38 Acidic Wastes: The Real Culprit
the damage to health of single vitamins and minerals. The long-term
use of vitamin E without its co-nutrients demineralizes bone calcium,
and large amounts of biofl avonoids taken over a long period create a
defi ciency of the clotting factor vitamin K. Furthermore, longtime use
of high-potency vitamin D has been shown to encourage the clogging
of the arteries and heart disease. DeCava describes an experiment con-
ducted by F. G. Hopkins, a biochemist, in the early part of the twenti-
eth century. He fed laboratory animals a diet of nothing but refi ned
protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals, and water. The animals died,
while the control group that was fed unprocessed foods thrived.^19
There is another danger to taking single vitamins. Robbed of their
co-nutrients, they have to steal from the body’s nutritional reserves.
Without this “theft,” they would have no curative value. W hen because
of an overconsumption of single vitamins or minerals these reser ves are
depleted, the condition the vitamin was meant to alleviate may worsen.
Fortunately, there are now a number of brands of whole-food nutri-
tional supplements that are sold in health-food stores.
Having pointed out the dangers of taking single vitamins and miner-
als, I have to call attention to their initial health advantages. They can
alleviate many degenerative diseases—but for the sake of your long-
term health, observe the following precautions. Along with the single
nutrients you take, add a multivitamin whole-food supplement. And
once your health problem has cleared up—unless you have major
depression or schizophrenia—gradually cut down on your dosage of
single nutrients and replace them with whole-food vitamin complexes.
After carefully evaluating the results of my advice to hundreds of
individuals, I’m convinced that toxicity in the form of acidic waste is
the primary cause of degenerative disease. Unfortunately the health
obsession over nutritional supplements obscures the vital role played by
the removal of acidic toxins in normalizing organ function. Nutritional
supplements are usually necessary to heal injured organs, but it is dif-
fi cult to heal an organ system until the acidic wastes that caused the
injury to the body are fi rst removed.
A diet tailored to the individual’s metabolism helps reduce acidic
waste levels in the body. With the information contained in this chap-
ter you should be able to fi nd the diet that is right for you. Food items
as well as single vitamins and whole-food vitamin complexes for par-
ticular health problems are discussed in Part II.