Why Supplement – a very very brief overview
29 August 2022
No Comments
by Ian Stewart Very very Brief indeed! What follows is a very brief overview on Nutrition and Supplementation to OPTIMISE – BODY | MIND | SPIRIT.
Time | OPTIMISE
The way of Nature
MIND | BODY | SPIRIT
OPTIMISE – MIND | BODY | SPIRIT
Purpose of SPACE energy
“Our Purpose is to Optimise – MIND | BODY | SPIRIT. This must begin with Optimisation of Nutrition and Nutrients, for it is these “essential-for-life” substances that will provide the raw materials to create strength of MIND and strength of BODY – and then it truly begins… – Ian & Scott
Nutrients & Disease
“Man is a food-dependent creature. If you don’t feed him, he will die.
If you feed him improperly, part of him will die.” – Emanuel Cheraskin
Over a 50 year period, from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, diseases that have affected humanity for centuries (e.g. night blindness, scurvy, beriberi, rickets, pellagra) were finally recognised to be caused by nutritional deficiencies in diet, and not as a result of pathogens as earlier thought. As Emanuel Cheraskin recognised more than 100 years ago, man is a food dependent creature – but not just any food – nutritious food or nutrients.
And yet today, little (if any) attention is being paid to the importance of nutrition or nutrients in the human diet.
Casimir Funk, credited with creating the vitamin concept in the year 1912, stated: “Diseases … were considered for years as either intoxication by food or as infectious diseases, and twenty years of experimental work were necessary to show that diseases that occur are caused by a deficiency of some essential substance in the food”. – Casimir Funk, PhD (1884 – 1967)
Nutrients*
1. Certain factors, called nutrients, are necessary for normal physiological function of animals, including humans. Some nutrients cannot be synthesised adequately by the host and must therefore be obtained from the external environment; these are referred to as dietary essential nutrients.
2. Diseases involving physiological dysfunction, often accompanied by morphological changes, can result from insufficient intakes of dietary essential nutrients.
Disease*
1. A disease is an interruption or perversion of function of any of the organs with characteristic signs and/or symptoms caused by specific biochemical and morphological changes.
2. Deficient intakes of essential nutrients can cause disease.
*Source: Gerald F. Combs, J. P. (2017). The Vitamins: Fundamental Aspects in Nutrition and Health (Vol. Fifth Edition). London: Elsevier.
Nutrient Deficiency
Deficient intakes of nutrients will cause illness and subsequent death
Virtually any prolonged total nutrient deficiency is fatal. The human body is dependent on food, water, sleep, and oxygen. Its internal chemistry is absolutely dependent on the nutrients obtained from these sources. And without adequate intake of nutrients, the body will sicken and it will die.
Nutrient Insufficiency
Inadequate intakes of many vitamins and minerals are recognised as contributing to several of the major chronic diseases that affect the populations of the industrialised nations. Often taking many years to manifest themselves, these disease outcomes should be thought of as long-latency deficiency diseases. . . Inadequate intakes of specific nutrients may produce more than one disease, may produce diseases by more than one mechanism, and may require several years for the consequent morbidity to be sufficiently evident to be clinically recognisable as disease. (Soure: Robert P Heaney, Long-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D)
The link between Nutrient insufficiency and disease has long been recognised by the Orthomolecular Society. More recently (circa 2012), Dr. Bruce Ames’ developed his Triage Theory of Longevity with vitamins & micronutrients and proposed that the body has developed a rationing response to shortages of nutrients. When the body runs low on nutrients, the body will prioritise essential for short-term survival body systems at the expense of body systems needed for long-term health, including those that protect DNA, leading to the diseases that are now being put down to being caused by ageing.
Nutrient Dependency
It has long been recognised by the pioneers of the Orthomolecular Society (see article: “Editorial, Vitamin Dependency”) that a long term insufficiency of nutrient(s) may lead to an exaggerated need or dependency for the nutrient(s). Dr Abram Hoffer observed some 70 years ago, when treating prisoners of world war 2, who had been subjected to severe malnutrition for up to 44 months of captivity, and had suffered from beriberi, scurvy, pellagra and many infections, that they required much higher doses of vitamins and minerals to recover, along with continuing maintenance doses, particularly niacin of 3000 milligrams per day for life.
