Active Elements Mineral Therapy

How does insoluble Calcium Fluoride get into the body?

2009-06-01T11:42:00.003+12:00

Hello Gary,
Has there been any determination on how calcium fluoride is uptaken by the body's metabolic processes?
CaF is insoluble, thus ionic means are most unlikely....some suggest an 'active process' is utilised, but to date I am unable to find an easily understood description of absorption.

Terry
__________________________
Gary responds:
There is a carrier facilitated active transport system for calcium Fluoride (CaF), where it is transported and incorporated into bone as such. However; I do not know of the precise mechanism and not sure if anybody really does.

What is known though, is that it works and it’s heaps safer in similar concentrations (like 80 – 120 times) than sodium fluoride (NaF) which I regard as being a poison that should never be in our toothpaste and municipal water. NaF is a highly toxic byproduct of aluminium smelting that has serious disposal problems. What could be a more ingenious solution: Feed it to human beings!

NaF does harden enamel and bones but not without being implicated in a wide range of illnesses including cancer. CaF, on the other hand, is found naturally in all healthy humans and is one of the 12 essential Schuessler Tissue salts. If we are to be feeding fluoride to our children, surely it should only be the form that is found in the body - calcium fluoride?

And... it is only used in our Active Elements formulas homoeopathically (1:1,000,000) anyway.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

If I have let my Active Elements slip, is it worth starting up again?

2009-04-20T21:10:00.002+12:00

Is it worth starting up again?

Yes, you can stop and start with your Active Elements prescription anytime. Unlike most prescription medications, it is seldom wise to stop and start, or to be sporadic when taking them. The Active Elements, like all nutrition supplements are generally very safe to stop, to start any time or to forget to take for a few days or even weeks.

It is best to be consistent for 3 months at a time

Of course, to get the best benefits from any nutrition supplements, including Active Elements, it is best to take the prescribed dose consistently for about 3 months while carefully taking note of subtle signs of well-being such as the condition of your hair, skin and nails, your energy levels, digestion, sleep and feelings of well-being. If you are an athlete, then you have the advantage of having accurate measures of performance such as time trials or weight lifted or thrown. Note any improvements in performance, fewer lost training days through injury and illness, faster recovery and so on.

Tissue salts are the foundation of good health

Tissue salts are the foundation of cellular health with the Active Elements programme designed to help you achieve near perfection in cell salt balance. On top of the tissue salts, one then adds other nutrients such as vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants to same some - according to assessed need. But there is little point in taking these other nutrients if the tissue salt balance is awry.

Should I take tissue salts if I am healthy?

You constantly lose tissue salts through shed hair and skin, urine and faeces. We also wrongly assume that the modern diet is a rich source of the tissue salts that make up the salty solution that bathes every cell in our bodies. When you complete the online Active Elements assessment, your prescription is worked out according to your responses, which I review and comment on. If you are in basically good health, this is taken into account when working out your tissue salts prescription (incidentally, this is always two bottles of different tissue salt formulations).

The prescription that is worked out for you is designed to get you healthy and to keep you that way.

How to resume your tissue salts therapy

You can resume your Active Elements programme by contacting me - gary@myotec.co.nz and I can send you more of your most recent prescription. If it has been more than a few months, then it is best to do another Active Elements assessment which I will review and comment on.

Your email address:

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Natural Therapies, including Active Elements Tissue Salts continue to work their magic

2008-12-31T16:30:00.004+13:00

"Hi Gary
I hope you had a great Christmas with the family.

I thought I would show you these great pictures compared to June of those legs. There is a big difference."

"F"

Please go here for the full article, including the latest photos.....Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Gary - should I take the extra tissue salts before or after the exercise?

2008-12-29T13:54:00.004+13:00

"Gary - should I take the extra tissue salts before or after the exercise?"
Isobel
____________________________
Gary:
Isobel,
Take 2 of each per day of your prescribed Active Elements (Or as per the prescription advice I have given you in the most recent report) and repeat the online assessment about every 8 weeks. I will review the results and report to you with any adjustments.

Active 3.1 is the best one to take before, during and after exercise (such as a 2 hr run or 3-4 hr cycle in heat) because it contains the salts most often depleted during hard exercise and sweating. If you are a light sweater then you may only need one before, during and after an hour or longer of heavy exercise. If you are a very heavy sweater, then you might take one or two more on top of that. If your current prescription does not include Active 3.1, and you are exercising hard in heat, such as marathon training voer summer, then add Active 3.1 to your list.

Ensure you are well hydrated. Read my articles about hydration and consider purchasing a Salter 9106 Body Compostition Analyser Scale. These are selling about half retail from my website store for the time being.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

I suffer muscle cramps in my calves when running trail races

2008-12-04T10:07:00.003+13:00

Hi Gary,
I am a 51 year old female distance runner mainly doing 20 --80k trail races. For the past 3 years every time I race I get muscle cramps in my calves and drop placings as I have to reduce my pace to a walk and or jog.

What I don't understand is that I often do the same type of training as I would be doing in the race regards, distance, speed and terrain and cannot induce cramp. I even "look after" myself better in races by being for careful with electrolytes, fluid intake etc.... Is it possible that something sub concious like perhaps my mind working more because it's a race, possibly contributing to needing even more electrolytes or the tension causing the muscles to tense etc... Often these cramps cause me to have a fall if I'm in a trail race and they seize me. The only thing I haven't tried is straight salt but am wondering if that would make any diffrence at all seeing as I don't have a problem during training. Could you please tell me more about the salt you mention on your web site as I'm desperate to give anything a go.

Regards,
Averill

______________________________

Gary:

Averill, From experience racing and what you do in training have subtle differences that can make all the difference. In a race you may start just that little bit quicker, the start may be earlier in the day to your usual training, you may have fewer pauses and you may be going at just a few heartbeats more.

