By Dr. Mercola

In 2011, it was estimated that nearly 1.6 million people would be diagnosed with cancer, and more than 570,000 would die of the disease.

With an epidemic such as this, virtually every safe preventive strategy available deserves attention.

But when a simple, and virtually free, strategy emerges that shows promise in reducing rates of not one, not two, but potentially dozens of different types of cancer, it needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

So open your ears — such a strategy does exist: Sun Exposure and Vitamin D!

Sunlight Protects Against Cancer by Stimulating the Production of Vitamin D

New research just in confirms that if you want to slash your risk of cancer, it’s essential that you spend adequate time in the sun or a safe tanning bed, or at the very least supplement with proper amounts of vitamin D3.

Specifically, researchers found that, consistently, the higher the solar UVB, the lower the incidence of 15 different types of cancer, including:

Bladder, Breast, Cervical, Colon Endometrail, Esophageal, Gastric, Lung, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Rectal, Renal, Vulvar, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

The review, based largely on three studies from the United States, one each from Australia, China, France, Japan, and Spain, and eight multi-country studies of cancer incidence rates that collectively examined more than 100 countries, concluded:

“The evidence for the UVB-vitamin D-cancer hypothesis is very strong in general and for many types of cancer in particular.”

Further, they noted that weaker evidence exists that solar UVB also leads to lower rates of cancer of the following types:

More Than 200 Studies Show Vitamin D Plays a Role in Cancer

Theories linking vitamin D to certain cancers have been tested and confirmed in more than 200 epidemiological studies, and understanding of its physiological basis stems from more than 2,500 laboratory studies, according to epidemiologist Cedric Garland, DrPH, professor of family and preventive medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Here are just a few highlights into some of the most noteworthy findings:

On a personal level, you can decrease your risk of cancer by MORE THAN HALF simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with sun exposure. And if you are being treated for cancer it is likely that higher blood levels—probably around 70-100 ng/ml—would be beneficial. Vitamin D’s protective effect against cancer appears to work in multiple ways, including:

What are You Waiting For? Why Not Start Optimizing Your Levels Now?

Many Americans simply are not getting enough vitamin D to even maintain healthy bones, much less getting enough to fight off diseases like cancer. There are two primary reasons for this, one being that many people are still worried that going out in the sun will lead to skin cancer. It’s important to understand, however, that the risk of skin cancer from the sun comes only from excessive exposure.

When used properly, sunlight exposure will help you prevent cancer.

To optimize your levels, you need to expose large portions of your skin to the appropriate amounts of sunlight. And, contrary to popular belief, the best time to be in the sun for vitamin D production is actually as near to solar noon as possible. During this time you need the shortest exposure time to produce vitamin D because UVB rays are most intense at this time. Plus, when the sun goes down toward the horizon, the UVB is filtered out much more than the dangerous UVA.

Just be cautious about the length of your exposure. You only need enough exposure to have your skin turn the lightest shade of pink. Once you reach this point your body will not make any additional vitamin D due to its self-regulating mechanism. Any additional exposure will only cause harm and damage to your skin.

Vitamin D from sun exposure or a safe tanning bed is the BEST way to optimize your vitamin D levels. Safe tanning beds have electronic ballasts rather than magnetic ballasts, which helps you avoid unnecessary exposure to health-harming EMF fields. They also have less of the dangerous UVA than sunlight, while unsafe ones have more UVA than sunlight. The second primary reason so many are vitamin-D-deficient, aside from lack of sun exposure, has to do with misinformation about supplementation.

If You Use a Vitamin D Supplement, You Need to Know This

First, let me repeat that sun exposure or the use of a safe tanning bed are the best options to optimize your vitamin D levels. You cannot overdose when getting your vitamin D from sun exposure, as your body has the ability to self-regulate and only make what it needs. If these options are not available, a supplement can be used, but keep the following in mind:

This range applies for everyone: children, adolescents, adults and seniors. Remember, unless you get a deep dark tan, which is a pretty good gauge that your vitamin D levels are where they need to be, it is wise to get your blood levels checked; that is the only way to know for certain you have reached therapeutic levels.

