Historical Archives

Calcium Therapy in Diseases of the Cardiovascular System

By Edward Podolsky, MD

Summary: Though the “Big Medicine union,” the American Medical Association, would spend the better part of the twentieth century framing nutrition science as quackery, there was a time in the early 1900s when practicing physicians were excitedly—and successfully—applying nutritional therapy in their patient treatment. In this fascinating 1939 review of the worldwide medical literature, doctor Edward Podolsky discusses the therapeutic use of calcium by his colleagues across the globe in treating various heart disorders as well as hypertension. Among the most interesting therapies discussed is the combined application of the plant-derived drug digitalis and the macromineral nutrient calcium—a hint at what might have been had medicine’s authorities embraced nutrition rather than treat it like an enemy, to be undermined and eradicated. From the Illinois Medical Journal, 1939. Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research reprint 68.

Continue reading →
Historical Archives

High Blood Cholesterol and Its Control

By Dr. Royal Lee

Summary: While cholesterol has been demonized by modern medicine, wise health practitioners know that it is, in fact, an essential component for the proper functioning of the human body. In this 1956 article, Dr. Royal Lee describes cholesterol’s vital role as a “sealing compound” in controlling the diffusion of substances across cell and blood vessel walls. Dr. Lee condemns hydrogenated fats and refined vegetable oils in particular for disturbing the normal cholesterol balance in the body, one probable cause of their effect being the massive loss of nutrients—including the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K and the essential-fatty-acid complex vitamin F—incurred during refining. From Natural Food and Farming, 1956.

Continue reading →
Historical Archives

Quick, Simple, Valid Urinary Testing Methods

By Dr. George Goodheart

Summary: Dr. George Goodheart, the founder of Applied Kinesiology, reports on interpreting urine analysis in relation to nutritional biochemistry. As a bonus Dr. Goodheart provides a brilliant list of eleven factors that influence the amount and distribution of calcium in the body—required reading for any nutrition practitioner. This was the first of more than fifty articles Dr. Goodheart published in the seminal journal the Digest of Chiropractic Economics, 1964. Reprinted by the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research.

Continue reading →
Historical Archives

Postural Hypotension and Functional Hypoadrenia

By Dr. George Goodheart

Summary: In 1920 Los Angeles medical doctor D.C. Ragland published a remarkably simple test he used to assess his patients’ adrenal health. All that was required to perform the test was a means for measuring the patient’s blood pressure and a place where he or she could lie down and then stand up. The procedure took all of a few minutes and quickly revealed whether the patient might be suffering from adrenal fatigue. The medical community, dismissive of the entire notion of subclinical adrenal deficiency, ignored Dr. Ragland’s new assessment tool. The test was readily adopted by a number of chiropractors, however, who recognized the phenomenon of “adrenal burnout” as real and were glad to have an easy method of determining its likelihood. In this 1965 article, famed chiropractor Dr. George Goodheart, the “father of Applied Kinesiology,” discusses Ragland’s assessment in detail, explaining its procedure, the physiology and anatomy behind the test, and various treatments for the condition of “functional hypoadrenia” that it all too often reveals. While the paper is written for a chiropractic audience, the information presented is invaluable to anyone interested in the subject of adrenal health. From the Digest of Chiropractic Economics, 1965. Reprinted by the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research.

Continue reading →
Historical Archives

Nutrition and Vitamins in Relation to the Heart

By Richard L. Chipman, MD

Summary: In this profound lecture from 1953, Dr. Richard Chipman elucidates the differences between natural and synthetic vitamins in terms of their effects on the human heart. Whereas lab-made vitamins comprise single chemical compounds, he explains, natural vitamins—or vitamins as they are found in food—are infinitely more complex, comprising “groups of associated principles of synergistic nature” that, if taken apart, “are no longer capable of producing [their] normal nutritional and metabolic effect.” Thus it is no surprise, he adds, that in studies synthetic vitamins failed to show positive effects on heart health, and in some cases even made matters worse, while natural vitamin complexes proved literally to be lifesavers. Dr. Chipman’s words will make you reconsider not just what vitamins truly are but what they are truly capable of in restoring human health. From The Journal of Medical-Physical Research, 1953. Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research special reprint 5-54.

Continue reading →
Historical Archives

The Red Beetroot Juice

By E.L. David

Summary: A report on the nutritional and therapeutic value of beetroot and beetroot juice. The extraordinary array of nutrients in the beet makes it the most nutritious root vegetable, David says, and its value may increase even more when juiced and lacto-fermented. From Let’s Live magazine, 1962.

Continue reading →