Swathes of cloud fell around the rim of the crater, the early morning mist and high altitude vapours bringing a slight chill to the crisp clean air. Perched on the lip of what is known as “Africa’s Eden,” I gazed down from our camp, foggy patches casting thick shadows over the vast caldera floor.Africa is a timeless place, and even moreso when it comes to the Ngorongoro Crater – a spectacular bowl that was carved into the earth’s surface over 10,000 years ago by Mother Nature’s hand. Spanning around 265-sqm and reaching up to around 600-metres, its 30,000 strong wildlife population leave their mark on the volcanic landscape year round; the animals drawn to the rich volcanic soil, lush forest and spring source lakes that line the crater floor .Just outside the ridge we spotted a red-cloaked Maasai warrior, herding his cattle across the highland slopes. A common sighting, the tribe have lived alongside the neighbouring wildlife for centuries – their presence adding to the ultimate appeal of traditional storybook Africa.The continent is famous for its Big Five, but East Africa has a certain authenticity – its well-known reserves and parks, including the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara, drawing animal lovers here in their hordes. While you can travel independently and book safaris “as you go,” overlanding is the hassle free way to see more of the region. Transport can still be haphazard for solo adventurers and in under a month it’s possible to take in around six countries on an organised trip. Every highlight on the itinerary is also perfectly mapped out – R&R balanced with sight seeing, game drives and the more energetic pursuits available in Africa’s adventure capitals.

We started our safari with a dramatic descent – the lush rain forest and thick vegetation, giving way to open grassy plains that stretched out across the horizon. Even on an early morning game drive we were kitted out with jumpers, as the temperature in the crater doesn’t start to pick up until at least midday. Either way, it’s advisable to combine a wooly hat with skin protection, as at 9am the rays from the tropical sun are still very powerful.Eager wildlife enthusiasts we were lucky enough to spot a pride of lions lazing between the sun-bleached blades of grass. Not camera shy, the females and cubs seemed totally oblivious to our presence. Ngorongoro is one of the more well-visited regions due to the phenomenal number of wildlife, including elephant, buffalo, black rhino – and of course, the big cats. Something told me that our subjects were indeed no strangers to safari goers. A couple of energetic cubs rolled around together, while the females fired back a look of pure indifference. It was as if the sight of yet more game viewers had caused their eyes to glaze over. Nevertheless, the short distance between us made it a thrilling encounter.

Our guide’s experience became readily apparent as we drove further into the crater. Even the slightest flicker in the tall grasses would cause him to venture a guess. It was as though he could smell the wildlife before they came into view and feel their emotions. During one game drive he called out to the driver, our vehicle stopping near to a herd of water buffalo “I think there’s a lion looking for an early lunch,” he said emphatically, and in the space of a few moments the king of the jungle appeared, edging cautiously through the grassy plains, stalking his next meal ticket.By far the cheapest way to travel, overlanding is also atmospheric camping all the way. In the Serengeti, there were wildebeest grazing close to our tents and under cover of darkness strange sounds punctuated the silence; the gentle rhythmic calls of the cicacdas followed by a roar somewhere in the distance.Only a few days before encountering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we had been basking on the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Spice Island of Zanzibar tantalizing our senses. The scent of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg hung in the air – the tropical bouquet and calls from the street traders following us down the cobbled streets.

Zanzibar’s aromas are as exotic as its history – the island once a focal point of trade between Arabia, India and Africa. However, despite the enticing cultural melting pot it is the sparkling blue ocean and excellent diving opportunities around the northern beaches that are the main draw for adventurers.Not simply for those in search of the Big Five, East Africa is also home to Livingstone, one of the continents adventure capitals. Perhaps, a more expensive destination by virtue of its popularity, the city boasts a range of activities for the extreme sportsman and the more laid back. Whether you choose to take a scenic flight over the Victoria Falls, go walking with lions or throw yourself off the Bakota Gorge on a 415-metre zip line it is almost impossible to run out of options.In between the highlights we endured journeys of up to eight hours in length, but when you’re taking in the magnificent snow capped Kilimanjaro, hours can seem like minutes. If anything, by the end of the overland trip, my 16 fellow travellers and I had proved that the African adrenaline rush lies not just in seeing the wildlife, but in experiencing all that this wonderful continent has to offer.

