I love this: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWwyjwmYMEs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tWwyjwmYMEs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I need to go into the anti-venom biz. Sheesh! There is an area in far SW Texas, southern Presidio county, that has the extra dangerous Mojave Rattlesnakes. The wife and I spent a week down there at a resort ranch, and they gave some stern warnings about watching your step. That place is very remote, and the anti-venom is a few hundred miles away in El Paso, so a helicopter would have to be called in. It happened to one of their guests before. All they said about it was you would be paying for it for the rest of your life. It pays to stay indoors!
High dose Vitamin C (like almost every other "miracle cure" .... Monavie/acai, grape seed extract, fish oil, HGH, MMS, ashwagandha, Vitamin D, colostrum ... this list goes on) is just an anti-inflammatory and immune suppressant .... it makes you FEEL BETTER very quickly. Everybody's got bugs and they love this stuff. If it actually helped your immune system kill bacteria and get rid of the problem, you'd be feeling a lot worse for some time before feeling a lot better. And no the Vitamin C isn't all tossed by your kidneys. So in a way the conventional docs and the alternative quacks are BOTH wrong
Vitamin C most important role given in massive doses is to be an oxidizing agent. Do you have any explanation or resources as to your claim that it is just an anti-inflammatory and immune suppressant?
I will also address Vitamin D. Again this claim is just totally wrong. <param name="movie" value="http://www.viddler.com/player/c2fbc8b8/" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://www.viddler.com/player/c2fbc8b8/" width="437" height="370" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" name="viddler_c2fbc8b8"></embed></object> http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...amin-D--The-Master-Key-to-Optimal-Health.aspx
There are a million studies showing Vitamin C reduces inflammation, which usually correlates with suppressing the immune system. But it appears this is not the case for Vitamin C, so I am wrong on that part. My point, though, is that pretty much every "cure all" is anti-inflammatory, and you gotta ask yourself why. I don't mean to hijack the thread - I am just really passionate about this, having had no help from the "conventional" wisdom and the "alternative" wisdom for tooooo long!
Not wrong. The video is correct, and notice he is talking about "activated D", or 1,25-D. 1,25-D stimulates the immune system, inflammatory 1,25-D signals bones to release calcium 1,25-D downregulates thyroid 1,25-D upregulates adrenals ... and much more Now regular D is 25-D (what you get in food and supplements) 25-D suppresses the immune system, anti-inflammatory 25-D signals bones to acquire calcium 25-D upregulates thyroid 25-D downregulates adrenals ... and much more Your body converts easily between 1,25-D and 25-D, and has the job to manage the levels and keep everything in balance. Hence it is a "hormone", acting as the gas and the brakes on all these bodily processes. In chronic illness, you see low "regular D" levels and high 1,25-D, because you body is putting the gas on your immune system. Your body can regulate how much 25-D it makes from sunlight. But if you supplement 25-D at levels that are hundreds or thousands of times higher than any natural food source, it is like taking a drug that severely overrides your natural balance.
Your claim was that Vitamin D and C are only anti-inflammatory and immune suppressants and that they do not "help your immune system kill bacteria and get rid of the problem". I have show clearly that this is not the case. Like you said Vitamin D-3 is easily converted to activated Vitamin D so it would be rather silly not to include the health benefits from activated Vitamin D when you are talking about supplementing with D-3. How is it any different to regulate Vitamin D levels orally so that someone's blood levels are the same as someone who exposes their skin to the sun everyday. This does not override the natural balance. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
Canadian life expectancy, along with residents of most western nations with government health services, is on average a few years higher than Americans. Not sure why a discussion on snake bites turned into vitamin C & D. It is fairly inexpensive to make anti-venom antibody in sheep and chickens. The cost is generally a few hundred dollars and could be done by most second year biology majors. The resulting antivenom could be sold for tens of dollars per dose. This is what is done in a country such as India.
Whats your point? Life expectancy and health care are not correlated. Tired of fricking Canucks showing us a chart of life expectancy trying to show that socialized medicine is better. If it works for you guys great but don't try and tell us to use your system. Quite frankly it sucks, I don't like waiting. My local hospital has more MRI machines than your entire country, but that comes with a price that I am willing to pay. I do like hockey though.