Newsletter v2n12

"When Ben Casey meets Kildare; that's a paradox." (Alan Sherman)

The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER Vol 2, No 12 April 24, 2002 "Free of charge, free of advertising, and free of the A.M.A." Written by Andrew Saul, PhD. of http://www.doctoryourself.com , a free online library of over 350 natural healing articles with nearly 4,000 scientific references.

ANTI-VITAMIN WORLD WAR: A SPECIAL ISSUE (Editor's Note: In response to many letters I have received, The DOCTOR YOURSELF NEWSLETTER is pleased to offer the following extensive, somewhat divergent, but clearly expert commentary on the latest developments in the European (ANTI-) Vitamin Directive, and CODEX. The first article is by Paul Anthony Taylor of London, and the second by IAHF's John Hammell. I have considerable respect for the views of both of these gentlemen. Free access to vitamins extremely important to all of us, no matter where we live. Yet without immediate mass action, we may actually lose this freedom before we know it is gone.)

KEEP UK, HOLLAND, IRELAND, USA SUPPLEMENTS AVAILABLE (by Paul Anthony Taylor, Honorary Member of the UK National Association of Health Stores.)

The recent European Union Food Supplements Directive does not, as yet, mean you can only buy nutrients tableted at or near RDA levels, although clearly this is its intended long-term aim. The earliest date that any high-dose vitamin or mineral could be removed from the shelves is likely to be around June 2005.

They have won one battle, but not the war. The real arguments concern the upper-dose limits, which are dealt with in Article 5 of the directive, and this section is open to several different legal interpretations. The scientific arguments, political horse-trading, consumer campaigns and build-up of celebrity support over this are still to come. With regard to the latter, we currently have the support of well over forty celebrities, including Paul McCartney, Elton John, Cliff Richard and Phil Collins.

I fully agree that there is undoubtedly a real threat to the continued availability of food supplements, both in the EU, and world-wide via CODEX. Only a fool could deny this. I further agree that it is difficult to be optimistic over this legislation. Nevertheless, there are a number of organizations across Europe who are fighting the directive, and we fully realize the difficult nature of the task that we are taking on.

The EU Food Supplements Directive may now have far wider implications for the future availability of supplements than most US citizens may be aware, for if interpreted in a restrictive manner (as presently seems to be the intention) it will strongly influence the deliberations of the UN "Codex Alimentarius" committee, who already support tight restrictions on the sale of supplements.

The EU now effectively controls the CODEX committee votes of the 15 EU member states, as these 15 countries would be effectively unable to vote against Codex proposals that were already law in their own countries. The EU will also control the votes of the 12 EU candidate countries who are presently waiting to join the EU, because they won't want to vote against a system that is part of their accession package.

The net result of all this is that the USA would then come under strong international pressure to implement the CODEX recommendations because of its having signed up to the NAFTA and GATT international trade agreements. As you may be aware, countries that have signed on with these agreements are bound to follow the regulations established by CODEX, or be penalized by the World Trade Organization by sanctions and/or fines.

Also, given that the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) have already stated their intention of pressing for harmonization of the regulatory framework for vitamin and mineral food supplements on both sides of the Atlantic (see http://www.crnusa.org/shellnr112000.html and http://www.tabd.org ), and especially given the strong representation from the pharmaceutical industry in the TABD, it is now evident that, unless the will of the people on both sides of the Atlantic can prevent it, the USA will soon come under international pressure to harmonize to the EU Food Supplement Directive.

It is now therefore essential for both European and US citizens to keep up the pressure against the directive. This can be done by faxing or e-mailing the following people to demand that "Article 5" of the directive be interpreted in a liberal manner, and that open access to high-dose supplements is not restricted."

ACT NOW! You can email these key people directly:

Romano Prodi (President of the European Commission) romano.prodi@cec.eu.int Fax number 011 32 2 295 8532

Robert Coleman (EU Director-General for Health and Consumer Protection) robert.coleman@cec.eu.int Fax number 011 32 2 299 6298

David Byrne (EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection) David.Byrne@cec.eu.int Fax number 011 32 2 298 1499

Basil Mathioudakis (whose job it is to steer the Directive through the European Parliament) basil.mathioudakis@cec.eu.int Fax number 011 32 2 296 0951

For more information, you may wish to visit La Leva di Archimede ( http://www.laleva.cc ) There is an email petition you can easily add your name to, right at this site.