The nutrient deficiencies suffered by prisoners of war were extreme, but relatively short in duration as compared to length of a persons normal life span. Would the biological impact of 50 years of nutritional insufficiency be equivalent to 2 – 4 years of extreme nutrient insufficiency or deficiency of the prisoners of war?
Nutrients & Toxins
We are being increasingly exposed to various toxins, both voluntarily and involuntarily. The list includes: alcohol, smoking, radiation, processed foods, flavour enhancers, sprays and chemicals , artificial foods, preservatives, pharmaceuticals and many others. These and other toxic substances are leading to overload on the body’s biological systems.
“Xenobiotics have been defined as chemicals to which an organism is exposed that are extrinsic to the normal metabolism of that organism. Without metabolism, many xenobiotics would reach toxic concentrations” (source pubmed: Metabolism of xenobiotics of human environments).
Detoxification is critical. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant (see article: Smokers scurvy: Orthomolecular Preventative Medicine in Cigarette Smoking – although this article focuses on smoking and scurvy, it also delves into how Vitamin C assists with other toxins). Additionally niacin provides detoxification benefits (see article: Niacin for Detoxification: A Little-known Therapeutic Use), as well as assist in repairing DNA damage from environmental toxins (see article: Niacin and Cancer – How vitamin B-3 protects and even helps repair your DNA).
Nutrients & Food
Generations ago our diet consisted of only whole natural foods, that were actually fresh and minimally processed – no refrigeration, no storage, no pasteurisation, no preservatives/flavour enhancers – no shelf life. Traditional indigenous diets, which would be very similar to ketogenic diets of today, contained liberal amounts of parts of animals such as internal organs, glands and other tissues, in addition to foraged wild fruits and vegetables. Carbohydrate loads in traditional diets were much lower than modern diets of today, particularly processed carbohydrates (white flour products). The health impacts of the modern western diet upon indigenous peoples has been devastating, as it continues to be for the health of the western peoples. (see article: Comparison of Traditional Indigenous Diet and Modern Industrial Diets and Their Link to Ascorbate Requirement and Status).
Our food has been nutritionally depleted and increasingly devitalised. Nearly 80% of our food supply is processed. Furthermore, we have been taught to focus on the taste and the aesthetics of food, and completely ignore its nutritional value. Our food has become so poor, that no matter how organically and fresh you eat, the nutrition may not be enough, particularly to overcome years of nutrient insufficiency, along with modern toxic exposure that many of us have suffered, and continue to suffer. “The basic rule is, the more we devitalise our food, the more intelligent we have to become [vitamin & mineral or micronutrient supplementation] to compensate for these changes.” (see article: Winds of Change)
Simple Logical Summary
A Lack of Nutrition/Nutrients and too many Toxins
1. We are absolutely dependent for life on certain factors – food, water, air and sleep. Without any single one of these, we will sicken and we will die very quickly.
2. A total lack of nutrients (Nutrient Deficiency) has long been known to cause many diseases and death quite quickly.
3. Simple logic therefore must dictate that an Insufficient intake of nutrients (Nutrient Insufficiency) will cause illness, will shorten life, and will lead to an early death.
4. Toxins in our environment or in any of the essential for life factors (food, water, air and sleep) will cause harm and must be dealt with by the body. If not, sickness and subsequent slow or fast death will result.
What to do about it
OPTIMISE – MIND | BODY | SPIRIT
1. We must optimise our nutrition – the food we eat. It must be fresh and vibrant and nutritionally complete.
2. We must minimise exposure to toxins as best we can – start with nutritious food.
3. Due to prolonged nutritional insufficiency, challenges in obtaining good quality nutritional food, and/or exposure to toxins, we require optimised levels of nutrients only obtainable through supplementation – Vitamins and Minerals. (see MUST READ article: Winds of Change)
4. We must develop the mental discipline to stick with the plan as it needs to be, as contained within this website, and founded on our own research of the facts. And most importantly – Seek the truth, know the truth, for this is the only way – Educate yourself, it’s your health