Health & Nutrition Newsletter

Happy Holidays - Health Freedom Resources Special Message

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:21:00 GMT

We don’t want you to miss out; so we are sending this special email to you.

We really appreciate your dedication and support of our unique nutritional products; and wanted to let you know we wish you The Very Best of Health for the Holidays and the coming year.

And in keeping with that we are offering our customers a December Special for two of our most sought after products.

How about giving the Gift of Health this Holiday Season? People are always looking for that perfect gift that "keeps on giving". That gift is our nutritional health supplements or our health foods.

There are many to choose from: health supplements and health foods to health treats for your favorite people.

Our two products are Vital Nutrition Plus which can be ordered here and, an essential staple for everyone and always in demand, Intestinal Cleanse #1. Both of these products are on special for 10% off.

Want another gift idea?
How about some of our Organic/Wild-crafted Herbal products? We will give you one for no charge when you order 3 or more of any one product. So stock up for the Holidays and Protect Your Health as well as your friends and family going into the New Year.

For more information or to order click on:
Vital Nutrition Plus
Or
Intestinal Cleanse #1

Click here for our most popular Organic/Wild-crafted Herbal products and don’t forget when you order 3 your get an extra one at no charge.

We may run out of some products so order early.
These Holiday Specials are good through 28 December 2007.

Always Stay Happy and Healthy,
Health Freedom Resources

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The Challenge of Digestion ~ Health & Nutrition Newsletter

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:16:00 GMT


Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 107 Issue 10 B THE CHALLENGE OF DIGESTION	28 October 2007

Health Freedom Resources

www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com

An Introduction to Enzymes
Two Categories of Enzymes
What Happens Without Food Enzymes?
Enzyme Supplements and Your Body's Natural Enzymes
Experience a Boost in Digestive Your Ability and Health!

THE CHALLENGE OF DIGESTION

Have you ever felt tired after a meal? That's because digestion requires a large amount of energy. When any form of cooked or processed food is eaten, the body must supply all of the enzymes to digest that food. Fresh, uncooked food, however, contains the right amount of enzymes to help digest itself, demanding fewer pancreatic enzymes, and therefore less energy from the digestive tract. Eating a lot of cooked or processed foods can force your digestive organs to work overtime. Some common consequences of poor digestion are heartburn, gas, bloating, constipation, and sluggishness.

Recently, research scientists have found evidence that impaired digestion, as well as decreased enzyme activity in the blood, is directly related to the aging process and many of the illnesses and chronic degenerative conditions so prevalent in modern society. These studies suggest that as we age, the number of enzymes and their activity levels decrease.

An Introduction to Enzymes

About two centuries ago, as modern medicine was developing, the role of enzymes in metabolic processes was discovered. You may be asking, "What are enzymes?" Enzymes are proteins that are found in all living things, either within the cells or dissolved in the fluids surrounding all cells. As biological catalysts, enzymes reduce the amount of energy required for chemical reactions. Because of this, enzymes make it possible to control metabolic reactions which would otherwise either not take place under normal physiological conditions, or which would only take place very slowly. The body's entire metabolic process is based on the activation, inhibition, and control of enzymes. In this way, the incredible energy that creates and maintains all life comes from enzymes.

Two Categories of Enzymes

In the human body there are thousands of different enzymes. In fact, there are so many enzymes present in the body that enzyme activity cannot be separated from the process of life itself. Enzymes are involved in every single chemical reaction that occurs in the body.

Enzymes can be grouped into two main categories. The first category consists of metabolic enzymes, which are present in every cell, tissue, and organ in the body, and act as catalysts in the moment-to-moment functioning of living cells. They are responsible for keeping the body in proper balance by controlling virtually every chemical reaction associated with metabolism. Because of this, metabolic enzymes are the very basis of the life process.

The second category of enzymes is digestive enzymes. Examples of these digestive enzymes are protease, which digests protein; amylase, which digests starch; and lipase, which digests fat. You get your digestive enzymes from two sources: your body and your food. The body uses its own energy and resources to manufacture digestive enzymes. The salivary glands in the mouth, the gastric glands in the stomach, and specific cells in the pancreas secrete the enzymes that work to digest the proteins, fats, and sugars present in any food that is eaten.

The other source, food enzymes, come from raw foods such as fruits and vegetables. Most fresh-grown foods contain enough active enzymes to digest the proteins, starches, or fats found in that food. This makes digestion of these raw foods much easier for the body. For example, avocados and nuts have naturally occurring lipase or fat-digesting enzymes, while oats have a high amount of amylase, or starch-digesting enzymes. The contribution of food enzymes to the digestive process is extremely important and too often overlooked.

What does this mean? Enzymes are at the heart of two very important elements of life: metabolism and digestion. The enzymes found naturally in fresh raw foods help break those foods down, making digestion much easier for the body.

What Happens Without Food Enzymes?

A lack of food enzymes results in poor digestion, which can be the indirect cause of many health problems. The constant day-to-day stimulation of the immune system by unwanted unbroken-down food particles puts undue stress on the immune system and tires the whole body. This often explains the fatigue many people experience following a meal. Furthermore, some food particles can trigger the production of antibodies that may cross-react with proteins in the body, leading to autoimmune disorders. Putrefaction in the gut of undigested food may endanger the integrity of the intestinal wall, allowing various environmental toxins present in food to find their way into the blood and the body. In this way, unnecessary stress is created for our bodies because our cells have to work overtime to get rid of potentially harmful toxins.

When food is cooked or otherwise processed with heat, enzymes are destroyed and can no longer play their role in the process of predigestion. Under such conditions, food that passes into the intestine has not been properly predigested, and cannot be efficiently handled by the pancreatic enzymes.

These undigested particles may be harmful to health in two ways. First, they will become fuel for unfriendly intestinal bacteria, which can lead to intestinal fermentation, bloating, and discomfort (intestinal toxemia). But more importantly, undigested particles of food may cross the intestinal wall and reach the blood stream where they are identified as foreign substances by the immune system. When this happens, the body's immune system wastes precious defense resources on a "false alarm" rather than defending the body from true hazards. Such a phenomenon was identified nearly half a century ago and is referred to as food leucocytosis (which is a food-driven increase in white blood cells).

What does this mean? Digestion without the proper enzymes will eventually lead to an overloaded immune system, and cause the introduction of unwanted toxins into the body.

Enzyme Supplements and Your Body's Natural Enzymes

Whether or not food enzyme supplements are taken, the digestive system works to secrete more than two gallons of digestive enzymatic juice every single day. By adding a few hundred milligrams of natural food enzymes, you can initiate effective predigestion in the stomach so the small intestine and your own pancreatic enzymes can properly handle the food when it gets there. This predigestion phase is essential for the effective digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Actual digestion of food takes place when food particles contact the intestinal wall and are caught by the intestinal enzymes.