Given that optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the simplest and most profound steps you can take to improve and maintain your health, including helping you to prevent cancer, this is information that could, quite literally, save your life.

By Dr. Mercola

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The following is a written report from Professor Badawi. He joined Natural Road recently and asked us to post this info which he had written. It is long and a bit technical and you might wish to read the entire article. I have highlighted (by red and bold) a few salient points. The highlights are mine and not Professor Badawi’s. I also made a couple of notes in blue.

Prof.Abdelfattah Badawi

Applied Surfactant Laboratory, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.

General secretary for International Society of Therapeutic, Experimental and Clinical Research (Bastia, France)

Introduction:

Ascorbic Acid (AA) plays an important role in oxidative stress control. AA in combination with other nutrients promote normal metabolism and interact with each other to facilitate absorption within the body. Most cancer patients die with nutritional imbalances that are difficult to correct by dietary intake alone. (Kim’s note:  this indicates that we need to make sure our bodies do not become nutritionally imbalanced – end note). AA questionnaire together with specific laboratory panels can be implemented for cancer patients. These tools may serve in providing data to assess the patient’s AA oxidative stress and clinical status, and directing AA intervention to treatment-related complications. This may result in improved quality of life, decreased morbidity, and prolonged survival.

This review will provide an update of peer-reviewed scientific data related to the impact and outcome of orthomolecular AA on cancer therapy and prevention.

Orthomolecular Oncology:

There are a wide variety of mechanisms by which AA prevents and inhibits malignant growth. The collective evidence supports the notion of increasing AA intake in patients suffering malignancies, specially provided by i.v. route. AA may produce benefits in both prevention and treatment of cancer, by inhibiting malignant cell proliferation, and inducing differentiation. ⁽¹⁾

The ideal anticancer agent is obviously one that specially interferes with tumor growth, prolongs survival time, and improves quality of life. There is evidence that AA might fit this description. Based on this evidence it is suggested, the use of i.v. AA as advent therapy in cancer treatment. ⁽²⁾

Orthomolecular AA as Therapy for Human Cancer:

Mehdavi et al, ⁽³⁾ have determined the levels of oxidative stress, serum total antioxidants, and AA in a cohort of 57 cancer patients and 22 healthy participants. The level of oxidative stress was measured by malondialdehyde (end product of lipid peroxidation). Cancer patients as compared with controls, showed a significant increase in lipid peroxidation with a concomitant decrease in the antioxidant defence system. In addition, low serum levels of AA in spite of adequate daily intake may be because of increased use scavenging lipid peroxides as well as their sequestration by tumor cells.

The effect of chemotherapy alone versus a high dose of AA (6100mg/d) combined with vitamin E (1050mg/d) and B-carotine (60mg/d) in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indicated a potential benefit for AA. ⁽⁴⁾

Frei and Lawson reported the potential of AA as therapy for human cancer. ⁽⁵⁾ The authors are located at the Linus Pauling Institute and revitalized the interest in AA promoted by the investigations of Cameron and Noble prize Pauling that led to their conclusion “that treatment with AA in amounts of 10g/day or more is of real value in extending the life of patients with advanced cancer”. ⁽⁶⁾

Frei and Lawson stressed the high statistical significance of the positive effect of AA and stated that “a series of case reports indicated that high-dose AA was associated with long-term tumor regression in three patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, bladder carcinoma, or B cell lymphoma. ⁽⁷⁾

AA with Nutrient Mixture Inhibits Human Bladder and Adenocarcinoma cell Lines:

A nutrient mixture (NM) of AA, lysine, proline, arginine and green tea extract was reported to inhibits the human bladder cancer cells and the human T-24 adenocarcinoma line 760-0. ^(8,9) The invasion of both human cancer cells was totally inhibited by (NM) at 1000 microgram/ml (NM). (Kim’s note – Ascorbate combined with magnesium, calcium and sodum, lysine and proline and green tea are in the MORE and the Arginine is in the RAANOW. We should be taking all the products – end note).

