Vitamin C Prevents Illness: - Sunscreen Chemicals are Dangerous: - Turmeric Prevents Fluoride Poisoning

 

THE GREATEST MEDICINE OF ALL… IS TEACHING PEOPLE HOW NOT TO NEED IT

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, August 9, 2020

My Personal Story of Mega-dosing Vitamin C by Allen Cohen

I am 78 years old, and have been taking 30,000 mg/day of vitamin C for over 40 years. And I do not get sick!

As a child and up until my mid-30s I had to deal with many food allergies, such as dairy, nuts, strawberries, chocolate, and many others, which made going out with friends to restaurants sometimes an ordeal. The allergies would cause eczema or often asthma, and greatly affected my life.

In my mid 30s I read a series of articles on Dr. Linus Pauling, and his two Nobel Prices, with particular emphasis on vitamin C. I decided to try it. I started with 1,000 mg twice per day, and each week, I would increase it by 1,000 mg, so that at the end of about 5 weeks, I was taking 5,000 mg, twice per day. After doing that for a couple of months, one of my friends' wives made a strawberry pie, and suggested I try it. I resisted out of fear of an asthma attack and/or severe eczema rash. However, I decided to try the pie, and much to my surprise nothing bad occurred. I was amazed, and at first did not even make the connection to vitamin C, which I was now taking at 10,000 mg per day. After a couple of days, I decided to purchase some fresh strawberries, and have them with a glass of fresh whole milk. Again, nothing bad occurred. On the next day, I tried a handful of nuts, and again, no asthma, no eczema rash, no problems. I ran to the library, and sought out a book by Dr. Pauling on vitamin-C, and read it cover to cover. Nothing else in my life had changed, except I was now taking 10,000 mg/day of vitamin C, at the rate of 5,000 mg with my breakfast, and 5,000 mg with my dinner.

I have continued with this protocol ever since, and I no longer suffer from any food allergies!

Editors' note: Individual need for vitamin C varies considerably. Each person must determine their own optimal intake level. Bowel tolerance (loose stool) indicates that too much C is being taken at one time.

A woman with Ileitis

Some months later I was introduced to a woman in her mid-30s who was suffering from ileitis, and was taking sulfa-based antibiotics at the rate of 6-8 tablets per day. Her skin actually had a slightly yellow/green tinge to it, and you could smell the sulfa. She was living on a diet that was 100 % fiber free, so no fresh vegetables and no fresh fruits. She had constant diarrhea, stomach cramps, and generally felt sick. She was told that in due course she would have to have her lower bowel partially or completely removed, her rectum sealed, and would live with a colostomy bag, for the rest of her life. Needless to say, she was terrified.

I suggested she take plain yogurt 6-8 ounces twice per day, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and take vitamin C 1,000 mg twice per day with meals, and increase it by 1,000 mg each week, so that in approximately 5 weeks, she would be taking 5,000 mg twice per day. After about 3 months she began reducing the sulfa antibiotics and by the time 6 months went by she was eating normally, no longer taking antibiotics, taking a total of 10,000 mg vitamin C every day. Her internist called me and asked me to come into his office, to explain what I had suggested, as she no longer showed any signs or symptoms of ileitis. I told him what I had suggested, and how well it obviously had worked. He told me he was going to send in this story to JAMA and that I would probably hear from them directly. I never did.

Shared success

Over the course of more than 40 years, I have received referrals from friends and family who knew about my success using mega doses of vitamin C and passed the information via word of mouth to associates who were having intestinal disorders of all types. I would receive calls by phone and the people would introduce themselves and explain that they were friends or family members of those who knew how well I did with vitamin C and had simply passed the word. It's amazing how sometimes word of mouth gets passed around. So I continued to suggest to friends and family to use the same treatment. In all cases it worked, and they no longer suffer from these conditions.

