B12 supplementation

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thought I'd cross-post some comments I wrote on another forum a few months ago

about supplementation. Apologies for the double post last night, not sure how

that

happened.

 

There are so many reasons why supplementation doesn't work that it's hard to

know where to start. A regimen of supplementation usually begins with the test

to determine

whether one is " deficient " . As we know, the tests don't work. Not only are they

NOT based on any true knowledge about how much of any given nutrient should be

in our

bodies at any given time (NOBODY has this information!), but they don't take

into account the fact that the levels of nutrients in our bodies fluctuate

constantly due to

external and internal factors. In addition, substances that are found in our

bloodstream could be things that the body needs and uses, or they could be

things that are

being eliminated. Everything we ingest enters our bloodstream and everything

that needs to be eliminated re-enters it as well, so it always contains both

nutrients and

waste products. When we attempt to measure levels of any substance in our

bloodstreams, how are we to know what we're measuring is actually being used, or

on its way

out? It is another folly of the medical world to believe that we can test our

blood, determine what's missing (by some arbitrary standard) and then attempt to

replace it

with extracted, isolated nutrients. Our knowledge about how phytonutrients work

together is very limited, but we do know that they all require other nutrients

in order

to perform their respective functions. It goes against what we know to be true

of our biological heritage to think that we can extract a nutrient out of a

food, put it

into our bodies and expect our bodies to be able to use it. At what point would

our bodies have adapted this ability? Until very recently, we didn't have the

capability

to extract nutrients from foods.

 

All of this is quite separate from the issue of symptoms that are attributed to

deficiencies, and how the connection between the two is entirely speculative. In

the

first place, real dietary deficiencies -- notably the kind that could ostensibly

be " fixed " with supplementation -- are almost non-existent in our culture. How

could the

case be otherwise when nearly every food that people eat on the SAD is

" enriched " with " extra " vitamins, minerals, etc.? Doctors, naturopaths and

other " natural "

practitioners who do blood tests on sick people to determine whether they're

deficient in this or that nutrient are looking in the wrong direction for the

problem, so

they will never see it. Disease is caused by saturation of the body's tissues

with waste products. If deficiencies truly exist, it is because organs and

tissues that are

compromised by the accumulation of bodily wastes are not functioning properly,

and not able to make use of nutrients coming in (even if they're the real thing,

in food).

So, these are always issues of assimilation, not intake. Supplementation will

never get to the root of the problem. When people are deemed to be deficient in

a nutrient

and take supplements, the overall chemistry of the body changes as certain

chemical reactions must be initiated to deal with the foreign substance. This

changes the way

we feel. Sometimes we experience these changes as 'feeling better', sometimes we

feel worse. When we feel better, we attribute " healing " or " curative " powers to

the

supplement, just as we mistakenly credit aspirin with 'healing' our headaches.

When we feel worse, we try other things until we find something that makes us

feel better.

Then we go around telling everyone about this miracle supplement we found that

makes us feel great. What we don't realize is that anything that makes us feel

great

quickly is never healing. Healing, like disease formation, is slow. It is

nature's way.

 

After a period of supplementation, the " deficient " patient goes back to the

doctor to have his/her levels tested again. The wise doctor performs the test

and finds that

there are now " adequate " levels in the bloodstream. But, as we now realize, the

presence of any substance in our bloodstream does not mean it is performing a

legitimate

function. In the case of supplements, it is obviously more likely the case that

our bodies are attempting to eliminate it. But this fact is ignored by those who

believe

in supplementation. They put the fact that they " feel better " (if not after

ingestion of the original substance, then one they subsequently found that did

the trick)

together with the passing grade they get from the blood tests and their belief

in the whole irrational idea of supplementation is strengthened.

 

Supplementation as a concept is as flawed as drug therapy. Unfortunately these

days it is almost as profitable to sell them as it is to sell drugs (both legal

and

illegal!). So it's hard to find anyone talking about them who isn't also selling

them, in order to get to the truth. I hope this information might be helpful to

some who

are sitting on the supplementation fence. If anything doesn't make sense or

needs clarifying, please feel free to post your comments and/or questions.

Nora

[Guest guest]

Nora,

 

Thanks for your post. Interesting points!

 

I do realize that in a natural environment, eating our natural diet,

there would be no " need " for supplementation, as that is the diet our

bodies have evolved on for millions of years. (So why change it). As

many of us buy our foods in stores, and the foods are not fresh and

may have been rinsed, and we do not know what else they have been

treated with (even organic) we may be tempted to rinse it further,

the produce will no longer have the same amount of natural microbes

and bacteria, etc. on them. Unfortunately that, for many of us,

removes that aspect of our natural diet. Some of us may have an

organic garden, which can offer that aspect back to our diet (or at

least close to a natural diet). So, while I may not trust modern

" science " to tell me what is deficient, it still occurs to me that I

may not be getting all my nutrients, such as B12.

 

I tend not to worry about B12, thinking that there is a lot of hype

about it and our bodies are not truly understood. I keep getting

confirmations on that as I go along! In the past I did take

occasional B12 " dots " , sublingual tablets. I was not consistent,

sometimes taking them weekly or even monthly. After my last water

fast (6 days), I had a thought that I should take some B12. It was

several days after I had broken my fast. I put the (all natural,

vegetarian) pill under my tongue. Suddenly, the pill that use to be

fine tasted NASTY! It tasted artificial and chemical. That was the

last time I tried that. My body had cleaned up enough to recognize

the pill as artificial and foreign to the body. My interest now is

this, if I do " supplement " it would be from a more " natural " source,

such as the kombucha or rejuvalac. I realize fermented/aged foods are

not necessarily a natural " food " either. I suspect this is just a

lingering attachment to that mainstream belief that we should listen

to doctors!

 

Jeff

 

 

> how are we to know what we're measuring is actually being used, or on its way

>out?

 

> It goes against what we know to be true of our biological heritage

>to think that we can extract a nutrient out of a food, put it into

>our bodies and expect our bodies to be able to use it.

 

>Disease is caused by saturation of the body's tissues with waste products.

 

>So, these are always issues of assimilation, not intake.