Highly metastatic melanoma is resistant to existing therapies. The mice supplemented with NM not only showed less tumor growth in the spleen as the control mice, but also drastically reduced metastasis to the liver. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Strenthening of collagen and connective tissue can be achieved naturally through the synergistic effects of NM. This NM has exhibited a potent anticancer activity in vivo and in vitro in a low dosen cancer cell lines. Its anti-cancer effects include inhibition of metastasis tumor growth, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secretion, invasion, angiogenesis, and cell growth as well as induction of apoptosis. ⁽¹¹⁾

AA administered i.v. as Cancer Therapy:

The history of AA and cancer has been marked with controversy. Clinical studies evaluating AA in cancer outcome continue to the present day. However, the wealth of data suggesting that AA may be highly beneficial in addressing cancer-associated inflammation, particularly progression to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRO) and multi organ failure (MOF), has been largely overlooked. Patients with advanced cancer are generally deficient in AA. Once these patients develop septic symptoms, a further decrease in ascorbic acid levels occurs. Given the known role of ascorbate in: a) maintaining endothelial and suppression of inflammatory markers; b) protection from sepsis in animal models; and c) direct antineoplastic effects, we propose the use of ascorbate as an adjuvant to existing modalities in the treatment and prevention of cancer-associated sepsis. ⁽¹²⁾

AA and Vitamin K₃ as Cancer Therapy:

A combination of AA and a quinine was used as a supplemental treatment for an ovarian cancer patient. The combination may be administered before, during and after the patient undergoes a conventional cancer treatment protocol. The combination may be administered orally, intravenously, or intraperitoneally. Oral administration may be in the form of capsules containing a predetermined ratio of AA to Vitamin K₃. The supplemental treatment is effective to inhibit metastases of cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. The ratio the AA to Vitamin K₃ is in the range of about 50 to 1 to about 250 to 1. A method for evaluating the effectiveness of the supplemental treatment includes monitoring the patient’s serum DNase activity throughout the course of treatment. ⁽¹³⁾

AA and Metal Ions as Catalytic Therapy of Cancer:

In catalytic therapy (CT) most often the combination of AA, as a substrate, and phthalocyanine dyes containing transition metal ions, as catalysts, is used. Mechanisms underlying the antitumor action of CT are similar to X-ray therapy and Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) cancer treatments, in that CT’s actions are dependent on the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), which subsequently induces oxidative degradation of critical cellular molecules and organelles. ^(14-17) Compared to traditional chemotherapy and PDT, CT has the potential to become a preferred treatment for an array of diverse malignancies.

It has been found that a combination of cobalt or iron phthalocanine and sodium ascorbate has high antitumor activity. This system is highly effective, with a success rate similar to that of PDT. The effectiveness of CT has been demonstrated in in vitro experiments with porphyrin-like moieties (vitamin B12) and its derivatives, as catalysts, and with ascorbate as a substrate. ^(18-20) Several in vivo experiments with the same CT systems have also been reported. ^(21-24) A combination of teraphthal (cobalt (II) octa-4,5-carboxyphthalocyanine) and AA has been approved for Phase II clinical trials in Russia.⁽²⁵⁾ AA is currently considered the most suitable substrate for CT. It has been well recognized that some human tumors accumulate AA more than normal tissues do. It has also been demonstrated that AA may be a pre-drug for the formation of H₂O₂ in tumor cell. ⁽²⁶⁾ In addition, formation of H₂O₂ and OH^- by photosensitizers such as methylene blue, hematoporphyrin, and texaphyrines in the presence of AA and without light has been observed. ^(27,28) While PDT is limited to regions of the body accessible to light illumination, CT does not require light, thereby making it more flexible and adaptable for treatment of poorly accessible neoplasms. In cancer treatment, CT functions by various mechanisms including direct cell killing, damage to the tumor vasculature, and stimulation of inflammation and nonspecific or specific immune effector cells. ⁽²⁹⁾