Supplemental digestive enzymes are taken to prepare the food so that it is in a suitable form for proper processing by the enzymes embedded in the wall of the intestine. Enzymes supplements can make the difference in predigestion so the body will be able to digest and absorb properly the food you eat. The enzyme supplements you take do not replace your body's naturally secreted enzymes. Supplemental enzymes are needed simply to replace the enzymes that are always destroyed by cooking and processing food. Also we tend to lose some of our enzyme-making ability as we age so supplements replace vital enzymes that may not be available. .In modern society, it is also common to eat when not really hungry, or to eat more than we really need when we eat socially or emotionally or from habit.

What does this mean? Taking food enzyme supplements will not destroy your body's natural digestive enzyme supply, but will give you vitaly needed catalysts for your digestion and health.

Experience a Boost in Digestive Your Ability and Health!

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We enjoy hearing from people! Feel free to call us or email us with your questions about health matters.
Office hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday - Friday. 727-443-7711
Address emails to ron@healthfree.com
Send us your experiences and testimonials!

Ron Radstrom, President
Health Freedom Resources

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Natural Sulfur: Our Most Ignored Nutrient

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:51:00 GMT


Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 107 Issue 10A Natural Sulfur: Our Most Ignored Nutrient	3 October 2007

Health Freedom Resources

www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com

Natural Sulfur is Our most Ignored Nutrient

Benefits of MSM as a Natural Remedy for Health Conditions

Nutritional Implications of MSM

Conditions which Have Favorably Responded to Oral MSM

Effects of MSM Dietary Supplements

Experience The Results for Yourself!

Natural Sulfur is Our most Ignored Nutrient

Sulfur is one of the minerals crucial to life. It is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is a basic component of the proteins that compose our organs and muscles. It is a co-factor of essential vitamins and enzymes. The well-being of our entire body is dependent upon it. Unfortunately, it has been the most ignored nutrient in nutritional science.

One of the reasons is that, although sulfur is very common, the body needs sulfur in the organic forms, such as MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) and sulfur containing amino acids. MSM and related compounds supply eighty five per cent of the sulfur found in living organisms. Diets that include fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, and meats could provide an adequate supply of MSM, but the foods must be eaten within 24 hours after harvesting because MSM is unstable and evaporates rapidly. Cooking, drying, storing, and processing also destroy MSM.This is why an essential mineral, even though it is abundantly present in foods naturally, is so woefully deficient in our bodies in modern society.

Benefits of MSM as a Natural Remedy for Health Conditions

Sulfur is critical to good joint health. Sulfur strengthens the tissues that make up the joint. Sulfur atoms form the bonds which link together the building blocks of joint cartilage, so it helps to maintain the structure of connective tissue. Cartilage integrity depends on having plenty of sulfur.

MSM has often been recommended as a safe and effective way to help with joint pain. Other products, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which are the most commonly used type for treating the pain of osteoarthritis, have been recently documented with adverse effects, and not all people can tolerate their long-term use well.

Stanley Jacob, M.D. did pioneering research on DMSO while at the University of Oregon Health Sciences University in the early 1960's. He discovered that DMSO, a strong smelling by-product of paper pulp mills with known anti-inflammatory properties, could be heated to produce pure MSM, an odorless, tasteless, water-soluble compound. He treated over 12,000 patients with significant doses of MSM for long periods of time without side effects. His published studies led to 16 patents on the beneficial uses of MSM, including improvements in skin, hair, nails, connective tissues, treatment of burn patients, arthritis, allergies, carpal tunnel syndrome, and gastrointestinal complaints, including constipation and intestinal parasites. Research documentation in test tubes and in lower animals showed that MSM lessens inflammation, reduces pain, improves blood supply, and decreases muscle spasms.

Due to the demand for MSM in all tissues of the body, deficiency produces a wide variety of symptoms and supplementation provides a broad spectrum of benefits with this remarkable nutrient. MSM nourishes the skin, hair, and nails by enhancing elasticity and repair of damaged collagen and elastin. With MSM supplementation, the skin has better tone, fewer wrinkles, and healthier appearance. Hair and nails become stronger and more resilient. Burns and scars heal more completely and are less unsightly. Many skin conditions improve, such as acne, eczema, and even long-standing psoriasis may resolve with MSM.

Allergy sufferers may notice a 75 to 100 % reduction in symptoms of inhaled allergies such as dust or animal dander. MSM stabilizes, strengthens, and softens cell membranes, allowing free flow of fluids to remove allergens and foreign proteins from the body. Mast cells also release histamine more readily and to a greater degree when more brittle. MSM helps raise the threshold before an allergic response is triggered. Food allergies improve also due to the stabilizing and healing effect on the intestinal tract and improvements have been noted in inflammatory and irritable bowel conditions as well as interstitial cystitis. Even environmental and chemical reactions diminish due to the detoxifying effect of MSM.

Nutritional implications of MSM

MSM, and many precursor compounds which are readily converted to MSM in the body, are found in most natural, unprocessed foods. However, because of its volatility, it is readily lost when fresh food is processed and/or stored. Unless the diet consists largely of fresh raw, unprocessed foods from the garden and field, it is unlikely that sufficient MSM will be ingested to contribute significantly to the daily nutritional sulfur requirement, thus furthering the high incidence of sulfur-deficient diets which exist globally.

Sulfur plays an indispensable role in human nutrition which is often overlooked. It is responsible for the structuring of body proteins through sulfide bonds, thereby holding connective tissue together. Sulfur-containing molecules are vital for the function of several body enzymes. To perform these roles, constant intake of assimilable sulfur is needed by the body.

Although MSM has not yet been established to be a vitamin, it does have a vitamin-like moderating or normalizing activity for various body functions. Also, excretion data show that MSM occurs in lower concentrations with increasing age. Too low a body concentration of MSM may potentially result in physical and psychological stress, tissue and organ malfunction, fatigue, and increased susceptibility to disease.

Conditions which Have Favorably Responded to Oral MSM:

ALLERGIC RESPONSES

Environmental Allergies: Subjects with chronic to severe allergies to environmental materials such as house dust, pollen, wool, animal hair, feathers, and other diverse allergens report substantial to complete relief of their allergy symptoms after successive daily doses of MSM varying from 50 to 1000 mg. per day. Allergy symptoms ranged from respiratory congestion to inflammation, itching, mucoid discharges, and general discomfort. Although MSM alone may not totally eliminate allergic responses, the majority of subjects report a significant reduction in concurrent anti-allergy medication required to keep their allergic symptoms to a minimum. Individuals with allergic asthma or hay fever typically report equivalent or better control of symptoms with one-quarter or less of the prior required level of medication.

GASTROINTESTINAL UPSET

MSM is effective in ameliorating gastrointestinal upset such as that produced by the ingestion of aspirin and other pharmaceuticals or parasitic infections. Individuals with gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, chronic constipation, nausea, hyperacidity and/or epigastric pain, or inflammation of mucous membranes experience dramatic relief through the oral administration of 500-1500 mg. of MSM daily.

PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS

Individuals presenting signs and symptoms of pain and inflammation associated with various musculoskeletal system disorders, including arthritis, reported substantial and long lasting relief while including from 100 to 5000 mg. of MSM in their daily diet. Most, trying first MSM alone, then a combination with ascorbic acid, reported greater benefit with the combination.

The use of MSM with ascorbic acid is particularly useful in correcting night leg cramps. MSM is capable of reducing the incidence of or entirely eliminating leg and back cramps, muscle spasms, and general soreness, particularly in geriatric patients who experience cramps at night or after long periods of inactivity. It is also effective for athletes who experience severe leg cramps during their sports activity. Migraine suffers have also obtained substantial relief at oral doses of 50-500 mg. MSM per day while arthritic patients report relief from pain and stiffness as well as reduced swelling and inflammation.

PARASITIC INFECTIONS

In vitro and in vivo tests suggest that MSM has ameliorating or curing activity against a variety of medically important parasitic, microbial, and fungal problems of the intestinal and urogenital tracts. MSM is active against Giardia lamblia (traveler=s diarrhea), Trichomonas vaginalis, Nematodes, Enterobius and other intestinal worms, systemic infections by Histoplasma capsulation, Coccidioides Toxo-plasm and other in vitro susceptible organisms. Effective doses have been in the range of 750-1500 mg. per day. MSM may affect such infections by competing for binding or receptor sites at the mucous membrane surface presenting a blocking interface between host and parasite. MSM appears to augment immunological competence which may also partly explain its effectiveness in treating parasitic infections.

Effects of MSM Dietary Supplements

Oral preparations of MSM have been found useful in the normalization of body functions in patients displaying physiological symptoms of stress, particularly those sources of stress which cause gastrointestinal upset, inflammation of mucous membranes, and allergic reactions. MSM ameliorates these symptoms thereby permitting more rapid recovery.

Dosage and Administration Considerations
A single dose of MSM is usually not effective in ameliorating symptoms. Thus, MSM is usually administered periodically throughout the day or on successive days, or both. Noticeable results are usually seen within 2 to 21 days. The amount of MSM in each dose is not critical. The usual individual dose is about 100-1000 mg., preferably 250-500 mg. Total daily dosages of 100-5000 mg., preferably 250-2000 mg. are usually employed.

Purified MSM can be administered orally in any convenient manner, such as ingesting crystalline MSM or dissolved in water. (1/8 rounded teaspoon of crystalline granules = 500 mg)

MSM is of exceedingly low toxicity to all forms of plant and animal life. Except for its beneficial effect on collagen and proteins whereby it reduces hardening of skin and connective tissue, MSM appears to be inert in tissues and body fluids. Because of its inertness, MSM is nonallergenic and has no interfering or undesirable pharmacological effects.

Note: MSM is a patented substance, protected by a number of U.S. Patents. The above material has been excerpted largely from these patents. These are referenced below, along with other relevant documentation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Baker, DH: Utilization of Isomers and analogs of amino acids and other sulfur-containing compounds. Progress Food Nutr Sci 1986;10:133-178. Herschler, RJ: Methylsulfonylmethane and methods of use. United States Patent 4,296,130; October 20, 1981. Herschler, RJ: Dietary and pharmaceutical uses of methylsulfonylmethane and compositions comprising it. United States Patent 4,514,421; April 30, 1985. Herschler, RJ: Methylsulfonylmethane in dietary products. United States Patent 4,616,039; October 7, 1986. Jacob, SW and Herschler RJ: Introductory remarks: Dimethylsulfoxide after twenty years. Ann NY Acad Sci 1983; 411: xiii-xvii. Pearson TW, Dawson HJ, and Lackey HE: Natural occurring levels of dimethylsulfoxide in selected fruits, vegetables, grains, and beverages. Am Chemical Soc 1981.

Experience The Results For Yourself !

If you are looking for the highest quality pure MSM, we have it.

Pure Crystalline MSM Granules - Supplying Natural Sulfur Needs
16 oz. Dissolves easily in water

Available now from Health Freedom Resources, continuing our tradition of providing the best possible ingredients for your superior health.

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We enjoy hearing from people! Feel free to call us or email us with your questions about health matters.
Office hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday - Friday. 727-443-7711
Address emails to ron@healthfree.com
Send us your experiences and testimonials!

Ron Radstrom, President
Health Freedom Resources

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Extraordinary New Research on Vitamin D

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:26:00 GMT

Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 107 Issue 9 A
Extraordinary New Research on VitaminD
9 September 2007

Health Freedom Resources

www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com

What Harvard Studies and Other Research Found

From the University of Michigan Health Service
From the American Heart Association
From Creighton University School of Medicine.

Vitamin D Basics

Food Sources of Vitamin D3

More about Vitamin D from Sunlight

Some Other Factors Influencing Vitamin D Production

How Much Vitamin D Do You Need? And What About Toxicity?

How to Be Safer - Minerals, Oils and Vitamin D

Our Recommendations

Extraordinary New Research about Vitamin D, The Most Powerful Health Preventative

We promised you a comprehensive article about Vitamin D, the powerful disease preventative.

It's been all over the media lately. The worst diseases of civilization - all the major degenerative diseases: cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, also multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis, the disease of women and the elderly, - all have something in common. They are in some way related to inappropriate calcium activity in the body. And they can be prevented by the same vitamin - Vitamin D, and it's free!

We've seen this over and over again recently in magazines, newsletters, the newspaper: Vitamin D can prevent the major degenerative diseases of our time: cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis, and possiblyalso atherosclerosis, the accumulation of cholesterol and fat in the walls of arteries.

What is this based on? Where did it come from? Here are some sources of the studies -

From the Harvard School of Public Health:

"A study of people admitted to a Boston hospital, for example, showed that 57% were deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D helps ensure that the body absorbs and retains calcium and phosphorus, both critical for building bone. Laboratory studies also show that vitamin D keeps cancer cells from growing and dividing.

"Some preliminary studies indicate that insufficient intake of vitamin D is associated with an increased risk of fractures, and that vitamin D supplementation may prevent them. Other early studies suggest an association between low vitamin D intake and increased risks of prostate, breast, colon, and other cancers."

From the University of Michigan Health Service:

"Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are finding this often ignored bone-building vitamin can play a significant role in the prevention of heart disease and the function of other critical body systems. And getting enough vitamin D in your system is as easy as getting a little bit of sun.

"Vitamin D is very important for our bodies, and we're finding out more all the time," says Robert Simpson, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology in the University of Michigan Medical School. "Vitamin D is now recognized to play a role in heart disease. We're finding vitamin D affects the heart's pumping ability and the heart cells' structure, and it's important for prevention of many of the symptoms in animals that humans with heart failure experience."

