by Royce Bailey M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.C.

We all know that nutritional deficiencies can cause hundreds of different illnesses. To stay healthy the body has an elaborate and complicated defense mechanism to protect it from all kinds of threats to our life. Every nutrient - vitamin, mineral or protein - is effective only when potentiated by other nutrients. These complex interactions are essential for the body to produce the estimated 10,000 compounds it requires to keep us healthy, active and happy. An example is the essential amino acid Methionine. Methionine cannot be metabolized in the absence of Vitamin A. Vitamin A cannot be absorbed without unsaturated fat. Zinc deficiency inhibits the release of Vitamin A stored in the liver. Calcium cannot be absorbed without Vitamin D. Magnesium is necessary to convert Vitamin D into a usable form. And that is just one chain of thousands of your body’s intricate interactions. Your body requires many different nutrients thousands of times a day for you to stay healthy and to prevent aging (rusting out).

Three healthy practices that I recommend for all my patients

1.    Water: Despite what you may have read or seen on TV you need more water to prevent aging. Your weight in kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2) equals the amount of water in ounces you need each day. This will keep your brain, kidney and joints hydrated. These organs are the first to suffer. This will keep your immune system at its peak. The Adventist Health Study has shown that by drinking at least 5 eight ounce glasses of water a day you will decrease your heart attack risk by 62 %.

Sea Captain Joseph Bates, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist church, on the day of his baptism, in 1826, started a Temperance Society called the "Cold Water Army." This Temperance Society attracted nearly three thousand youth who pledged to drink only pure, cold water.

2. Omega-3: Thousands of studies are clear that we don’t get enough Omega-3 in our diet. Its benefits include a strong anti-inflammatory effect that inhibits prostaglandin E2 (PE2). PE2 contributes to blood vessel inflammation and as been implicated in the formation of vulnerable arterial plaques that may rupture and cause death. Others anti-inflammatory processes which may be helped include: arthritis, cancer, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, peripheral neuropathy, psoriasis, cardiac dysrrhythmias (atrial and ventricular), PMS and depression to name a few.

Eat freshly ground flax seed two tablespoons full each day. Don’t grind a couple of days worth at once, because the oil is so unstable it will be rancid in a couple of hours if not readily consumed, even if kept in the refrigerator. Also found in walnuts, raw seeds, and fish oils.

3. Trace minerals: We’ve tilled our soil for 200 years and our fresh fruits in the winter come from other countries that have tilled their soil for 2000 years. Despite our best efforts to enrich the soil we are trace mineral lacking in our diet. A liquid trace mineral is absorbed best. Trace minerals are rocks and your trace mineral pills are rocks. You may absorb 5-20% of these rock pills. Please be sure you get enough magnesium too. An extra magnesium tab may be indicated if you have: muscle cramps, sweat a lot, thin bones, drink a lot of caffeine or have palpitations. If you are not a diabetic, a good way to get your trace minerals and lots of magnesium is by taking a tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses each day. It contains 1100 mg of magnesium/Tbsp but 40 gms of sugar/Tbsp too. Six almonds/day contain about 1000 mg of magnesium.

Other Healthy Recommendations

What do I recommend if you are not taking a general trace mineral? First, I don’t recommend a multivitamin unless you are malnourished and your Doctor has prescribed it for you. Multivitamins are a waste of money. Second, I don’t want you to go out and buy every one of these recommendations. I want you to research it!!!

Selenium: 200 mcg a day improves the immune system surveillance ability. It has been shown to prevent and reduce cancers (Lung by 39%, Colon and Prostate by 50%). Selenium has been shown to stabilize active heart disease. Whole areas in China are deficient in selenium and have a reversible enlargement of the heart (cardiomyopathy).

Vitamin C: Eat at least nine pieces of fruit or vegetable a day. This will lower your blood pressure and reduce your heart disease risk. Take 5000 mg for two days prior to your dental appointment.

Zinc: 15 to 50 mg a day. Zinc is required for activation of the immune system. If you have any skin, stomach, lung, bowel or prostate trouble you should be taking extra Zinc. Yes, it will shorten your cold symptoms (in adults only-doesn’t work for children’s colds). Zinc is high in grains and seeds.

Co-Enzyme Q10: 100-300 mg a day. CoEnzQ10 is incorporated into the mitochondria "energy powerhouse" of all cells where it facilitates and regulates the oxidation of fats and sugars into energy. As we grow older, our natural production of CoEnzQ10 declines by 50%. CoEnzQ10 is best absorbed when taken with a fatty meal. It is essential that you take CoEnzQ10 if you are taking a cholesterol lowering Statin drug: to prevent muscle damage, have heart failure or have a cardiomyopathy.

Chromium: 200 mcg with each meal for weight loss, prevention of hypoglycemia and chocolate/sweets cravings. I’ve seen chromium cut up to 60 blood sugar points off a diabetic’s high sugar readings. High in nutritional yeast, seeds and grains.

B-complex: Should be gotten from your food sources but many people need extra if they have stress, depression, hyperactivity, heart disease, or are on folate depleting drugs like methotrexate. B complex is needed for brain health and to repair damage to your DNA that may lead to cancer. It helps break down homocysteine, a substance in the blood that is more toxic to the blood vessel lining than cholesterol. Homocysteine causes an accelerated reduction in the length of telomeres every time a cell doubles. Telomeres appear at the tips of chromosomes, and are required for healthy cell division. Once telomeres are depleted, cells stop dividing and death of the organism occurs. When your folic acid and B12 levels are high in the body you are less likely to have strokes, heart attacks and Alzheimer’s disease. Niacin (B3) decreases LDL bad cholesterol and triglycerides and increases good HDL cholesterol.

Carotenoids: Beta carotenes were not found to be of any help in the pill form. They are found in colorful fruits and vegetables. They contain lutein and lycopene. These antioxidants protect the plant against free radical damage. They do the same for your body. Eat 50% of your food raw.

"A wrong course of eating or drinking destroys health, and with it the sweetness of life. Oh, how many times has a good meal, as it is called, been purchased at the expense of sleep and quiet rest. Thousands, by indulging a perverted appetite, have brought on fever or some other acute disease, which has resulted in death. That was enjoyment purchased at an immense cost.” Written in 1890. White, E.G.,“Counsels on Health,” Pacific Press, 1951:117-118.

References:

Lewis Laboratories, Southport, CT, www.lewis-labs.com

Chan,J.,”Water May Prevent Heart Attacks,” Am J Epidem, March 2002; Vol.155, No.9.

Homocysteine, FEBS Letters, 2000; 470: 20-24.

CoEnzQ10, www.lef.org, Feb. 2002.