Multi-Vitamin Myths

The idea of receiving all the vitamin and mineral nutrients you need daily in a couple of capsules is certainly appealing. In reality though, nothing could be further than the truth.

Compressing and Crushing Nutrients

Trying to contain in a few capsules megadoses of vitamins and minerals at a much higher concentration than normally found in food defies logic. In order to accomplish this rather Herculean feat these nutrients are typically broken down into isolated chemical components, as will be discussed in the next section. They also need to be compressed together. In an excellent book, Sugar Crush, Dr. Richard Jacoby describes how extremes of pH, temperature, and other chemical or mechanical disruptions can affect nutrients. <1> For example, a protein "folds" in order to function. That is, it assumes a three-dimensional shape that is required for adequate functioning in the body. But when mechanical crushing pressure is required to contain them in a capsule this renders these now "misfolded proteins" ineffectual and even toxic. This is one of the reasons why in over thirty years of practice I have never encountered a protein powder that tested beneficially on a patient.

Isolated, Fractionated and Synthetically Processed

Additionally, 95% of the vitamins and other nutrients in supplements are not derived from food or plant sources, but instead synthetically processed from petrochemicals, coal tar derivatives, or hydrogenated sugar extracts processed with sulphuric acid and other industrial chemicals including formaldehyde.<2>

Even scarier, more and more of these nutrients are coming from genetically modified organism sources such as the widely used GMO cornstarch made in China. In fact, currently most of the world’s vitamins are manufactured in China. <3> This includes all the "enriched" flours with added folic acid, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, iron and so forth. Even Whole Foods and other health food stores have not caught on to the toxicity of these added isolated vitamins and minerals, and still sell breads that are "enriched" with these synthetic and genetically modified chemicals.

Vitamin C is a common example of the widespread industrial manufacturing processes used in making supplements. Most supplements sold as vitamin C only contain ascorbic acid—the antioxidant shell of this molecule. In actuality however, vitamin C is a complex nutrient made up of bioflavonoids (rutin, hesperidin, etc.), tyrosinase enzyme (activates copper function), organic copper (supports immune functioning), substance P (reduces capillary wall fragility), substance J (increases our oxygen-carrying capacity), mineral co-factors, and yes – ascorbic acid. But by only taking the ascorbic acid antioxidant shell we are in essence eating refined white bread instead of the more nutrient-rich whole grain. In my experience the most complex and natural nutrient form of vitamin C in a supplement form is found in the Pure Radiance C supplement, which has tested superiorly for me both clinically on patients and energetically using Matrix Reflex Testing (MRT) for over twenty years in practice.

Toxic Excipients

Other problems with conventional vitamin supplements is that most of them contain toxic excipients. The term excipients refers to the "other ingredients," that is, the non-active ingredients listed on the label of a nutritional supplement. Excipients function as binders and coating agents, fillers, lubricants, and flow enhancers so that production machinery will flow at a maximum speed when producing tablets and capsules. Magnesium stearate is the most common excipient and is used in over 90% of the supplements on the market. This cheap lubricating agent comes in many guises on the label including stearic acid, vegetable stearate, and magnesium salt. A similar toxic soap-like chemical, calcium stearate, is also commonly used, primarily in Standard Process supplements.

To date no valid research has been done on the use of the very small amounts of these flowing agents and excipients added to medications and vitamins. Of course, pharmaceutical as well as conventional supplement companies are certainly not motivated to conduct any research that might reflect badly on their products. In my clinical research over the last three decades however, particularly clear and sensitive patients do indeed notice feeling a little "off" or even quite badly after taking supplements with these added stearates. And through my Matrix Reflex Testing (MRT) energetic testing method, the toxicity of these excipients has consistently been confirmed. In fact, if you order a packet of magnesium stearate or calcium stearate and test it by itself with MRT, kinesiology, or computer acupuncture methods (Voll, Vega, Computron, etc.), the disturbing effects of these pharmaceutically-derived fats are even more evident.

The FDA classifies these stearates as very low in toxicity, or "GRAS"—generally recognized as safe—below 2500 mg per day, and many argue that the very small amount used in drugs and supplements is not a problem to our health. On the other hand, why should we consume supplements with these excipients when we have the choice of using alternative supplements that do not employ these "low toxicity” stearates at all? To put this in perspective, consider the following example. After carefully preparing an organic vegetable soup with grass-fed beef or pastured chicken would you feel good about putting a little bit of "low toxicity" magnesium or calcium stearate in it? This idea of a little bit of poison is abhorrent to most of us who endeavor to cook according to the wise traditions of our ancestors and eat as cleanly as possible. In the same way it just doesn’t make sense to ingest these stearates in our medicinal supplements.

The Solution of Russian Algae

In the early 1990s, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt and I found that algae was a superior detoxifier and it became a major part of our mercury amalgam detox protocol. After a few years however, as I personally detoxified and became more intuitive and clearer, and my energetic testing MRT method became more precise and accurate, the chlorella supplement that we had advocated no longer tested well. In fact, for a few years no algae supplement tested well for me, which was particularly challenging for someone specializing in detoxification and environmental medicine. Fortunately at some point I was introduced to the BioAge supplement by a colleague, and it has tested superiorly and consistently for over a decade.

This particular four-part combination algae-spirulina formula (Spirulina Pacifica, Spirulina Platensis, Dunaliella Salina, and Astaxanthin from Haematoccocus Pluvialis) developed by a Russian scientist saved a lot of lives after Chernobyl. Since then this scientist, Michael Kiriac, emigrated to Canada and now makes this supplement in large vats, thus obviating the problem of contamination by heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium that commonly occurs when algae are grown and extracted from ponds in nature.

The algae and spirulina in this excellent supplement, we refer to as "Russian Algae," not only  bind gently to toxic metals and chemicals, but also contain high levels of naturally occurring and bioavailable vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants. Thus, Russian Algae doubles as an excellent natural nutritional supplement as well as a gentle chelator of toxins in the body. Note that the “F1” is the only form of this supplement that I recommend; the F2 and F3 forms don’t test quite as perfectly, and patients who have tried these other two variations have confirmed this clinically as well.

The dosage of Russian Algae varies, but normally patients begin with three to six a day, taken with or without food, and increase this dose to nine to twelve capsules a day under stress or when undergoing a detoxification protocol.

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<1> Jacoby, R. & Baldelomar, R., Sugar Crush, New York: Harper Collins, 2015, pp. 29-30. <2> Brian Clement, Supplements Exposed, (Pompton Plains, NJ: New Page Books, 2010): 13-14. <3> Kovacs, P. “It’s not just pet food that could be dangerous,” The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA, April 24, 2007.