As many whom have chimed in on my other post know, my daughter & mother have now both been diagnosed with Lyme.

I think that vitamins, minerals, and even herbs are going to be very important in getting us back to health.

So I was sitting here thinking, "Well @#$%, if we're going to be spending out a lot of money for supplements -- I just need to find a GOOD BRAND and see if I can become a d*** distributor or something!

I NEED THE DISCOUNT!

Besides, I know that many of you already buy some of your products on-line, if not for any other reason than you don't have the energy to get up and go to the health food store. Ditto to that one!

So kindly fork over all the Brand names that you trust - those that are good, better, and best.

I realize I may not be able to even afford the WHOLESALE price for the BEST ones - but I want to make an educated decision.

Thanks again for sharing your wisdom & experiences.

Blessings,

My favorite online site is www.vitacost.com Some things are 50% off what you would pay in a health food store!

They carry many many brands, discounted, and now give an extra 10% discount at the checkout, with a minimum $240 order.

With the extra discount, the price rivals that of the least expensive suppliers that others have posted here.

Even if you place a small order, you get a discount and free shipping for anything over $20. That's a deal!

They do ship fast. I ordered one time from Swanson Vitamins, and they waited 5 or 6 days after I ordered before they shipped. Plus a charge for shipping.
IHerb ships the next day. So if you're in a hurry, that's great.

The only problem I have is that I am so unorganized that if I'm not careful, I order things as I run out, instead of keeping track so that I have enough for a big order. Sigh...

Iherb also has a good reference library.
They carry many of Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum's supplements, if you read "From Fatigued to Fantastic."

I just don't have the energy to shop around at the drugstores and health food stores.
Shopping online is great!

1. Get Standardized whenever possible.

2. The bottle should always show a recommended dosage.

3. The scientific name should be listed.

4. The herb should be shown in a %, not in a ratio.

5. Blends are not recommended except with Chinese medicine and American Indian medicine.

6. The herb should smell. If it doesnt, the herb most likely is old.

7. The company should have a contact number on the bottle.

*He gave the following brands as reliable (he made a list for an official Gov. report):

Their products are top-notch (and top dollar). But they are an MLM, so you COULD become a distributor and save yourself some dollars if you get others to buy.

Their Immune Complete kit pretty much packs everything you would need (except Magnesium and acidophillus) into one kit. Each kit contains a month of major AM multi vitamin, a Beta C, Omegas 3,6,9, PM Vitamins, and an Immune Booster. You can set it up to have it auto shipped each month with no shipping costs at all if it's auto shipped.

No, I'm not selling anything. I buy just for me, have been using for a year and a half, and was able to get off abx last November after 9 months of treatment.

I've got lots of homework to do -- but you have made it much easier!

Blessings,

I say supplements are all inferior, even the best of them, waste of money.

I figure, we have to eat.

I also have found..food intake not for the positive has made our systems pay more than they need to (especially if on abx)..

so a long time ago, I started trying to follow Hippocrates:

Let your food be your medicine, your medicine be your food.

Anything helpful to our bodies I an trying to (as much as possible) pack into what we eat.

This saves allot of money, and is much more assimilable by the body.
Synthetic vitamins are not absorbed nearly as well anyway.

(of course may require initial work/cleansing to maximize absorption, depending on the case and personal absorption rate)..

Before I did this, I used Pharmanex, whixh covered most bases, and Doc B's other reccomendations..
and for a time I used Juice Plus.

Now, I am off almost all capsuled supps..
except some herbs, and I am feeling like I get allot more nutrients this way, better than when on the Pharmanax or Juice Plus...
(which are two of the 'best' supps)

So, off most supps I eat:

green leafy veggies (full of tins of good stuff, and I eat allot of them)

I take blackstrap molases instead of sugar (that is packed with minerals)

I eat a small amoint of yoghurt every day (and do add my acidophilus to it)

I eat allot of berries..

eat eggs, chicken, fish..
alternately..sparingly..

almonds (contain allot of Mg and other goodies

Coconut oil (excellent lipids)

best of the best is yoghurt shake (WHOLE milk yoghurt is what the bidy digests best, NOT low fat) with Coconut, 1 banana, berries optional, blacksrap molases, some 'green food' powdwe, acidophilus
added..blend and yum..FULL of great nutrients, immediate absorption.

just look up the nutritional analysis of OJ, a banana, blackstrap molases and you'll see...

AND, chicken soups, with lots of dark green veggies plus the standard ingredients , tiny bit of wild rice, and like 20 cloves of garlic.
You'll feel like Popeye!