It may also be that you have not allowed adequate recovery over the 10 days leading into the races. The other factor is the the calf muslces are tight and knotted and have poor circulation through them. Few runners do not have damaged calf muscles. A series of 4-8 deep tissue massages weekly can make a huge difference to the strength and durability of them.

The other factor is nutrition. Given your age and background, there will be a high possibility that you are lacking a number of essential nutrients. The best way to resolve this is to complete an Active Elements Assessment and include in the additional information box details of everything you have eaten and drunk over the last day and list all medicines and their purposes. I will then give some advice as to nutrition.

Ordinary salt is NaCl. While your body needs a lot of this salt there are actually 12 different salts consisting of 18 individual elements. Taking just NaCl is not a good idea and might even make matters worse. It is better to do the Active Elements Assessment and I will work out which of the 12 salts, including NaCl, that you need. Getting your salt balance right can work miracles for muscle cramps and health in general.

How about sports drinks?

Sports drinks are a one size fits all solution to electrolyte replacement. I know of one Iron Man who spent a week in intensive care from flushing his system with a popular sports drink during a race. He has never been the same since. It is better to work out a tailored electrolyte plan for each person.

Have a read of my Super Smoothie recipe which is a nutritious way to replenish before and after the kind of exercise and competition you are doing.

If you ensure your body is richly supplied with nutrients before and after exercise and the muscles are without knotts then cramping should never be an issue.

Given that you ensure there is a rich supply of calories and nutrients during the race itself (I recommend mostly only water during a training session). Have a good look at the new Balance Ultimate Recovery drink that is remarkably like my Super Smoothie. It contains all the additional ingredients that I recommend for athletes while being in a fruit juice base. It makes an excellent, highly tolerable alternative to the sports drink. I like it.

Those clients of mine who used it during the recent round Lake Taupo cycle race all did personal bests and had no problems with cramping or post race soreness.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Mineral Therapy and Tennis Elbow

2008-10-31T21:28:00.001+13:00

I have a chronic case of tennis elbow for which I was treated about 18 months ago with a cortisone shot into the elbow area....
Read More Here

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

How do I improve my hydration?

2008-10-22T17:39:00.000+13:00

"My naturopath told me that the water I’m drinking wasn’t hydrating me, which I suspected since it leaves me feeling thirsty. It’s Multi-pure filtered water (solid carbon block filter, which doesn’t remove beneficial minerals but I’m in Portland and we hardly have any minerals in our water anyway – it’s very soft.)

He recommended San Pellegrino mineral water, which does hydrate me much better but it’s very expensive and I don’t feel it’s getting to the root of the problem. I have been trying an electrolyte product (see info below) for a couple weeks– not a sports drink but just electrolytes that you add to your water and when I add this to my Multi-Pure water it does hydrate me much better.

I hauled out my very ancient “Schussler’s biochemistry” book thinking there may be some answers there, and then decided to check tissue salts and hydration online and came across you website. Any suggestions? Thanks" Beth
_________________________________
Gary Replies:
Beth, while hydration is important, I do not think the type of water is going to have much, if any influence. Please read this article.

The first thing to do is to determine if you really are hydrated/dehydrated by making use of some good science. The best thing to do is to get a set of body composition scales and use them at the same time every day, like mornings after you have toileted and and before eating.

If you are consistently urinating several times a day and your body composition scales show consistent hydration, then you are hydrated and you can therefore stop giving your money to an over-sized water bottling company. If you have a set of Salter 9106 Scales, which are the ones I use with clients, then you can send me your results and I will comment in more detail.

If you are getting enough water then the best way to improve hydration is to ensure you have as clsoe to perfect balance in your tissue salts, rather than trying to drink more water. Complete the Active Elements Assessment here to find out your tissue salts needs.

You should also be exercising regularly with a combination of aerobic and strength work. Interestingly, aerobic exercise in hot conditions will increase hydration by stimulating an increase in blood volume.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Preventing cramp in a long distance runner

2008-10-21T11:40:00.002+13:00

"Hi Gary
Tried what you said last night. I went to bed and felt a bit of cramp in my toes and inside of leg and if I pointed my toes forward they instantly cramp, so went and got the Active Elements and chew/swilled them and cramp dissappears straight away.

I guess this means that I need to increase the daily dose but I would also appreciate any ideas you have for what to do during the long races, like Lake to Lighthouse will be 9-10 hour day 1 and 7-8 hrs day 2. Some guys I train with add half teaspoon sea salt /litre to their drinking water? Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

Thanks Gary."

Read the whole article here

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Do Natural Health Therapies Work?

2008-09-30T20:36:00.003+13:00

Here is the account of a person who has been using the Active Elements:

"Gary, I have to give you a very big thank you for advising me on curing the leg from the inside. The GP's and skin specialist failed to better the condition from the outside. It only got worse.

I will still keep up with what you have advised hoping it will be cured up to 100%".

Go here to read....

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

I don't think Homeopathic Remedies Work, so I don't believe the Active Elements Therapy will help me

2008-09-17T16:36:00.004+12:00

I tend to agree with you that homeopathy involving excessive dilution of a substance does not work. The evidence is sketchy at best.

Homeopathy has evolved down a few paths over the last hundred or so years and we must be careful that we do not throw out the baby with the bath water.

Dilution of a substance to the point of virtual non-existence does not really make sense.

But it sure does make very good sense to replenish the cells of the salts that are found in the body and to do so in accordance with calculated need. The homeopathic principle of supplying only as much as is needed to gain the maximum benefit makes good sense, as does the idea that any more may transform a nutrient into a poison.

I have studied exercise physiology, physics, chemistry and biochemistry to tertiary level. I have recently attended two course in tissue salts therapy: One by Dr Les Fisher of Active Elements and the other by the German Institute of Biochemic Medicine. In both cases, the detailed explanation of the biochemistry behind tissue salts therapy made very good sense and good science.

