I want to order shaklee vitamins for my 1 and 3 year old boys. Can I still get them at member cost with $3 shipping? I realize this is an older blog entry so I’m not sure if it’s still possible.

Thank you!
Tina

Well, you’ve given me a lot to chew on, but as is always the case with this topic, it’s a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what to do with the information.

We could spend thousands more dollars a year getting even better supplements, or we could just continue trying to eat better foods grown in better soil more and more, and hope that “filling in” with Shaklee (& Perfect Food that we also take) isn’t harmful to us and that it is at least a better choice (quality of ingredients/better absorption, etc.) than what could be purchased at the corner grocery for much less money.

However, the only other thing we take, the cod liver oil caps, I have no doubts about at all – those I know are beneficial, because more and more I DO see differences in my family from taking them, and the evidence related to the omega 3’s is strong.

As always, thanks for sharing your wisdom with us! I appreciate that I can always come to you with the latest issue on my mind and you always respond.

Kelly

Well, it’s like you, yourself, said, “you might be like me and don’t feel any different whether you’re taking them or not”. I spent a fortune on supplements for myself and my husband over a 30 year span, and it’s difficult to tell if our health would have been compromised now had we not done so. In every instance, I was the one finding, buying, and setting them out for us to take. Jim really never felt any different – or so he said. For the past 5 years we have taken no ‘fractionated’ pill or liquid supplements of any kind, and I feel better that I did a decade ago, as does himself.

The point Michael Pollan makes in his newest book, In Defense of Food, An Eater’s Manifesto, is that we have been bamboozled in this country by “The Age of Nutritionism”. The study of nutrition, which has been my field since the early ‘70s, tempts one to see nourishment primarily as the sum of its parts. From there it’s an easy jump back to thinking that the sum of food parts adds up to healthy eating. And since we all have known for ages that the quality of American foodstuffs keeps declining, the conclusion became to add back the missing bits and pieces. Companies arose to meet the demand for supplements that science declared were necessary to maintain health. Since the end of WWII, this ‘take-a-pill’ solution has become ever more accepted until today it’s a multi-billion dollar industry in just supplements alone.

Dr. Y is not saying folks living on the sad SAD (standard American diet) don’t need supplementation. His point is that now we have the benefit of modern biochemistry research that shows metabolism to be infinitely more complex than the vitamin formulators are able to take into account. It’s complicated biochemistry taken to the quantum level, and the profit margin is small compared to the 250% mark-up supplement manufacturers have come to expect. Most importantly, though, his detailed research shows that the incorrect dosages of parts of a whole are disruptors and are actually very harmful over time. Since humans are cellularly different at every moment, it becomes a delicate and expensive task to formulate a food supplement that ends up being beneficial. And formulation is a smaller part of the problem than ingredient contamination – mold, mildew and parasites in even raw organic materials that go to make pills and capsules.

Because I am my own ongoing research project in the use of pro and pre biotic food like lacto-fermented raw milk, cream and butter plus vegetables and grains, I found his reasoning compelling enough to explore his ‘synbiotic food grown’ line of liquid food supplementation. He uses no parts of herbs or food nor any processed powders and pieces of wholes. He built special containers for pure foodstuffs (herbs, veggies, mushroom) so they wouldn’t be killed by the irradiation process in oceanic journeys. This beyond organic raw material grows into some amazingly potent liquid ferments that meet the criteria of ‘whole food’ supplementation. I have used his ‘Synbiotica’ liquid to great advantage, but it’s presently out of my price range, and I am using my kefir, natural pickles, and sourdough these days and hoping for the best. I spend lots and lots of time in food-related activities, though, and am better situated than most folks I know to enable good nutrition without the use of pills and powders and fractionated liquids.

What I do use, though, is my antioxidant delicious NingXia Red (http://www.ningxiared.com ) nutrient infusion. I drink an oz. or more each day and use it as a flavor mixer with my water kefir soda. I also use food grade essential oils as seasonings and flavorings in dishes just before serving (http://wewantorganicfood.com/2008/02/16/black-pepper-and-cinnamon-essential-oils/) and I keep on hand 3 different formulations of therapeutic essential oils in capsules for occasional use for digestion, detoxification and immune support.

These days it must be a purely unprocessed food substance to get part of my shrinking dollar – except for the EOs which are pressure/steam distilled.

Lynn Cameron
https://www.youngliving.org/aromavital

I looked around that site some – and agree that getting what our bodies need from the food we eat is always superior. But in your opinion, are you saying you don’t think Shaklee supplements are beneficial, and that they would fall more under the “synthetic” umbrella that Dr. Yanich warns about? I’ve always read that Shaklee was top of the line as far as proper absorption, so I’d be curious what your thoughts are.

Thanks,
Kelly

Recently I discovered the brilliant work of Dr. Paul Yanich, MD concerning “fractionated” supplementation. I was drawn initially to his work because he speaks of a natural fermentation process in his products that he calls “synbiotic foodgrown” plus his use of pure essential oil of cinnamon and rosemary as nutritive preservatives. I also took a 3-day seminar with him in 2006. Here’s a link to an interview with him: http://www.quantafoods.com/interview_with_dr.htm
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