CALCIUM :

Question :

What is the absorption rate of calcium from milk and from other products?

Answer :

The absorption rate of calcium from lactate and citrate almost equals the absorption rate of calcium from carbonated water.
The best absorption rate of calcium is from plants.
The absorption rate of calcium from plants averages about twice the absorption rate of calcium from inorganic and organic compounds and the absorption rate of calcium from milk.

It is abvious that edible plants constitute the best natural source of minerals for animals and human.

SELENIUM :

Question :

I have listened to Dr Wallach's tapes and attended one of his lectures in LaJolla, CA. Among other things, he has touted the benefits of selenium. In the July 1, '98 issue of the San Diego Union Tribune, there was a full page story about the massive die-offs of various flora and fauna at the Salton sea in the Imperial Valley, CA. This ecological collapse, according to various "experts," is due, in part, to the element selenium. My question is how can Dr Wallach push selenium if there is the slightest chance that these "experts" are correct? Or are there different kinds of selenium?? Or.....???

Answer :

Both Dr. Wallach and the "experts" are correct.

Selenium is an essential trace element. Selenium deficiency in human is frequent. Selenium deficiency may produce diseases from heart conditions to immune system inefficiency, spots on the skin, not to forget birth defects. Selenium supplementation reduces infection rate and protects against more than one type of cancer.

Selenium is also a dangerous poison. How can this be? It is very simple. It is a matter of dosage. An adult needs an intake of around 100-200 microgram of selenium per day to stay healthy. Poisoning by selenium starts at sustained daily doses more than 10 to 20 times greater.

Selenium is not the only substance that is altogether essential and a poison, depending the doses. Only, in the case of selenium the margin between the needed useful dose and a dangerous daily intake is narrower than for others.

ALUMINUM :

Question :

The assay for Ultimate which I take, shows an almost incredible amount of aluminum versus other minerals. I have been told that this content is natural and is based directly on what is taken from the mine. However, I am concerned that the amount is perhaps bordering on a toxic level.

Am I overly concerned? Would .i.aluminum; in chyrstalline form (metallic) be more dangerous than the colloidal (ionic) form? Please explain since not only am I concerned but others have expressed this concern to me. Thanks in advance for a reply.

Answer :

Don't worry.

Aluminum is present in all and every food and living organisms -- human included -- are used to this exposure. Furthermore, one serving of Ultimate contains 44 mg of aluminum metal, standing for 132 mg of aluminum hydroxide. This amount of aluminum hydroxide is only 46.2% of the aluminum hydroxide content in one tablet of the antacid Maalox Forte (350 mg of aluminum hydroxide per tablet). Rhone Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals, distributor of Maalox Forte, recommends the use of 1 to 3 tablets of it 4 times per day to combat stomach acidity. (Physicians' Desk Reference, 1998, p. 1850). This is 3 x 4 x 350 = four thousand two hundred (4,200) mg of aluminum hydroxide per day and this dosage is FDA approved.

From the above, one could say that one serving of ultimate contains 3.14% of the aluminum hydroxide daily oral dose accepted by the FDA.

More information on aluminum in food is the subject of Newsletter6

VIT  B12 :

Question :

We have a Gal that's pregnant with her first child. We have had other women who have had healthy children on Dr. Wallachs products, but she's fairly new as a distributor and is concerned about the high levels of Vit. B12 in the Ultimate product. Thanks for your time.

Answer :

According to the FDA (1978) : "There is no evidence in the available information (on vit B12) that demonstrates, or suggests reasonable grounds to suspect a hazard to the public when it is used at levels that are now current and in the manner now practiced, or that might reasonably be expected in the future."

The Select Committee on Generally Recognised as Safe (GRAS) Substances of the Federation of American Society for Experimental Biology has concluded that : "the addition of vitamin B12 to food in amounts far in excess of need or of absorbability appears to be without hazard."

