If the body for any reason required more of this vitamin, it would instinctively desire foods (versus
craving them) that would meet the increased demand. However, if the liver and intestines are congested, a
B12 deficiency may eventually develop, regardless of whether a person is a meat-eater, a vegetarian, or
vegan. In addition taking antibiotics and other medical drugs destroy the beneficial bacteria in our mouths
and intestines, which is the most common cause of B12 deficiency.
Niacin is one of the most popular B-vitamins. Added to a large number of manufactured foods,
including breakfast cereals, niacin also is not without risks. After large doses of niacin (3g) were given to
patients suffering from psychiatric diseases, these patients developed hepatitis and other liver problems.
Among other symptoms of niacin-poisoning are hot flushes, itching skin, arrhythmia, and nervousness.
Illegal use of niacin in minced meat and hamburgers has repeatedly led to similar symptoms. The main
reason for adding niacin to meat is to color it red and give it the appearance of being fresh. If you turn
bright red, like a tomato, and get an itch right after eating meat, then you are likely to have been poisoned
with niacin.
The B-vitamin Folic acid is also a common food additive, and potentially one of the most harmful
ones. After researchers first discovered that people in malaria regions suffered from folic acid deficiency,
they gave them this B vitamin in the belief that it would make their immune systems more resistant to the
malaria bug. The children who were given this vitamin felt worse after the treatment and were found to
have much higher concentrations of malaria-causing agents in their blood than before.
The explanation for this phenomenon lies in the understanding that the malaria bugs themselves
require large amounts of folic acid to spread. People who have a deficiency in this vitamin are naturally
protected from malaria infection. A British doctor in Kenya discovered that children who took folic acid
developed malaria. He gave folic acid to one group of monkeys and compared them with another group
monkeys who were folic acid deficient. All the monkeys with “normal” levels of this vitamin were
infected with malaria whereas the ones with “abnormally low” levels stayed healthy.
Over 40 percent of the world’s population is threatened by malaria today and it is no longer restricted
to developing countries. Malaria is rapidly becoming the leading cause of death in the world. It is
impossible to imagine the disastrous consequences that may have arisen from giving millions of healthy
people vitamins to help their assumed vitamin deficiency. A vitamin deficiency in one person may
actually be a life-saving response for another person. It is sad to know that many people have to pay with
their lives because we so crudely interfere in the self-regulating mechanisms of nature and human
physiology that protect us against disease.
Vitamin C
The most popular of all vitamins is Ascorbic acid or vitamin C, a deficiency of which is believed to
cause multiple hemorrhages, slow wound healing, anemia and scurvy (damage of blood vessels). It is in
fact very easy to cure scurvy with red peppers, citrus fruits, or cranberries, all containing high
concentrations of this vitamin. Since the Hungarian scientist Szent Gyoerkyi identified vitamin C in
oranges to be an effective substance, it became common knowledge that vitamin C and orange juice must
have the same benefits. But as it turned out, scurvy cannot be cured by vitamin C alone. Regardless how
large a dosage of vitamin C you use, the blood vessels will remain damaged. By contrast, eating a few
oranges or red peppers cures scurvy quickly, without a trace of damage left.
Vitamin C-rich fruits contain at least one other vitamin ingredient which is known as vitamin C2.
Scurvy can only be cured if vitamin C and vitamin C2 are taken together. When Gyoerkyi studied vitamin
C, he included both compounds of vitamin C. But as the years passed, the scientific community began
omitting C2, and today nobody talks about it anymore.