Whole Food Supplements vs. Synthetics

On vitamin labels the word "natural" has no specific definition other than that the substance exists somewhere on the planet or in outer space. The key words to look for are "Whole Food Vitamins"- this means vitamins as they are found in food, untampered-with in any way that would change their molecular structure, their biological or biochemical combination, or their actions. 

Synthetic means that a chemist attempted to reconstruct the exact structure of the crystalline* molecule by chemically combining molecules from other sources. These sources are not living foods, but dead chemicals. For example, Vitamin B1 is made from a coal tar derivative, and d-alpha tocopherol (so-called Vitamin E) is a byproduct of materials used by Eastman Kodak company to make film. However, it is not legally necessary to give the source from which the synthetic "vitamin" is derived.  Synthetic "vitamins" should more accurately be called drugs.

*Chrystalline means that a natural food has been treated with various chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to reduce it down to one specific "pure" crystalline vitamin. In this process all the synergists, which are termed "impurities," are destroyed.  There is no longer anything natural in the action of crystalline "vitamins".

Many conventional and non-conventional healthcare practitioners think that there is no difference between natural and synthetic vitamins, or between natural chelated minerals and inorganic minerals. This, of course, is incorrect, and has led to enormous confusion in the nutritional field. For more information on finding quality supplements, please contact net4heidi@yahoo.com

Homeopathics

How does it work? Homeopathy was founded in the late eighteenth century by the celebrated German physician Samual Hahnemann, known for his work in pharmacology, hygiene, public health, industrial toxocology, and psychiatry. Reacting to the barbarous practices of his day, such as bloodletting (the use of leeches), and toxic mercury-based laxatives, Dr. Hahnemann set out to find a more rational and humane approach to medicine.

His breakthrough came during an experiment in which he twice daily ingested cinchona, a Peruvian bark well known as a cure for malaria. As soon as he stopped taking the cinchona, his symptoms disappeared. Dr. Hahnemann theorized that, if taking a large dose of cinchona created symptoms of malaria in a healthy person, this same substance, taken in a smaller dose by a person suffering from malaria, might stimulate the body to fight the disease. His theory was born out by years of experiments with hundreds of substances that produced similar results.  Based on his work, Dr. Hahnemann formulated the principles of homeopathy:

• Like cures like (Law of Similars)
• The more a remedy is diluted, the greater its potency (Law of the Infinitesimal Dose)
• An illness is specific to the individual (a holistic medical model)

Homeopathy is a complete system of natural medicine that can have a therapeutic effect on almost any disease or health condition. "Homeopathy has been a tremendous value in reversing diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, bronchial asthma, epilepsy, skin erruptions, allergic conditions, mental or emotional disorders, especially if applied at the onset of the disease", states George Vithoulkas, Director of the Athenian School of Homeopathic Medicine in Athens, Greece. "The long-term benefit of homeopathy to the patient is that it not only alleviates the presenting symptoms but it reestablishes internal order at the deepest levels and thereby provides a lasting cure."