Oral vit B12 use is frequently ignored : "Minneapolis internists' awareness and use of oral cobalamin treatment for pernicious anemia increased substantially between 1989 and 1996, but the majority of internists remained unaware of this treatment option."

(Lederle FA. Oral cobalamin for pernicious anemia: back from the verge of extinction. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1998 Sep, 46(9):1125-7.)

The usual dose to treat cobalamin deficiency is 2 mg orally on a daily basis for 120 days.

(Kuzminski AM; Del Giacco EJ; Allen RH; Stabler SP; Lindenbaum J. Effective treatment of cobalamin deficiency with oral cobalamin. Blood, 1998 Aug 15, 92(4):1191-8.)

ARSENIC :

Question 1 :

I noticed in the formula (Majestic Earth), they have traces of Arsenic - I know for a fact that Arsenic accumulates in your system and is a deadly toxin.

Answer :

Indeed arsenic can become a deadly poison. Arsenic is also essential for health. It all depends on the dose. This is valid for numerous other minerals.

The mineral content of a product can be evaluated (among others) in terms of the Recommended-daily-allowance (RDA) from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), in terms of the No-0bserved-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL), or the Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level (LOAEL) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Specifically for Arsenic (As), one serving of Majestic Earth (one fl.oz.) contains 0.15 microgram of As, equivalent to 0.23% of NOAEL.

Question 2 :

The News Gazette, came out with the following article : Testing drinking water for arsenic Public health officials are more concerned about tiny doses delivered over long period of time--arsenic is linked to cancer. Arsenic is an element found all over the planet, including under the soil of East Central Illinois in rocks like pyrite. It can be highly poisonous. Even in relatively small doses, over time it can creat health problems, including bladder and lung cancer.

Until recently, the United States considered 50 parts per billion to be a safe level for arsenic. But the nation is now adopting the international standard of 10 parts per billion. One part per billion is equal to a drop of water in a 10,000 gallon swimming pool. I was getting ready to place another order and my husband said I need to talk to someone about this. My husband said it looks like we're taking small amounts of arsenic from a stranger, possibly killing ourselves, and paying good money to do it.

Answer :

I understand your concern. Arsenic contamination is becoming a world large problem. The situation in Bangladesh is the worst scenario of it. However, don´t worry while taking one or two servings of the Majestic Earth Plant Drived Minerals per day.

Here is why : One Fl. oz. of the Plant Derived Minerals contain 0.15 microgram of Arsenic. A concentration of 0.15 microgram per Fl.oz. equals 5 micrograms per liter or 5 parts per billion (ppb). This is less (50 %) than the maximum accepted concentration for Drinking-Water-Requirement (DWR) from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Furthermore, the requirements for arsenic in drinking water have not been set for a consumption of one or two F.Oz (30 or 60 milliliter) of it per day. The requirements for arsenic in drinking water have been set for a consumption of 2 liters of it per day, 15 times more than two F.Oz.

Arsenic (As) is an essential element, essential for general growth and for the maintenance of fibrous and bone tissue. Arsenic shares with selenium the unfortunate particularity to be an essential element, beneficial at low concentration and toxic above a certain level.
Our food provides an intake of about 20-70 µg of arsenic per day. Arsenic toxicity arises for a continual intake of more than 200 µg per day (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.1989).

VIT  A :

Question :

I have read that night blindness and the yellow spots on the eyes' sclera (Bitot's spots) are symptoms of
a vitamin A deficienty. Is this true? If so, what is a good source of vitamin A (or other nutrient) to attempt
a correction.

Answer :

Yes, this is correct.

Many tabels have been compiled of the average content in food of so-called preformed vit A, i.e. retinol and its esters, and of total carotenoids.

The tabels are not particularly useful in assessing the intake of vit A and carotinoids, because the amounts may vary tremendously depending on the storage and preparation of vegetable and fruits, and on the diet of the animal.

Source: The US Department of Agriculture Database

Source: The US Department of Agriculture Database