- Why do we need a "disclaimer" - aren't vitamins safe
?
Yes, vitamins are eminently more safe than prescribed
or FDA approved drugs and over-the-counter drugs in general but
it is still very important to use them with precautions in mind. Nothing
is safe all the time for every person.
Although most vitamins & nutrients are naturally
occurring in foods we eat and/or in our bodies, taking them in
higher dosages is unnaturally natural. I use dosages that
are therapeutic or almost medicinal.
Nutritional doctors have the knowledge and experience
they need to be able to prescribe them. But they
don't feel they should be by prescription only.
However, traditionally trained doctors have
a few hours of training at best, in the use of nutritional supplements. They
are literally brainwashed against them. Their training
is predominantly in the use of drugs rather than nutrients. In
fact, the general lack of knowledge in the ordinary doctor is,
to me, harmful.
When an uneducated doctor with no training in
the field of nutritional medicine tells me that "supplements
don't work" - isn't that fraud, isn't that malpractice ?
I know more about using nutritional supplements
than my HMO doctor does.
Most doctors just don't have enough education
in nutritional medicine to even render an opinion. So,
in my opinion, they shouldn't ! They need to just admit
that they are not qualified to answer any more than the plumber
knows about electricity.
- Does this mean we don't have to go to the doctor ?
No ! We still need our regular, non-nutritionally
trained insurance doctors ! Why ?
If I get in a car accident, I will depend on
what my doctor DOES know (which is a lot !) to save my life !
Also, I go to my regular doctor regularly, for
annual check-ups, blood tests for cholesterol, liver function
and lots of other tests and screenings for my age and gender
that he/she can help me with. I believe in preventive maintenance.
- So why go to the doctor just so we can take vitamins ?
Because you need to get a check-up and blood
tests every year with the doctor to make sure you are "healthy" overall.
Even though vitamins are generally good for
you, they can be a stress to an unhealthy organ like your liver
or kidneys.
And the doctor needs to diagnose the kind of
depression you have. I have "Unipolar" depression
and don't know much about "Bipolar" - and some supplements
have to be taken with extra caution for Bipolar or Manic Depression.
If you are pregnant and breastfeeding,
you need to look everything up individually just to be sure.
If you are a depressive type I would take
lots of vitamins and build up myself up before getting pregnant.
I am sure I would have had terrible postpartum
depression. That's one reason I am still glad I
had no children and had myself sterilized at age 23 - yikes
! Actually that isn't why I did it - I just didn't
want kids. It was right for me - certainly not suggesting
it for anyone else !
- Shouldn't vitamins have to go through the FDA approval process
?
In my opinion, no. In the opinion of most
nutritional doctors, no. Why ?
Drugs go through this process because they are
usually lethal and toxic chemicals which if approved and used
carefully can treat an illness and save lives.
They are usually poison or foreign to the body. They
are usually very harmful or even deadly if misused or overdosed.
Even over the counter drugs where the patent
has run out are potentially harmful or dangerous far more so
than nutritional supplements in general.
And as far as I know, the FDA is not comprised
of doctors, and especially not nutritionally educated doctors. They "don't
believe" in vitamins and are generally against them. The
drug companies and politics seem to run the show. And
there have been a lot of deadly mistakes made lately.
Whereas we already know that vitamins are familiar
to the body. The body needs and uses vitamins, minerals,
amino acids and other nutrients all day, every day, to build
and operate our bodies. It searches through a tummy full
of food for these nutrients.
Most nutritional doctors feel that they are
generally safe even in rather higher than MDR amounts. But
there are always exceptions and we should learn as we go and
not be careless.
Just think of all the over the counter drugs
we have access to. We are supposed to be reading the labels on
the prescribed drugs we take and over-the-counter drugs we buy
! Some children have died from parental mistakes - poor
child - poor parent. The point is we need to be careful
about what medicines or pills we swallow !
Herbs are another story. They are not
as natural to the body and are more medicinal, yet do contain
phytochemicals. Again, knowledge and experience
are needed. There are lots of doctors who know about herbs. |