to [re-mem-ber]:

Although mainstream media may lead you to believe that sunshine is bad for you, a deficiency in Vitamin D is actually a bigger threat than overexposure to the sun. New research suggests that higher levels of Vitamin D3 can lessen the severity of multiple sclerosis, a largely misunderstood autoimmune disorder. What is understood is that the immune system is not functioning properly, and that is really all you need to know. It means the body is fundamentally upset in some way, it is out of balance. What exactly is on earth that allows it to sustain our types of life? Water, oxygen, food, and sunlight. It is very easy to understand that not eating, drinking, or breathing will cause death very quickly (not eating being the slowest of these), but sunshine should be included as well. Lack of sunlight and vitamin D3 is very detrimental to the body and has been correlated with all kinds of disorders like juvenile diabetes, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and Osteoporosis.

Worried about getting burned? The best way to to start getting adequate sun is to slowly work up over a period of days. 15 minutes, then 20, and so on until you are acclimated and not getting burned. If you want to stay out longer, wear light sunblocking clothing or use a safe sunscreen. There are numerous sunscreens on the market that may be worse for you than sun overexposure because they contain toxic ingredients that can change your hormones or cause melanoma. AOL even published a story claiming “almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer.” Always check the ingredients of any product you rub into your skin, because your body absorbs it. You can check the ingredients of all cosmetics at the EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, mothers who were low on the vitamin folate during the earliest stages of their pregnancy had children that were more prone to hyperactivity, inattention, peer problems, and neural tube defects. The study followed women for an average of 9 years, so the study is extremely valid.

Folate is a great supplement for mothers-to-be to begin immediately upon learning about pregnancy, but it is also a vitamin that all women of childbearing age should take or include in their diets because according to folicacidnow.com, “half of pregnancies are unplanned.” Low folate levels are vital for prevention of neural tube defects (NTD) which effect the baby’s spinal cord in the first 20 days after conception before a mother may even know she is pregnant. After this time, increased folate will not be able to correct these conditions.

Folate is important for men, too. It can increase sperm count, increase chances of conception, and lower rates of cardiovascular disease.

Folate is important for people of all ages.

From WHFoods.com:

What can high-folate foods do for you?

• Support red blood cell production and help prevent anemia
• Help prevent homocysteine build-up in your blood
• Support cell production, especially in your skin
• Allow nerves to function properly
• Help prevent osteoporosis-related bone fractures
• Help prevent dementias including Alzheimer’s disease

What events can indicate a need for more high-folate foods?

• Irritability
• Mental fatigue, forgetfulness, or confusion
• Depression
• Insomnia
• General or muscular fatigue
• Gingivitis or periodontal disease

Excellent sources of folate include romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf’s liver, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and lentils.

If you’re concerned about your folate intake from food, The Vitamin Code has a supplement which is raw and derived from food, so you can be absolutely sure you’re getting the amount you want and from a natural source.

Please follow this link and urge the FDA not to pull vitamin B6. Add your comment. If you do not currently take the vitamin, consider this research to understand how beneficial this vitamin is, and how it should continue to be available over the counter to the countless Americans already supplementing with it :

It has been proven to help protect heart disease, reduce the risk of cancer, reduce contraceptive pill side effects, help correct anemia, control blood pressure, and many others. See this research and more here.

It is not just an important vitamin to increase health, but having a B6 deficiency can actually reverse health and cause nerve damage.

The pharmaceutical company medicure is petitioning the FDA to ban the vitamin so it can release its own drug made from it. The same thing happened with red yeast rice. According to NaturalNews.com:

Drug companies ripped off the lovastatin molecules from red yeast rice, then patented them. Once they achieved FDA approval for their “statin drugs,” it was easy to file a petition requesting the outlawing of red yeast rice, claiming the supplement was “adulterated” with drugs! Which drugs? Statin drugs, of course — the very same drugs that were isolated from red yeast rice in the first place!

What the FDA has done and might do in this case seems inherently flawed. They are trying to make a natural component of some foods only available by a prescription. They could still make their own higher potency vitamin B6 drug WITHOUT pulling lower potency products from the shelves, and because of the benefits, many Americans would choose to go to their doctors. But not all. That’s competition, and unfortunately because modern medicine has been slow to catch on to the benefits of natural health products, this is the consequence it must face.

Pharmaceuticals do still have a monopoly, and as a result, we pay the highest amounts for drugs in the world! And unfortunately it seems that the FDA would like to ensure the future of pharmaceutical companies more than the American citizens, many of which pay outrageous amounts for health care, and may rely on vitamins and minerals they can buy at their local stores. The FDA, who receives major funding from pharmaceutical companies, and the pharmaceutical companies themselves, need to suck it up and face this loss.

If this goes through, we might soon have to get all of our vitamins from doctors, as it will continue to carve out the precedent that any vitamin can be pulled if a pharmaceutical company wants to market it. And why wouldn’t they? Americans spend $7.5 billion a year on vitamins.

Add your comment to the FDA:
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648051908f