Acacia Adventure Holidays 29-day East African Explorer covers, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. £995pp + local payment from £361pp. Prices include tour highlights as listed in the brochure, transport, roads tolls and taxes, camping and cooking equipment, most meals and services of tour leader and driver (no single supplement). Maximum 24 people on a tour. Excludes return international flight, visas, departure taxes, transfers and optional payment excursions.Contact Acacia Adventure Holidays; 020 7706 4700; info@acacia-africa.com; www.acacia-africa.com. ATOL No. 6499 and ABTA No. W4093 PROTECTED. For all PR enquiries please contact media@tionlondon.co.uk or call 020 8180 1614 (VoIP).

Swathes of cloud fell around the rim of the crater, the early morning mist and high altitude vapours bringing a slight chill to the crisp clean air. Perched on the lip of what is known as “Africa’s Eden,” I gazed down from our camp, foggy patches casting thick shadows over the vast caldera floor.Africa is a timeless place, and even moreso when it comes to the Ngorongoro Crater – a spectacular bowl that was carved into the earth’s surface over 10,000 years ago by Mother Nature’s hand. Spanning around 265-sqm and reaching up to around 600-metres, its 30,000 strong wildlife population leave their mark on the volcanic landscape year round; the animals drawn to the rich volcanic soil, lush forest and spring source lakes that line the crater floor .Just outside the ridge we spotted a red-cloaked Maasai warrior, herding his cattle across the highland slopes. A common sighting, the tribe have lived alongside the neighbouring wildlife for centuries – their presence adding to the ultimate appeal of traditional storybook Africa.The continent is famous for its Big Five, but East Africa has a certain authenticity – its well-known reserves and parks, including the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara, drawing animal lovers here in their hordes. While you can travel independently and book safaris “as you go,” overlanding is the hassle free way to see more of the region. Transport can still be haphazard for solo adventurers and in under a month it’s possible to take in around six countries on an organised trip. Every highlight on the itinerary is also perfectly mapped out – R&R balanced with sight seeing, game drives and the more energetic pursuits available in Africa’s adventure capitals.

We started our safari with a dramatic descent – the lush rain forest and thick vegetation, giving way to open grassy plains that stretched out across the horizon. Even on an early morning game drive we were kitted out with jumpers, as the temperature in the crater doesn’t start to pick up until at least midday. Either way, it’s advisable to combine a wooly hat with skin protection, as at 9am the rays from the tropical sun are still very powerful.Eager wildlife enthusiasts we were lucky enough to spot a pride of lions lazing between the sun-bleached blades of grass. Not camera shy, the females and cubs seemed totally oblivious to our presence. Ngorongoro is one of the more well-visited regions due to the phenomenal number of wildlife, including elephant, buffalo, black rhino – and of course, the big cats. Something told me that our subjects were indeed no strangers to safari goers. A couple of energetic cubs rolled around together, while the females fired back a look of pure indifference. It was as if the sight of yet more game viewers had caused their eyes to glaze over. Nevertheless, the short distance between us made it a thrilling encounter.

Our guide’s experience became readily apparent as we drove further into the crater. Even the slightest flicker in the tall grasses would cause him to venture a guess. It was as though he could smell the wildlife before they came into view and feel their emotions. During one game drive he called out to the driver, our vehicle stopping near to a herd of water buffalo “I think there’s a lion looking for an early lunch,” he said emphatically, and in the space of a few moments the king of the jungle appeared, edging cautiously through the grassy plains, stalking his next meal ticket.By far the cheapest way to travel, overlanding is also atmospheric camping all the way. In the Serengeti, there were wildebeest grazing close to our tents and under cover of darkness strange sounds punctuated the silence; the gentle rhythmic calls of the cicacdas followed by a roar somewhere in the distance.Only a few days before encountering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area we had been basking on the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Spice Island of Zanzibar tantalizing our senses. The scent of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg hung in the air – the tropical bouquet and calls from the street traders following us down the cobbled streets.

Zanzibar’s aromas are as exotic as its history – the island once a focal point of trade between Arabia, India and Africa. However, despite the enticing cultural melting pot it is the sparkling blue ocean and excellent diving opportunities around the northern beaches that are the main draw for adventurers.Not simply for those in search of the Big Five, East Africa is also home to Livingstone, one of the continents adventure capitals. Perhaps, a more expensive destination by virtue of its popularity, the city boasts a range of activities for the extreme sportsman and the more laid back. Whether you choose to take a scenic flight over the Victoria Falls, go walking with lions or throw yourself off the Bakota Gorge on a 415-metre zip line it is almost impossible to run out of options.In between the highlights we endured journeys of up to eight hours in length, but when you’re taking in the magnificent snow capped Kilimanjaro, hours can seem like minutes. If anything, by the end of the overland trip, my 16 fellow travellers and I had proved that the African adrenaline rush lies not just in seeing the wildlife, but in experiencing all that this wonderful continent has to offer.

