Dr. McDougall's thoughts on H1N1 Vaccine

[AlphaFemale]

I've been paranoid about regular old influenza for years. I have never had a flu shot. However...

I always....

Wash my hands with hot soapy water upon returning home.

Use a very strong no-water hand sterilizer when I can't get to soap and water. (I'm using one now that's used in hospitals here)

I never touch my face if I'm outside and I haven't had a chance to wash my hands or sterlize them in some way.

I never eat anything without washing or sterilizing my hands first.

I also avoid spending too much time in public places. I do this all winter long.

When I do go out I never touch handles if I can help it. Like the other poster...I have a habit of using some part of my sleeve. If I can't do that...I immediately reach for the hand sanitizer afterwards.

If I have to use the metro I stand facing the doors so that I don't have anyone breathing on my face...and so that I can get fresh air every minute or so.

Yeah, I'm paranoid. However, it has worked so far.

[Ritske]

Supplements is such a broad term. Do you have a link where Dr. McDougall says don't supplement with vitamin C specifically? This is not a vitamin that we naturally create and the RDA is far too low. Dr. Klenner showed that it could cure many illnesses including most poisonous snake bites. I use it if I ever get sick. That's not often, but it clears up my symtpoms and allows me to go back to living my life rather than shuffling around holding tissue over my nose.

My husband has dental issues which caused monthly abscesses--or so he was told by his dentist who just as frequently prescribed antibiotics--but vitamin C has cleared them up and kept them away. I'm not talking about a dosage anywhere close to the RDA and we'd have to eat weeks worth of fruit to get this much. That's not very practical.

Anyway, the only time I could find him mentioning vitamin C was in this 1998 newsletter.

In 1970 Linus Pauling claimed that vitamin C prevents and alleviates the episodes of the common cold. Over the past three decades numerous studies have been done to assess the benefits of vitamin C in preventing and treating the common cold. Although the subject is controversial, a recent analysis of the published literature suggested a significant decrease in the duration of illness and severity of disease by 23% (J Am Coll Nutr 14:116, 1995). The potential benefits from supplementation might be most in people with low dietary vitamin C intake--which would be most Americans who eat too few fruits and vegetables. There is no vitamin C in meat, poutry, dairy or any other anomal product, and refined foods have had much of the vitamin C removed. The best dose for supplementation has not been determined, but is probably greater than 1 gram a day. (Br J Nutr 1997 Jan;77(1):59-72)

When we had the swine flu, I was taking 60g per day.

[NanTzu]

Vitamin C information:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitami ... t-vitaminc

[Ritske]

There are a lot of companies and organizations I don't trust and the Mayo Clinic is one of them.

[SactoBob]

Dr. McDougall’s Money-Saving Medical Advice & Dr. McDougall's Common Sense Nutrition, The Truth About Protein, Soy, and Fish

On sale now for $20 for both. He has an entire lecture on the subject of supplements and vitamins. Well worth the money and then some. It will pay for itself in the vitamins and supplements you will no longer take. He cites study after study and explains why these not only don't work, but cause harm.

[NanTzu]

How about Medline?
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency ... 002145.htm

[bunsofaluminum]

Our bodies are designed to acquire the vitamins we need as balanced in whole plant food, and by taking supplements, we destroy that balance. Dr. M cites many studies showing the health damage created by supplements.

I'll have to read some of that literature. I don't take Vitamin C (or any other vitamin) on a daily basis (I eat spinach and broccoli, and oranges ) Likewise, I don't take anti-biotics every day, but if I had an illness such as cellulitis, which needs anti-bi's to stop it killing me, I would take anti-bi's. And, if I'm beginning to come down with a tickle or an ache, I do mega-dose with C. Same with the garlic. I don't eat raw garlic every day, it is way too potent for that...but when I feel something coming on, I take whole garlic freshly minced with a water chaser many times per day, and it works. When I treat it, a cold or whatever lasts three days, tops. It's the usual two weeks, untreated.

If it's a matter of balance, if a virus is attacking, then my body is off balance already and my regimen of fresh whole garlic and Vitamin C helps my body get back into balance.

still, I'm interested in what Dr. McD has to say on the subject.

[Ritske]

Truth be told, the fact that it's a .gov site, makes me doubtful I can trust it. Also, the information given on absorption is true for ascorbic acid, but from everything I've read, other forms of vitamin C are absorbed differently.

