This week, I interviewed Andrew Saul, an authority on nutrition and vitamin therapy, and editor of the Orthomolecular Medical News Service. Saul believes the greatest medical dangers today are the epidemic of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, overuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and neglect of natural remedies. These, he says, will be the medical tsunami for our health-care system. So I asked Saul to elaborate on some of these pitfalls.
Saul immediately defended natural vitamin E.
He claimed that in the early 1960s, the U.S. postal service prosecuted people for mailing this vitamin. But now we know it鈥檚 essential for fighting cardiovascular disease. Doctors, he says, forget their physiology lessons, that vitamin E increases the amount of work the heart can do on less oxygen. This can relieve anginal pain. And along with magnesium, it helps with leg cramps.
When asked about vitamin D, he reiterated the prevalence of misconceptions. For instance, he said dermatologists give the wrong message about staying out of the sun and the use of sunblock.
Saul says we need 3,000 to 5,000 units of D daily for bone health, decreasing the risk of multiple sclerosis and improving our sense of balance as we age. Those who live in northern climates, we know, receive zero vitamin D during winter months.
Saul told a story about an elderly man whose doctor advised him that he could not make him younger. The man replied: 鈥淚 understand that, doctor, but what I want you to do is to make me older!鈥�
Saul believes that of all vitamins, C is the most important, as it performs so many functions, including fighting the nation鈥檚 No. 1 and No. 2 killers, heart disease and cancer.
He is frustrated, however, that in spite of all convincing evidence, the medical profession refuses to accept proven facts about vitamin C. Its first mistake is dosage. He claims no one has ever died from an overdose of C.
He says: 鈥淲e err when we only take what we think the body should require. We should take the amount of C our body says it needs.鈥� He quotes studies that show that in sufficient quantity, vitamin C contains antihistamine, antitoxin, antibiotic and especially antiviral properties.
There is no doubt that Saul practices what he preaches. His backyard has been largely converted into an organic vegetable garden that provides nutrition and exercise. He says that for a $40-per-year investment, a garden can provide thousands of dollars in fresh produce. He eats fish, but little meat.
What surprised me was when he said: 鈥淚 raised my children all the way into college without a single dose of any antibiotic.鈥�
Saul explained that if his children developed flu, he gave them high oral doses of vitamin C, which act as an excellent antiviral. The dose, divided all through the day, is continued until they develop loose stool.
Possibly Saul鈥檚 most damning comment relates to hospital deaths. He says studies show that hospitals are now the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
He recommends hospitalized patients have a relative or friend act as their personal 24-hour guard. And if you are taking high doses of C, demand that you be allowed to continue it while in hospital. If refused, bring in your lawyer!
I wish I鈥檇 had the books Saul has written while I was in medical school.
Saul鈥檚 website, doctoryourself.com, provides a tremendous amount of information on vitamin therapy.
On Facebook, he鈥檚 鈥渢hemegavitaminman.鈥�
Like Saul, I believe we are at a critical time in medical care. Of course we need medical advances, but not the nonsense of big pharma ads, and the questionable drugs that accompany them.
Good sense no longer prevails. A change is long overdue.