Acacia Adventure Holidays 29-day East African Explorer covers, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. £995pp + local payment from £361pp. Prices include tour highlights as listed in the brochure, transport, roads tolls and taxes, camping and cooking equipment, most meals and services of tour leader and driver (no single supplement). Maximum 24 people on a tour. Excludes return international flight, visas, departure taxes, transfers and optional payment excursions.Contact Acacia Adventure Holidays; 020 7706 4700; info@acacia-africa.com; www.acacia-africa.com. ATOL No. 6499 and ABTA No. W4093 PROTECTED. For all PR enquiries please contact media@tionlondon.co.uk or call 020 8180 1614 (VoIP).

A Healthy Pregnancy

Every mother wants and hopes for a healthy baby, but in this more and more polluted world, it’s getting harder and harder. 

Not that long ago in the history of humans, and up to a few hundred years ago, many women simply lay down, and had a healthy baby.  Then, along came midwives to help, as societies evolved.  Later came medical doctors.

One was a man named Semmelweiss.  He worried about the large number of women, treated by male doctors.  He went around telling fellow doctors that they had to wash their hands before a birthing to prevent purpura, a bacterial infection.  He was ridiculed by the local medical society, and hounded out of the profession.  He was right, but he died an outcast and broke.  Not many years after that, Pasteur discovered bacteria, and those doctors scratched their heads, saying “Maybe Semmelweiss was right?”

Today is not that much different.  Too many MD’s are “educationally handicapped” by wrong things that they learned in med school (usually many years previously from text books even older).  They are further handicapped by reading (and believing) medical journal information.  All Medical Journals are entirely supported by drug advertising, and cannot ever publish anything favorable to vitamins or other supplements common to the Alternate Health field or they lose their income. 

Vitamin C in Pregnancy

Every pregnant woman worries about the latest “scare”.  Swine flu virus in this spring of 2009, as this is written.   The worsening birth rate of autism creates heavy worries for all pregnant women. 

How about a really cheap, yet effective way to prevent either of those?  Here it is.  Go to a discount store such as Costco or Walmart.  Get a bottle of 500 pills of 1000mg (1 gram).of Vitamin C 

Start taking two of those pills at breakfast and two at dinner.  Take any vitamins, supplements or other drugs at lunch, so that any minerals in those aren’t taken out of the body by the vitamin C.  Total cost under $30 for the whole nine months.  Pretty cheap for such insurance,

Vitamin C does many things very well: 

1.  It “chelates” all minerals in the bloodstream combining with them into a harmless form that is water soluble, and this is filtered out of the bloodstream by the kidneys and out of the body via urine.  That’s important, because in the polluted world, the mother may have a near toxic level of mercury, or lead, or other heavy metal that can destroy brain cells.   She is likely to not know this unless she has had mineral analysis by blood, urine, or hair.  By taking the amount above, for at least six to nine months, the mother’s toxic level (and the babies) will be lowered sufficiently, so that at birth the baby’s tiny liver will be able to handle additional loads of mercury from vaccines and other toxic sources.

2.  What Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know is that Vitamin C kills both bacteria and virus cells in the blood.  However to do this the blood has to be saturated long enough to kill all that are present.  With this amount, the blood is saturated twice a day.  This gives fair to good protection against colds and flu’s for the mother and the baby.  This also lessens considerably the possibility of high temperatures that may be dangerous to the fetus.  (In flu season, I up that to 3 grams at both times, )

Many MD’s ignorant of the above facts still oppose this usage due to the lies and phony research funded by Big Pharma.  There are many “horror” stories spread about vitamin C.  These include the following:

    a. Vitamin C causes abortion or miscarriage. 

F. R. Klenner, MD ((http://www.doctoryourself.com/miscarriage.html) gave high doses (5000 to 10,000 mg/day) to 300 women during pregnancy with no miscarriages

    b. Vitamin C causes Kidney damage and/or kidney stones:

Totally false – in fact, knowledgeable MD’s use vitamin C to help dissolve kidney stones, and to treat kidney and bladder infections. 

    c. Vitamin C is useless against viruses and bacteria:
This is supposedly backed by several “scientific tests”, mostly funded by Big Pharma.  In such tests, these “scientists” used only 500 mg of vitamin C (that’s their definition of a megavitamin since the RDA is only 75 mg.  That amount will prevent scurvy, BUT, it isn’t nearly enough for good health!

The major flaw in that research is that 500 mg cannot begin to saturate the bloodstream to kill ALL the virus and bacteria cells.  Both multiply in a binary fashion doubling about every 20 minutes.  If 500 mg of vitamin C only kills half the germ cells present, 20 minutes after the vitamin C is “used up”, the germs are back to where they started and 20 minutes more and they’ve doubled again. 

The results of such a “scientific” test are not true, and Big Pharma knows it, but they keep using such phony research as they will lose a lot of money if the true facts about vitamin C are known.  It’s much cheaper than their drugs, much safer, and at least as effective. 

Here’s a fact that’s true.  The only side effect of overdosing of Vitamin C is diarrhea.   Anyone who tells you different is mistaken, and probably misled by years of Big Pharma’s lies. 

Pre-natal Vitamin Supplements

Did you know that the vitamins prescribed by your doctor aren’t nearly enough for good health during pregnancy?  Doctors make money prescribing them, and Big Pharma makes money from them. 

I’ve checked many of the formulas available by prescription, and compared them to many others that are available at your neighborhood vitamin store.  At similar or even lower prices, you can get much better multivitamin/mineral formulas.  I personally recommend and take Solgar’s VM-75.
It is more expensive than many pre-natal ones, but it has several times the B complex (needed for stress), a good amount of all nutritional minerals.  I have searched for an equal at a lower price, but haven’t found one in 30+ years.  I’ve used and recommended it for years, and I don’t even get a discount from Solgar. 

Take a VM-75 pill at noon every day.  Do not take your vitamin C with it;  allow 4 hours between these two, so that the vitamin C in these amounts does not take out what you need. In     

Of course, ignore any fairy stories or lies about the dangers of multi-vitamins. 

You may want to add additional zinc just to avoid “stretch marks”.  15-30 mg is OK.

Please note that the above advice does NOT guarantee a healthy baby to all, just to a huge majority.  There are genetic factors, accident factors, the mother’s emotional states, etc that all have the potential of causing damage to the fetus.  However, with the above, all problems are much lessened for a very affordable cost.  Pass this Article on to any pregnant women you know. 

Let’s look at a few ideas (myths or lies) that have been promoted by Big Pharma that many, if not most MD’s believe.

The published RDA for vitamins is the right amount to take daily.

Vitamin C causes kidney damage and kidney stones and abortions.

Vitamin C is useless used against colds flus and bacterial infections

Vitamin E is useless for heart problems.

Vitamin D is only needed in small amounts and dangerous otherwise.

If you believe any of the above, you’ve been misinformed.  None of the above is even close to truth!

The RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) was originally the MDA (Minimum Recommended Allowance).  These are the vitamin and mineral daily amounts which are enough to keep most people from deficiency diseases such as beriberi, scurvy, and pellagra.  Those amounts were determined by labs commissioned by the US government to determine these.  They are insufficient for good health!

Do you see the huge difference between RDA and MDA?  That choice of wording successfully lobbied for by food manufacturers (and Big Pharma) makes it seem that their foods are much better than they really are in nutrition, and more people actually get sick and use drugs on those amounts..

When ever most people think about marketing their website they think about “how can we get more traffic online” and yet they seem to totally disregard the Offline Website Marketing Tools already available free and in most cases they are already using.

I want to set about in this article to give you 10 Offline Website Marketing Tools that are guaranteed to give you traffic. However, one point to note, it will not be easy to track how many people are using these offline website marketing tools unless you ask them. So on your contact page on your website make sure you have a drop down box with these options in their. To often website owners only include online website marketing tools in their “How You Heard About Us” drop down boxes.

So let us get started …

Offline Tool #1 – Put Your Website Address on Your Business Signs

If you are like my company we have spent thousands of dollars on advertising signs on our business at our location in Townsville Australia but it still amazes me as I visit other places and even countries, that businesses with really effective websites still do not advertise their web address on their signs.

Let me throw a few things at you … How would you like 37,000 per day to see you! You would do anything to get that sort of traffic wouldn’t you? Course you would. Well there are 200 – 300 business on the street where we are located and we have coming past our building everyday 37,000 vehicles, free traffic. Then why wouldn’t you as a business owner have your website address plastered all over your business signs. Do you realize that of the 200-300 business less than 10 actually have their website address on their business?