The Active Elements assessment programme which I subscribe to is based on homeopathic diagnostic and prescribing principles; but the formulations are in small therapeutic doses. One can tell this by the salty taste of the tablets.

The dose contained in each tablet of each salt is small. This is intended to be so, since we do not want to supply any of the tissue salts at a concentration which the body can not safely incorporate them into the cells. Hence the need for patience over at least three months in order to see tangible benefits (In some cases the benefits are overnight).

Note:

What I have written here is admittedly at risk of gross over-simplification of a form of therapy that has been around for a very long time. Dana Ullman, MPH, has written to me pointing out the errors of my ways and recommended the article and website here. These are an excellent way to begin one's exploration of homeopathy. Thanks Dana!

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Fluoride is a poison so I won't take tissue salts that contain flouride

2008-09-17T15:35:00.004+12:00

Correction:
Sodium Fluoride (NaF) is a poison.
Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) is nutrient that is found in tiny amounts in all healthy bodies.

Sodium Fluoride is a toxic by product of aluminium smelting. There has been a problem with disposing of this waste. Cynics believe that some enterprising person in the smelting industry came up with the idea of feeding it to humans, enlising the support of dentists and public health experts to have it added to municipal water supplies. While Sodium Fluoride may strengthen teeth, I am personally opposed to its addition to water supplies.

If health officials really are interested in health promotion they would ban Sodium Fluoride and encourage the ingestion of small amounts of Calcium Fluoride.

In the human, Calcium Fluoride is contained in the cells of the upper skin, in the tooth enamel, in the surface of the bones, as well as in all the elastic fibres of the body. You do not naturally find Sodium Fluoride in a human.

Two directions of effectiveness are striking:

Everything that is hardened becomes smooth with calcium fluoride
What is too "floppy" and "flappy" receives its natural elasticity from sodium fluoride

Cracked hands, excessive horn (hard skin) production on the hands and feet are striking symptoms of calcium fluoride deficiency.

Other Signs:

Unreasonable fear, restless sleep, reduced vision, cataracts, hearing problems, bone diseases, bone spurs, back pain, loss of elasticity of blood vessels, hard warts and even flat feet can be associated with lack of Calcium Fluoride, to name just a few!

How Much Calcium Fluoride to take?

Answer: Very small amounts spread over your lifetime - no big hits! The amount of Calcium Fluoride in the Active Elements tablets is very small. Please read my articles on this blog explaining why "less is more" when it comes to mineral therapy.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

More information about how to interpret your Salter 9106 Body Composition Scales

2008-09-04T21:12:00.001+12:00

When using your Salter 9106 body composition

scales, you have to programme it for age, gender and height. And you have to decide if you are an athletic or sedentary person. How do you know if you are an athlete or a couch potato?

Please go here to read more....

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Which mineral supplement is best?

2008-09-04T14:38:00.001+12:00

"Is there a mineral supplement on the market that contains the proper ratios of minerals?"
Clinton
_______________________________
Gary responds:
Since the beginning of this year I have had second thoughts about multi vitamins and multi mineral supplements. This is after completing two courses by different agencies on mineral therapy. There is no "one size fits all" supplement.

Please go here to read.....

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

I pee often during the night - am I drinking too much water?

2008-08-25T21:38:00.009+12:00

I have been reading your article under the "Active Elements Therapy" - Drink more water - I am in the habit of drinking a large quantity of water and I pee often as well as during the night. I do not have or add any salt to my diet - do I understand that I am doing it all wrong ? The water I drink is pure rain water from the tank and as we live by the sea I thought there would be sufficient natural salt in the water. I also eat a lot of salt water fish. Does this help ? I will be very interested in your reply. "D"

Note: "D" Has a set of Salter 9106 scales and has shared the results for his wife and himself. Both are in their late 60's.
His percent water is 45% and his wife's is 30%. Both results are too low regardless of age.
_____________________________________
Gary Replies:
"D", the short answer is you can drink all the water you like and it will do nothing for your hydration, other than bloat you, wash all the salts and vitamins out of you and have you getting up every night for a pee.

If you are waking to pee at night, then you are drinking too much. If you have a set of Salter 9106 scales, then note these points:

Note: I am selling these scales at well below retail. I want my clients to have them so that they can share their body composition results with me.

Weigh yourself daily first thing in the morning after you have been to the toilet and note your body water, muscle, fat and total weight.
Your bone measures should remain pretty constant if the machine is working properly
Your goal is to get as close to 60% water over the long term.
You will note that there is no relationship between how much you drink and % water.
The better relationship is with getting the Active Elements tissue salts balance right over a process of several months.
You are better to take the Active Elements which is a mix of the salts your body needs to be healthy and it is better not to salt your food, since table salt is only one of the 12 salts your body needs to function.
Salt water fish are very good for you all round; especially the head and eyeballs (vitamin A) - keep that going.
The water you are drinking is probably better for you because it does not contain chemicals that are added to municipal drinking water. But unlikely to supply your daily needs for tissue salts.
We used to get our tissue salts from a wide range of whole foods, including from eating whole animals, including their organs and then rendering the bones into broths.
Drink only as much water as you need to maintain a consistent body weight through the day.
If you exercise and lose, say, 1kg in weight, then you need to drink about 1 liter of water and a little more in the hour or so after. That's all.
If you drink too much water, you will flush tissue salts and some vitamins out of the system.
You may also compromise digestion by diluting the digestive juices.

David, in evolutionary terms, you ceased being a fish millions of years ago. Do not regress - resist the water companies who are doing a damn good job at suckering us all in.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

How to use and interpret your Salter 9106 Body Compositon Scales

2008-08-18T13:26:00.007+12:00

These body composition scales sell for as much as NZ$140. The reason I am selling these for so little is I want all of my Active Elements to have them. Especially those who do not live in Wellington. This pricing means it is affordable to send a set of scales to places as far away as the United States.

