Baseline Supplements for Healthy Adults Wanting to Stay That Way

I too believe there is more than one basic reason for taking supplements:  One, to maintain health and decrease that low-grade inflammation that all of us has from general life stresses and exposures.  And two, when a body gets so out of balance that they need very specific support/supplements to help heal as Gary so nicely described.  It is worth every penny to get the highest quality supplements and compounded products! 

I was very encouraged to find out about ( I was unable to attend, however) a conference this past week where pharmacologists and nutritionists came together to discuss the advances in medical nutrition.  Such a positive happening!

Well, I wrote a blog at http://robinthomas.biz that just barely touches on this same idea.  I'll cut and paste it below: 

Pharma-Nutrition is on the Rise

“The interaction between pharmacology and nutrition science is on the rise. Nutritional status is considered one of the important determinants of health and disease and several diseases of our time have a clear link with lifestyle factors including the diet. There is also increasing realization that a continuum between health and disease often exists without strict boundaries. Understanding the subtle interactions between genes, environment and homeostatic processes is the key in finding effective ways to prevent, treat or manage disease. ” (1)

Scientists and physicians are finally beginning to understand the complexities of multifactorial diseases and the synergy between foods and drugs.  Just last week , 18-20 April 2011 the first Pharma-Nutrition conference was held in  Amsterdam where leaders in both pharmacology and food science communities met to discuss concepts and applications of medical nutrition.   Many conditions were discussed,  such as the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, neuro-inflammatory diseases and cancer which have required multi-targeting approaches including nutrition.  [ I would definitely include fibromyalgia here, too] The concept that nutritional products effectively contribute to the therapeutic regimen by improving the patient’s general condition or by reducing side-effects of drugs was integral to the conference.

Is it possible we are returning to the original intent of the Hippocratic Oath?

I certainly hope so.

 Healing Nutrition

Some physicians have already begun to practice nutritional medicine combined with allopathic therapies. One such physician, Dr. Ray Strand, is quickly becoming one of the world’s leading authorities on nutritional and preventative medicine.

Dr. Ray Strand promotes a concept in his medical practice that he calls cellular nutrition. The majority of nutritional studies in the past have evaluated only one nutrient at a time. For example, the study evaluated only vitamin C or vitamin E or selenium or calcium or alpha lipoic acid. This is just the way we do research. But nutrients are not drugs, and should not be evaluated in the same way as drugs. They really work together in a synergistic way.

For example, vitamin C can actually regenerate vitamin E so that it can be used over and over again. Alpha lipoic acid, another potent antioxidant, not only regenerates vitamin E, but also glutathione, which is a very potent intracellular antioxidant. These antioxidants also need the so-called antioxidant minerals like selenium, magnesium, zinc, and copper to do their jobs. In addition, they also need optimal levels of the B-cofactors in their enzymatic reactions to be effective.

When you provide all of these nutrients at these optimal levels in supplementation, you create synergy. In other words, one plus one is not two, but instead, eight or ten. Over time (usually 6 to 12 months), the body is able to totally replace any deficiencies and bring all the other supporting nutrients up to optimal levels. This will optimize the body’s natural antioxidant defense system, as well as supporting a strong, healthy immune system to protect our health.

If you are interested in learning more about the use of nutrition and supplementation for optimal health, I highly recommend Dr. Strand’s books Healthy for Life and Bionutrition. You can find more information about Dr. Strand and his books at http://raystrand.com.

References:

http://www.pharma-nutrition.com/

1. Eur J Pharmacol. 2011 Jan 25;651(1-3):1-8. Epub 2010 Nov 30. Pharma-nutrition interface: the gap is narrowing.  Georgiou NA, Garssen J, Witkamp RF. Danone Research, Centre for Specialised Nutrition, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

http://raystrand.com

Be Well,

Robin

Robin, thank you for posting this!  I want to be sure people captured the significant words in the two paragraphs you wrote:

Dr. Ray Strand promotes a concept in his medical practice that he calls cellular nutrition. The majority of nutritional studies in the past have evaluated only one nutrient at a time. For example, the study evaluated only vitamin C or vitamin E or selenium or calcium or alpha lipoic acid. This is just the way we do research. But nutrients are not drugs, and should not be evaluated in the same way as drugs. They really work together in a synergistic way.

For example, vitamin C can actually regenerate vitamin E so that it can be used over and over again. Alpha lipoic acid, another potent antioxidant, not only regenerates vitamin E, but also glutathione, which is a very potent intracellular antioxidant. These antioxidants also need the so-called antioxidant minerals like selenium, magnesium, zinc, and copper to do their jobs. In addition, they also need optimal levels of the B-cofactors in their enzymatic reactions to be effective.

This is MAJOR THINKING SHIFTING which this brings up.  There are so many foundational differences between the allopathic model and the 'progressive' model, as I like to simplify it to be called.  And this is not to discredit the 'cause / effect' model -- it was such a huge benefit to discover for instance that a bacterial causes infection, to use a classic example, then what to do --- 'antibiotic'.  One thing / leads to antoher and / is solved by one thing.  That is TO ME, one of the major paradigm shifts that is occurring right now with innovative thinking related to health and health care/ wellness (versus illness model). 

Love the collaboration too!  Thanks again, Robin! You're a wonderful educator and I so very much appricate your being part of the information stream here at Lumigrate, I believe it is helping many people with more to come! ~~ Mardy

 Here's the link to a topic I posted on Lumigrate.com in the 'gut' forum which, in my mind, fits on here.   www.lumigrate.com/forum/gastro-intestinal-terrain-liver-and-body-wide-detoxification