In the November issue of Insiders’ Cures, I shared some 19th century perspectives on dietary supplements brought to us by our “friendly” big pharma-cists who write for the Merck Manual of medical therapeutics.
They tried to tell us that supplements provide zero benefits when it comes to preventing and reversing diseases. They must have been thinking about those popular, but useless, one-a-day multivitamins. But what they don’t know about using the right doses, forms, and combinations of dietary supplements could fill a book—just not the Merck Manual.
Among the out-of-control (thanks to mainstream medicine) health crises of our time, we have heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, opioid addiction, and metabolic syndrome (which I’ll tell you more about in a moment).
But mainstream medicine (and the Merck Manual) won’t tell you that there are natural, non-drug solutions available to prevent and reverse each and every one of these modern epidemics.
Mainstream is all wrong, all along
Among these medically “unmanageable” health problems, metabolic syndrome may be the most emblematic of our modern times—and the most obvious result of dietary failures and deficiencies.
It’s a cluster of signs and symptoms that includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. These factors are associated with increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Amazingly, the National Institutes of Health office charged with researching non-drug approaches to disease treatment tells us there’s no reason to conduct research on the role of dietary supplements in preventing or reversing metabolic syndrome or diabetes. They couldn’t be more off-base—both are diseases of diet and nutrition!
Fortunately, for the sake of science, South Korea is more enlightened in this area. A new study of 6,308 people, based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found that dietary supplement users had an 18 percent lower rate of metabolic syndrome, regardless of the doses taken.1 And among those who took higher doses of supplements, the results really took off.
The study yielded some hefty results American medicine should really take note of:
Participants in the top third of vitamin A use had a 28 percent lower rate of metabolic syndrome, as compared to the lowest third.
Participants in the top third of vitamin E use had a 26 percent lower rate.
Participants in the top third of antioxidant consumption from diet and dietary supplements had a 28 percent lower risk of metabolic syndrome.
Overall, 31 percent of the study subjects’ antioxidant nutrients and 38 percent of total antioxidant capacity came from taking dietary supplements like vitamins A, C, and E.
So when doctors try to tell you that you “should” or “can” get all of your nutrients from a balanced diet, they may be partially right—unless you’re proactively trying to prevent metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.
These study results are also consistent with not just taking minimalist RDAs of recommended nutrients. Clearly, the higher the intakes, the better the results. That’s the difference between paying attention to the 21st science on optimal levels of nutrients to prevent and reverse the common chronic diseases of our time (instead of embracing the 19th century nutritional deficiency disease science our current RDAs are based on).
The bottom line: taking dietary supplements can get you nearly a third of the way to avoiding metabolic syndrome. And, of course, avoiding sugar and processed carbs is just as important as well. A great place to get started is to replace your sugar with natural sweeteners (in moderation!) — I discuss this on page 5.
But for full, step-by-step details on science-backed diabetes prevention and reversal techniques, be on the lookout for my upcoming online protocol, slated for release this month. Stay tuned to my free Daily Dispatch e-letter for the latest updates. (Subscribe now at DrMicozzi.com.)
SOURCE:
1“Total Antioxidant Capacity from Dietary Supplement Decreases the Likelihood of Having Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Adults.” Nutrients 2017, 9(10), 1055.