AA in Cancer Prevention:

Breast Cancer: Plasma levels of AA were significantly lower while platelet levels were higher in a group of recently diagnosed breast cancer patients when compared to a matched group of controls. ⁽³⁰⁾ Epidemiological studies appear to point to ascorbate as a possible chemopreventive for breast cancer. In the Iowa Women’s Health Study, women who reported consuming at least 500mg AA daily has a relative risk of developing breast cancer of 0.79 (not statistically significant), compared with women who did not supplement with AA.⁽³¹⁾ Rohan et al., reported a small, statistically insignificant decrease in risks with AA consumption (as assessed by dietary reporting). ⁽³²⁾ In a Spanish study comparing AA intake among breast cancer patients and matched controls, the patients reported significantly lower intakes of dietary AA than controls. ⁽³³⁾

A meta-analysis of 12 studies and a number of different nutrients and their relationship to breast cancer found “AA intake has the most consistent and statistically significant inverse association with breast cancer risk. ⁽³⁴⁾ Verhoeven et al found no significant association between AA supplementation and decreased breast cancer risk. To make the claim as they did, however, that supplementation with AA does not confer protection from breast cancer, is erroneous since their “higher doses” were an average of 165.3mg daily. (The group was divided according to supplemental intake as reported on a questionnaire into quintiles with the average reported intake of AA daily ranged from 58.6mg in the lowest quintile to 165.3mg in the highest). ⁽³⁵⁾

Cervical Cancer: A Latin American study compared nutrient intake and dietary patterns of 748 cervical cancer patients with 1.411 controls. The result supported a protective affect of AA against invasive cervical cancer. Other researchers have found a similar inverse relationship between cervical neoplasia and dietary AA. ^(36,37) A review article examining a number of studies concluded that in many, but not all studies, an inverse relationship between AA status and risk for cervical dysplasia was observed. ⁽³⁸⁾

Colorectal Cancer: Colonic polyps are recognized as a frequent precursor to colorectal cancer. In a group of 36 patients with polyps, 19 received 3 grams AA daily and 17 received placebo. The researchers noted a decrease in polyp area after nine months of treatment with ascorbate but not placebo. In addition, a trend toward decrease in polyp number was noted. Other researchers have used antioxidants to prevent recurrence of polyps in patients who had undergone surgical removal of their polyps. Patients were divided into three groups receiving either lactulose, a combination of vitamins A, C, and E, or nothing. Among 209 patients, polyps recurred in 5.7 percent of those given the vitamins, in 14.7 percent of those receiving lactulose, and in 35.9 percent of the untreated control. ⁽³⁹⁾

An Australian study examining dietary habits and incidence of colorectal cancer found AA but not vitamin A to be protective. A similar study on patients of a major health plan in Los Angeles found a weak inverse relationship between supplemental and dietary AA and incidence of colorectal cancer. ⁽⁴⁰⁾

Cancer cells are the result of multiple genetic defects resulting from exposure to environmental, dietary and infectious agents. The dietary carcinogens such as N-nitroso compounds polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines are present in cured or spoiled foods and crude oil contaminated diet. The level of exposure of the cell DNA to those and other carcinogens depends largely on the general quality of diet, the presence of bioactivated dietary constituents, including antioxidant vitamins found in abundance in fruits and vegetable. In addition, normal cellular metabolizing enzymes which convert particular chemicals to more water-soluble compounds that can be excreted in the urine. ⁽⁴¹⁾

