I am at a crossroads. It all started with Joel III's lemon obsession and then our Vitamin C trial. It then evolved into Vit C, Omega 3, and Vit D for the whole family. Recently, I began to research Vitamin C and pregnancy when I stumbled upon a study done by Dr. Klenner in the 1940's with pregnant women and 'high' dose Vitamin C. The results are so amazing that I wondered, "where are all of the current studies on Vitamin C?" Oh... There are some. They just use about 1/10th the dose that Klenner used. And then they say, "The results were unremarkable with no correlations found" Well, duh. The patients were given 500-1,000 mg of Vitamin C per day, compared with Klenner's 5,000-10,000 mg! I was so stumped by this (was Klenner crazy? did he not document his findings well enough? Why were his results literally ignored by most of the population?) Then... along came my answers. In the documentary, "Food Matters"
This documentary makes quite a few points including -
1. A diet of primarily fruits and vegetables is optimal for human health. (preferably all raw)
2. The Standard American Diet is so extremely deficient of fruits and vegetables (and the massive amounts of vitamins and minerals associated with)
3. Because of this shortcoming, most, if not all, Americans would benefit greatly from extra vitamin supplementation (unless they are willing to switch to an all-raw diet) even beyond the Recommended Daily allowances (RDA)'s.
4. Studies are not being done on 'high dose' vitamins for therapeutic purposes because of the huge, rival, money-making industry: Medicine. (drugs)
5. Astonishing results have been seen using the treatment of an vitamins/all raw diet for numerous diseases.
6. It is illegal in the United States for a Doctor to prescribe vitamins/nutritional therapy for diseases.
These are in my own words, so please don't quote me on these. Just watch it for yourself if you are curious. Actually, the vitamin section is very short, however, it was most interesting to me. I was sooo excited when my boy, Klenner, was actually mentioned in this documentary! I felt like he had fallen off the face of the earth, or something.
Ok, let me first say, I am not one for conspiracy theories. At least I try not to be. And I know for sure that I am definitely not one to be convinced by those wacko-animal-and-environmental-loving-vegans. Sorry, but if you are a vegetarian and your primary reason is animal cruelty, that just doesn't convince me. However, this documentary took on an entirely different approach. The approach was extremely effective for me, as one who does not care an extreme amount about the environment or animals, but does care about the health of my family!
I thought about how Joel III and Judah weren't sick at all the first year of their life (with the exception of stuffy nose) Then, literally days after I weaned them from breastfeeding they were sick. This happened with both of them! I attribute a lot of that to the antibodies in breast milk. However, there is something to be said for the superior nutritional content of breast milk compared to. .. well... pancakes, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs.
Then, of course, Joel and I reflected on the small miracle that took place in our son, Joel III, after he was given large amounts of Vitamin C.
I felt like many of my questions had been answered.
Extra vitamins and minerals = better immunity, i.e. good health.
Best way to get those = take vitamins and eat more raw fruits and vegetables (and less processed foods).
Ok, vitamins... check. But raw fruits and vegetables? Hm... I haven't really signed up for this.. I mean.. raw? Vegan? Seriously? Those words, I don't even know what they mean.. and my 16 oz sirloin-eating, candy-loving husband? Ha. Even funnier to him.
So.. I don't know where we stand. I think we are taking the "If you want something done right you need to do it yourself" old cliche to the extreme. (have I mentioned we are considering homeschooling?) To be this responsible for my kid's spiritual life, mental life and physical life is super scary. But then again... aren't we all responsible for all of those things anyway? Like, even if we put our kids in church youth group, Christian school and feed them the Standard American Diet, aren't we still 100% responsible for their upbringing? Sure, its nice to be able to say "his youth pastor never taught him that Bible verse, so.. it makes sense that he wouldn't obey God" but deep down we know it's really our own responsibility.
It is up to us how to raise them, isn't it? We shouldn't pretend like we don't have a choice. We do. So, then...the question is... is it worth it? That's up to you, I guess.
When it comes to nutrition, I never thought it was. Now, I am starting to second guess that thought.
