| When I learned I was going to be having knee | | | | recommended intake level of 60 mg. Dr. Cheraskin's |
| replacement surgery I started taking a more intense | | | | twenty year long research into optimum nutrient |
| interest in my current health and what I could do to | | | | levels would confirm similar discrepancies in the daily |
| assist my own recovery from surgery. In the | | | | intake for virtually every one of the identified |
| following article, I report on some of what I found. | | | | essential nutrients currently listed by the FDA. |
| Most people in North America are living in a state of | | | | Based on his studies of healthy people, Dr. Cheraskin |
| chronic nutritional depletion. That is, we are receiving | | | | has released the following list of daily dosages for 30 |
| less than optimum amounts of at least some | | | | essential nutrients. |
| nutrients, many of which are necessary for healing. | | | | Vitamin A 12,500 to 25,000 IU |
| Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, who has studied optimum | | | | Vitamin D 500 to 1,000 IU |
| levels of nutrients in healthy people for the last | | | | Vitamin E (d alpha tocopherol) 300 to 600 IU |
| twenty years, estimates that only about 5% of | | | | Vitamin C 750 to 1,500 mg |
| adults in the United States could be rated "very | | | | Bioflavonoid complex 400 to 800 mg |
| healthy." This is based on his study of the dietary | | | | Rutin 50 to 100 mg |
| and supplementation intake of a group of 1405 | | | | Hesperidin complex 50 to 100 mg |
| dentists and their spouses. | | | | Folic acid 0.4 to 0.8 mg |
| By questioning this group on what they ate and what | | | | Vitamin B1 (thiamine) 12.5 to 25 mg |
| supplements they took, as well as what state of | | | | Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) 12.5 to 25 mg |
| health they were in, Dr. Cheraskin was able to gather | | | | Niacin 50 to 100 mg |
| material for further research. He carried out hundreds | | | | Vitamin B6 12.5 to 25 mg |
| of double blind studies over the next twenty years | | | | Vitamin B12 125 to 250 mcg |
| and by determining the different results achieved by | | | | Biotin 75 to 150 mcg |
| individuals taking various vitamin supplements as | | | | Choline 100 to 200 mg |
| compared to those receiving placebos he tried to | | | | Inositol 100 to 200 mg |
| establish the ideal amount of each nutrient for optimal | | | | Pantothenic acid 100 to 200 mg |
| health. | | | | PABA 50 to 100 mg |
| In a report he wrote for the International Academy | | | | Calcium 350 to 700 mg |
| of Science in 2005, entitled "Diet and | | | | Phosphorus 100 to 200 mg |
| Supplementation, Keys to Optimal Health", Dr. | | | | Magnesium 175 to 350 mg |
| Cheraskin identifies two key areas to look at to | | | | Zinc 25 to 50 mg |
| achieve high levels of health. One is vitamin and | | | | Potassium 90 to 180 mg |
| mineral supplementation, and the other is daily dietary | | | | Iodine 125 to 250 mcg |
| choices. In this article I want to focus on vitamin and | | | | Iron 15 to 30 mg |
| mineral supplementation. | | | | Copper 0.1 to 0.2 mg |
| As he observes in his report, nutritional value is lost | | | | Manganese 5 to 10 mg |
| every step of the way in getting food from | | | | Selenium 50 to 100 mcg |
| "garden-to-gullet." The processing involved, storage, | | | | Chromium 50 to 100 mcg |
| transportation, canning, freezing, cooking...all take their | | | | Molybdenum 50 to 100 mcg |
| toll what was once fresh food and contribute to the | | | | These are the ranges of daily intake of this group of |
| deterioration of the foods nutritional value. | | | | thirty nutrients that Dr. Cheraskin found in the |
| At the same time as we are getting diminished food | | | | healthiest fraction of the group of dentists and |
| values, our daily lives are robbing our body's stores of | | | | spouse he studied. Since his original work, numerous |
| the various vitamins and nutrients. Stress, physical | | | | new studies have provided supporting evidence. |
| activity, surgery, illness, environmental pollution, aging, | | | | A study of identical twins, carried out by Dr. Judy Z. |
| prescribed medicines, and many other factors deplete | | | | Miller found that by providing supplemental Vitamin C, |
| the body of vitamins and minerals. | | | | at five times the RDA level, for five months to one |
| Trace minerals are an often little considered factor in | | | | of the twins, those receiving the extra C grew |
| our health. There is a demonstrateable relationship | | | | anywhere from ¼" to 1" taller than their |
| between how soft a municipalities water supply is | | | | siblings that weren't supplemented. |
| and cardiovascular death rates. Doctor Henry A. | | | | A survey done by Dr. J. Matsovinovic turned up |
| Schroeder, from the Dartmouth Medical School | | | | evidence of clinical hyperthyroidism in 3% of |
| Hanover, New Hampshire originally noted the | | | | American males and 11% of American females |
| correlation in statistics kept from 1945 1951. His | | | | because of a lack of iodine. |
| findings were confirmed in the statistics for 1960 as | | | | It has been estimated that less than 20% of |
| well. Support for these findings may be found in a | | | | Americans actually achieve the RDA for Vitamin A. |
| comparison of the concentration of trace minerals in | | | | Dr. Cheraskin's work indicates that optimum levels of |
| injured heart tissue as compared with normal tissue. | | | | this vitamin may be actually 5 - 7 times higher than |
| Injured tissue showed a decrease in cobalt, cesium, | | | | the 5000 mg the FDA says you need. |
| zinc, cesium, molybdenum, potassium, phosphorous | | | | I encourage you to do additional research on Dr. |
| and rubidium. At the same time, modern farming | | | | Cheraskin and his work. Look for his books in the |
| practices are reducing the quantity of trace minerals | | | | library and search the internet. And in the meantime, |
| from our food, as the minerals are leached out with | | | | if you are preparing to enter the hospital for surgery, |
| irrigation, and the soil stripped of it's nutrients. | | | | start taking a multi-vitamin every morning, and |
| Studies of the diet of our ancestors that roamed the | | | | another at night. Use the list above, and the label of |
| earth in Paleolithic times estimate that their average | | | | your favorite multi, to determine your own optimum |
| daily intake of vegetative sources of food would | | | | level of supplementation for optimum health. And |
| have provided them with approximately 390 mg of | | | | don't forget to look for Part 3 of this article. |
| Vitamin C a day. Contrast this with the FDA's | | | | |