"Simpson hopes to take advantage of this new knowledge to discover useful drugs.

"Traditionally, the role of vitamin D, which we can get through direct sunlight, has been understood as helping the body absorb calcium and contributing to strong bones. Without enough vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft or misshapen, and deficits of D can cause rickets in children.

"Researchers now recognize that vitamin D does more than strengthen bones. It also affects immune function, the ability to make insulin, cancer cell growth, skeletal muscle and heart function." May, 2004

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From the American Heart Association's Asia Pacific Scientific Forum,

"Vitamin D gets an A+ for treating heart disease. Women over age 65 who took vitamin D had nearly one-third less risk of dying from heart disease as women who did not take the supplements, according to research presented today at the American Heart Association's Asia Pacific Scientific Forum meeting today.

"Low blood levels of certain forms of vitamin D have been associated with increased risk of heart attacks...," says Paul D. Varosy, M.D., a fellow in cardiology and medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

"The researchers studied 9,704 women ages 65 and older enrolled in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. ... During an average follow-up period of nearly 11 years, 420 of the women died of coronary heart disease. Women who used vitamin D supplements had 31 percent less risk of heart disease death than those who did not take the supplements."

"In short, the benefits we observed seemed due to vitamin D and not due to calcium," Varosy says. He says that vitamin D, which is both a hormone and a vitamin, is one of the most important regulators of calcium absorption in the body.

"Atherosclerosis, the accumulation of cholesterol and fat in the walls of arteries, is often associated with calcification, the buildup of the mineral calcium in the arteries.

" A lot of evidence suggests that calcification in the arteries is very similar to the calcification process that occurs in bone," he says.

Earlier studies had suggested that low blood levels of vitamin D might play a role in the calcification that may contribute to heart disease. In addition, co-author Warren S. Browner, M.D., was among the first to observe that women with osteoporosis are more likely to die of cardiovascular diseases than women without osteoporosis.

"In fact, women with osteoporosis tend to have more calcium in the walls of their arteries than women with normal bones," Varosy says. "There is still no clear explanation for the associations, but it is a promising area of research. It is possible that the same hormonal processes that lead to calcium loss from bones may somehow lead to accumulation of calcium in atherosclerotic plaques."

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From Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska:

"Most Americans and others are not taking enough vitamin D, a fact that may put them at significant risk for developing cancer, according to a landmark study conducted by Creighton University School of Medicine....The results of the study, conducted between 2000 and 2005, were reported in the June 8 online edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"The findings are very exciting. They confirm what a number of vitamin D proponents have suspected for some time but that, until now, have not been substantiated through clinical trial," said principal investigator Joan Lappe, Ph.D., R.N., Creighton professor of medicine and holder of the Criss/Beirne Endowed Chair in the School of Nursing. "Vitamin D is a critical tool in fighting cancer as well as many other diseases."

"Research participants were all 55 years and older and free of known cancers for at least 10 years prior to entering the Creighton study. Subjects were randomly assigned to take daily dosages of 1,400-1,500 mg supplemental calcium, 1,400-1,500 mg supplemental calcium plus 1,100 IU of vitamin D3, or placebos. National Institutes of Health funded the study.

"Over the course of four years, women in the calcium/vitamin D3 group experienced a 60 percent decrease in their cancer risk than the group taking placebos.

"In the three-year analysis, there was no ... significant difference in cancer incidence between participants taking placebos and those taking just calcium supplements." [Taking calcium alone did not prevent cancer.]

"There is a growing body of evidence that a higher intake of vitamin D may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of cancer, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.

"In addition, the latitude at which you live and your ancestry also influence your body's ability to convert sunlight into vitamin D. People with dark skin have more difficulty making the vitamin. Persons living at latitudes north of the 37th parallel -- Omaha is near the 41st parallel -- cannot get their vitamin D naturally during the winter months because of the sun's angle. Experts generally agree that the RDA** for vitamin D needs to be increased substantially, however there is debate about the amount. Supplements are available in two forms -- vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Creighton researchers recommend vitamin D3, because it is more active and thus more effective in humans."

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Vitamin D Basics

Vitamin D is actually a pre-cursor vitamin substance which forms in the human body when ultraviolet sunlight acts on cholesterol contained in oils on the skin. This first substance is carried by fats through the blood and converted by the liver, and then by kidneys, into a fully active hormone, calcitriol, which controls calcium utilization. Calcium controls innumerable processes in the human body including activities of the muscles, bones and glands, and also regulates the production of many enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the nerve and brain cells.

Vitamin D operates with a complex of nutritional factors and compounds, including vitamin C; hormones, collagen, and the minerals calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and flouride. It also helps raise blood concentrations calcium and phosphorus by stimulating their absorption from the gastrointestinal tract; withdrawing calcium from bones into the blood; and by stimulating the retention of calcium by the kidneys.

Dr. Michael Hollick, who discovered activated vitamin D, showed that other cells in the body can also make the conversion from vitamin to hormone, but that those cells use their active hormone themselves, and that it is only the kidney which makes enough of the hormone, calcitriol, to pass on to the rest of the body.

There are two main forms of the Vitamin D found in nature: Vitamin D2 and D3.
Vitamin D2, called ergocalciferol, is formed in yeast, fungi, and algae by action of sunlight. D2 is the form used in many supplements, and most prescription vitamins. Yeast or plants areirradiated with UV-B to produce ergocalciferol in the laboratory or factory.

Vitamin D3, called cholecalciferol, is the animal form, which is synthesized in human skin when light energy from ultraviolet B rays is absorbed by fats in the skin. Interesting that we, humans, as well as plants, can make a substance necessary for life from sunlight! It can be found in some over-the-counter supplements, usually derived from fish or other animal sources, and has a longer shelf life than the D2 supplement.

Once either form of the vitamin is in your body, it needs to be converted to the more active hormone form. Vitamin D3 is converted 500 percent faster than vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 is not as effective as D3 in maintaining blood concentrations of Vtamin D. Its metabolites bind with protein poorly, and it is more rapidly broken down in the body, forming metabolites not normally found when D3 is metabolized.

Standard multivitamin supplements supply 400 IU of vitamin D, considered a low-end amount. The catch is, the vitamin D may be either D2 or D3, and 400 IU of D2 is far less potent than the same amount of D3.

Vitamin D3 supplements are recognized to be 60 - 80 % more effective than Vitamin D2. To know if a supplement contains Vitamin D2 or D3, you must look for these names in the ingredients. D2 is called ergocalciferol, and D3 is called cholecalciferol.

So why isn't the Vitamin D3 form always used as a supplement?
A Pediatric Dietitian from the Children's National Medical Center wrote:
"We use ergocalciferol for practical reasons: ... To our knowledge, Cholecalciferol is not available as a single pharmacologic agent in U.S.; it can be ordered online in doses less than we would prescribe and will therefore not be covered by insurance. We do not feel it is appropriate to recommend a supplement to our patients that can not be found in a maintstream pharmacy as a prescription."