Go here to purchase your Salter 9106 scales

These scales are incredibly accurate when used correctly.

How they work
The Salter 9106 uses Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA). When you stand on the silver coloured electrodes of the foot plate, a tiny series of electrical currents are passed through one leg, through the body and back through the other leg. It is completely safe.

Sensors determine the electrical impedance, or opposition to the flow of an electric current through body tissues which can then be used by a mathematical algorithm in the machine's microprocessor to calculate an estimate of total body water (TBW). Assumptions are made with regards to Athletic or Sedentary lifestyles, age and gender. So long as one sticks to the Athletic or Sedentary mode, consistency is assured.

TBW can be used to estimate fat-free body mass and, by difference with body weight, body fat and even bone.

Recent advances in technology have made these consumer devices far more accurate than earlier versions just a few years ago. In my opinion, the reliability of the Salter 9106 is astonishing when I think of the expense of the clinical versions of BIA devices and the trouble one had to go to in order to get an accurate reading.

Setting up your Salter 9106 Scales

Use Metric Mode if you are going to be sharing your results with me, thanks
Choose one of the ten places to store your details
Choose your mode: Male, female, athlete or sedentary
Enter your height and age
Place the scales on a firm surface
If the screen is blank, push down on the scales gently with a foot and then take the foot off when your profile comes up
Wait until the profile has flicked through your details and zeroed
Stand on the scales
Note down your results as they flash up on the screen

Interpreting the results

Weight

This is not as important as you might think: It is what this weight is made up of that is important - read on!

If you are a sedentary female, then between 25 and 35% is your goal. A sedentary male should aim for 20-25%
If you are Athletic, then between 15-20% is your goal if female and 10-15% if male (these can be quite tough goals)
If you have even slight oedema (A buildup of stagnant lymph fluid) this will show as fat and success with shifting this unwanted water will show as a drop in fatness.

Bone

About 2% or higher is desirable

Note: If you are on Biphosphonate Drugs for osteoporosis, you may get an excessively high reading because of the accumulation of old bone

Because bone hardly varies at all, this reading can be used as a "consistency" grade for your readings

Water

The healthier and more athletic you are, the higher the reading.

For a woman 55% or higher is desirable
For a man 60% or higher is desirable

Muscle

40% or a little higher is desirable for both men and women

There is no such thing as a "Normal" healthy person
So, what is healthy for you? Some allowances must be given with your Salter 9106 readings if your racial or family genes gift you a physique that naturally differs from the usual. For example, my Samoan Bother-In-Law tops the charts for bone and muscle mass while having next to no fat on him. And there are other factors that must be considered: If you are training to swim the freezing Cook Strait or the English Channel, then you want a very thick layer of blubber under the skin!

When to take readings

At the same time of the day
At the same time of week
At the same time of your weekly physical training programme
Before and after training to determine how much water you lost and therefore how much to drink

Always wear similar clothing, like in undies only

Getting really healthy
As health improves, body fat should decline closer to the most desirable levels as mentioned earlier. Body water will edge towards 60% and lean weight will creep nearer 40%. Bone will barely change in a year. If health declines, the opposite will tend to occur.

Weight loss done healthy
As a general rule of thumb, weight loss that has an associated drop in muscle and water percentages is not healthy. You can use the Salter 9106 scales to ensure that your weight management is healthy.

If you gain weight, an increase in lean and water is healthy and to be celebrated.

Getting old: Getting fat, losing muscle and drying up!
The manual that comes with the Salter 9106 scales has age and gender charts on page 3. Sure, this is true for the general population which typically whithers out and slowly dies a sad death! But this is not going to apply to you - Okay!

I have demonstrated that age has little or nothing to do with loss of hydration, loss of muscle or getting fat. You can maintain healthy profiles regardless of age, if you assiduously follow the sensible exercise and nutrition advice that I have for you on my website and in consulting with me direct. For example, the people who have followed the Active Elements programme for several months have all significantly improved their hydration. Most to 60%.

Send me your results
I can help you with interpreting your Salter 9106 results. I would prefer that you send them to me in an Excel Spreadsheet; but a Word or email file is fine. Please take one reading for me about every 2nd week for a while and then about once a month after several of the more frequent readings.

Go here to purchase your Salter 9106 scales

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Schooling: Ritalin, ADD, Diet and Active Elements

2008-08-11T11:52:00.001+12:00

"Gary
...what else do you suggest for our son who can be described as having A.D.D. at his parent interview yesterday his teacher asked us if we had conisidered Ritilin. Nope, that's not a choice in my book, we manage him without drugs. "
"W"
___________________________________
"W"
My oldest son was a poor student who was disruptive in class. I had numerous meetings with his teacher about this matter but nothing improved. I once went through a medical checklist for hyperactivity and he scored about 80%. (Incidentally, he suffered terribly from eczema throughout his childhood which has pretty much resolved 100% once we licked his allergies through nutrition in his late teens). I knew that he would have been placed on Ritalin if I had taken him to a doctor about his disruptive behaviour in school. So, for the last 20 years of his life we have been trying to figure out what affects him in terms of his environment and nutrition.

When he turned about 10 years of age, I was called to a meeting with the School Principal, head of Department and his class teacher during which I was more or less asked to remove my boy from school. It was one of the most unpleasant meetings I have ever had to endure. I felt angry as well as humiliated: Here was a State school that would not, or could not cater for his needs. He was a “square child, trying to fit into in a round-holed school”. I was very hurt by what was said in the meeting. Was it because it was my family's genetics that were to blame for the school's failing my son! This, I was not going to accept. At the same time, I accepted that there were serious behaviour issues that I, as a parent, had to take responsibility to resolve. Drugging my child was not an option.