Oxidative stress induction by crude oil was indicated by increased lipid peroxidation and decrease in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. However, pre-treatment of the diet with AA and E exhibited a protective role on the toxic effect of crude oil. The order of protection was vitamin E + C > vitamin E > vitamin C. ⁽⁴²⁾

Humans are exposed to performed N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) and endogenous NOCs. Several NOCs are potential human carcinogens including N-nitrosodimethylamine (ND MA). There was a significant interaction between plasma AA concentration and dietary NDMA intake on cancer incidence. Plasma AA may modify the relation between NDMA exposure and cancer risk. ⁽⁴³⁾

By Prof. Abdelfattah Badawi

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This article is from Dr. Mercolas’ website.

According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and is a rapidly growing health threat for middle-aged women in particular. The most common type of stroke is called “ischemic stroke,” which results from an obstruction in a blood vessel supplying blood to your brain.

A number of factors are likely behind the surprising rise in strokes in women, including:

• Increasing rates of obesity (women’s waists have grown by nearly two inches in the last 10 years)
• Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of sun exposure. Sun avoidance also increases your risk of vitamin D sulfate deficiency, which may be an underlying cause of arterial plaque buildup (a risk factor for stroke)
• Rising prevalence of high blood sugar levels

Strokes Typically Occur Without ANY Warning

This is why prevention is so important. You simply will not have any warning signs indicating that you’re heading for a stroke in the future… And once you suffer a stroke, the damage, should you survive it, can be absolutely devastating.

I like to refer to most strokes as a brain attack, which is similar to a heart attack; the only difference is that the blood clot blocks blood flow to your brain instead of your heart. As a result, brain cells begin to die. Naturally, the longer your brain goes without oxygen, the greater your risk of lasting brain damage. This is one area where conventional emergency medicine excels, as there are emergency medications that can actually dissolve a blood clot that is blocking blood flow to your brain, and if done quickly enough can virtually reverse any permanent neurological damage.

In order to be effective, you typically need to get treated within one hour. This is clearly one of the miracles of modern science, however it all goes to waste if one does not address the underlying conditions after the stroke. However, if you notice any of these signs of stroke, you should get help right away:

• Sudden trouble walking (dizziness, loss of balance, etc.)
• Sudden confusion
• Sudden numbness or weakness (especially on one side of your body only)
• Sudden trouble seeing
• Sudden severe headache

To Prevent a Stroke, First Address Your Diet

Clearly, in the case of strokes (and most disease), prevention is your best option, and your diet plays a CRUCIAL role. (Later, I’ll also discuss other lifestyle choices that can have a very significant impact, such as vitamin D.)

A recent article featured by Yahoo Health lists five different foods that have been linked to an increased risk of stroke. I agree with three of the five mentioned, and will review those below. The other two, namely red meat and salt, need some clarification as not all meats and salts are created equal. The devil is in the details, as they say, and that’s definitely something to keep in mind before you banish all red meat and salt from your diet.

• Red meat—I believe it is a serious mistake to lump ALL red meats together, because the differences between meat raised in Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) and organically-raised, grass-fed meats are so vast, it’s like talking about two completely different foods.

Organic grass-fed beef is typically NOT associated with any of the ill health effects you see from CAFO beef, but very few researchers, let alone journalists, ever make this distinction. For more information about why grass-fed beef is actually good for you and will NOT promote disease the way CAFO beef does, please see this previous article.

• Salt—As for salt, you cannot compare the processed salt used in processed foods with natural, unrefined salt. So while I agree that steering clear of processed foods will help you reduce your stroke risk and improve your health in general, it’s important to understand that you don’t have to avoid ALL salt, just the processed kind (think regular table salt).

