by metatron 68 Replies latest jw friends
The willingness to attribute wrong motive to others and to see CONSPIRACY is a breeding ground for cults. - Terry
This should be in a big banner the top of every page on JWN.
Terry - "A little learning is a dangerous thing" - Alexander Pope
Sorry I can be such a pedant at times ;)
Not a case of Cofty's law?
Not a case of Cofty's law?
hahaha - Cofty's verdict on this one is "Not Guilty"
I will publish a full judgement later.
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Laymen evaluating science should scare us all. ..."
Deliberate ignorance of scientific information because it is unconventional or scientifically "unpopular", is also frightening...
Unfortunately, the medical establishment's antipathy towards vitamins and nutritional supplements is EXTREMELY well-known, and goes back over 60 years in American history.
The medical establishment - the A.M.A., to be more specific - has frequently attempted to get vitamin and mineral supplements banned, or restricted to "by prescription only"...
One would think that they failed to have studied the causes and cures for beri-beri, rickets, scurvy, and night-blindness in WWII pilots, to say the least...
Oh, wait...
That field of expertise belongs to those vendors of "snake-oil", the nutritionists...
By the way, medical doctors have a life span that is AT LEAST TEN YEARS SHORTER than the average American....
Zid
The mistake that most people make, with regards to nutrition and supplements, IS as Terry described, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing..."
Most people probably SHOULD CONSULT a decent holistic nutritionist - or better yet, more than one - on the subjects of which nutritional supplements are best for their gender/age group/special needs...
Or at the very least, start reading reputable books and journals about it.
The mistake that Terry's dad made - taking huge doses of Vitamin C - apparently WITHOUT also supplementing calcium, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin K, and so on...
That is far too common. Vitamins work as part of a spectrum - not by themselves.
Why, one can SERIOUSLY muck up their health, if they begin taking only one or a few of the B-complex vitamins, WITHOUT taking the others...
Yeah, a little knowledge IS a dangerous thing...
And vitamins don't do the job by themselves - minerals are a MAJOR part of maintaining daily health, too....
IN fact, I'd guess it's about 50/50 between vitamins AND minerals...
AND - a HUGE AND, here...
A person cannot 'take vitamns and minerals' and expect optimum health, IF THEY ARE NOT EATING A HEALTHY DIET TO BEGIN WITH.
The vitamins and minerals work best when boosting a healthy diet, NOT used as 'substitutes' when one devours McDonalds/Burger King/Wendy's/Kentucky Fried Chicken on a regular basis.
OR Baskin-Robbins, Ben & Jerry's, Cold Stone Creamery, or Dairy Queen, either...
Laymen evaluating science should give us some pause but not scare us. The alternative is truly horrifying because it involves the establishment of a technological priesthood, unaccountable to the public.
As to drug trials, I have almost no hope that any drug company will ever develop a cure for cancer or any other disease. Remember the wisdom of Charles Taze Russell: organizations exist to perpetuate themselves. Treatments can mean a predictable cash flow across years. A cure might not even pay back its development costs.
I have no faith in cancer charities for one rather intuitive reason: evolution has likely developed ways to control wild, incoherent growth in plants. It is fairly common to observe natural, plant-derived biochemicals that inhibit cancer but these are not patentable. Furthermore, they are often cheap and obtainable by the public without recourse to prescriptions. Translation: no protection or profit. This means no development.
I don't expect drug companiesto eschew greed or ignore their shareholders (I've invested in many!). However, I do expect better from charities and I don't see it...
metatron
Of course science has a lot to offer...look what it has given us so far.
That does not mean that we should discredit natural options though...sometimes when science fails us...natural remedies can help. I don't think it hurts to do both providing you get advice from people who know what they are talking about and/or people who are experiencing good results themselves.
When my son was a week old he got some sort of tummy bug...even though I was breastfeeding....I took him to the doctor, who did some tests...result...don't know. Probably a virus. This seems to be the answer for everything they don't know.
Well...after 3 solid weeks of diarrhea and countless visits to the doctor with no real advice or sucess...I went to a naturopath. I was adivsed to give him some infant pro biotics to restore his sysem...guess what? Next day...fixed. I have used it since, and everytime good results.
Next for me, starting Menopause....depressed, lethargic, teary, mood swings, weght gain....the works. Options...hormone replacement therapy...risks...heart attact. Or...evening primrose oil and folic acid. Tried the second option...guess what? Menstrual cycles have returned to normal, emotions have stabilized..... It worked. If I forget to take it for more than 2 days the symptoms reappear. I told my doctor this is what works for me...doctor looked at me like I was talking some alien language.
Why would it hurt to try alternative therapies along side traditional? We aren't talking about doing strange things here like letting snakes bit us or anything...although...I see leeches have made a comeback...who'd have thought.
The medical establishment - the A.M.A., to be more specific - has frequently attempted to get vitamin and mineral supplements banned, or restricted to "by prescription only"...
What had not been determined is HOW MUCH of a "this" or "that" is proper dosage and how much becomes poison.
Without proper diagnosis of a particular need---it becomes dangerous guesswork. A layperson cannot grasp the full spectrum of ramifications.
Did you know you can be poisoned by drinking too much water? There is a line you can NOT cross. The do-it-yourself vitamin fan thinks they know something that they DO NOT know.
No indication of the need for vitamins has been established for person's eating a reasonable diet every day.
Most of these vitamin takers are peeing away and pooping away and sweating away their money needlessly. At best.
However, At worst, they are creating dangerous imbalances.
But, clear-thinking doesn't seem to be the strong suit of any kind of fanatic!
Would you get under the hood of your own car and tinker with the computer?
Oh please, Terry....
The ONLY vitamins with any real danger of "toxicity" are vitamins A & D [and vitamin E] because they're stored in the fatty tissues of the body...
Most water-soluble vitamins are flushed out of the body long before they can build up to toxic levels - unless one has badly compromised kidneys and is taking mega-doses of vitamin C....
Try looking up the side-effects from taking too much vitamin C, as opposed to the side effects from too much caffeine, just to get a bit of perspective...
Now, minerals, on the other hand, would need to be more closely monitored. Plus, regarding BOTH vitamins and minerals, individual needs AND sensitivity will vary...
Hence my previous comment that people should consult at least one decent nutritionist who SPECIALIZES in vitamin/mineral supplements, and preferably two, before starting on any "mega-dose" nutritional program.
Of course, the source of the vitamins/minerals is ALSO an important factor. One wouldn't want vitamins made from heavily-pesticided plant sources, for example...