Better yet, here is a lost of foods and their properties (and with this I follow the paleo-lithic diet (hunter gatherer's diet, or ancestral diet), http://paleodiet.com/

it is the best nutrition for the immune system and I take verey few capsiles of anything now..but here is a list of just some various foods for example only, paleo is the best bot here is an idea:

LIMIT SUGAR AND HYDROGENATED OR PARTIALLY
HYDROGENATED OILS (TRANS FATS) IN PROCESSED FOOD!!!

Fruits

pecially the following:

Green Apple "a day" for Caffeic and pectin in pomace that prevents cysteine depletion and
vitalethine's destruction

Guava (lycopene) for sweetness and prebiotic

Blackberries

Loganberries

Raspberries

Black Currant (GLA and Mannose)

Cranberry

Papaya (Lutein and Zeaxanthin)

Strawberry

Blueberry

Rio Star Grapefruit (lycopene, bioflavanoids, natural vitamin C, other antioxidants, and grapefruit seed
extract)

Lycopene 60 mg from say, Tomato Powder
Richest Dietary Sources of Lycopene mg / 100g

Tomato Paste 5.4 - 150.0 (>/~2 oz.) Tomato Sauce 6.0 - 18.0

Tomato Juice (canned) 5.0 - 29.9 (~8 oz.)

Tomato Powder 120 (~2 oz.)

Tomato Soup (canned) 2.0 - 5.5 Tomato (canned) 9.3 - 12.4

Ketchup 4.2 - 17.2 (~20 oz.)

Cabernet Sauvignon (1/2 to 1 small glass up to 3 times/week, Caution: Should NOT be consumed by
those with alcohol addiction issues!!)
Grapes (Caffeic from Red or Dark colored grapes only!!!!)

Foods and Herbs

Especially the following:

Aloe Vera (Caution: Not recommended with menstrual bleeding issues!!)

Cabbage (Sprouts or Sauerkraut, Caution: Mold-free only)

Spinach (cooked conceivably being better by helping to remove oxalic acid)

Broccoli Sprouts (For sulforaphane and lack of potentially toxic indoles)

Peas (m-xylohydroquinone has possible anti-cancer properties, Caution: Reduces fertility in men
and women)

Green Beans (treats burns)

Okra

Non-moldy Oats, Barley, and Rye Sprouts or Grass, Caution: Rye grain has medium amounts of
gluten!!

Sencha Green Tea

Oat, Barley, and Brown Rice Brans finely divided to prevent colon irritation (L-cystine, tocotrienols,
beta-glucans!)

Whole Grain Oats and Barley and Grasses
Barley in particular including Grain, Bran & Grass for tocotrienols and beta-glucans with low gluten
and low glycemic values

Calendula officinalis (3-12g Total, Caution: Not for gallstone patients!)

Artichoke (e.g., Globe artichoke up to 7g if taking PathoGENx, Caution: Gallstone patients use with
care!)

Rye Sprouts and Cernilton (Rye Pollen)

Kefir (probiotic that uses acetic acid/acetaldehyde to diminish toxicities)

Cottage Cheese, dry curd probably better than creamed

Chlorella (6-8g, Mercola's recommendation being consistant with threshhold anticancer benefit)
Caution: NOT SPIRULINA!!

Carrots (organic fiber better than sugar in juice) Caution: BETA-CAROTENE CONTRAINDICATED IN
DIABETICS OR TOBACCO SMOKERS!!

Fresh Garlic (1-3 fresh cloves for Allicin and Caffeic, Caution: aged garlic increases LH via
diallyldisulfide!!)

Onions

Horseradish (e.g., Wasabid japonica, 3-12g/day)

Avocados

Lemons

Limes

Eggs (poached or soft-boiled in shell, with already boiled water or milk, or over-medium until whites are
cooked but the yolks still running)

Butter (Probiotic kefir substitute!!)

Sour Cream (Probiotic kefir substitutes for this, buttermilk, and cream cheese, too!!)

Pumpkin Seed (20-450 grams of raw, refrigerated, and fresh as possible for isoleucine, leucine,
valine, tyrosine)

Sesame Seeds (2.3mg% to 2.3% levels of CoQ10 being investigated?)

Ginseng (Siberian!)

Cinnamon

Burdock

Ginger

Neptune Krill Oil (75mg EPA + 45mg DHA/500 mg softgel); or

PROGENA's Pro EPA (EPA/DHA - 180mg EPA + 120mg DHA/soft gel); or

PharmaxLLC Finest Fish Oils (210mg EPA + 150mg DHA/ml and 450 omega-3 total/ml); or

Sardines (North Atlantic or Antarctic)

Olive Oil

Coconut Oil (48% Lauric, 7% Caprylic)

Kombucha (Sencha green tea adapted)

Dulse for iodine content, or Norwegian or North Atlantic Kelp powder

Potato, Caution: Not potatoes with green skin!!

