knows that you need more than the 2,000 IU per day.  She wants to slow down the supplementation of the general population to validate her study.  The news article emphasizes “there’s an epidemic of needless testing and too many people taking too many pills for a deficiency that very few people truly have.”  If that is truly the case, then why is she doing the study at a higher level of supplementation?

It is amazing that the medical industry has been trying to keep the general population deficient of the vital hormone, vitamin D3, for a very long time.  The problem goes back to the 1940s when the US sued seventeen multinational corporations for conspiracy of price manipulation and not putting an adequate amount of vitamin D in over-the-counter supplements.  Why?  The original reason for this criminal act was about making money from discoveries that may not have been patentable. The withholding of the information has gone on so long now that the economy is at risk if everyone gets enough vitamin D to be healthy. Government action has now fallen in step with the medical industry because of the economy. Why has it been two years since the error was found and the public has not been notified?  How would an adequate amount of vitamin D affect the economy?  One medical practice gave their patients enough supplements to make the general population replete in critical nutrients.  Office visits went from four per patient per year to one visit per patient per year. Think how the patients’ health most have improved—think of the dollar loss to the medical practice.

So, what to believe?  People with light colored skin typically will make in twenty minutes, about 20,000 IU of vitamin D3, with mid-day sun exposure in the summertime with sixty percent of the skin exposed. People with dark skin may take 3 to 6 times longer.  Who are you going to believe, nature or the medical industry?  In the winter our immune systems become depressed because of reduction in the amount of vitamin D3 made from sun exposure. Colds and the flu increase and more people die from chronic disease. Let the researchers play their games while you protect your health with adequate vitamins and minerals.  It is time to have empathy for the health of the population based on science.

This winter you should supplement per twenty-five pounds of body weight per day with approximately: deficient-vits-and-mins

  • 1000 IU of vitamin D3
  • 100 mg of magnesium (not magnesium oxide as you do not absorb it)
  • 500 mg vitamin C
  • 5 mg zinc

If you weigh 175 pounds, the amount of supplementation of these nutrients in which we are deficient would be 7,000 IU of vitamin D3, 700 mg of magnesium, 3,500 mg of vitamin C, and 35 mg of zinc.  This of course is not the whole story of nutritional deficiency, but it would be a great start to get you through the winter.  –Pandemic Survivor

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How Mom and Dad Dealt with Flu and Colds

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Writing the last post about building the immune system to protect against viruses, made me think about how my parents used to protect our health with nutrition. Some would consider it a very drastic environment for a child growing up with hard work on the farm. It was a way of life that I hope we do not disrupt with new rules about farm labor. We toiled together every day and we got diseases together because close contact. We also had a wonderful life being in the great outdoors every day. Close contact with the earth, plants, and animals helped me to establish the value of life. To love and value life and not treat life as the last of priorities.

There were many forms of illness that were experienced during my childhood. We hardly ever went to a doctor. We only sought the aid of a doctor in case of a serious illness that could result in disability or death. Of course this was the way of life during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Yes, we got all the necessary vaccine requirements of the time. Small pox, polio, and tetanus were of main concern. There were always the diseases that we considered minor because the symptoms would disappear quickly from great nutrition provided by growing our own vegetables, fruit, meat, and grain. Let’s not forget the large amounts of fat from grass fed cow’s milk and meats and the unadulterated enzymes in skimmed milk that was not processed.

In the last post, I suggested that vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, other minerals, and folate are necessary for a strong immune system. So how did we get these important nutrients without science to guide us? It was through the understanding of long used remedies that had been passed along through centuries of farm life and trial and error.

It was the winter of 1959 that can best explain how this was accomplished. After Thanksgiving, the whole family had various forms of lung congestion and sinus issues that were brought on by unknown causes. Dad could not stand to see the ailments continue. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, he took off to find the remedies necessary to relieve us. When he returned he had only three things. A gallon of cod liver oil, a box of oranges, and three gallons of black strap molasses, sulfured, that was used to fortify cattle feed. We lined up every day to take our dose of cod liver oil, followed by a helping of the sulfured black strap molasses. We were encouraged to eat the sweet oranges. In less than a week, everyone was well.

The cod liver oil provided us with the needed vitamin D and vitamin A. I am sure that there were other unidentified nutrients to be found in this concentrate of fish liver oil. The oranges were a source of vitamin C as well as other helpful nutrients. In the concentrated remnants of the cooked-down molasses cane were the many minerals that were stored in the grass. The fortification of sulfur in the molasses was there to drive the many sulfate requirements for health. We also had huge amounts of turnip and collard greens. There it is, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin C, minerals, and folate. I am also sure that our normal diet with the many forms of fruit, vegetables, grains, and meats also contained all of the vitamin B and vitamin E that were required for health. This is truly the way of sustaining natural health during farm life.

Now, we are struggling to define what constitutes healthy forms of nutrients. With all of the processed food and the many enzymes and nutrients that have been removed, our only action to achieve health is to use drugs as dictated by societal norms. Get the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals every season to boost your immune system and to protect your health. – Pandemic Survivor.

RXr1