Do supplements and vitamin regimes have a place within this search for health and wellness?

BY STEVEN KASZAB

Well I guess you know that influenza season is also upon us. The confusion we all exhibit trying to verify which symptoms belong to a set virus is obvious. The fear we have concerning infectious diseases influences our very survival and quality of life. The World Health Organization passes onto us a mass of statistics that when considered can be overwhelming. 17 million people die of infectious disease each year, 46,000 people per day. There are other diseases that threaten us. HIV/AIDS killed 1.6 million people in 2014; pneumonia killed 1.1 million children under the age of five. malaria killed 627,000 while rabies killed 55,000 people.

America has a numbered system typically showing the disease and number of citizens killed. Monkeypox has been identified over 14,000 times, while polio has returned. Even China, with its massive healthcare response system has to deal with cases of Langya henipavirus, a RNA Virus that spreads through the animal population. We interact, raise and eat animals, often being infected with that same virus. What we know as ordinary influenza is a massive scourge to the global population, striking in mass events throughout the world, killing as many as a million people at one outbreak.

Science has not found a cure for this menace, but there are protocols available to assist you from acquiring it, or at least fighting it off should you contract it. We often think that healthy people should not be as susceptible to illnesses like influenza. Our parents told us “A healthy body and mind is all you need.”

Many doctors also believed this to be true. Eat well, receive all your needed nutrients, and exercise too. Questions have risen however practically dispelling this accepted myth.

• What is the true definition of a nutritious meal?
• Each of us is different; our bodies metabolize differently and have different needs. Can science find a universally acceptable plan of nutrition?
• Do supplements and vitamin regimes have a place within this search for wholeness?

Selenium has a certain importance within the scientific community. A unique amino acid, the rate limiting component for biosynthesis of seleno-proteins important for: anti-oxidant, immune, coagulation and genetic functions for humans, and also very important to viruses. If adequate seleno-proteins are present viral genomes can stabilize, minimizing pathogenic mutations. In low selenium environments benign viruses can mutate into pathogenic strains, which can make even healthy people ill.

Vitamin C and D are essential elements within a person’s health regime. What makes these most effective are the size of the dose and the frequency of its administration. A doctor’s recommendation is called for here. Over or under dosing with these or other supplements can be dangerous. “Doctor, doctor, give me the news, which should I take or use?”

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) have been associated with faster healing of peptic ulcers and decreased death rates from stomach bleeds. This alternative tool has its side effects however, acting as a substitute for the body’s immune systems ability to heal.  The immune system is responsible for the body’s functions, food digestion and cell creation. Tools like PPI can alter functions, have the body release unwanted enzymes, halt or change the creation of killer T Cells, and possibly have the body stop absorbing needed items such as magnesium.

Through further studies, we can investigate which supplements and natural foods are best fitted to our health regime.

As always, ask your doctor for advice.