How crazy is that! This is free traffic. Never underestimate drive by traffic, and if you do not believe me then ask yourself a question, “Why do companies like Wal-Mart, Harvey Norman, Coles Myer etc put their stores on main roads?” For the drive by traffic! It doesn’t matter whether you only get 100 cars a day or 1 million cars a day, having your website address on your signage means that as people go to work and see the address, they are more likely to have a look at your website as soon as they get to work than any other time. If a person has a particular need for your products, studies have shown, they are more likely to first check out your website, than actually come into your store.

Offline Tool #2 – Put Your Website Address On Your Vehicle

Just like the previous offline website marketing tool, this is a no brinier. If you have sign writing on your car for your business, would you forget to put your phone number on the car? Course Not (Mind you I have seen a few cars that have even forgot that) then why would you forget to put your website address on your car. If your business sells products and services via the internet, then you need to tell your customers where to find you.

30% of our car detailing traffic that I own actually comes from our vehicles and within that 30% over 60% of our business is derived from people seeing our cars on the road, then visiting our web address to see our prices and services and then booking their cars in. Never forget your website address on your vehicle.

Offline Tool #3 – Put Your Website Address in Your Yellow Pages Advertisement and White Pages Advertisement

The world seems to be obsessed with the Yellow Pages. It is truly a phenomenon. We page thousands of dollars to be in the Yellow Pages and the three things we check to make sure are in there are our Address, Telephone number and web address. Most people before they ring you, will in fact check out your website first. If the website address tells me nothing, then I simply move on to the one that has a website address that tells me what I need to know.

Offline Tool #4 – Put Your Website Address on Your Business Cards

Look this one is another one of those no brainier. Everybody in business should have an email address and website address and they should both appear on your business cards prominently. Since a large proportion of business these days is done through email then not having just your email address is costing your business. I know of some businesses that will not communicate with you through anything but email and the phone. They simply refuse to deal with people who have a fax because they want to save money.

Get your website address on your business cards. If you have only just gone and got them printed then go down to your local stationary supply company and buy some small stickers and stick them on the back. Might look tacky but at least your customers will know how to contact you.

Offline Tool #5 – Put Your Website Address on all Media Advertising

When ever you do any advertising at all, whether it is a leaflet drop or billboard advertising in Time Square (Nice if you can afford it) make sure that your website address is on the advertising. When people see your website address they are more likely to visit your site first before coming into your store. Many important sales are made won or lost long before you ever see the customer and in many cases your website could be that deciding factor.

Offline Tool #6 – If you are sponsoring a Charity or Sports Group have your website included next to your name

If you have decided to sponsor a Charity or Charity Day or even a sport group then make sure that the Charity or Sporting group includes your Name and Your Website on their printed material. The human race is really quite bizarre as they are more likely to remember your website address than your telephone number. Just like before, if they see your details at a Charity or Sports function, then they are more likely to goto you then your competitors because your support your community, then make sure that the Charity or sporting group gives the customers a way to find you.

Remember to have your website address on all of their printed material and signage if possible.

Offline Tool #7 – Put Your Website Address on your Uniforms

One of the core reasons we give our staff uniforms is so that they are easily identifiable when they are out and about but more so, the uniforms make my staff walking billboards for my company. Most companies when developing their uniforms will only include their logos. My recommendation to everyone is to include your website address as well.

Many people have told me they have seen my staff at the shopping centre and seen our web address on their uniforms and that is how they have found us. Some of our biggest customers have come from the website address on their uniforms. This is one of the cheapest and free website marketing tools.

Offline Tool #8 – Put Your Website Address on all of your Business Merchandise

If you are creating merchandise to give to your customers, make sure you include your website address on the merchandise. In fact, it is less intrusive to include your website address on your merchandise than it is to include your telephone number. Let me give you an example. I am sitting in our business writing this article and I looked over at a Stainless steel mug that my brother gave me from Canada. The mug is a merchandise item from Prince George Savings Credit Union. I tried to look up their site and put in the usuals but all I got was spam sites. It was simply to hard for me to find them so I gave up.

I should note that this stainless steel mug takes pride and place on my desk in my office and I use it all the time. If they had their website address on this stainless steel mug then I could have easily looked up their website and maybe set up a bank account or invested some money with them but they have made it too difficult to do so.

If your merchandise is designed to push your name or market you in the workplace, then make sure you make it easy for your customers to find you. Remember, most people will go to your website rather then to call or visit your store first, simply to avoid the heavy sell.