I often do volunteer work at local senior citizens rehabilitation centers, where there are many sick patients. Accordingly, I have increased my vitamin C to 30,000 mg per day (10,000 mg, three times per day). I do not have diarrhea nor suffer from any side effects of a mega dose of vitamin C. I do not become ill.

What I did when sickness was coming on

About 3 months ago I attended a medical lecture on osteoarthritis in the elderly. There was someone there seated near me, who was coughing during the lecture, but frankly I did not think much about it. Some days later, I awoke in the morning with a low grade temperature, sneezing and coughing and felt that I had picked up an upper respiratory infection. I was not tested, nor did I go to the doctors or the hospital to be tested.

I took 10,000 mg of plain vitamin C (ascorbic acid), 5 times during the day. Yes, I swallowed 50,000 mg of vitamin C during the day from about 6 AM until about 10 PM that night. I awoke the next morning, feeling great, with no symptoms of an infection!

I can tell you many stories about people who take a minimum of 10,000 mg of vitamin C every day on my recommendation, and who all have told me that they are feeling great, and like myself, do not get ill and are not at all worried about their health in this coronavirus pandemic! [3,6-8]

Pharmaceutical medicine does not like vitamin C. After all, vitamin C works, is not expensive, and has no side effects. But vitamin C has changed my life, and the life of everyone I know who will take the time to listen and to have an open mind on this subject.

My vitamin and mineral protocol to prevent infection

For optimal health and to prevent infection by viruses, I recommend taking a multivitamin, along with additional vitamin C, vitamin D (5000 IU/d), vitamin E (400 IU, mixed tocopherols), magnesium (400 mg/d in malate, citrate, or chloride form), and zinc (20 mg/d). To find your correct dose of vitamin C, learn about "bowel tolerance" -- the daily dose just below the amount that causes a laxative effect. Many people find that when they're not sick, a dose of 3000 mg - 10,000 mg/day taken all at once will cause a laxative effect, but they can tolerate the same daily dose of vitamin C when taken in divided doses. However, when an infection starts, much higher doses can prevent it from taking hold. Of course I recommend healthy eating, and daily exercise, and not smoking or drinking alcohol to excess. You may want to discuss doses of vitamins and minerals with your doctor. You might indeed be doing your physician a favor.

Conclusion

So this is my story of my experience with vitamin C over four decades. Vitamin C in megadoses works wonders. I tell everyone, if you take only one vitamin, be sure to take vitamin C at a minimum of 10,000 mg/day.

  

Sunscreen Chemicals Accumulate at High Levels in Your Body

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola - Fact Checked July 29, 2020

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• Results from two studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) show that some sunscreen ingredients enter the bloodstream and accumulate, leading the FDA to review their safety
• Researchers found that the absorption of some sunscreen ingredients occurred after only one day of use, and levels in the body could last as long as a week
• Studies have found the sunscreen ingredient oxybenzone in human breast milk, amniotic fluid, urine and blood and it may affect endocrine activity
• The sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate cause coral bleaching and starve the coral of nutrients, increasing their risk of infection
• According to the journal Medical Hypotheses, regular sun exposure is beneficial to your health
• Data from FDA-funded research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA in 2019 and 20202 have shown that certain ingredients in sunscreen products may build up in the body at unhealthy levels. The chemicals studied were avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, octisalate and octinoxate.

Some of these ingredients may accumulate at levels greater than what would be considered safe, according to the lead researcher and team that conducted both studies. This begs the question of whether the FDA should reconsider whether the products are safe. As Consumer Affairs explained:

"The FDA gets concerned if ingredients are found in the bloodstream at a level of 0.5 nanograms per milliliter or higher. At that level, the FDA says chemicals need to undergo a rigorous analysis to make sure they don't have harmful health risks … [the] six chemicals found in sunscreen products were found at levels ranging from 3.3 to 258.1 per milliliter, depending on the product and how it was applied."