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More about VItamin D from Sunlight
Regarding natural production of Vitamin D from sunlight, UV-A and UV-B (refer to different wavelengths in the light spectrum) are two kinds of radiation in sunlight. . UV-A causes tanning. While both are responsible for aging of the skin, wrinkles, and sunburn, UV-B is the type mainly responsible for sunburn, and it is the only type of ray that produces Vitamin D in the body. UV-B light will convert cholesterol oils in the skin to Vitamin D before the skin turns pink or burns, so you need not and should not stay in the sun long enough to burn.

It is very difficult to judge how much Vitamin D will be synthesized by a person. The amount of Vitamin D produced in the body by sunshine varies considerably from location to location . Researchers say locations north of about 30 degrees north latitude do not get enough sunlight during 4-6 months of the year to produce adequate Vitamin D. Also, clouds, pollutants and glass windows block UV-B rays. Altitude affects the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches you too -- the higher up you are the more UV-B reaches you. The angle of the sun during different times of day also matters: in most of North America and all of Europe, UB-V rays are present in sufficient quantity between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm , so contrary to popular advice, the best time to be in the sun is around mid-day. You will not get enough UV-B in the early morning or later in the day to make Vitamin D.

Sunscreen blocks UB-V from penetrating the skin, so sunscreen prevents the production of Vitamin D.

However, UV-B does not penetrate very deeply into your skin. The darker the pigmentation or more tanned your skin, the less UV-B penetrates. Tanning protects the skin from penetration of UV-B rays. So people who are tanned can stay in the sun longer before burning - but they also must stay in the sun longer as they become darker in order to produce enough Vitamin D.

After the body has produced a quantity of Vitamin D, the UV rays begin to degrade any sxcess D synthesized on the skin. An equilibrium is reached and the body does not overproduce Vitamin D. Tanning is also a natural protection against too much Vitamin D production in the skin. So increasingly more is not better in terms of sun exposure - don't go for deep tans or burns; you just need enough.

Genetics accounts for some difference in Vitamin D synthesis, too. People who are naturally darker-skinned must get much more sunlight than lighter-skinned people in order to produce enough Vitamin D. This is a natural protection and balancing act of the human body:

Darker Skin = able to stay in sun longer and in more intense direct sunlight, like tropical areas, before UV-B penetrates = but must get more time in the sun to produce enough Vitamin D. Dark-skinned people living in northern areas (much of the USA and all of Europe) usually don't get enough UV-B. In Texas there has been an increase in the number of children with black and Hispanic parents suffering from rickets. Statistics show epidemic rates of prostrate cancer in black men in the USA which may be attributable to deficiency of sunlight/Vitamin D.
Lighter Skin = skin will produce Vitamin D more quickly = adapted to higher latitudes where sunlight is less available and UV-B is less because of the angle of sun = have to supplement during winter dark months. Peoples living in arctic lands traditionally ate Vitamin D-rich animal foods, such as fatty fish and the fresh livers of seals, polar bears, and other hunted animals, in order to get enough D in the long dark winters.

Occasional exposure of the face and hands to sunlight can provide 200-400 IU Vitamin D on pale skin on days when appropriate sunlight is available (midday during mid-April to August in locations above 30 degree latitude), but for most of us, this is an inadequate exposure, and a much larger skin area needs to be exposed to the sun. Almost all people in modern society have difficulty getting enough sunlight to make adequate Vitamin D because little time is spent outdoors, because sunscreen is used to block the skin, and because clothing covers most of the body much of the time.

Aging: The ability to produce Vitamin D in the skin decreases with age, and the kidneys become less able to convert vitamin D to its active hormone form.The elderly are also more likely to stay indoors or use sunscreen. In fact istitutionalized adults are at extremely high risk of vitamin D deficiency. The result is corresponding high risk of loss of bone strength, liabilty to falls, and lessened immune function, as well as increased risk of all the degenerative diseases related to Vitamin D deficiency.

A last point is that Vitamin D is the only nutrient that breast fed babies lack in sufficient quantity in their milk. Even if the mother has enough from sunshine and food, the baby will not receive enough through the milk, so it must also have exposure to sunlight. You might wonder why the most perfect food on the planet for humans, human breast milk, is "deficient" in vitamin D. The answer is that Vitamin D is NOT a vitamin but a steroid hormone precursor. Babies getting enough natural fat and enough sunshine will produce what they need right in their bodies.

If a baby is not exposed to sunshine, Vitamin D supplementation will be needed, The darker the skin of the baby the more sun exposure will be required for the baby to generate enough vitamin D. Less than optimal bone development and other problems will occur without adequate vitamin D. Typically parents are so concerned about calcium for proper bone growth and health, but in most cases the vitamin D is far more important.

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Some Other Factors Influencing VItamin D Production:

Vitamin D synthesized and activation requires fatty acids in the diet and in the body. Vitamin D cannot be utilized if there are no usable fatty acids on the skin or if there is an inadequate supply of fatty acids to carry it through the body. Vitamin D, whether from sunlight or food or supplements, cannot be absorbed or activated without fats. You must eat sufficient quantities of healthy fats to maintain an adequate supply of all of the fat-soluable vitamins your body needs, not just Vitamin D.

Also it is recommended that you do not shower right before or right after being in the sun as it washes away the oils that Vitamin D forms in. Wait at least a half hour to an hour afterwards, if you spend only a short time in the sun.

Certain medical conditions cause a reduction in the ability to absorb dietary fat, such as pancreatic enzyme deficiency, Crohn's disease, celiac sprue, cystic fibrosis, gall bladder disease, and liver disease, These impair Vitamin D synthesis.

Obesity is also associated with vitamin D deficiency. Since vitamin D is fat-soluble, it can be taken into fat cells and stored, making it less available in the body's metabolism. Vitamin D production may also be reduced in obese individuals. For example, in one study, when normal and obese subjects were exposed to the same amount of radiation from natural sunlight, obese subjects only produced 55% the amount of vitamin D as normal weight subjects.

Diseases that affect the parathyroid gland, liver and/or kidneys impair the synthesis of the active form of vitamin D. People with these diseases should not supplement wioth Vitamin D as severe problems could result.

There are also medications that affect vitamin D utlization, and information on these may be found in books and webpages on drug-nutrient interactions.

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Food Sources of Vitamin D3

The best source of food vitamin D is cold-water ocean fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, shrimp, and sardines. But not if not farm-raised - and you have to eat the fat in and under the skin or around tail and fins. Wild salmon and shrimp eat algae and plankton for their own source of Vitamin D. So skinless fillets or farm-raised salmon and shrimp which are fed with pellets will NOT increase your Vitamin D supply!

