Books like Primal Panacea

I wasn't sure if I should buy this new book of Dr Levy's as I had only read his book Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins fairly recently. But I am so glad I did.This book is not just an updated edition of this previous book, but a new book on vitamin C by this author in its own right. It is easily the best book on vitamin C there is, bar none.Vitamin C is a genuine exception to the 'too good to be true' rule. A panacea is a wide-ranging cure-all. Vitamin C is the way nature designed us to deal with stress and disease, as can be seen when we look at animals that still produce their own vitamin C in their livers. Vitamin C helps diseases of all varieties as well as all oxidative stress. Due to a genetic error of metabolism the vast majority of us no longer produce this panacea in our livers, and this makes us far more vulnerable to many different chronic and acute diseases and infections than we would otherwise be.Dr Levy talks about his early days with vitamin C treatment, when he was very surprised to see how well it worked but wasn't sure why, and also explains in detail what he has now learned about HOW it works. It is fascinating stuff and quite exciting.The whole book is wonderfully simplified and easy to read - without ever being remotely condescending. The first half of the book (135 or so pages) makes the main points in a simple but compelling way and uses lots of bullet pointed lists and summaries of what was just said. The complexity is there in the second half of the book if you want to read more deeply about any of the main topics too. The book is very cleverly put together to suit just about any reader.This book busts the following myths:1. There are no studies on vitamin C2. There is no proof that vitamin C works3. Vitamin C is not safe4. Vitamin C causes kidney stones5. Our need for vitamin C is met by diet6. Vitamin C just makes expensive urine7. If vitamin C really worked we would all be using itWhat also makes this book superior to many other excellent books on vitamin C is that it is the only one, aside form Levy's previous book, which discusses liposomal vitamin C. Liposomal vitamin C gives a clinical response similar to vitamin C given by IV, or even superior to it in some cases - and it is vastly more affordable and accessible. Vitamin C books which do not advise on liposomal vitamin C just cannot be considered complete. Dr Levy writes:"Comparing the bioavailability of all other oral vitamin C delivery with your oral liposomal delivery is like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose. Not only am I convinced that the efficacy of Lypo-Spheric(tm) Vitamin C far surpasses any traditional oral vitamin C supplement, but my recent personal experience with it suggests that it may sometimes be better than IV injection."Further C reading of classics such as Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C The Clinical Experiences of Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C by Dr. Hickey and Dr. Roberts, The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease by Irwin Stone, VITAMIN C, TITRATING TO BOWEL TOLERANCE, ANASCORBEMIA, AND ACUTE INDUCED SCURVY Robert F. Cathcart, III, M.D., The Ascorbate Effect in Infectious and Autoimmune Diseases by Robert F. Cathcart, M.D., and VITAMIN C: The Real Story by Steve Hickey, PhD and Andrew Saul, plus books and articles by Linus Pauling, is also highly beneficial though, if at all possible - especially if you have a serious disease or are medically treating very serious disease with high dose vitamin C. Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins is also very good. It contains many more case studies than this book.Dr Levy explains that 6 grams of vitamin C daily in divided doses (or 2 grams of liposomal vitamin C) is a good starting point for a healthy adult but that as we each have different needs for vitamin C which change over time, ideally we should each start by working out our bowel tolerance dose of vitamin C using sodium ascorbate power. (Liposomal vitamin C doesn't cause loose stools, as almost all of it is absorbed by the body. So this form of vitamin C is not helpful in determining the bowel tolerance dose of vitamin C; the dose our body needs at any one time.)Dr Levy recommends working out your bowel tolerance dose monthly or even weekly (if you are very ill or your illness is unstable). He also recommends paying close attention to how you feel and letting this be a guide to how appropriate your current dosage is. If you feel good at a certain dosage of vitamin C, then you raise it a little more and find no increased benefit, then you are probably taking as much as your body can use. When you have worked out your necessary dosage, you can take it as sodium ascorbate or liposomal vitamin C or a combination of the two. 1 gram of liposomal C = 3-4 grams of sodium ascorbate powder, 2 grams = 9-10 grams of power, 3 grams = 12-18 grams of power, says Levy.(A brief aside: It is only briefly mentioned in the book, but if you are long-term ill and easily made ill by lots of different supplements, it is so so important to start taking extra vitamin C very slowly. If you don't you will likely be hit with a pretty huge and unpleasant and disabling detox reaction or healing reaction. I had a series of 25 gram C IVs years ago and was made so ill by it I had to stop treatment and I was also floored for days by even having a teaspoon of vitamin C (5g) in water one day, a few years later. Incredibly ill. But by taking my dose up slowly as a rate of just a gram extra a week at first, I suffered no ill effects at all and have now worked up to taking over 30 grams a day, plus 4 or more liposomal C sachets, a sachet of liposomal GSH, and feeling absolutely wonderful whenever I have 50 gram vitamin C IVs! If you are a sensitive type due to your illness, go slow! Do start though, and don't mistake a healing reaction