This is worrisome because the study showed that all of the sunscreen chemicals were still above safety levels seven days after application, with two of them still above the threshold on Day 21, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"… if active ingredients are found in the blood at a level of 0.5 nanograms per milliliter or higher, they should be analyzed to determine whether they increase the risk of cancer, birth defects or other adverse effects … Previous studies have indicated a possible association between some of the chemicals and health risks such as endocrine disruption and reproductive harm, but no comprehensive safety data are available."

The studies serve as yet another warning as the fear of the sun and the infatuation with sunscreens continues. In 2010, environmental groups warned that nearly two-thirds of sunscreens provide inadequate UVA protection compared to their UVB ray protection. UVA rays are linked to skin aging and UVB rays are linked to skin burning.

In 2010, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked the FDA to require warnings on sunscreen labels of products containing retinyl palmitate, because a lab study showed that the chemical caused the growth of tumors in animals. While some dermatologists vociferously claimed retinyl palmitate is safe because there was no definitive study on it yet, Schumer insisted the studies need to be done because consumers "have a right to know."

Oxybenzone, a hormone-disrupting chemical that is often added to sunscreens, was also of concern. Astoundingly, despite this evidence and the fact that only 7% of products studied in the report he cited were determined to be both safe and effective, the FDA had not put forth any guidelines at that time.

Data Show Sunscreen Ingredients Enter the Bloodstream

Several years ago, researchers found that almost everyone — 96.8% — who took part in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey had detectable levels of benzophenone-3, another name for oxybenzone. That same ingredient is also used in cosmetics and food packaging materials.

In the 2019 JAMA study, the authors also found a host of sunscreen ingredients in the blood of participants who'd used the products. At least one (oxybenzone) can show up in breast milk and amniotic fluid, in addition to making its way to the blood and urine, as told by the researchers.

They also wrote that the ingredients were absorbed after only one day's exposure, and some persisted in the body after use. Results from their 2020 study corroborated their work from 2019 and its implications for safety. What did the second study add to what was learned from the first one? According to the researchers:

"In the prior study of 24 healthy volunteers, systemic absorption of sunscreen active ingredients was demonstrated. This follow-up study expanded the sample size, tested additional sunscreen active ingredients and formulations, and confirmed the finding that sunscreen active ingredients are systemically absorbed.

This included 6 of the 12 active ingredients in the sunscreen over-the-counter monograph for which the FDA has requested additional data to make a determination as to whether these ingredients are generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE)."

The FDA Is Continuing to Analyze Ingredients' Safety

In February 2019, just three months prior to publication of the JAMA study, the FDA proposed a list of updates to regulations for most sunscreen products sold in the U.S. However, the new rules have not been finalized as the FDA continues to analyze information after the second study. According to Good Housekeeping:

"The FDA believes that the outcomes of these two studies are in line with their proposal [pending] and support their asking for additional safety data on those 12 chemical sunscreen actives. Given the recognized health benefits of sunscreen use, the FDA continues to advise the public to use sunscreen in conjunction with other sun safety measures …"

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment," has weighed in on the effects of oxybenzone:

"'For a decade, EWG has worked to raise concerns about sunscreens with oxybenzone, which is found in nearly all Americans, detected in breast milk, and potentially causing endocrine disruption,' David Andrews, Ph.D., senior scientist at EWG, said in a statement."

Sunscreens Are a Scourge on Coral Reefs

The effect of sunscreens on the world's coral is devastating. As reported by The Guardian, researchers found in 2015 that up to 14,000 tons of it wash into coral reefs every year. Coral bleaching, caused by oxybenzone, causes "baby coral to encase itself in its own skeleton and die," The Guardian said.

In addition to the accumulation washing off from swimmers and boaters, sunscreen chemicals also reach waterways through wastewater treatment plants, which do not always filter out such pollutants.

The situation is so serious that in 2019 a Florida state senator proposed legislation to require a prescription for any sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The proposal was based on restrictions that Key West and Hawaii put into place, which will become effective in January 2021.

Vitamin D Deficiency Is Also a Concern

Strong warnings from medical associations and the media to avoid sun exposure or to apply sunscreens have resulted in many people being deprived of sunshine's multiple benefits. One of these is vitamin D production, and avoiding the sun may be the reason why so many people are deficient in vitamin D.

While it's important to avoid getting sunburned, you need to take care in determining the best way to do that. Obviously, if they have chemicals in them that may not be safe, sunscreens come with their own set of dangers. But, avoiding the sun altogether also isn't good, since that can cause vitamin D deficiencies. This is particularly concerning because a deficiency in vitamin D can put you at risk of other health problems.

For example, the authors of research in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggested that low sun exposure may be correlated with the development of "specific cancers (more on that later), multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autism, Alzheimer's disease and age-related macular degeneration."

How To Be Sunscreen Safe

As the researchers noted in the 2019 JAMA article, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide have been found by the FDA to be generally recognized as safe (GRASE), as opposed to the sunscreen chemicals whose safety is still under investigation. Both protect against UVA and UVB rays.

In addition to avoiding dangerous sunscreen chemicals I caution against using sunscreens and other personal care products that contain synthetic preservatives and fragrances. Some common synthetic chemicals with health-altering properties include:

Parabens — Synthetic preservatives known to interfere with hormone production and release.

Phthalates — Another synthetic preservative that's carcinogenic and linked to reproductive effects (decreased sperm counts, early breast development, and birth defects) and liver and kidney damage.

Synthetic musks — These are linked to hormone disruption and are thought to persist and accumulate in breast milk, body fat, umbilical cord blood and the environment.

Also, remember that if you apply sunscreen every time you're out in the sun, you'll block your body's ability to produce vitamin D. And, optimizing your vitamin D levels may reduce your risk of as many as 16 different types of cancer, including pancreatic, lung, ovarian, breast, prostate and skin cancers. According to research published in the journal Medical Hypotheses:

"Since it was discovered that UV radiation was the main environmental cause of skin cancer, primary prevention programs have been started. These programs advise to avoid exposure to sunlight. However, the question arises whether sun-shunning behavior might have an effect on general health.

During the last decades new favorable associations between sunlight and disease have been discovered. There is growing observational and experimental evidence that regular exposure to sunlight contributes to the prevention of colon-, breast-, prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, hypertension and diabetes.

Initially, these beneficial effects were ascribed to vitamin D. Recently it became evident that immunomodulation, the formation of nitric oxide, melatonin, serotonin, and the effect of (sun)light on circadian clocks, are involved as well … Considering these data we hypothesize that regular sun exposure benefits health."

In summary, if you do use a sunscreen, your safest choice is a lotion or cream with non-nanoscale zinc oxide, as it is stable in sunlight and provides the best protection from UVA rays. Your next best option is non-nanoscale titanium dioxide.

 

The Spice That Prevents Fluoride From Destroying Your Brain

Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder GreenMedInfo

Fluoride is found everywhere today, from antibiotics to drinking water, no stick pans to toothpaste, making exposure inevitable. All the more reason why research proving this common spice can prevent fluoride damage is so promising...

Fluoride's neurotoxicity has been the subject of academic debate for decades, and now a matter of increasingly impassioned controversy among the general public, as well. From 'conspiracy theories' about it being first used in drinking water in Russian and Nazi concentration camps to chemically lobotomize captives, to its now well-known IQ lowering properties, to its ability to enhance the calcification of the pineal gland -- the traditional 'seat of the soul' -- many around the world, and increasingly in the heavily fluoridated regions of the United States, are starting to organize at the local and statewide level to oust this ubiquitous toxicant from municipal drinking water.

A compelling study published in the Pharmacognosy Magazine titled, "Curcumin attenuates neurotoxicity induced by fluoride: An in vivo evidence," adds experimental support to the suspicion that fluoride is indeed a brain-damaging substance, also revealing that a natural spice-derived protective agent against the various health effects associated with this compound is available.