Cod liver oil is an excellent source of Vitamin D. Be sure to check for purity and rancidity (it tastes very fishy when rancid).

Egg yolks, codfish, beef liver also have smaller amounts of vitamin D. Grass-fed, pasture-fed animals have much higher levels of Vitamin D than grain-fed or soymeal-fed animals. Milk, cream and cheese from grass-fed, pasture-raised cows can provide a significant amount of Vitamin D. Grass-fed, pasture-raised chickens have deep orange yolks with much more Vitamin A & D than most chickens, even those so-called free-range chickens which are fed grains and meal in a dirt yard.

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How Much Vitamin D Do You Need? And What About Toxicity?

That is the 1,000 Dollar Question. The government has been recommending 400 I.U. of Vitamin D for years, so this is the amount put in fortified milk and multiple-vitamin supplements. But now many, many studies have found widespread deficiencies in our population, and that higher levels of Vitamin D are needed to prevent from major degenerative diseases.

A few years ago, doses as high as 4,000 I.U. were often recommended, based on therapeutic levels of Vitamin D used in short studies. The figure of 10,000 I.U. was even talked about, because that is the amount that sunlight can produce in 30 minutes in a healthy naked individual at noon in tropical Africa, the assumed birthplace of humankind. However, a couple of years later, after numbers of people experimented with these levels using supplements or a combination of sources, news of high toxicity came out.

The National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplementation on their website says this about Vitamin D toxicity:

"Vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, and weight loss . It can also raise blood levels of calcium, causing mental changes such as confusion. High blood levels of calcium also can cause heart rhythm abnormalities. Deposits of calcium and phosphate in the body's soft tissues such as the kidney, can also be caused by vitamin D toxicity.

"Sun exposure is unlikely to result in vitamin D toxicity. Diet is also unlikely to cause vitamin D toxicity, unless large amounts of cod liver oil are consumed. Vitamin D toxicity is much more likely to occur from high intakes of vitamin D in supplements.

The Office of Dietary Supplementation's low end recommendation of Daily Value for Vitamin D is 200 IU for children, 400 IU for adults and 600 IU for the elderly. But this Daily Value, is based on Recommended Daily Intake, RDI, that has an expection of satisfying only 50% of nutritional needs of people in each age group.

The National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplementation, recognizes the difficulty in determining how much active Vitamin D a person produces. Because there is such a wide variation in factors affecting it: location, season, time of day, weather, age, health, amount of skin color present from genetics or from tanning, they can't actually say how much Vitamin D anyone or any age group produces on average from sunlight . - - So they ignored that in their calculations! They base their "safe amount of supplement to take" on the idea that supplements are your ONLY source of Vitamin D - no other sources being counted - which isn't true for most people! So when they calculated the maximum amount Vitamin D supplement that is safe to take, they assumed that NO VITAMIN D WAS BEING MADE FROM SUNLIGHT AT ALL! With that in mind, here is what they came up with: " The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has set the tolerable upper intake level for vitamin D at 1,000 IU for infants up to 12 months of age and 2,000 IU for children, adults, pregnant, and lactating women ." Remember, this upper level of "safety" (to avoid toxicity) assumes the person is getting NO VITAMIN D FROM SUNLIGHT OR FOOD. So you must lower the amount of Vitamin D supplements according to what you are getting from sunlight and food. No way to know? Right! Get a blood test - the only reliable way to find out.

Are you starting to get the idea that it is nearly impossible to know accurately how much active Vitamin D you are actually producing? If so, you are right! The only reliable way currently to determine how much Vitamin D is active in the body is by blood test, which can be ordered by a medical doctor or a clinical nutritionist.

We feel it is so important to stress this point to you because we know trustworthy health consultants who experimented with higher doses of Vitamin D from sunlight plus foods plus supplementation and who suffered TOXICITY. Since Vitamin D is stored in the body fat, it takes time to reverse toxicity and any damage to the body.

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How to Be Safer - Minerals, Oils and Vitamin D

When people increase their Vitamin D to good functioning level, they run smack into the second greatest deficiencies of modern man: minerals and good fatty acids.

The active D hormone must use calcium and its partner magnesium, which many people are already not getting enough of. So deficiency diseases of calcium and magnesium are exacerbated by the increase of Vitamin D which requires use of those minerals! Also trace minerals are required, and the full complement of minerals that which are missing from our foods and poor modern soils. Most people in our society have mineral deficiencies, since we do not have the heavily mineralized soils and water which we once had.

So when you increase your Vitamin D to have well-functioning body, you must also increase your mineral intake by some means. Just taking supplements to improve your health can backfire, because you can often cause a deficiency of other nutrients that are needed to work together with the ones you are taking. Your body needs all the nutrients to work together to create good health. That is why we recommend to increase your nutrition as much as possible through pure whole properly grown foods - then supplement with whole food supplements when more of a boost to normal function is needed over a short period.

Good fatty acids are also needed in order to use VItamin D, a fat-soluable vitamin and hormone. Omega-3 fatty acids are the ones we are most. lacking. On the other hand, a deficiency of omega-6 is extremely rare in diets of those living in North America. In fact, we are eating far too much omega-6 fatty acids. Although some are essential, the ratio we eat is far out of balance: we eat several times too much omega-6 (vegetable oils, muscle meat fats) compared to omega-3s (fatty fish, real raw dairy, organ meats). A healthy diet should consist of roughly one omega-3 fatty acids to four omega-6 fatty acids. A typical American diet, however, tends to contain 11 to 30 times more omega-6 than omega-3 fatty acids. In tryng to stay away from adulterated meat and dairy, we have cut our sources of good omega-3 fats, so we are less able to utilize the fat-soluable vitamins and minerals - including Vitamin D!

Omega-3 oils reduce the tendency to sunburn. People who increase omega-3 oils can stay in the sun longer before burning, and can produce more Vitamin D. On the other hand, skin cancer has been largely related to the over abundance of omega-6 oils that we eat. When sunlight hits these fats it can convert them to cancer-causing molecules. And if one is not healthy, these cells then can develop into cancer.

In 2000, a study was done which was published and is available from the National Library of Health and National Institutes of Health, a comprehensive review showing that the omega-3:6 ratio was the key to preventing skin cancer development. From the study: "Epidemiological, experimental, and mechanistic data implicate omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids as stimulators and long-chain omega-3s as inhibitors of development and progression of a range of human cancers, including melanoma." The cancerous transformation doesn't happen with omega-3 fats. So, changing the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 oils in your diet is one the keys to preventing skin cancer. The best sources of omega-3 fat are fatty fish, cod liver oil, and grass- fed animal foods.

