Below is an excerpt from Part One of

The 2004 Multi-Diet

by Anderson A. Anonymous, M.D., Ph.D.

Calcium and Magnesium

The RDI of calcium is 1000-mg and the RDI of magnesium is 400-mg. Calcium and magnesium supplement tablets are easily available (even in supermarkets). Supplement manufacturers often combine these two minerals into tablets such that two or three tablets contain the RDI of both calcium and magnesium.

The Multi-Diet rule-of-thumb is to take one-half to three-quarters of the RDI of each of these minerals in supplement form. Together with the amounts in the food you eat, supplements in this "rule-of-thumb" range will probably give you slightly more than the RDI on some days and slightly less on others. But in these two cases somewhat higher supplement amounts are probably not dangerous because the body has a considerable ability to manage these minerals by simply absorbing more or less depending on its need.

Official dietary surveys often find that even in ordinary (non-dieting) life most people aren't getting enough of either calcium or magnesium. Of course, using our Multi-Diet terminology, this means that their Beasts are awake too often making them eat too much to try to get more. (For more information and technique, see the sections on CALCIUM on page 229 and MAGNESIUM on page 233 in Part Two.) 

Phosphorus

The RDI of phosphorus is 1000-mg. Phosphorus supplements are available but may be more difficult to find than other macromineral supplements. Carlson Labs makes the brand that I am aware of and I'm sure there are others available. Your local healthfood store can order them if they don't stock them. Most of the foods you eat on the Multi-Diet will have large amounts of phosphorus, so it's very unlikely that you will need to take more than one-half (500-mg) of the RDI daily in supplement form. For more on this, see the section on PHOSPHORUS on page 235 in Part Two.

Sulfur

In most nutrition texts it is generally assumed that if you are eating enough protein you will automatically get enough sulfur. This is because several of the amino acids in protein (specifically cystine, cysteine, methionine) contain sulfur in large amounts. My evil-cyborg editors:) won't give me the time to drill down into the scientific literature to check the experiments or other reasoning behind this adequacy assumption, so we in turn will assume it is correct. On the Multi-Diet, please make sure you eat the recommended amount of high quality protein. (Protein, of course, is critical to successful Multi-Dieting in it's own right. We discuss it in THE PROTEIN FACTOR below and much more extensively in MORE ON... PROTEIN on page 177 in Part Two.) 

Macromineral Management

It is important to remember that conscious management of macromineral intake is not optional when you are dieting! It is critically important! In the past, "motivated" but ignorant dieters have caused themselves serious physical harm through failure to pay attention to making sure they got enough of these critical minerals. This was particularly serious with the infamous "Liquid Protein" diet back in the early '70s on which about 60 otherwise healthy people died. On the Multi-Diet, you ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen by consciously managing both macrominerals and the other vital factors.

Remember that when you restrict food in order to restrict calories, you are also---by definition---restricting all the other nutrients in food besides calories. When you inadvertently restrict the nutrients you still need along with the calories you obviously don't need, dieting becomes miserable, ineffective, and sometimes dangerous. Using Multi-Diet techniques to make sure you get what you need is the way you prevent this.

A Note on Supplements

As you have probably noticed, the general position of The Multi-Diet on supplements is that---when dieting---if you don't take supplements you may get enough of the vitamins and minerals. If you do take supplements, you will get enough of the vitamins and minerals. So "weigh a doubt against a certainty" and take supplements when you are dieting.

Of course if there are still any undiscovered essential vitamins or minerals, their RDIs are unknown and there are no supplements for them. But that is no reason for failing to control those that you can control. And since you will be eating a lot of vegetables and other "healthy" food on the Multi-Diet, you're likely to be OK even on the "undiscovereds".:) (See especially THE QUANTITY SENSATION below.)

Rule-Of-Thumb for the Vitamin/Mineral Factor

Plan to take a broad-formula multi-vitamin/mineral supplement daily. Additionally take about 50% to 75% of the RDI of each macromineral except potassium as a supplement. For potassium the safest rule-of-thumb amount is to take about one-quarter to one-third of the RDI in supplement form.

If you would like to find out more now on macromineral supplementation technique please turn to MORE ON... VITAMINS & MINERALS on page 220 in Part Two and return here when you are done. Otherwise just continue in this chapter.

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The Mark of The Beast!

If you walk into a supermarket and find that those pretzels or those potato chips or those corn chips just seem so-o-o-o tempting... your Beast is on the prowl! You need to figure out what it's looking for. In this case, your main suspect should be SALT (sodium). Instead of eating the chips, try dissolving a bouillon cube (has about 1000 mg sodium) in a cup of hot water and drinking it. If this was the problem, your interest in chips, etc. should disappear in about 20 minutes. The Beast has gone back to its lair. Your diet is safe for a few hours.:)

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