Offline Tool #9 – Incorporate Your Website Address Into Your Logo

When I work with our SEO clients and their business coaches one of the things we look at is their logo. When I first setup our training and car detailing business, one of the things I did was to incorporate our website address in the logo. The core advantage to this is that where ever our logo is our website address is and it allows people to find an easy way to contact you.

Often when you are sponsoring teams at football games, the only information about you they allow is your logo. This means sometimes that it can be difficult to find you but if you include your website address in your logo, your customers will always have a sure fire way to find you.

Offline Tool #10 – Put Your Website Address On Your Press Releases

When ever you release a press release ensure that you put your website address on it. Many a time, media companies will actually include your website address, in particularly when they post information about your press release on their websites. I have noticed a trend at MSNBC, Ninemsn and CNN to do this. The advantage to you as the website owner is that the link they include in the text will be treated as a high quality link than any other, because most of these three sites have PR rankings of 8 or more which means this will help you in your webpage rankings in the search engines.

The other point to this is that you may find a traffic peak whilst your article is actually visible. For example, as a proud Australian I was heartbroken to hear about the death of Steven Irwin an Australian Icon and Legend and a proud Queenslander like me but when their family did the press releases they included the Wild Life Warriors website address on the press release. Virtually every single media outlet around the world has posted the website address on their websites which means this website is doing outstandingly well. At least in this tragic circumstance there will be some good come out of it.

To finish off, I want to reiterate the 10 Offline Website Marketing Tools you should be utilizing -

Offline Tool #1 – Put Your Website Address on Your Business Signs
Offline Tool #2 – Put Your Website Address On Your Vehicle
Offline Tool #3 – Put Your Website Address in Your Yellow Pages Advertisement and White Pages Advertisement
Offline Tool #4 – Put Your Website Address on Your Business Cards
Offline Tool #5 – Put Your Website Address on all Media Advertising
Offline Tool #6 – If you are sponsoring a Charity or Sports Group have your website included next to your name
Offline Tool #7 – Put Your Website Address on your Uniforms
Offline Tool #8 – Put Your Website Address on all of your Business Merchandise
Offline Tool #9 – Incorporate Your Website Address Into Your Logo
Offline Tool #10 – Put Your Website Address On Your Press Releases

Nutritional Myths and Facts

You can get all the nutrition from your supermarket (or from the infamous four food groups).  If you believe this, you are a candidate to buy a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge.
 
First, let’s destroy that myth of the “four food groups”.  If that were indeed true, a meal at Burger King would be “nutritious”.  No serious observer believes this – but it has all 4 food groups.  Would you believe that this absurd FFF (four food fictions) is STILL being taught in medical schools and nutritionist courses in all too many colleges?  (Nutritionists are those wonderful people who give you those “delicious” meals in schools, prisons, and hospitals.  Need I say more about this?)

Next, why can’t we just eat healthy foods from our supermarket?  Need a few reasons?

 1.    Fruits and veggies are picked green and artificially ripened with chemicals.  These same fruits and veggies are sprayed with insecticides that are also deadly to us humans.  We do accumulate these, albeit slowly, and it takes additional nutrition to help our bodies get rid of these chemicals.

2.    Many growing areas in the US are overworked and many more are more than a bit deficient in minerals needed for nutrition, and taste.  You can easily prove this – just try growing your own tomatoes, or even getting them fresh from some of the local fruit stands.  Bite into it – If the juice and seeds don’t squirt 3-4 feet, it’s not really picked ripe.  AND THE TASTE!  Not at all the same as those blobs of red plastic you get from the supermarket.  In Florida, zinc has to be added to fertilizers to grow oranges.  Milk from Florida cows contain no zinc.

3.    Food animals are fed hormones to increase their weight. These hormones are illegal for athletes to use, but legal for farmers.  If that’s not bad enough, consider this – about half of all antibiotics in the US are used in food animals.  I lived in Puerto Rico some years back, and when I found out about the very high level of penicillin in the milk. my kids stopped getting milk.  Most of the cows there are tuberculin. Nice hey?

 This factor of antibiotic use in our food is one of the prime factors facing us with bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.  Antibiotics are way overused and even abused by the medical profession as well as by food producers

In cows, pigs, and sheep, the hormones and antibiotics and other chemicals ingested by these animals is found largely in fatty tissues.   (From cows that browse along highways, high levels of lead – from lead additives to gas – were found.  This is why bone derived calcium is still not too good in the good old USA.). As we eat these meats, we get these chemicals as well.  How do we get rid of them – well, it takes extra vitamins and minerals to excrete them.