You may have heard of studies done of Swiss, Peruvian, Eskimo and South Sea Island peoples who lived far back away from modern civilization and its diets - and who enjoyed excellent health from their natural diets. These peoples all had much higher amounts than we do of Vitamin D through sunlight and/or fatty foods, including fish, coconut, grass-fed milk, cream, cheese and butter, and animal organs high in fats and fat-soluable vitamins. Good fats were essential parts of the primitive diet. Most also had heavily mineralized soils or waters, with much higher levels of calcium and other minerals. Traditional methods of food preparation preserved these nutrients and enhanced them with fermented plants or animal foods that added beneficial bacteria which also contributed to their incredible health.

Once last point: Traditional cultures, even earlier American culture, often used Cod liver oil for its rich Vitamin A and D content. These fat-soluable vitamins work together, and are often found together in foods (egg yolks is another example). But each has its own toxicity level. Add cod liver oil to your diets, especially in northern latitudes, but don't expect that to be your only source of Vitamin D. You should also seek Vitamin D from other natural sources like sunlight, and enough Omega-3 fatty acids and minerals to ensure your body has balanced nutrition to function properly. Use natural food sources whenever possible to get the natural co-factors.

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Our Recommendations

Sunlight Is Your Ideal Source of Vitamin D. Get more sunlight during the best time of day: around noon. Plan to go outside at lunchtime. Arrange exercise, gardening , walking, sunning, as many outdoor activities as you can that will get you outside in the sun. Get in the sun with as much skin exposure as possible for approx 20 to 40 minutes daily (or 3-6 times longer for pigmented skin), between at least the hours of 10 am and 2 pm.. Don't use sunscreen; buy a light cover-up to put over shoulders or other areas when you feel as though you might start to burn. Sunlight is very healthy for the endocrine system too; you need to allow your eyes to have some natural light as well. Enjoy the sunlight and extroverting space!

Continue to educate yourself: find out more about Vitamin D and your health. Read all of our article above again to understand the information. Read other articles and websites to keep yourself informed about research on Vitamin D. Check around when you find conflicting information and try to sort it out. (There is a lot of it on this subject!)
Find out when (seasons and time of day) UB-V rays are sufficient to penetrate the skin at your latitude. .
~For serious readers and researchers, read the original book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price, D.D.S. , the dentist who traveled the earth to find how people with perfect teeth and health lived and what they ate.
~You can look into this and other books on our website at Health Freeedom Resources Book Store.

Get more Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids through foods rich in these nutrients. Look for vegetable and clean animal foods with these healthy fats. Some suggestions are wild salmon and shrimp, grass-fed beef liver, raw milk and cream, pasture-raised chicken eggs. This may be a shock for some of you who are vegan/vegetarians. You will have to go where your conscience leads you, but research foods that will provide you abundant omega-3 fatty acids, as you need these.

~Find out if there are any locally-raised, caught, or grown sources of omega-3-rich, or vitamin D foods in your area. Look for markets, co-ops or groups that obtain these and also educate about them. Find out how to prepare foods that are high in good omega-3 oils, and how to use some of the traditional cooking methods to enhance nutrition:
~Read and use Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. by Sally Fallon
~You can look into this and other books on our website at Health Freeedom Resources Book Store

In northern latitudes, supplement with Cod liver oil and perhaps Vitamin D3, during the winter months- but be sure to test once or twice a year to monitor how much you actually need so that you do not take too much and become toxic. If you live in a sub-tropical area or have lots of summer sun exposure on your skin, it would be wise to avoid vitamin D supplementation unless you monitor your vitamin D blood level with blood tests to ensure you are not getting too much D.
.

Get More Minerals in Your Diet! Organically grown foods have higher mineral content then conventionally grown. However, in the United States the foods don't match those grown in better soils in other parts of the world. For example, Italy, has a much higher level of calcium in the soil and water. Try to find out where your food comes from and educate yourself to make good choices. Find local organic farms and markets with good, fresh food if possible.
To get an immediate boost and to complement other foods, you can increase your trace minerals with liquid plant-based minerals from Mineral Toddy. See information on mineral content here.
Very easy to take a capful in drinks: water, smoothies, juices. Best yet is that Mineral Toddy can be added to sautes, soups, salad dressings, sauces, vegetables, chili - in fact you can add Mineral Toddy to any pan of food and the taste will disappear, but it will make your meal taste five times better! The minerals make up for what is lacking in the food so the food tastes naturally better. The minerals do not cook away; they remain in the food. When our family was younger, the kids actually fought over who would get the last dishful of hot dogs and beans the first time Mom added Mineral Toddy to food. Everyone wanted it - their bodies were craving it, and Dad had to go to the store to buy another can of beans. We are a long way from that diet now, but we still add Mineral Toddy to foods.

For major minerals, we also offer a balanced calcium-magnesium CalMag, which dissolves instanly to make a soothing drink. Short-term supplementation can make you feel a lot better until you can get enough calcium and magnesium into your diet through foods.

Available now!

Mineral Toddy Liquid Plant-based Trace Minerals CalMag ~ Balanced Calcium-Magnesium in a Refreshing Instant Drink Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook
that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.
by Sally Fallon Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
by Dr. Weston A. Price

$14.95 $22.00 $25.00 $27.95

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We enjoy hearing from people! Feel free to call us or email us
with your questions about health matters.
Office hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday - Friday. 727-443-7711
Address emails to ron@healthfree.com
Send us your experiences and testimonials!

Ron Radstrom, President
Health Freedom Resources

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MSG - The Slow Poisoning of America

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:49:00 GMT

Public Awareness Announcement
MSG - The Slow Poisoning Of America
28 August 2007

Health Freedom Resources

www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com

Obesity Caused by Lab Scientists

So, Why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat?

History of Legislation on this Issue

MSG - The Slow Poisoning Of America

MSG Hides Behind 25+ Names, Such As 'Natural Flavoring ... MSG Is Also In Your Favorite Coffee Shops And Drive-Ups

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did a friend of mine, John Erb.

He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and spent years working for the government.

He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called "The Slow Poisoning of America".

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates; causing rats (and humans?) to become obese. They even have a title for the fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats".

I was shocked too. I went to my kitchen, checking the cupboards and the fridge. MSG was in everything: The Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low fat' ones.

The items that didn't have MSG marked on the product label had something called ''Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein'', which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate. It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who carefully read the ingredient list, so they don't catch on. (Other names for MSG: 'Accent' - 'Agino moto' - 'Natural Meet Tenderizer', etc) But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items had MSG.

Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere:

Burger King
McDonalds
Wendy's
Taco Bell

And every restaurant like: TGIF, Chili's, Applebee's and Denny's use MSG in abundance.

Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in EVERY chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG.

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So, why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat?

Is it a preservative or a vitamin?? Not according to my friend John. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called "The Slow Poisoning of America" he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body. http://www.spofamerica.com (This website is still there but does not seem to be up to date.).

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG at: http://www.msgfactscom/facts/msgfact12.html (out of date website) explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people EAT MORE OF THEIR PRODUCTS.