READ THE FULL TEXT (37 pages worth) of the EU Directive, posted at http://www.laleva.cc/supplements/c5-0640-01_en.pdf This is an extraordinarily restrictive document, one well worth fighting against.

http://garynull.com/issues/codex/aboutcodex.htm provides a non-technical overview of the problem.

HOW YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY LOST YOUR RIGHT TO TAKE VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS by John Hammell, International Advocates for Health Freedom

In Europe, the pharmaceutically dominated vitamin trade associations just rammed through a mindlessly restrictive Vitamin Directive which could lead to the banning of hundreds of products throughout the EU, making England, Holland and Sweden as restricted as Germany in terms of consumer access to natural products.

Article 5 on Vitamin Potency levels hasn't been finalized yet in the EU, but they're working on that next. The fact that this has not yet been finalized illustrates the incremental agenda by which these restrictions are being pushed through on us. The Pharma Cartel realizes that they can't achieve their objective if they try to bite off more than they can chew all at once by engaging in the kind of full frontal assault that they tried in the USA in the early '90s which resulted in the passage of DSHEA in reaction to their overreaching regulatory efforts.

So they have devised a very gradual, very incremental take over process that is intended to lull consumers and the supplement industry into a false sense of complacency. The pharmaceutical industry wants control of the dietary supplement industry, and via the EU Directive and Codex harmonization, they intend to get it, regardless of how we feel.

Even though protestors crashed the EU Parliament's server on the day of the vote, with over 450 MILLION emails against the EU Vitamin Directive, it was passed anyway over the objection of the largest referendum ever held in human history.

It is now very probably too late to stop this agenda. The only way out now that the EU Vitamin Directive has gone through would be to politically remove us from the WTO or the UN, preferably from both. Given the degree to which Congress is controlled by multinational corporate interests, this is almost impossible, and WILL BE impossible unless we can arouse a groundswell of support behind the American Sovereignty Restoration Act HR 1146.

Suzanne Harris, JD, documents the impact passage of the EU Vitamin Directive threatens to have at Codex at http://www.kcxl.com/html/ll-doc1.htm

On paper, American laws are theoretically "protected" from harmonization to international standards (e.g. a future finalized UN Codex Vitamin Standard) by the exemption clause 19 USC 3512 (a)(1) in the GATT Trade Agreement. The FDA and pharmaceutically dominated vitamin trade associations CRN and NNFA are quick to point this out, but when they do they're being very deceptive.

The WTO Dispute Settlement Body has ruled against the United States several times. Although these rulings in and of themselves can't force changes to our laws, they can threaten trade sanctions, and faced with this threat, Congress has harmonized our laws. So the FDA is playing a game of semantics when they claim our laws are protected against harmonization. This article clearly proves that the statute cited by the FDA and by vitamin trade associations as allegedly protecting our laws, is in fact a "paper tiger."

SECRET GOVERNMEMT-ONLY WEBSITE? http://www.congress.gov/brbk/html/ebtra56.html is a website that is off limits to the public and can only be viewed by members of Congress. An article on this site by Jeanne Grimmett of the Congressional Research Service was faxed to me by a whistleblower that serves as proof that 19 USC 3512 (a)(1) is only a paper tiger and that it doesn't in FACT protect our domestic laws from harmonization. The paper has now been posted at http://www.iahf.com/usa/20001212a.html , along with my commentary.

CBN REPORTING IS ACCURATE The CBN News Story by Gailon Tetheroh ("European Union Restricts Vitamin Intake of Consumers') at http://www.cbn.org/cbnnews%2Fnews%2F020319c%2Easp is NOT a false alarm. Nor is it a false alarm for CBN to question whether the US may be next to suffer due to this agenda.

Remember: the World Health Organization (WHO) regards all dietary supplements to be "drugs."

The USA is now powerless to stop all this, because we have just one vote at Codex. Any tiny little country at CODEX has as much voting power there as we do. The EU has 15 votes amongst the 15 EU nations, plus the EU itself can now also vote so that's 16, plus the EU controls the votes of at least another 12 countries.

