The End of Illness-Throw away your Vitamins Part 2.
Dr Argus suggests that Vitamin C could promote cancer! We agree with that as well which is why for the last 12 years we have never promoted high doses of Vitamin C. Our argument for not promoting high doses of Vitamin C is that there is credible evidence that in daily doses in excess of 500mgs that Vitamin C could become a pro-oxidant.
Of course there are those that argue the contrary but we tend to be conservative unless there is clear non contradictory evidence supporting a specific position.
There can however be exceptions to high doses of Vitamin C and that is in cases of serious illness where Vitamin C can be administered intravenously in large doses, often with remarkable results. This is a totally different action to oral Vitamin C.
He also mentions some negative studies on Vitamin E but does not tell his readers the reason why they were negative. You should never take Vitamin E on its own! Most Vitamin E supplements are made of alpha tocopherol which is only one component of the vitamin which is referred to as Vitamin E. You should only ingest a vitamin E supplement that contains not only tocopherols but also the rest of the vitamin E family…tocotrienols. Then you are getting as close to nature as possible. That is why we always use the full spectrum in our supplements. Unfortunately tocotrienols are still not commonly used even though we have been using them for almost 12 years…the reason, probably because of the high cost of tocotrienols.
Dr Argus’s case against vitamins and supplementation seem to revolve around these three vitamins… Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. This is a far cry from professional supplementation as practiced by many knowledgeable Doctors and other health professionals and as such is most misleading to readers of his book.
Agreed, it is still what the majority of consumers think about when they talk about supplementation. But, most informed consumers (still in the minority unfortunately) now understand that these three vitamins are only a small piece of the supplement puzzle which involves hundreds of nutrients, very few of which are used in isolation. The objective is to do the best to mimic nature, and that doesn’t come from mega doses of a few popular isolated vitamins.
Dr Argus goes on the lament the fact that the prescribing of vitamins used to be the preserve of the Doctors but that is now changed…and subtly suggests that this is wrong because those who are recommending them don’t know what they are doing. Sure, that is the case with some, but then there are a lot of Doctors who prescribe drugs without the faintest idea of the damage they are doing to their patients and they are conducting a trial and error process in which their patient is the ‘guinea pig’.
Dr Argus would have done well to explain why this situation has come about. It is quite simple really! The modern curriculum for Doctors has been hijacked by big corporate interests…pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical devices. As a result prevention of degenerative diseases is not taught in medical schools. Less than a day of the years that Doctors spend in their years of training is devoted to nutrition or prevention of illness.
So, how can Doctors prescribe vitamins, supplements or nutrients when they know nothing about them? Those Doctors who do know about them are the enlightened ones who have made the effort in their own time to learn about them…because they certainly weren’t given that information in medical school! Unfortunately they are still in the minority, but the situation is improving. There is a lot of corporate money invested in focusing on medical intervention! This money would be put at risk if Doctors were able to teach people how to avoid being sick in the first place.
The emphasis is on industrialising the medical industry and prescribing intervention measures to supress the symptoms by looking up the condition in the data base and relying on a diagnosis which is frequently wrong.
In that regard Dr Argus is on the right path when he preaches the path of prevention…but, he should do it without knocking the supplement industry whilst at the same time promoting the drug lobby.
He also jumps on the old bandwagon of claiming that the supplement industry is unregulated, which is total nonsense. There are tough regulations in place now and they have been for some years now. Of course there are irresponsible manufacturers out there but they are in the minority. Of more concern are marketers of some supplements who will make outrageous claims as they have nothing invested in the industry…no infrastructure, no factory etc, etc. They will make claims, sell a bunch of product and then move on and taint the industry in the process.
One should also keep in mind that the pharmaceutical companies are not lily white either…not just relating to claims but also manufacturing quality. Over the years I am aware of a number of factories that have been shut down by the FDA for poor hygienic practices…but, the media never makes a fuss about them.
So, what are my conclusions about this book that has enjoyed quite extensive coverage! I will tell you tomorrow in Part 3.
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