Cauliflower (including Sprouts)

Onion

Dandelion

Chamomile

SM (From 500 mg, Caution: Do not supplement when also taking chemotherapy; note that food
processing causes loss of this nutrient!!)

Brewers' Yeast @ 4-16g Total (Caution: Must be free of contaminating carcinogenic nickel, cobalt, and
chromium from stainless steel processing!!)

Milk Thistle Fruit (1000 mg with other supplemental programs being developed)

For Constipation and Diarrhea

Fruit

Apricot (dried and rehydrated) juice alleviates constipation

Grapefruit (juice) alleviates constipation

Lemon (juice) alleviates constipation

Watermelon alleviates constipation

Prunes and Raisins have some of the highest antioxidant levels, Caution: Prunes and raisins also
supply sugar creating a glycemic load

Grains
Barley relieves constipation in 79% of cases (Try fresh or refrigerated barley bran in particular!!)*

Bran alleviates constipation due to its cellulose content

Brown Rice Bran (17 grams per day) alleviates constipation by increasing mass of stools and
frequency of bowel movements*

Herbs
Cascara sagrada is highly effective in treating constipation (both mild and chronic) due
anthraquinone glycosides in Cascara sagrada*

Chickweed (tea) alleviates constipation

andelion alleviates constipation
Fo-Ti alleviates constipation due to the anthraquinones content of Fo-Ti

Raspberry Leaf (in high doses) alleviates constipation

reen Tea alleviates constipation due to the tea polyphenols in green tea
Terminalia chebula alleviates constipation, Caution: Lowers glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
production of NADPH for monooxygenase!!*

For Constipation and Diarrhea - Continued

Herbal Combinations

Olive Oil acts as a mild laxative in constipation patients

Processed Foods

Molasses alleviates Constipation, Caution: Contains sugar concentrates!! PESTICIDES
CONCENTRATE IN NON-ORGANIC!!

Vegetables

Artichoke Leaf alleviates constipation*

Avocado alleviates constipation according to anecdotal reports

Beetroot (juice) alleviates constipation, Caution: Cooking may be necessary due to oxalic acid's
tendency to produce stones

Cabbage (juice) alleviates constipation, and one may want to consider sprouts and sauerkraut

Carrots alleviate constipation by creating larger, softer feces (due to polysaccharides in carrot pulp),
Caution: Carrot Juice is glycemic

Green Peas alleviate constipation, Caution: May cause infertility in men and women
Kelp alleviates constipation (due to the algin content of kelp which produce a laxative effect by
retaining water in the colon), Caution: Kelp harvested from polluted oceans can contain
excessive strontium-90 and absorb into the body

Rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) alleviates constipation (due to the anthraquinones, sennoside E and
sennoside F content of rhubarb), Caution: Cooking may be necessary to diminish oxalic acid
content

Rutabaga (thought to be a cross between a cabbage and a turnip) alleviates constipation

Elimination Assistants

Water (glass of warm Water consumed upon wakening) is effective for some cases of constipation

Charcoal (activated carbon, 20-30 gms/day), Caution: Charcoal can cause constipation

Portions of this diet's selection were based upon information from the In-Tele-Health � 2002 database (Hyperhealth
Pro CD-ROM)
* indicates that more information is available through the HyperHealth database.

WOW! THANK YOU!

This is AWESOME info - something I will definitely check into!

It DOES make sense that our bodies would respond to NUTRITION (of all things!) better than it would synthetic supplements!

And so you really feel like Popeye, huh?

THANK YOU for detailing all of this out. I hope more people pass by here & read all of your efforts.

You are the tops, big guy!

Blessings,

You have been on my mind since your 1st post about daughter and mom.

Amanda, my 14 yr old bloggist, read the post and told me. I have definitly shed some tears and prayed for you and fam.

I read on flash that a dr told someone on here that he has never seen a child that did not over time completely recover. Hold on to that. Those of you who think differently please desist from commenting.

I can relate to the information seeking compulsion.

have come to the conclusion that with 3 of us here having it that I have to keep it simple and go after a few avenues for each of us at atime.

Encouragement on vitamins/supplements...

We have just started with Dr. J. in Charlotte. The nurition is gave us a booklet on nutrtion. The protocol is based on only scientically proven sh_t. It is organized in 3 tiers of most important to lesser important. Much less intense than Dr. Burrasco's but not necessarily conflicting. A hug relief as I have been reeling trying to decide what to buy and pass out to the kiddies.

I am willing to get you a copy and mail it to you. Or you could request it from Dr. J.
I don't have the energy to stalk anyone if you are worried about that...

If you have any problems with appetite, like I do, no desire to eat, then you may want to consider Juice Plus. It is all organically grown and cold processed to retain all it's 10,000 vitamins and minerals.