Excerpts from The Boyer Review - September, 2000
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By Randall Boyer, M.D.
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To supplement . . . or not to supplement?
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We have all been hyped, deceived and lied to regarding dietary supplements. I have been for sure—to the point of rejecting the need for all supplementation for a long time. How can one sort out truth from fallacy? For most of us, we cannot, and the more information we get, the more frustrated we get—to the point of no action!
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And to make matters worse, physicians in general are of the opinion that supplementation has little value. This information was both perpetrated during medical training, and further supported by vast statements in journals regarding the risks and lack of validation of nutritional supplements. As a rule, nutritional supplements are not held to the same standards of scrutiny as pharmaceutical drugs.
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However, diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disease are on the rise. Although many people are living into advanced age, the quality of life may not be a testimony to true advancements in medicine as our nursing homes and convalescent centers are bulging with advanced disease and debilitated clients. Most of these disease processes have been shown to have a significant nutritional component. For instance, the American Institute for Cancer Research states in their publication Taking A Closer Look At Nutrition, Genetics and Cancer that “40 to 60 percent of cancer cases are linked to diet, an environmental factor we can control.” But can we really control this factor to the degree needed? Can we eliminate food harvested before its time, refined foods, irradiated foods, genetically modified organism foods (GMO), pesticides, fertilizers, contaminants, toxic chemicals and deficit foods to name a few of the potential problems? No, probably not!
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Many of the foods we now consume are both lacking sufficient essential nutrients, but also devoid of all vital enzymatic activity to run the machinery of life, e.g. immune function, metabolism, waste removal, organ function, etc. We have a problem! No longer is nutritional supplementation an option or luxury . . . it is mandatory and vital to maintain and achieve health! Those who say otherwise are just plain uninformed! “Naysayers” are a dime a dozen—do not listen to them! I know—I used to be one of them.
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So . . . what do you do? Your body system is designed to thrive on maturely harvested, live and enzymatically active food which is grown free of toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards. Does this mean organic? Yes . . . if you can truly find it! Even dietary supplements should meet these standards. There should be no question about the necessity of natural versus synthetics when it comes to food or dietary supplements. Synthetics are poorly absorbed, difficult for your body to utilize and unbalanced biochemistry—eliminate them as much as possible. Rigidly seek live food with enzymes functionally intact (this usually means uncooked, unrefined, nonchemically treated) and also seek enzymatically active, real food dietary supplements (this does not mean food-based).
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Randall Boyer, M.D., is the editor of The Boyer Review, a periodically published review of the most up-to-date research on a wide range of health conditions and promising supportive therapies. Having practiced for 25 years, he acknowledges and embraces the consumer trend toward alternative therapies and the resultant need for medically evaluated information in making rational choices.
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