Unrefined natural salt on the other hand, such as Himalayan salt, is actually very important for a variety of biological processes, including helping the lining of your blood vessels to regulate blood pressure—clearly a beneficial effect, as opposed to a disease-promoting one. To learn more about the differences between processed and the natural

Trans-Fats: Known to Increase Stroke Risk

Any food containing trans fats should be avoided if you care about your health. This includes numerous processed foods, such as crackers, chips, most store-bought baked goods, and any fried foods, just to name a few examples. Trans fats are known to promote inflammation, which is a hallmark of most chronic and/or serious diseases; not just strokes and heart disease.

Women in particular would be well served to heed this advice as stroke rates are on the rise in middle-aged women, and poor dietary choices is likely a significant culprit.  In one study, released last year, post-menopausal women who consumed the most daily dietary trans fat had a 30 percent higher incidence of ischemic strokes.

Please also understand that nearly all health journalists and “experts” will also lump saturated fats into this category and that would be a major mistake, as saturated fats in appropriate quantities and not damaged by heat are actually health promoting.

Beware of Smoked and Processed Meats

Certain preservatives, such as sodium nitrate and nitrite found in smoked and processed meats have been shown to damage your blood vessels, which could increase your risk of stroke. Furthermore, nitrates are frequently converted into nitrosamines, which are also clearly associated with an increased risk of certain cancers. In the most recent review of more than 7,000 studies on diet and cancer, executed by The World Cancer Research Fund, the researchers concluded that no one should eat processed meats for this reason. Hot dogs, bacon, salami and other processed meats may also:

• Increase your risk of diabetes by 50 percent
• Lower your lung function
• Increase your risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

I recommend keeping these foods to a minimum in your diet, if you choose to eat them at all. And, if you are going to eat bacon, sausage, ham or any other processed meat product once in awhile, following these guidelines will at least help minimize any risk to your health:

• Choose organic meats that are grass-fed or free-range
• Look for “uncured” varieties that contain NO nitrates
• Choose varieties that say 100% beef, 100% chicken, etc. This is the only way to know that the meat is from a single species and does not include byproducts (like chicken skin or chicken fat)
• Avoid any meat that contains MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, artificial flavor or artificial color
• Ideally, purchase sausages and other processed meats from a small, local farmer who you can ask about the ingredients

Diet Soda May Dramatically Increase Your Stroke Risk

Earlier this year, research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference showed that people who drink just one diet soda a day may increase their risk of stroke by 48 percent!

According to the authors:

“This study suggests that diet soda is not an optimal substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages, and may be associated with a greater risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death than regular soda.”

While more research will likely be needed to confirm this potential link, there’s plenty of evidence showing that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose (Splenda) can be dangerous to your health. I believe aspartame is, by far, the most dangerous artificial sweetener on the market. Reports of adverse reactions to the US FDA also support this, as aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA.

How Vitamin D Deficiency Increases Your Stroke Risk

According to research presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, IL in November last year, low levels of vitamin D—the essential nutrient obtained from exposure to sunlight—doubles the risk of stroke in Caucasians.

Vitamin D is the only known substrate for a potent pleiotropic (meaning it produces multiple effects) repair and maintenance seco-steroid hormone that serves multiple gene-regulatory functions in your body. This is why the health benefits of vitamin D run the gamut from improved immune function to significantly reduced cancer risk, to improved mercury detoxification…

It essentially works as a “master key” to activate the DNA “library” within each cell in your body. This cellular DNA library contains information needed to address virtually every kind of stimulus the cell may encounter; hence the reason why vitamin D works in so many different tissues, and affects such a large number of different diseases and health conditions. So far, scientists have found about 3,000 genes that are upregulated by vitamin D.

Not only is vitamin D deficiency known to increase your risk of arterial stiffness, a major risk factor for stroke, but it can also:

• Increase your risk of diabetes by 50 percent
• Lower your lung function
• Increase your risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Other Stroke-Prevention Guidelines

It’s important to realize that the vast majority—up to 80 percent, according to the National Stroke Association—of strokes are preventable, so you have a lot of “say” in whether or not you’re going to become a statistic here.

So, besides avoiding processed foods (especially smoked and processed meats) and diet sodas, and making sure your vitamin D levels are within the therapeutic range, what else can help lower your stroke risk? Conventionally speaking, many of the same risk factors that increase your risk of heart disease also increase your risk of stroke, and these include factors like:

• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• High triglycerides and elevated homocysteine levels
• Low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Smoking

So, as with your heart, eating unprocessed, preferably organic, foods, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight will help to reduce your risk of stroke. Two additional risk factors that can have a direct impact on your stroke risk are:

• Psychological distress. According to a 2008 study published in the journal Neurology, the more stressed you are, the greater your risk. The researchers actually found that for every notch lower a person scored on their well-being scale, their risk of stroke increased by 11 percent. Not surprisingly, the relationship between psychological distress and stroke was most pronounced when the stroke was fatal.
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and birth control pills. If you’re on one of the hormonal birth control methods (whether it’s the pill, patch, vaginal ring or implant), it is important to understand that you are taking synthetic progesterone and synthetic estrogen — something that is clearly not advantageous if you want to maintain optimal health. These contraceptives contain the same synthetic hormones as those used in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which has well-documented risks, including an increased risk of blood clots, stroke, heart attack, and breast cancer.

Lastly, it may be worth mentioning that vitamin B3, or niacin, may help improve neurological function directly AFTER a stroke. When rats with ischemic stroke were given niacin, their brains showed growth of new blood vessels, and sprouting of nerve cells which greatly improved neurological outcome. While this likely needs to be studied further, it serves as yet another potent example of how nutrition is at the heart of all healing mechanisms in your body, even when it comes to something as serious as a stroke.

But the unquestionable treatment of choice for acute stroke rehabilitation would be hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Research has shown that HBOT helps your body produce and mobilize mesenchymal stem cells, which play a critical role in your body’s attempt to repair any injured tissues or cells. For more information, please review www.strokedoctor.com.

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Orthomolecular Nutrition is giving the body the right nutrients at a cellular level.  Orthomolecular is a term that comes from “ortho”, which is Greek for correct or right, and “molecule,” which is the simplest structure that displays the characteristics of a compound. So it literally means the “right molecule.” Orthomolecular Nutrition is the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of vitamins/minerals which are natural to the body.

So are we giving the body what it needs? No we are not.

As an example, many of you may have heard of Vit. D Deficiency.  I came across an article in the New York Times and the title was “Vitamin D Deficiency Called Major Health Risk”.   In the article it states that even children are having Vitamin D deficiency.  Some children are suffering from rickets, a bone disorder which is caused by Vit. D Deficiency. That is just one vitamin among the 28 vitamins/minerals that our bodies need on a daily basis.

What Orthomolecular Nutrition does is help the body to be able to protect it’s self against disease. If you eat non-processed whole foods and take all the vitamins/minerals your body needs on a daily basis then the body can repair itself. The body gets disease/illnesses largely because of lack of vitamins/minerals and unhealthy eating habits. It simply does not have the arsenal, the building blocks to keep itself healthy.

Add that to the toxins we are exposed to daily, and you get the picture. As an example, the skin is the largest organ on the body, so even putting hair dye or lotion on can be effecting one’s health.

So that’s why Orthomolecular Nutrition is important to implement in our lives.  My husband and I use Orthomolecular Nutrition every day.  We eat organic as much as possible and stay away from processed foods.  When we do eat out we eat at sit down restaurants –  not fast food restaurants. We also limit our sugar intake.

We also have found a good supply of vitamins/minerals. We get our vitamins through Advanced Scientific Health now called Ask Insider Doctors.

Learning about Orthomolecular Nutrition is easy.  There are many resources that you can find that cover the subject of Orthomolecular Nutrition and its benefits to improving health.

It’s easy to make the change, one simply needs to begin – and then stay with it.

