Replies to '04/05 “What’s Up, Doc?”'

Congrats on the good diet. It might be a good idea to seek suggestions outside the medical doctor community. In my state you can become a general practioner with no courses in human nutrition. It is an ellective course for many medical doctors. I tried to ask a gastroenterologist about my diet problems, (I have celiac sprue/ gluten intolerance) and he referred me to his staff nutritionist. He didn't know because he wasn't trained in nutrition. That may be changing with public demand but there are doctors such as natropaths, and doctors of Integrative Medicine (trained by Andrew Weil's Integrative Medicine Program at Arizona State University), that have extensive nutritional education and of couse there is plenty of nutritional reseach done by nutritionists. There should be a specialty called Nutritional Medicine in Medical Schools.  I see a doctor here in Columbus Ohio who has two medical degrees (psycho-neuro -immunology and pediatics) but she has self-educated herself on Nutrition and is an expert in that as well. From my own research I can tell you that the number one deficiency in the Americal diet is Calcium. Yet people have kidney stones and burrs and other such problems which seem to indicate that we get too much calcium. I think the problem lies in what type of Calcium. Calcium citrate seems to be the most easily assimilated by humans. Calcium from shells or ground up bones is not very digestable by humans. Cow have four stomachs but humans have one and that makes me wonder about cow's milk as a source of calcium for humans. There is plenty of hutritional research out there to find; studies that indicate the importance of vitamin D in the assimilation of calcium so I wish you good luck. I hope you will consider the advice of throughly trained nutritionists and doctors who can test for nutritional deficiencies. I have multiple heath issues ranging from Coronary Artery disease, Lupus and various digestive isses including leaky gut syndrome. gluten intolerance and pyroluria all of which are factors in whether or not I get the nutrients I put in my mouth and seem to be factors in the two life-threatening diseses that I just named. You are obviously well informed and if you continue on that path I think you will find answers that will satify your desire to "do no harm" to yourself. I have discovered that my best doctor is the body itself and if it recieves the raw materials it needs to heal itself, it will.