for an intolerance to vitamin C. A healing reaction means it is doing what it is supposed to, just a bit too fast.)What Levy is discussing here is not just any old vitamin C dosage. Dosages must be appropriate to how much stress you are under and given regularly and for a long enough duration. The more stress your body is under, the more it will need. 6 grams daily is an absolute minimum effective dose and many of us need far more. Dosages as high as 200 - 300 grams may be necessary for a period of time when used to fight acute infections or toxic exposures.Dr Levy says in the book that the amount of water needed to but out a blaze, depends on the size of the fire - and so it is with vitamin C. The dose is everything with vitamin C. Taking small amounts just will not have the same effect as taking the appropriate dose.Properly dosed vitamin C is essential. But Dr Levy also explains that taking broad spectrum antioxidants with it is a very good idea, as they all work together in a synergistic way. Liposomal GSH is particularly important. A basic supplement regime focusing on the major vitamins and minerals (A, Bs, D, E, magnesium, etc.) is also important long-term and will help ensure you get the most from your vitamin C regime etc. Toxic exposures must also be reduced as much as possible. For those serious about improving their health extra detoxification methods such as the use of FIR saunas are also essential, Dr Levy explained in a recent video.Some conditions can be cured with high dose vitamin C, if enough is given, early enough. This includes polio and glandular fever/mono and hepatitis. Others can be put into a stable state by high dose vitamin C - such as AIDS. Vitamin C can also prevent many diseases. At the very least, high dose vitamin C will improve symptoms and quality of life. High blood levels of vitamin C reduces mortality form ALL causes. Vitamin C is man's primary defence against toxins, pathogens and oxidative stress.Treating the causes of disease is so much more effective than just blindly drugging symptoms. The real causes of disease are pathogens, toxins (both of which cause massive oxidative stress) and nutrient deficiencies.The claims in the book are supported by more than 1000 published peer reviewed studies.The research on vitamin C is convincing and like anyone that has tried high dose vitamin C at at least a bowel tolerance level, I have also seen it make a noticeable difference in my own life and the lives of those of my friends that have tried it. We are brainwashed to always be excited about and focused on the newest and sexiest and most exotic new drugs and other treatments, but in reality it is the boring unsexy stuff like making sure you have enough of all the major vitamins and minerals it needs which really gets the big results!The book brilliantly and clearly describes the political barriers to high dose vitamin C becoming more commonly used. High dose vitamin C doesn't fit the current lucrative 'treat but don't cure' model of medicine, so patients must push for it. The fight has to start with us.As Dr Levy eloquently explains, government and the traditional medicine industry are looking for cures about as diligently as crack dealers are searching for a non-addictive form of cocaine! The commonly help belief that drug companies and governments are focused on trying to cure all sorts of diseases is called into question by this book, and rightly so. This book talks about the massive conflict of interests at work in medicine and research, and provides some absolutely shocking facts and figures.We need to push for high dose vitamin C to become more commonly accepted and also just for it to stay LEGAL! This book is an excellent weapon in this fight and a great book to give to your doctor, and anyone else you think may read it.If you are ill you NEED to read this book, or one like it, and to start getting your levels of vitamin C optimised. It can't help but help, no matter what diagnosis you have or even if you don't yet have a correct diagnosis. It is inexpensive to try too with ascorbic acid costing just 3 cents a gram and not at all risky either, or difficult. Vitamin C is one of the safest substances to take there is.Reading Primal Panacea (for the vitamin C information), plus Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life (for information on what to eat and how to work out a basic supplement regime) plus Detoxify or Die (for information on how to test for and treat nutritional deficiencies and detoxification problems, and how to safely start a more intensive detoxification program using FIR saunas) is about the best start you could get in treating any disease. These books are like gold if you are ill, in my opinion. There are dozen of oyher good bokks, but these 3 books cover all the basics so well and they don't cost very much either.BTW I'm writing all this as someone that has read as much information on vitamin C, health and nutrition as I can and that is very slowly improving month by month from a very severe neurological disease - thanks in part to the work of Dr Levy, Dr Rogers, and others like them - that has left me housebound and almost entirely bedbound for many years. Since I was just 19. I wish so much I had had this information early on in my disease, rather than coming to it more than 10 years in. Healing is so much easier the earlier you start it.Best wishes for future health to anyone still reading this far! I'm sorry this is so long. The last word is for the brilliant Dr Levy, who summarises his book with the following quote:"Man's body was designed to function best with high blood and cellular levels of vitamin C - synthesised as needed by the liver. Due to an inborn error of metabolism, the vast majority of us no longer have the ability to make it, but that does not lessen our need for vitamin C or the benefits derived form it."Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (HFME)