4.      Chickens are no longer the chickens our grandparents knew.  Now, they’re grown to “eating” size in a small cage, fed a “scientific” diet – not for nutrition – but for fastest growth.  This results in much more fat and much more chemical input in this fat.  When my wife and I were cruising around the Caribbean, and getting food in native markets, the difference in taste amazed us.  It was not only the chicken, but also the beef and pork.  It was often gotten from a shack with a dirt floor, and there were flies everywhere, but I know that it was much healthier (and tastier) for us than what we are now getting from our supermarket. The taste difference was marked, and the lack of fat was noticeable.

There have been many “disturbing” reports about cancerous growths and tumors in chicken and turkeys grown in these “factories”.  In addition, it seems that the automatic pluckers get chicken feces into the machinery, and both of these are passed on to us, the lucky (???) consumers.

5.    Any scientist or even any knowledgeable person in the US can tell you that our environment is being poisoned by the chemicals we are putting into it.  Our air, our water, and our soil are not even close to what it was 100 years ago.  All of these chemicals are getting into our bodies in ever increasing amounts, and it takes ever increasing amounts of vitamins and necessary minerals to excrete them.

6.    White bread and “Enriched” flour. This is one of the biggest jokes of all on us consumers.  When steel rollers were invented around the turn of the century, the wheat germ and the fiber casing were removed.  (It was then thought that fiber was not necessary to health because it wasn’t absorbed.  That’s just another scientific stupidity.)  This resulted in very white flour that was prettier and easier for housewives to use.  A couple of problems became apparent – the lack of several vitamins actually caused several deficiency diseases in people who were eating it.  Anemia and schizophrenia were probably the worst, but there were others.  The US government looked into it and decided that the wheat people had to add back a “few” items to reduce this problem.  So, they added back iron, and 3 of the B vitamins.  The advertising folks couldn’t admit that white bread had been “poisoning” the consumers, so they added the beautiful word “enriched” to this flour.  Isn’t advertising wonderful?  It sells garbage as good!

This “new” white flour removed over 40 vitamins and minerals very necessary to our health.  They added back in only minimum amounts of the 4 “most” needed ones.  That’s the equivalent of robbing a man of his clothes in a blizzard, and handing him back his tie, thereby “enriching” him! 

7.     Sugar and processed foods. In 1900, the average intake of sugar was about 5-6 pounds per year per person.  Today, that number is well above 200 pounds.  In that same 1900, there were few “processed foods”.  What was eaten was grown fairly near, and eaten in season.  Today, the supermarket is loaded with processed foods.  Just look at a few labels!! Read the list of the chemicals in almost every food on the shelf!

These are only the most important reasons for taking vitamin and mineral supplements.  Remember that to get rid of these accumulating chemicals, we need increasing amounts of vitamins and minerals, but because of some of the above factors, we are getting less and less.  Maybe, those people who lived in 1900 could get their nutritional needs better satisfied from their foods, but only a fool would believe it today.  (I doubt that they got enough either.)

Megavitamins are dangerous (and/or toxic).  More nonsense that simply isn’t true.  Of course, vitamin A in very huge doses can be toxic, but it’s pretty difficult to get that much vitamin A by accident.  Most adults can tolerate up to 25,000 IU per day for several days, and even if too much is taken over a long period, the symptoms are pretty clear and obvious (yellow skin, eyes, jaundice like).

 Some MD’s (without much vitamin knowledge) heard that B6 can cut down PMS symptoms, and prescribed it for patients.  Their patients came back after months with some different symptoms.  Then, some MD’s put out papers calling B6 “toxic”.  What every knowledgeable practitioner knows about the B complex is that it works together, and large amounts of any one MUST be balanced somewhat with a minimum of the rest.  Another case of not knowing enough!   Generally, you can take huge amounts of most B vitamins without any effects as long as you take sufficient amounts of the rest of the complex.  It’s much more dangerous to your health to take too much calcium or some of the other minerals.

Do you (and yours) need vitamin and mineral supplements? The answer is a resounding YES.  Just because you feel pretty healthy is no reason to forego them.  If you want to say healthy, you’ll get on them, and stay on them.  Remember this – You are what you eat.

Cholesterol Myths.  All the media hype about cholesterol makes it an “enemy”, which is just not so.  Cholesterol is a fat that’s a precursor to several hormones necessary to life.  As a matter of fact, sunlight on the skin changes cholesterol into vitamin D. So, without cholesterol, we’re in serious trouble.