I took him out of that school and enrolled him in a private school in a class of just 15 children with a teacher who had 40 years experience. What a difference with having an experienced teacher and small class sizes! There were no more problems until he went to Secondary School which was a complete disaster. By 15 he was a sullen school dropout. I managed to get him enrolled in an introductory computer skills course which was run by a couple of acquaintances of mine who took good care of him. He excelled and is now residing in Nelson where he is completing a degree in Information Technology. I am so proud of him and he is doing this course almost completely independently of his family.

"W": What I am telling you is there is hope and it starts with good teachers and small classes – backed up by a supportive family and good proactive nutrition.

Yes there are several things you can do for your boy's nutrition – the whole family in fact! Drugs-free.

I have learned a lot about ADD, allergies and nutrition and here is what I recommend:

Active Elements 4.2 and 4.3

These supply the tissue salts that are necessary for a healthy nervous system
If your boys do not like to chew them, crush them and dissolve in food. (Get rid of all table salt and salty foods while you are at it).

Give them ½ of each tablet 3-6 times a day on their own, or with their food.

Fresh Catch Cod Liver Oil

This supplies vitamin A and Omega3 oil that are essential for a healthy nervous system
This has a tangy orange taste that the boys should be ok to take by the teaspoon twice a day

Serve only whole non-homogenised milk (silver top milk only)

Get rid of all the other milk in the house and feed them whole milk only.
Feed them yellow NZ butter and ditch the margarine and all hydrogenated oils.
Whole milk, butter and cheese supply the fats and fat soluble vitamins that the brain needs.
The industrialized alternatives are akin to brain poisons.

Feed them a big fruit salad treat daily with dark red berries in it (Red berries are good for the brain!)

Red berries (Pam’s Frozen Berries are good value)
Any fresh or canned fruit Ripe diced bananas Serve with yoghurt and slip in a drizzle of flax seed oil
If you can afford it, you can give your fruit salad real nutritional punch, mix a large spoonful of Nutra-Life Load Up Berry Brights powder into the big bowl of salad

Get them onto fresh natural whole foods cooked at home

Any food that comes in bottles, wrappers will contain preservatives, colourings, flavourings, excess salt and more.
The boys are best off these as much as you can do so. No Cheezles, Popsicles, Potato crisps, sweets etc. These can be the occasional treat; but definitely not daily.
The best way to feed the family is to cook home foods, including healthy cookies and muffins for school with a little whey protein added during the baking.

Manage the TV and computer games and ensure consistent sleep habits

Into bed and asleep by 9pm every day of the week, including weekends and holidays and out of bed by 7am.

Be consistent and patient. These measures are unlikely to bring about overnight resolution and getting youngsters to comply consistently is most difficult. If children are in a broken family, you need to have the full cooperation of the other parent because one parent tends to become the "Sugar Daddy" within the family dynamics, dishing out the lollies and the MacDonalds when the kids are with them.

Watch very closely for subtle signs of improving health like the condition of their skin, lightening of any darkness under the eyes, fewer runny noses and better sleep as examples.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Update about how to replace electrolytes lost from sweating and exercise

2008-08-05T22:19:00.004+12:00

This is an update to my earlier article on the subject of electrolyte replacement during endurance activities, like running or walking a marathon, or long hikes in warm conditions.

We receive daily advice from all directions to drink so many glasses of water per day and so many mls of additional water for every hour or so of exercise. I think this is unhealthy advice because rote advice about drinking makes no allowances for temperature, humidity, the size of the person, their physiology or the intensity of the exercise. When exercising in the same conditions, some people need to drink lots while others need very little.

If you are exercising regularly and sweating a lot then you need to drink at least as much water as you lose in a session. You can work out how much water is lost in an exercise session by weighing yourself before and after. If, for example, you drank one liter (1kg) of water during a long walk and you still lost one kilogram in weight, this equates to a two liter loss of water with a one liter deficit. So, you need to drink one liter of water - and a little more - in the hour or so after your walk. Do this weighing exercise now and then and you will develop a very good feel for how much to drink during exercise.

Learn to listen to your body.Rather than have sugary sports drinks that rot your teeth and gums and predispose you to diabetes, you are better served by drinking plain water and consuming whole foods that are rich in protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and carbohydrates - and minerals. It makes no sense at all to drink and eat nutrient poor processed carbohydrate foods, like sweets and noodles. Sugary sports drinks may be extremely acidic and laced with bright colourings and strong flavouring agents that have nothing to do with good health. Some sports drinks come with added "revitalising B vitamins". But they omit telling you that they have left out the B vitamins that make the drink look like urine. The resultant vitamin imbalance is hardly healthy.

Dr Les Fisher, is a leading authority in Australia on tissue salt therapies. I asked Dr Fisher for his recommendations about electrolyte replacement before, during and after strenuous exercise such as walking a marathon, or a day-long hike in warm conditions. Dr Fisher recommends taking one tissue salt tablet before exercise; one or two more during exercise - depending on the sweating rate - then one or two more after.

The tissue salts Dr Fisher is talking about contain small amounts of sodium phosphate (NaPO4), potassium phosphate (KPO4) and magnesium Phosphate (MgPO4). These salts help relieve cramps and reduce tissue acidity during exercise.

Of course, there is considerable variability in need depending on the person and the conditions. The best way to know how much suits you is to practice Dr Fisher’s advice during your training, weighing yourself as you go and adjusting things depending on weight changes from fluid loss and how you feel.

Drink as much water as is necessary to maintain body weight. Spread the tablets well apart so the body receives a slow dribble of the tissue salts, rather than a big hit. The only fluid needed is good old plain tap water and this is replaced as one loses it. If you are preparing for a really exhausting event in heat like a marathon, or a multi-day bush hike, then you might commence the supplementation several times over the day leading up to the event. Again, you spread the tablets well apart.