NIACIN A DRUG? Years ago, I attended a "pre meeting" of the US Delegation before the Codex meeting was to start in order to go over the US comments to be submitted at the meeting. I was the ONLY member of the delegation on the side of the grass roots, the health food stores, and small to mid sized vitamin companies. I was the ONLY member of the delegation not wearing a suit, and not representing a multinational company or sold out vitamin trade association.

They told me that they considered the reddening and itching of the skin that occurs with the niacin flush to be a "drug side effect" which people must be "protected from". When I attempted to inform them that the niacin flush is harmless, that all it is is capillaries dilating on the surface of the skin indicating improved blood flow, improved circulation which is HELPFUL to people, they didn't want to listen to a word I said. When I attempted to tell them that I have been taking megadoses of niacin for over 20 years with no deleterious effects even though I had experienced the harmless niacin flush many times, they didn't want to hear a word I said.

I was kicked off the US Delegation and not allowed in to the meeting as a member of the press because in '98, against the wishes of Chairman Grossklauss who ordered me to turn my camcorder off and stop videotaping, I videotaped the first half hour of the Codex meeting. Then I digitized footage of Grossklauss forcing me to turn my camcorder off, and put it on my website in the Media Section at http://www.iahf.com for the whole world to see.

The immense level of corruption in the EU which is documented on Dr.Rath's website via a documentary video and other factual information at http://www.petition450.org/english/default.html .

The EU's Scientific Committee on Foods and the National Academy of Science in the USA are pharmaceutically dominated bodies are caught in a hopeless conflict of interest that precludes any shred of honesty. They're all awash in pharmaceutical research grants. The way they make their money is to figure out ways to "tweak" nutrients molecularly so they can be turned into patentable pharmaceutical "drugs". Then they have the job of driving the dietary supplements off the market via phony "safety" standards to stop the competition. In some cases they find it "necessary" to get dietary supplements permanently banned to stop unwanted competition completely such as they did with L-tryptophan right at the moment Eli Lilly first started marketing Prozac. Maximum levels are not necessary for ALREADY SAFE products. Where are the alleged bodies? No one is dying from safe vitamins, only from toxic pharmaceutical drugs that currently constitute the world's 3rd leading cause of death.

The US Department of Justice busted Hoffman La Roche, Merck and many other companies for violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and for conspiring to fix the prices of vitamin raw materials. Hoffman La Roche was fined a record amount of $540,000,000 for engaging in illegal price fixing. This is the largest fine ever levied by DOJ. Given this, is it really too much of a stretch to assert that this provides a motive for additional conspiracy against the smaller players?

Matthias Rath, M.D., explains the history of how Hoffman La Roche and the other companies formed the Vitamin Cartel at http://www.drrath.com/mr-publishing- internet/network/health_system/uk/busting_cartell.htm

See press release titled U.S. and European Leaders Agree on Principles to Harmonize Dietary Supplement Regulations http://www.crnusa.org/shellnr112000.html

An analysis of the "Study on Nutritional Health and Ethical Claims in the European Union" intended to serve as the "basis" for the EU Anti Vitamin Directive is posted at http://www.iahf.com/codex/20001022.html

Additionally, you can contact Free Choice in Supplements Alliance (FCSA) in the UK and them at rhjverkerk@aol.com or at "Lisa Jennings" They were set up specifically to counter the pharmaceutically dominated vitamin trade association in an effort to stop the pharmaceutical campaign to ban high potency vitamins, as that matter has not yet been finalized even though the Vitamin Directive has gone through.

We need to form a version of FCSA in the USA. All these regulatory efforts globally hinge together.

John C. Hammell, President International Advocates for Health Freedom PO Box 625 Floyd VA 24091 USA http://www.iahf.com 800-333-2553

READERS SAY: GALLSTONES "My fiance tried the natural treatment of olive oil and lemon juice to get rid of his gallstones. This easy treatment was found on Hulda Clark's homepage. He was cured over the weekend months ago. Before the treatment, his doctor suggested surgery. You may want to add this natural and simple therapy to share with others."

You bet. The oil and lemon protocol is a trusted old standby among naturopaths. It has been successfully used worldwide for many years, and is posted part way down the page at http://www.drclark.net/info/liver.htm I make no recommendation or endorsement for any product for sale at this or any other website.

KEEP THIS VITAMIN **WITHIN** THE REACH OF CHILDREN? Our neighbor's 3 year old little boy got into Mom's chewable vitamin C and ate about 15 tablets. He had no diarrhea. He had no side effects at all, in fact... except that he'd had a cold and his runny nose stopped. There is a lesson here somewhere.