[eaufraiche703]

so, in a new ad for frozen veggies, "they" were saying that half of the vitamin C is gone from (in this case) green beans in one week!

isn't that amazing? guess you're getting the vitamins you think you're getting if you are picking from your garden.... but other than THAT perhaps you aren't?

maybe it's the placebo affect, but megadoses of C seem to help those i know who indulge heavily when hit w/ a virus.

[SactoBob]

If you like anecdotal evidence, I have had a lifetime of serious colds and sinus infections for which I have had sinus surgery that did some, but not a lot of good. Every year of my life I got multiple serious colds which usually turned into sinus infections. I took megadoses of the popular supplements over the years - echinacea, Vit. C, Zinc, Airborne, etc. without real improvement.

Since going plant based on the McDougall program I have been extremely resistant to these, having only 1 minor cold in the last 2 years. That cold was so minor compared to what I used to endure that I could scarcely believe it.

One classic example on supplements Dr. McDougall gives in his dvd lecture (you should really get it - so much valuable and money saving info) is the case of beta-carotene.

Beta carotene is a substance found in plants - and carrots are especially high in this. Researchers noted that lung cancer patients who had high levels of beta carotene survived longer than those with low levels, so a trial was done with supplements of beta carotene.

The study was stopped as it was shown that the group on supplements did far, far, worse and were dying in alarming numbers. The people with high beta carotene did better because that was a marker for those who ate a lot of plant food. But just adding beta carotene as a supplement worsened things because it created a nutritional imbalance. Your body is designed to use the chemicals in plants in the ratio which they are found in plants.

As Dr. McDougall puts it, why would you think that a man in a white lab coat is going to process and manipulate plant food into a pill and give back to you something that is better than the plant food itself?

Dr. M cites study after study showing the same thing. Also, sometimes the supplement does a bit a good on one front while it creates serious side effects in other areas. Anybody who is seriously into supplements should see Dr. McDougall's dvd. He is not just giving speculative opinions. He backs up what he says with study after study.

[Ritske]

As Dr. McDougall puts it, why would you think that a man in a white lab coat is going to process and manipulate plant food into a pill and give back to you something that is better than the plant food itself?

So the next obvious question is then why would anyone think that a man in a white lab coat is going to process and manipulate viruses into a vaccine solely for our benefit? I'm not saying supplements are divine, but I would trust them over a chemical cocktail which includes mercury and aluminum. Studies have been biased for ages and we all know this. Knowing who to trust when it comes to health is extremely hard. I found veganism before I found Dr. McDougall and it changed my health for the better, but some things--like endometriosis--don't just go away that easily. I took whatever the doctor wanted me to take for years. Then to my surprise I found that vitamin C and probiotics actually did take all the pain away. If given a choice of yet another failure of a drug, I'd choose to stick to what I'm doing.

[healthy1]

I have been folowing this flu pandemic on twitter, plus I have read lots of stuff on Mike Adam's website, his latest article as of October 24th is here http://www.naturalnews.com/027323_swine_flu_national_emergency_pandemic.html

My gut intsinct is to stick with what nature have me to defend myself - my immune system. I just make sure I eat the right foods so it works as nature intended it to.

[vman]

Well, I haven't been sick for one day since I started on this diet a couple of years ago, but this morning I came down with a terrible fever and achy body. So far not any worse than a normal flue, so I'll see how it goes. Hoping all this good eating for the last couple of years will help me get through this if it is the swiny one.

[Gramma Jackie]

Well I am going to follow Dr. Mcdougall's advice and get the H1N1 flu shot when it becomes available to the general public and encourage my children and grandchildren to get it.

If it wern't for vaccines, smallpox and polio would still be rampant.

[Clary]

Well I am going to follow Dr. Mcdougall's advice and get the H1N1 flu shot when it becomes available to the general public and encourage my children and grandchildren to get it.

If it wern't for vaccines, smallpox and polio would still be rampant.

Hi Gramma Jackie--
Did Dr. McDougall make a final decision and post it somewhere on the board, and advise others to take the vaccine? The last I was aware of, he said he was "leaning toward" taking it.

Jeff posted his choice, saying he will not take the vaccine.

This is certainly an individual consideration for each of us, and more difficult than usual this year, I think.