Note: These special tablets contain very small amounts of three different salts. The only effect on blood pressure will be beneficial.Tip: If you begin to cramp up during prolonged exercise, such as walking a marathon or a long hike, Dr Fisher suggests you place a single salt tablet under the tongue and let it slowly dissolve. This way, most of the salt is absorbed sublingually (Through the profusion of blood vessels of the cheeks and under the tongue), straight into the blood stream. Drink plenty of plain water as you go, according to thirst, and you will do just right!

Listen to your body.

Notes:

The Active Elements Formula that is referred to in this article is Active 3.1.
For weighing yourself there is nothing more accurate in the home than the Salter 9106 Body Compostion Scales. These are selling off my web store for a song for the time-being (up to $140 in the shops).

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

2008-07-30T22:02:00.004+12:00

I had a diet of almost strictly red meat for 2 months thinking I was doing the right thing to increase ferritin levels. I also was taking large doses of iron. Both of these factors have caused me to become magnesium deficient. I am so deficient that eating meat protein even once or taking calcium supplements causes all the classic symptoms: heart racing, anxiousness, numb extrematies, muscle cramps, etc...
I am afraid of high supplementing with magnesium because I don't want to create a deficiency in my other minerals like I did with the iron.
How can I supplement safely?
Lorie, USA

_____________________________

Lorie,

The problem with taking pharmaceutical iron supplements is they are not necessarily the form of iron that is found within the body - Iron Phosphate (FePO4). Nothing else. It just does not make sense to pump into the body forms of iron, such as chelated iron, that the body simply is not designed for. While heaps may enter the body, bumping up the amount on the blood tests, one must question just how much is taken into the cells where the real action happens. Is this foreign iron chemical toxic?

You are right that too much of one thing can cause a real or relative deficiency of another, in this case your magnesium. Again, it is bad chemistry to add a magnesium supplement that is not naturally found in the cells of the body. In this case, the form of magnesium that the body uses is Magnesium Phosphate (MgPO4). Nothing else.

There is also a danger in taking in large hits of any kind of supplement. These may overwhlem the body and it depserately tries to discard the excess. In the process, what is in the cells may be further depleted. It is best to dribble the mineral into the body in tiny, frequent amounts over a long period of time - months, if not always.

The best way to go about balancing your mineral salts (All 12 of them) is to first find out what of the 12 you most need and which you need the least of. Please complete the Active Elements Assessment. When you do so, please tell me in the text box about any health issues, medications and supplements being taken and why, tell me about your activity history and give a diet recall of everything you have eaten and drunk over the previous 24 hours.

A course of tissue salts replenishment and a balanced diet may be all that is needed to get you back on the road to peak health and fitness.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

How to get the most out the Active Elements Programme

2008-07-29T17:31:00.001+12:00

From the 180+ people now using the Active Elements programme to improve their health, there are some clear patterns emerging about who benefits and who does not. The key to success seems to be very simple: Be a consistent participant for at least 12 weeks.

The Benefits
You may notice you have better looking skin, hair and nails; various symptoms of poor health, such as pain and fatigue may be replaced by improved mobility and more energy. In many cases, the need for medication has reduced or been eliminated completely (Any alterations in medication should be in consultation with your doctor, please!). Be patient and the benefits will ever so gradually accrue and they can be life-changing.

The Problem
Looking out for these subtle improvements in health is a bit like trying to watch hair or grass grow! This almost imperceptible rate of change is one reason why natural health solutions often lose out to the big-hit pharmaceuticals that may give immediate short term relief at the cost of long term health. How can we accurately measure and display these subtle improvements and thus provide you with feedback and motivation?

At last - there is a way to do this. Read on!

The Solution
You can now easily monitor subtle changes in body composition (And therefore your overall state of health) and you can do this at home. All you need is a body composition analyser - The Salter 9106. These personal weighing scales with body composition analysis technology costs less than $100. They are remarkably accurate and consistent and use a technology that cost almost $5,000 for just a few years ago. Such is the progress of technology.

You can purchase the Salter 9106 from my online store at a significant discount. Or you can search for them in a store near you (Salter is an international brand). You need the 9106 model which is the machine I use and which my results database is collected from.

The Salter 9106 accurately measures weight, fat, bone, water, and muscle - thus providing an accurate measure of health status. As one's health diminishes, fatness usually increases while hydration and leanness decreases. The converse is true as health improves.

Getting your tissue salts balanced is central to achieving good health; more so as we get older. Please have a read of this article here about the interrelationship between tissue salts, water and health. This explains how the Salter scales help you assess the tissue salt therapy.

How I can help

Once you have your Salter 9106 and you have your body composition analysis results, you can email these to me and I will help you with interpreting them. I will make a number of recommendations to you about how to improve your body composition (and health). This is essentially a free service and the numbers are growing daily, so please bear with me if there is a delay in responding).

If you have not recently completed an Active Elements assessment, you should get this done at the same time.

Here is the link for logging into the Active Elements programme (Please email me if you have any trouble logging in).

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Mineral Supplementation: Why less is more

2008-07-28T20:48:00.000+12:00

When it comes to mineral supplementation, as with most nutrients, less is more effective.

The reason is principally Osmosis

"Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an equal concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane."

In the body, this is regulated by concentrations of salts and proteins and other organic materials. The body is divided into a series of fluid compartments. For simplicity and expediency, we will divide the body into three: the plasma (blood), the extracellular fluid (outside the cells) and the intracellular fluid (within the cells). Water flows between each of these compartments by a combination of diffusion and osmosis and the effects of pressure variables.

If you were to take in a big hit of sodium chloride (table salt, NaCl) by having a salty meal, there will be a spike in NaCl in the blood, lesser in the extracellular compartment and less in the intracellur one. The body will respond to dilute the spike in NaCl with an overall shift of water from the intracellular and the extracellular compartments to the blood.

This will cause a dehydration of the cells, reducing metabolic activity due to the reduced cell fluid volume and a possible increase in blood pressure due to the increase in blood volume.

