Setting limits
Well, they did it. Remember I told you last month to be concerned about the power of the Codex Alimentarius Commission? This international organization sets global standards for food-related trade — and their latest decision will have serious repercussions for those of us who use dietary supplements.
At their annual meeting in Rome last month, they voted to adopt international standards for vitamin and mineral supplements. That sounds like a good thing. But unfortunately, that one line doesn’t come close to telling the whole story.
Their actions will define the upper levels of safe supplement use by a new method, calculating it based on scientific risk assessment rather than on recommended dietary intake. This new method is more suited to testing safe usage levels of substances known to be toxic rather than for evaluating nutrients that are considered safe under ordinary circumstances. This change could seriously restrict available dosages of vitamins and minerals.
Although Codex’s actions by themselves will not change U.S. laws, the fear among natural medicine proponents is that manufacturers will likely follow suit, watering down their products to conform to international standards of potency. And it will most likely give those who oppose consumer access to dietary supplements the ammunition they need to attempt to change our laws.
You see, as much as Codex likes to quantify its decisions as being in the best interests of consumers, among its participants are representatives of Big Pharma, big business, and corporate-funded lobbyists.
But we can do more than sit back and wait to see how all this will play out and what impact it will have on our access to nutrients. I urge you to make a donation of any size to the Alliance for Natural Health (www.alliance-natural-health.org), which has commissioned a group of independent risk assessment scientists at the Netherlands-based HAN Foundation to develop better methods for setting maximum levels.
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A satisfying answer
Q: Is there a natural method out there that would help me maintain an erection? This has become a frustrating problem for me — and my wife. My doctor offered a prescription for Viagra, but I’d really like to stay away from it if at all possible.
JVW: The first step in solving this problem naturally is to raise your levels of the amino acid L-arginine, which the body converts to nitric oxide, the natural compound necessary to produce an erection. Some dietary sources of L-arginine are grains, seeds, beans, nuts, and chocolate, but it can also be found in supplemental form. It is very safe, even at the higher levels of 3 to 6 grams a day or more, which may be required for this problem.
Another completely natural solution is yohimbine. This herb used to be the treatment of choice among physicians before the Viagra media blitz. It is still around, and available either over-the-counter or by prescription in 5 mg. tablets. Yohimbine is not recommended for those with high blood pressure, and there are some possible side effects, but they are much less than those associated with Viagra use. Just watch out for anxiety, dizziness, headaches, and insomnia when taking this herb.
Besides yohimbine, there are some other beneficial herbs that you can try. Ginseng (100 milligrams, two to three times a day) has been shown to raise serum testosterone levels, Ginkgo biloba (40 milligrams three times daily) can aid in improving blood flow to the small arteries of the penis, and muira puama (1,000 to 1,500 milligrams each day) can increase desire and improve sexual dysfunction.
I doubt that you will need all of the above supplements. Usually one or a combination of two or three will be sufficient to lead you back to a healthy, satisfying sex life.
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What is…erectile dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction is the failure to produce or maintain an erection. While this condition is more common in older men than it is in younger men, it’s not an inevitable part of aging.
The cause may be psychological, but erectile dysfunction can also be the symptom of a disease or a side effect of some medication. To find out the underlying cause of erectile dysfunction, a physician will conduct a physical examination and ask the patient a series of questions. Lab tests may also be ordered to rule out specific diseases that could have led to the disorder.
Correction: In the Health e-Tip from Monday, 8/22/05, we made an editing error and incorrectly labeled riboflavin as vitamin B12. Riboflavin is vitamin B2. The paragraph should have read: “The researchers found that riboflavin (or B2) deficiency was unanimous amongst the group of people tested. Of the 31 patients that were tested, every single one had a B2 deficiency, despite their dietary sources being adequate.” We apologize for the error.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editorial Director
Nutrition & Healing