A study of the elderly showed that people eat more of the foods it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobby group says eating more benefits the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us? 'Betcha can't eat just one', takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight?

The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance! Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals, soups, snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat everyday. The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. How can they claim it safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these?

'The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity'. GobattoCA, Mello MA, Souza CT, Ribeiro IA.Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002.

'Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats'. Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug.

'Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk factors'. Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, IchikawaK, Shino hara N, Yoshinari Fujishima Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar.

'Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity'. Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct.

Yes, that last study was not a typo, it WAS written in 1978. Both the "medical research community" and "food manufacturers" have known about MSG's side effects for decades! Many more studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to Diabetes, Migraines and headaches, Autism, ADHD and even Alzheimer's. But what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see?

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History of Legislation on this Issue

"Even as you read this, G. W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a Bill through Congress called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill", this sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors. Even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods. Read about it for yourself at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_in_Food_Consumption_Act . The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before the media lets everyone know about 'MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food'."

"Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While sitting in the Government office, the official told him "Sure, I know how bad MSG is, I wouldn't touch the stuff." But this top level government official refused to tell the public what he knew."

"The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. The food producers and restaurants have been addicting us to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an addictive food additive. But what can I do about it?... I'm just one voice."

"What can I do to stop the poisoning of our children, while our governments are insuring financial protection for the industry that is poisoning us."

"This e-mail is going out to everyone I know in an attempt to tell you the truth that the corporate owned politicians and media won't tell you . The best way you can help to save yourself and your children from this drug-induced epidemic, is to forward this email to everyone. With any luck, it will circle the globe before politicians can pass the legislation protecting those who are poisoning us. The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on Nicotine?"

"If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us, and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine, at http://www.pubmed.com. Type in the words "MSG Obese" and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear."

"We the public, do not want to be rats in one giant experiment and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line, while waiting for the heart transplant, diabetic induced amputation, blindness or other obesity induced, life threatening disorders. With your help we can put an end to this poison. Do your part in sending this message out by word of mouth, e-mail or by distribution of this print-out to all your friends all over the world and stop this 'Slow Poisoning of Mankind' by the packaged food industry."

"Blowing the whistle on MSG is our responsibility, get the word out."

NOTE: THIS BILL DID NOT PASS IN THE US CONGRESS , thank goodness - and thanks to the public for being vigilant and alert! We consider the health information about MSG in this letter so significant that it should be known by everyone, and we are passing it along to you again now. And it doesn't hurt to know the history of legislation attempts either.
For your info it was known as H.R. 554: Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2005, and its purpose was stated as:
To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being usurped by civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity.
[Did you see the movie "SuperSize Me"?]
So this did not make it into federal law. But Wikipedia says many state legislatures are considering or have passed their own versions of the bill. You check your state laws to see if your state has implemented it.

You can still get the word out about MSG.
Awareness of, avoiding and rejecting foods served and sold with MSG is really our best recourse.
For the sake of your family and friends, for your children's health and yours, pass this message on again to educate others.

We enjoy hearing from people! Feel free to call us or email us with your questions about health matters.
Office hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday - Friday. 727-443-7711
Address emails to ron@healthfree.com
Send us your experiences and testimonials!

Ron Radstrom, President
Health Freedom Resources

Subscribe to Health & Nutrition Newsletter via email by entering your email address below:

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Vitamin D3 or D2?

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:52:00 GMT

Public Awareness Announcement
Vitamin D 3 or D2 ?
20 August 2007

Health Freedom Resources

www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com

VItamin D3 or D2 What's the Difference?

We received this email from a friend and wanted to pass it on to you. There is a lot of information recently in the news about the vital necessity of Vitamin D to prevent a score of major degenerative diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, MS, osteoprosis, even obesity. Research indicates higher blood levels are necessary for health so we probably need more than the 400 I.U. previously recommended, but some people can easily tolerate and respond to more, while others find it toxic even at low levels. So you need to know before you go. We plan to do a major newsletter about this issue with facts from the research, and exposing some misconceptions about what you need to do. For now, we want you to know this from Dr. Davis, M.D. as there is indeed a big difference in effectiveness between Vitamin D3, the active human form, and Vitamin D2:

"I am deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in heart disease. Hospitals, drug companies, medical device companies, and physicians all profit enormously from heart disease. Here I expose the startling array of scams that exist. I discuss how people can recognize them and potentially avoid them.

"It happened yet again.

"Mel came to the office. CT heart scan score: 799--quite high, enough to pose a real threat very soon. Thus, no time to lose in instituting an effective prevention program.

"We do the usual--identify the six causes of coronary plaque; begin fish oil, show him how to correct his plaque causes. You've heard it before.

"Vitamin D blood level in March: 17 ng/ml--severe deficiency.

"Vitamin D replacement needs to be a part of his coronary plaque control program. So I suggested 6000 units per day of an oil-based preparation of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Conveniently, there is a Vitamin Shoppe outlet across the street from my office. I just point and tell people to go across the street.

"Mel did just that. However, he also informed his primary care physician about his vitamin D deficiency. His primary physician promptly told him he needed to take a prescription form of vitamin D and not to bother with just a supplement.

"So Mel stopped his vitamin D capsules and started taking vitamin D prescription "medication." Mel figured, naturally, that if it requires a prescription, it must be better. Unfortunately, Mel and his doctor failed to pass the change in strategy onto us.

"So, four months later, Mel got repeat vitamin D blood level: 19 ng/ml.

"I've seen this too many times. The prescription form of vitamin D is nonsense. There's hardly any effect on blood levels of vitamin D3 at all. The body's conversion of this non-human form of D is extremely inefficient and therefore virtually useless. While it raises the blood level of vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and thereby total D (D3 + D2), there is negligible effect on the real human and active form, D3.

"How and why this preparation got through the FDA process to obtain approval as a drug is beyond me, though I am not a defender of FDA practices and politics.

"This notion that "if it's a prescription, it must be better" is a fiction perpetuated by the drug industry. The same principle gets tossed around with fish oil, hormones like estrogens and testosterone, and others. Often, the principal difference between prescription and non-prescription is patent protection. Patent protection provides profit protection. Selling a product without patent protection can be risky business. It's certainly less profitable.

"As always, getting at the truth is sometimes the most difficult job of all. Prescription vitamin D belongs in the garbage. Vitamin D capsules (gelcaps) do the job and do it well, over and over, with reliable, consistent and substantial rises in blood levels of 25-OH-vitamin D3.

"And nobody--nobody--pays me to say this. I say it because I believe it's true." ~ Dr. Davis, M.D.

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Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 107 Issue 9 A Extraordinary New Research on VitaminD	9 September 2007


Mineral Toddy Liquid Plant-based Trace Minerals	CalMag ~ Balanced Calcium-Magnesium in a Refreshing Instant Drink	Nourishing Traditions, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. by Sally Fallon	Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price
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