Dear all:

I would like to point out the fact that rickets, the severe form of vitamin D deficiency, existed long before vitamin companies entered the marketplace.  Rickets has always been a problem of lack of sufficient sunlight and the risks of developing rickets emerged when we moved away from the equator.  Breast milk wasn't designed to provide high levels of vitamin D to infants because they were supposed to convert it from the sun.  

Before we have the massively bizarre worldwide experiment with artificial feeding, it was well known that cods liver oil helped to prevent rickets and young children were routinely dosed with it.

The emergence of rickets is not some conspiracy of the vitamin industry.  In fact, it was PARENTS who approached the CDC about this problem because they felt betrayed that they were not warned that they could have completely prevented rickets in their infants. 

This does not negate the fact that vitamin companies might attempt to capitalize on these findings with marketing tactics that are deceptive or try to influence the research towards higher levels than are necessary.  Since government funding for research had dropped dramatically in the United States, there is a far smaller pool of money for independent research.

Sincerely,

Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome