As in most things nutritional, the books on the subject today are hopelessly boring or completely devoid of any understanding of true beneficial health information. One has to go back to books written prior to World War Two for a more correct portrayal of the developments leading to an increased awareness of human health and nutrition. It was in 1939 that synthetic vitamins appeared on the scene, and this changed everything. Studies on human nutritional science, from 1939 onward, were performed using chemicals from the laboratory rather than from whole foods or whole food concentrates.
For instance, even Vitamin C, thought to be ascorbic acid, no longer had the healing effect on scurvy that lemon and lime juice originally had. The reason is simple. Ascorbic acid is not vitamin C, regardless of what the FDA says. Lime juice will heal scurvy quickly, ascorbic acid will not, unless you are a hamster, which is the animal the early tests were performed upon. Of all the mammals on the planet, hamsters are the only creatures in which ascorbic acid will heal scurvy, which scurvy, has always been known to be a serious vitamin C deficiency.
As with ascorbic acid, many other vitamins that were used therapeutically, have disappeared from the medical scene because they were replaced with synthetic chemicals that have only a shadow of the real thing, and as such cannot heal anything, in fact, they can lead to serious complications and side effects.
Quite often in today's health news references abound as to how ascorbic acid can cause hardening of the arteries, vitamin A can lead to birth defects, and vitamin E can cause heart damage. These studies were all performed with synthetic chemical fractions of the real thing, made in laboratories, mostly in China.
Not what does this have to do with race horses? Just as you need to get your vitamins from whole foods and not from the health food store, you need to get proper minerals from the same source, which brings me to calcium, the only mineral required by the human body that actually has a gland to regulate its level in the body. We have all heard of the parathyroid gland, but most of us know very little about it.
Many minerals are required by the human body to properly function, but calcium is king. It is required by the heart, the nerves, the muscles, the skin, the nails, the teeth, the bones, etc. No wonder it has a gland to watch over it.
Calcium is balanced in the body by phosphorus. Any book on health prior to 1950, is very clear on the subject. If these two minerals get out of balance you will have problems with your teeth, your kidneys, your heart, your bones, etc.. Calcium helps us to relax. Calcium deficiency allows phosphorus levels to rise and we get jittery, as phosphorus is essential to energy levels.
Now here's the rub. Soils in Wisconsin are high in calcium and low in phosphorus. Soils in Kentucky are high in phosphorus and low in calcium. Wisconsin cattle are big, easy going, relaxed, and produce a lot of milk. They eat grass continually. Lots of potassium and calcium.
Kentucky soil is loaded with phosphorus and low in calcium, where breeders do not raise contented cattle but nervous, jumpy race horses. They are loaded with energy from the phosphorus. They are nervous and cannot relax. If the horses were brought to Wisconsin to feed on the grass they would calm down and relax. They would not be much of a race horse at all. They would be left at the starting gate looking for more of that calcium rich grass.
So the calcium phosphorus balance in animals is the same as in humans. If you are nervous and jumpy, cannot sleep, upset with the least disturbance, you need calcium. I recommend calcium lactate, by the way. It is the form of calcium in vegetables. It has nothing to do with milk. Don't let the name fool you.
If you are fatigued all the time, with no energy, and worn out even when you awaken, then you need some phosphorus. I recommend Phosfood liquid. It is also great for kidney stones.
So why do we raise race horses in Kentucky? Ever heard of the Wisconsin Derby? Neither have I.
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