The way to prevent this unhealthy process is to go on a relatively salt-free diet and to avoid acute spikes in NaCl. This means reading the labels of all the processed food you have and to discard or limit all that have added "sodium". Do not add salt to your meals. use herbs and spices. What you will notice within a few days of going salt-free is your sense of taste and smell will improve, lessening the need for spicing up food for taste.

Now that you are relatively salt free, you can set about improving the hydration of your cells. This is done by carefully dribbling tissue salts into your body, using the Active Elements Tissue Salts. Very small, frequent doses are the way to go. Small, frequent doses prevent spikes in blood salt levels while giving enough salt for your cells to reach out and grab them and incorporate them into their intracellular fluid. With extra tissue salts inside, more water is naturally added.

This process of cell hydration by small, frequent doses of tissue salts requires patience and consistency over several weeks, if not months. The end result is a healthy vibrant body with energy to burn!

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

"Drink more water, drink, drink, drink".

2008-07-26T16:41:00.000+12:00

That's the message we hear time and time again from the sports fitness industry and the commercial interests that have a vested interest in promoting the sales of bottled water. They tell us that the key to health and longevity is to drink more water, but is this really true?

The problem is, when dealing with people face-to-face about health issues, I just can not see a connection between how much water one drinks and health. The opposite might be the case: The more water one drinks, the more likely there are chronic health issues like lack of energy, weight gain, weak bones, aching joints and muscles and so on. How could this be? The following is some informed, healthy speculation:

The answer may be to do with distortion of the delicate salt balance within each cell. There are 12 salts found inside the cell (Referred to as the "salts of Schussler"): Sodium phosphate, sodium, sulphate, sodium chloride, potassium phosphate, potassium sulphate, potassium chloride, calcium phosphate, calcium sulphate, calcium fluoride, iron phosphate and silicon dioxide.

Too little of any of these salts, or an imbalance, and the health of the cell is compromised and this shows as failing energy and eventual ill health of all descriptions.

The modern diet lacks most of these salts while supplying enormous amounts of sodium chloride. Tissue salts are lost daily through the urine, sweat and the shedding of skin and hair. If one drinks lots of water, especially if it is distilled, precious tissue salts are flushed out of the system. Some medications, like blood pressure diuretics, accelerate this loss of tissue salts.

If there is insufficient of any of the 12 tissue salts in the cells, the cell reduces its water content to maintain as near a healthy salt electrolyte balance as it can in these less than perfect circumstances. If there is an excess of any of the 12 salts in relation to the others, the excess is discarded while those in short supply are retained to ensure the correct concentration is retained within the cells. This explains why the percentage hydration of the body tends to decline with age: The desperate attempts of the body to maintain a viable salt balance.

The graphs associated with this article are of people of differing age, gender, fitness and health. These are the results of "bioelectrical impedance analysis" (BIA) which allows us to work out the ratios of fat, muscle, bone and water in the body. With age, the percent water in the cells tends to decline from a healthy 60+% to 50% or even lower. But this need not be the inevitable result of ageing, as these charts indicate. Tissue dehydration is more closely associated with a diet that is deficient in the tissue salts, inactivity and ill health than age. Incidentally, all of the people graphed with tissue water 60% or greater have undergone a course of tissue salt therapy.

The answer, to me, is to have a diet that is rich in salts, as opposed to industrially processed foods that tend to be soaked in sodium chloride alone. This pretty much equates to the traditional diets of native societies as one would find in places like Samoa and Okinawa prior to the destructive influence of Western food processing. For most of us, a course in supplementing tissue salts would appear to be warranted, especially as we get older. Get this right and the water issue pretty much takes care of itself.

So, how much water should one drink to be healthy? The answer is different for each person because so much depends on size (volume), metabolism, temperature, humidity, type of activity, duration and so on. A general of thumb is to drink sufficient water daily to be peeing 3-6 times a day while not having to get up in the middle of the night due to a bursting bladder. I will write in more detail in a follow up article.

Note: For more information about the importance of tissue salts for health, try a Google or Yahoo internet search for "Active Elements Gary Moller". To do the free Active Elements Assessment which includes a free report prepared by me (Gary Moller), please go here to log in and get started.

Footnote:
You can now easily monitor subtle changes in body composition (And therefore your overall state of health) and you can do this at home. All you need is a body composition analyser - The

Salter 9106. These personal weighing scales with body composition analysis technology costs less than $100. They are remarkably accurate and consistent and use a technology that cost almost $5,000 for just a few years ago. Such is the progress of technology. You can purchase the Salter 9106 from my online store here at a significant discount. Or you can search for them in a store near you (Salter is an international brand). You need the 9106 model which is the machine I use and which my results database is collected from.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Training for a marathon or cycle training - Advice about what to drink

2008-07-26T16:39:00.000+12:00

If you are a training regularly and sweating a lot then you need to drink at least as much water as you lose in a session. You can work out how much water is lost in a training session by weighing yourself before and after. If, for example, you drank one liter of water during the training and you still lost one kilogram in weight, that equates to a two liter loss of water during the training with a one liter deficit. So, that means you need to drink one liter of water - and a little more - in the hour or so after exercise.

Rather than have sugary drinks and foods after the training and competition which rot your teeth and gums, predispose you to diabetes and chronic nutrient deficiency, an athlete is better served drinking plain water and consuming food that is rich in protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and carbohydrates - and minerals. My Super Smoothie recipe for example.

It makes no sense at all to drink and eat nutrient poor processed carbohydrate foods and sugary sports drinks that are often extremely acidic and laced with colourings and flavourings. Some sports drinks come with "revitalising B vitamins". But they omit telling you that they have left out the B vitamins that make the drink urine coloured. This is hardly healthy.