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Life is not static and same goes for your body, it’s in constant change and motion.  We have to change our mindset if we want to keep our body healthy! One can’t have the idea of taking one vitamin or mineral to solve one health problem or take “one” multi-vitamin will be sufficient. It won’t. That is the same mindset that causes us to reach for an aspirin for a headache – rather than to look for the underlying problem. The underlying problem is usually a myriad of situations that the body has because it lacks the basic building materials to maintain health.

Orthomolecular Nutrition/Medicine is NOT a medicine in the traditional sense. It is called that because the results can seem like one is taking a medicine. Orthomolecular Nutrition is simply the science and action of giving the body what it needs so that the body can do its natural job of creating and maintaining health.

The body needs 28 different vitamins/minerals as well as many proteins, enzymes & amino acids. Only one of these vitamins can be produced by the body and that is Vitamin D. The rest needs to come from our foods.

It also takes time for the body to heal itself. So a quick fix does not work in Orthomolecular Nutrition. It takes a bit of time for the body time to heal itself and to rebound to its naturally healthy state. Expecting it to happen overnight is unrealistic. When one’s health begins to improve that is NOT the time to stop (as one would with traditional medicine). It is vital not to stop. Why stop a successful action.

Improving health takes energy and time. Understanding and confronting this is the only way to increase your odds of being healthy and feeling good and feeling energetic for LIFE.

Our food is not what it used to be. It lacks the nutrition that it once had. Additionally we cook it which reduces its nutritional value. Exceptions are what we can grow ourselves but, let’s face it, that is impractical for most of us. And even these foods lack all the essentials.

The only way to get all the vitamin/minerals our bodies need is from supplements.

The good news is that these can be inexpensively and easily obtained, if you know where to look. And taking the correct ones is essential. Just as you can’t build a brick home if you lack one single essential material (such as mortar) the body needs to have everything. Otherwise it has to make odd little adjustments, which begin to show up, over time, as chronic diseases and conditions.

We need all the orthomolecular components. These have been identified by Nobel Prize winning and other leading scientist. In order to stay healthy we need to be taking the correct supplements routinely – every day. The body needs to be resupplied constantly.

I have known people that started taking supplements to only stop when they felt better. That just won’t cut it – if one is looking for long term health. It is vital to keep taking them!

Oh, and as we age, these needs become greater.

Recreating and maintaining good health takes energy and time.

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So no one dies from vitamins, but standard medical community says they are unsafe. Yet 100,000 people die each year from prescription drugs! Below is from Orthomolecular.org.

Poison Control Statistics Prove Supplements’ Safety Yet Again

(OMNS Jan 5, 2011) There was not even one death caused by a dietary supplement in 2009, according to the most recent information collected by the U.S. National Poison Data System.

The new 200-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other vitamin.

Additionally, there were no deaths whatsoever from any amino acid, herb, or dietary mineral supplement.

Two people died from non-nutritional mineral poisoning, one from a sodium salt and one from an iron salt or iron. On page 1139, the AAPCC report specifically indicates that the iron fatality was not from a nutritional supplement. One other person is alleged to have died from an “Unknown Dietary Supplement or Homeopathic Agent.” This claim remains speculative, as no verification information was provided.

60 poison centers provide coast-to-coast data for the U.S. National Poison Data System, “one of the few real-time national surveillance systems in existence, providing a model public health surveillance system for all types of exposures, public health event identification, resilience response and situational awareness tracking.”

Over half of the U.S. population takes daily nutritional supplements. Even if each of those people took only one single tablet daily, that makes 155,000,000 individual doses per day, for a total of nearly 57 billion doses annually. Since many persons take more than just one vitamin or mineral tablet, actual consumption is considerably higher, and the safety of nutritional supplements is all the more remarkable.

If nutritional supplements are allegedly so “dangerous,” as the FDA and news media so often claim, then where are the bodies?

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