VITAMIN C AND BREASTFEEDING Varying amounts of vitamin C will be found in breast milk. If Mom takes a lot of "C" there will be "C" in the breast milk too. If Mom is healing up and stressed out, there will probably be less "C" available to the baby. And if Mom is sick or eating hospital food, there will almost certainly be a diminished "C" supply in her breast milk. The solution is for BOTH mother and baby to supplement with vitamin C AT EVERY MEAL.

We did exactly this with our babies, and were impressed with the results. You can finely powder a tasty chewable "C" tablet and put it on your finger or the baby's tongue. This should be done at every feeding. Infants do not need a lot of supplemental "C"... but they DO need it frequently each day for maximum success. "Success" is easy to define: a healthy, happy baby that eats and sleeps well. Remember that "Breast is best, and "C" is next!"

THIS MONTH'S JUICING HINTS: To get more juice out of the same quantity of vegetables, try putting them through your juicer more slowly. A gentle pressure works best; let the machine do the work. Taking your time juicing can yield as much as a third more juice And, it will also reduce the heat from pressing vegetables too hard against the juicer's blade assembly. Reduced friction means cooler juice, which most experienced juicers consider to be better for you. Cooler juice also tastes better.

To this end, I frost up a couple of large drinking glasses, and the glass pitcher I collect the juice in, by sticking them in the freezer each night. Next morning, I begin. Naturally, refrigerating (but NOT freezing!) your fresh produce also keeps everything cooler.

HINT: A good way to check your juicing technique is to feel the discarded pulp. If it is wet, you are losing juice. If it is dry and puffy, you are extracting most of the liquid very well.

ANOTHER HINT: Clean the clogs as you go. Carrots and other veggies can be very fibrous at certain times of the year. This is all the more reason to slow the juicing process down a tad. But if you are really going at it, stop juicing every five pounds or so, unplug the juicer, and (carefully) rinse off the blade assembly under running cold tap water.

For those who can afford it, there are some very fine, albeit very expensive, juicers that press the vegetables rather than spin a blade against them. While there is little question in my mind that juicer-presses are ideal, a lot of people simply cannot manage their high cost. I'd rather you juice cheap than not juice at all.

More juicing hints at http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicefast.html and http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicing_2.html

READERS SAY: Another good argument for continuing your vitamins in the hospital: "I took them before and I'll take them after I get out, so wouldn't any tests be inaccurate (or symptoms be confused) if I stopped them now?" Tim Simmons, MD

Absolutely correct, and thank you for this addition to last month's "Vitamins in Hospitals: The Final Frontier." http://www.doctoryourself.com/hospitals.html

Doctor Yourself WEBSITE OF THE MONTH: Dr. Leon Bylenok's Nutritional Health and Alternative Medicine website at http://www.geocities.com/raddoll/Nutritional.htm Dr. Bylenok received his B.S. degree in Pharmacy from the University of Buffalo in 1943 and his D.D.S. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dentistry in 1948. A former instructor at the University of Buffalo School of Dentistry, he retired from dental practice in 1986.

I am especially whooped up about Dr. Bylenok's recommended Nutritional Reading list at http://www.geocities.com/raddoll/dad/43.htm and an outstanding vitamin E article, "Substantiated Clinical Uses of Vitamin E" posted at http://www.geocities.com/raddoll/dad/12.htm

You will also find articles on carpal tunnel syndrome, Raynaud's syndrome, mineral orotates, cardiovascular disease, cancer, the work of Hans Neiper, MD, and many other health topics.

(A reminder: My readers already know that I do not recommend or endorse any food supplement brands or companies. This includes, by extension, any products mentioned at a website that I highlight.)

THIS MONTH'S REASON TO BECOME (MORE OF) A VEGETARIAN It was over 40 years ago that I learned this unforgettable little d itty one summer at Camp Hiawatha:

Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck Oh how could ye be so mean To ever have invented The sausage-meat machine. Now all the rats And puddy-cats Will never more be seen; For they'll all be ground To sausage meat In Dunderbeck's machine. (Author unknown, fortunately)

Newsletter Ideas? To submit a question or suggest a topic for the newsletter, email me at doctoryourself.com/contact.html

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This newsletter is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision.

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