I spoke with Dr Les Fisher, the man behind the Active Elements programme. For electrolyte replacement before, during and after exercise, he recommends taking one Active Elements 3.1 tablet before the exercise. During the exercise the athlete can take one or two more depending on the sweating rate and then one or two after. The only fluid needed is good old plain water. If it is in preparation for a really exhausting event like a marathon, or the cycling or triathlon equivalent, then the athlete might commence the Active 3.1 supplementation several times over the day leading up to the event.

Active 3.1 contains the tissue mineral salts most needed during intense exercise and heavy sweating for strong circulation and to prevent or relieve muscle cramping - Sodium Phosphate, Potassium Phosphate and Magnesium Phosphate.

During exercise, such as running a marathon or half marathon, the athlete can place the Active 3.1 tablet under the tongue and let it gradually dissolve. This way, some of the salt is absorbed sub lingually (Through the profusion of blood vessels under the tongue), straight into the blood stream.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

What can you do to reduce your risk of catching influenza or a cold this winter

2008-07-26T12:14:00.000+12:00

There was a television interview a few days ago of a doctor advising viewers that it was time to get their annual flu jab. This is the jab that contains various substances, including aluminium which is a highly neurotoxic metal that is implicated in diseases such as dementia and Alzheimers. When asked if there was anything that one can do for the lesser rhino virus (colds), he replied, "Absolutely nothing at all!" I take issue with that. There is much that one can do to increase one's resistance to virus infections:

Get plenty of sleep and do not burn the midnight oil during the flu and cold season - reduce stress. Take a winter holiday
Eat plenty of fruit
Ensure your diet is rich in the fat soluble vitamins - New Zealand butter, full fat milk, cod liver oil, wheatgerm oil (vitamin E), fish head soup, liver including pate. Take a vitamin D supplement.
A further step is to have a regular intake of garlic, vitamin C and echinacea
Have regular beef and chicken broth soups
Complete the Active Elements assessment to ensure your body has the tissue salts needed to ward off infection
Wash you hands frequently and keep clear of people who are dribbling and coughing
Avoid confined, crowded, poorly ventilated rooms, such as class rooms
If you do feel a viral infection of any kind coming on, have a supply of Active Elements 7.1 on hand and commence taking immediately as prescribed and for as long as symptoms persist.

While there is ongoing debate about the effectiveness of many of these preventative measures, I am convinced enough to recommend any of these to my readers. None are poisonous.

If you purchase Active 7.1 to keep in your medicine cabinet, I have reproduced the prescribing information below.

Active 7.1

Indications:

The homoeopathic and non-homoeopathic ingredients contained in this formula have been traditionally used to relieve the congestion & fever of minor infections such as, colds, flu, upper respiratory tract and middle ear infections, tonsillitis and hay fever and to relieve the pain, heat, irritation & swelling of localised inflammations.

Directions:

Chew or swallow one tablet every 2 hours with warm water or as advised by your health care professional. (Children over 2 years of age, 1/2 dose).

Not to be used for children under 2 years of age without medical advice. If symptoms persist consult your health care practitioner. Not for the treatment of iron deficiency conditions. Sodium sulphate anhydrous may have a laxative effect. Contains homoeopathic ingredients. No more than 7 doses should be taken in any 24 hour period.

Active Ingredients per tablet:

Potassium sulfate 6X (5 mcg), Potassium chloride 6X (5 mcg), Sodium sulfate anhydrous 6X (5 mcg), Sodium chloride 6X (5 mcg), Calcium sulfate 6X (5 mcg), Magnesium phosphate 6X (5 mcg), Ferrous phosphate 6X (5 mcg).

Potassium sulfate 50 mg (equivalent to elemental Potassium 22.44 mg), Sodium sulfate anhydrous 100 mg (equivalent to elemental Sodium 32.37 mg), Calcium sulfate 15 mg (equivalent to elemental Calcium 3.49 mg), Magnesium phosphate 70 mg (equivalent to elemental Magnesium 14.48 mg), Iron phosphate 10 mg (equivalent to elemental Iron 3.34 mg).

Formula does not contain:

Added lactose, yeast, artificial colourings, artificial flavourings or preservatives.

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Minerals: The Essence of Life

2008-07-25T19:24:00.003+12:00

Minerals, like vitamins are natural elements essential for our general mental and physical health. Minerals are an intrinsic constituent of every living cell. Minerals help perform a multitude of biological processes.

There are 12 minerals in the body and the processes that each are involved in are closely related to one another. Deficiency in one can disturb and retard the actions of the others. This can result in a steady deterioration in health, illness, lack of energy, muscular and mental deterioration. Premature ageing.

Any refinement process, including extraction or addition to food can disturb the natural mineral balance that is found in food. Together with industrial agricultural methods of today our foods can be severely depleted in minerals.

When a specific mineral deficiency is suspected, the diet may be supplemented with natural mineral substances that precisely replicate the mineral salts that are found in the healthy, disease-free body. These provide a significant support for a healthy life, if the diet is inadequate, or if there is a significant deficit, or stressor such as an acute or chronic infection.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.

Why Tissue Salts are the basis of Biochemistry and Health

2008-07-25T18:24:00.004+12:00

In the late 1800's German physician, Dr Schuessler, discovered that the body consisted of 12 basic tissue salts. From years of research and practice, he surmised four simple principles of biochemistry that remain valid to this day.

These principles are:

Disease does not occur if cell metabolism is normal.
Cell metabolism is in turn normal if cell nutrition is adequate.
Nutritional substances are of either organic or inorganic nature as far as the body is concerned.
The ability of the body cells to assimilate and to excrete and further to utilise the nutritional material is impaired if there is a deficiency in the inorganic (mineral salt) constituent of tissue.

It is for the last principle that inorganic tissue salts are the foundation of cell health and nutrition. In the quest for lasting health and well-being, or the restoration of health, the first and most important rule of nutrition is to balance the body's tissue salts. Only after that is achieved will the body be able to properly incorporate and use organic nutrients such as vitamins, fatty acids and amino acids.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.