For more than 30 years I have been helping people regain and maintain their health and well-being. I have done this by helping them adopt lifestyle changes, including proper diet and regular exercise, and prescribing nutritional supplements that target specific health concerns.
Unfortunately, most conventional physicians don’t always see the benefits of these therapies. And while many agree with my diet and exercise recommendations, few think that nutritional supplements are necessary for good health—let alone to treat disease. Nevertheless, I’m convinced that these natural agents work so well that if they were drugs, your conventional doctor wouldn’t hesitate to prescribe them. Here are a couple of examples.
Alpha Lipoic Acid for Diabetic Neuropathy
Neuropathy, caused by nerve damage and associated with pain, loss of sensation, impaired wound healing, and dramatically increased risk of amputation, is a very common complication of diabetes. Conventional doctors don’t have much to offer patients suffering with neuropathy besides painkillers—but Mother Nature does.
Alpha lipoic acid is a powerful and versatile antioxidant that also helps alleviate pain, burning, numbness, and other symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. In a clinical trial conducted in Germany, patients with type 2 diabetes who had been diagnosed with symptomatic neuropathy were divided into two groups and given either 600 mg of lipoic acid or a placebo three times a day. After three weeks the patients taking lipoic acid reported a two-fold greater reduction in pain as those in the placebo group. Lipoic acid should be a mainstay in a nutritional supplement program for anyone with diabetes. The recommended dose is 600-1,800 mg per day.
Magnesium for leg cramps
Have you ever been awakened by a Charley horse? The best way to relieve these intense, painful muscle spasms (officially called nocturnal leg cramps) is to flex your foot, grab your toes, and pull them towards your knee. Your conventional doctor may recommend quinine to prevent these cramps, but I recommend something equally effective and much safer: magnesium citrate.
This exceptionally bioavailable form of magnesium has been shown to reduce the incidence of nocturnal leg cramps in older people and in pregnant women, two groups that are especially susceptible to them. This natural therapy also has a multitude of additional benefits. Magnesium helps optimize blood flow, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, bone formation, and other important biological functions.
At Whitaker Wellness, we get great results with Magna-Calm, a powdered form of magnesium citrate that dissolves in water. Take one scoop (420 mg magnesium) 30 minutes before bedtime. (Be aware that excessive magnesium intake may cause loose stools.)