The study was authored by researchers from the Department of Zoology, University College of Science, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India, who have spent the past decade investigating the mechanisms through which fluoride induces severe neurodegenerative changes in the mammalian brain, particularly in cells of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

The study opens by describing the historical backdrop for concern about fluoride's significant and wide ranging toxicity:

"Fluoride (F) is probably the first inorganic ion which drew attention of the scientific world for its toxic effects and now the F toxicity through drinking water is well-recognized as a global problem. Health effect reports on F exposure also include various cancers, adverse reproductive activities, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases."

The study focused on fluoride induced neurotoxicity, identifying excitoxicity (stimulation of the neuron to the point of death) and oxidative stress as the two main drivers of neurodegeneration.  It has been observed that subjects with the condition known as fluorosis, a mottling of tooth enamel caused by excessive exposure to fluoride during tooth development, also have neurodegenerative changes associated with a form of oxidative stress known as lipid peroxidation (rancidity). Excess lipid peroxidation in the brain can lead to a decrease in total brain phospholipid content. 

Owing to these well-known mechanisms of fluoride associated neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration, the researchers identified the primary polyphenol in the spice Turmeric -- known as curcumin -- as an ideal agent worth testing as a neuroprotective substance. Previous research on curcumin indicates that it is capable of activing as an antioxidant in 3 distinct ways by protecting against: 1) singlet oxygen 2) hyrodxyl radicals and 3) superoxide radical damage. Also, curcumin appears to raise endogenous glutathione production in the brain, a major antioxidant defense system.

In order to assess the neurotoxic effects of fluoride and prove curcumin's protective role against it, researchers randomly divided up mice into four groups, for 30 days:

1. Control (no fluoride)
2. Fluoride (120 ppm): fluoride was given in distilled water drinking water without restriction.
3. Fluoride (120 ppm/30 mg/kg body weight) + Curcumin: Oral dose of curcumin dissolved in olive oil along with fluoride in drinking water
4. Curcumin: (30 mg/kg body weight)

In order to ascertain the effect of treatment, the researchers measured the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the brains of the different treated mice. MDA is a well-known marker of oxidative stress/damage.

As was expected, the fluoride (F) only treatment group showed significantly elevated MDA levels vs. the non-fluoride treated control. The F + Curcumin group saw reduced MDA levels vs. the fluoride only group, demonstrating curcumin's neuroprotective activity against fluoride associated neurotoxicity.

The study concluded,

"Our study thus demonstrates that daily single dose of 120 ppm F result in highly significant increases in the LPO [lipid peroxidation, i.e. brain rancidity] as well as neurodegenerative changes in neuron cell bodies of selected hippocampal regions. Supplementation with Curcumin significantly reduce the toxic effect of F to near normal level by augmenting the antioxidant defense through its scavenging property and provide an evidence of having therapeutic role against oxidative stress mediated neurodegeneration."

Discussion

This is far from the first study to demonstrate curcumin's remarkable brain-saving properties. From the perspective of the primary research alone, there are over two hundred peer-reviewed published studies indicating that curcumin is a neuroprotective agent. On our own turmeric database we have 115 articles proving this statement: Turmeric Protects The Brain.  We have also featured studies on turmeric's ability to protect and restore the brain:

1. How Turmeric Can Save the Aging Brain From Dementia and Premature Death
2. Turmeric Produces 'Remarkable' Recovery in Alzheimer's Patients

Considering the many chemical insults we face on a daily basis in the post-industrial world, turmeric may very well be the world's most important herb, with over 800 evidence-based health applications. Visit our Turmeric Research database -- the world's largest, open access turmeric resource of its kind -- to view the first hand published research on the topic.

My Comment:

I have been recommending that everyone take Turmeric daily as one of your core supplements. Its many health benefits: from cancer prevention, to brain and joint health, are too numerous to list. It should be a critical tool in your daily fight to stay healthy in a very unhealthy world.

Until next time, stay healthy and happy

JD Roma

 

The information on this blog is provided for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a Naturopath).