So, if cholesterol is “good” what’s the entire hullabaloo about? Well, it seems that some researchers found that high levels of cholesterol in the blood correlate to high incidence of heart problems.  Also, artery plaque is composed of cholesterol (and other fats) along with calcium.  Many medical researchers immediately “jumped” to the conclusion that cholesterol was “bad”.  Lots of articles came out in various magazines written by so-called medical “experts”.  The upshot was that foods that contain cholesterol were “banned” by many MD’s.  These included eggs, butter, cheeses, and meats.  (A British research paper that showed people eating 6 eggs per week had lower cholesterol levels than those that ate none was ignored by most AMA “experts”)

Once upon a time, there was a cardiac specialist MD who had high levels of cholesterol. He also had a family history of heart problems (a good reason to go into cardiac specialty just as some psychiatrists and psychologists go into their professions because of personal problems.)

 He stopped eating any cholesterol-laden foods, and continually tested his HDL and LDL levels.  He was very surprised to find that his cholesterol didn’t drop.  He was a bit smarter than most, and he did more research, and found that 80% of the cholesterol in the blood is manufactured in the liver, and is NOT derived directly from the cholesterol in food.  And, that’s not a fairy story!!  So, if the liver makes it, why does it go high? 

To understand this, you need a bit more information.  When you eat something, it is broken down into very small bits in order to pass thru the intestinal walls.  Protein is broken down into individual amino acids, starch is broken into various sugars, and fats are broken down into various fatty acids.  An egg is broken down into all the essential amino acids needed for humans, some small sugars, and some fats which include cholesterol.

Next, let’s look at sugar which is the real culprit.  When starches are broken down into sugars, they in turn, are changed to glucose, which the body needs for energy.  Once the glucose is in the blood stream, it is literally forced into all cells in the body by insulin. 

If you are running a marathon, your body uses it as energy.  BUT, if you are watching TV, you don’t need much energy, so the cell converts this into “future” energy by changing it into a fatty acid, and ejects it back into the bloodstream.  Depending on several factors, this fatty acid can be any combination of three basic types. (The term “triglycerides” means 3 fatty acids.)

Now, the liver “sees” this triglycerides level rising, and it starts to use some of these to make cholesterol in order to “balance” these levels.  This is why high cholesterol levels are linked to high triglyceride levels. 

At the turn of the last century, the average person in the US ate 5-10 lbs of sugar PER YEAR.  Today, it’s up to over 200 lbs a year.  If you want to correlate things, correlate this – in Africa among poor persons who eat a diet literally free of sugar, there is NO diabetes, NO occluded arteries, inn fact, NONE of our “civilized diseases”.  If these “poor” persons are “helped” to eat a modern diet full of sugar, they develop all these diseases.  Now, that’s a real correlation.

There’s another correlation that I use as an analogy. People who drive older used cars have lower cholesterol than people who drive new luxury cars. The moral – don’t drive a new luxury car!  Of course, it has nothing to do with the car, but the correlation is generally true simply because the people who drive a luxury car eat more sugar laden (high carbohydrate) diets.  It’s the same thing with foods containing cholesterol.  (Another might be drawn about poorer families, including blacks that develop better athletes!)  Is sugar a real enemy?  You make up your own mind.  I’m addicted to it, and so are most of the people I know.

Eggs are not eaten by millions of people because the medical profession in its usual wrong-headedness trumpeted that correlation, and the media made it worse (also as usual).  In fact, eggs are the most perfect food for humans.  Measured on a scale of 100, eggs rate 99.99, and all other foods only reach 98 or less.  Eggs actually contain lecithin, another fat that actually lowers cholesterol.  (Remember the dieter who drinks a diet soda with his doughnut so it doesn’t count.  Not quite the same!)

A study in England, reported in the Lancet, 25 or so years ago, found that persons who ate 6 eggs per week had lower cholesterol than persons who ate none.  Several studies have also shown that persons who eat butter live longer and better than those who eat margarine.  Margarine has nickel (used to make oils into fats), trans-fatty acids, and it has close to the same fatty acid content as butter.  Isn’t it interesting that lately scientists are also coming to the same conclusions?

I personally eat eggs 3-5 times per week, and we use only butter in our house.  We try to only eat whole wheat bread, and/or whole wheat cereals.  Of course, I also take even more than the recommended vitamin/mineral supplements, and that undoubtedly helps me.  From all the research I’ve done and read, that’s one man’s educated opinion, you make up your own mind.

The above is covered in much greater detail in my book “The Health Revolution” that can be downloaded free from my website.