Nexus - 0302 - New Times Magazine-pages

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PARADOX NO. 2 thought for scientists. "Science," says Masquelier, "is perpetually perfecting itself, and that is what makes it interesting." We will certainly hear more about the French Paradox, if only because the French take much pride in their national culture, their wine and their health statistics. Each time we will find that it is OPC, be it in the form of one of Masquelier's extracts or in the form of red wine, that protects its users while ‘killing’ the Paradox. oo About the Author: Bert Schwitters was born in Holland in 1945. He started his journalistic career producing and directing docu- mentary programs for Dutch television. He is the author of several non-fiction books, dealing with subjects such as that, in terms of cancer, we could well /!nterpol, psychiatry and human health. speak of a second French Paradox: would | Since 1980, Bert Schwitters has the group of French people who consume focused attention on health, particular- alcohol in the form of red wine show a_ |/y ‘orthomolecular' nutrition. Through lower mortality rate from cancer than oth- his work he bi er othe pel ok Rey ers? I'm not familiar with the figures, but I AOE eer eae clase) ie Muar sae le ; : : physical health. Due to these contacts, think it would make an interesting topic of and as a consequence of his investiga- Professor Jack Masquelier study." tions of several different medical, philosophic, social and religious theo- EXIT FRENCH PARADOX ries, he has become an independent What still remains paradoxical in the | supporter of alternative ways to health. French Paradox may be interesting food for “Research has already shown that if one or two grams of vitamin C is administered every 24 hours to cancer patients in the final stages of the disease, this will delay death. This has been shown by Linus Pauling and his successors in hundreds of cancer patients, and it has been verified in double-blind studies. The administration of large amounts of vitamin C has already been proven. Because OPC is vitamin C's co-factor and is responsible for a better activity of this vitamin in our organs, it seems perfectly coherent to me that we should not delay the making of OPC into one of the weapons in the fight against this terrible disease. "I would also like to add that, in France, a team has been set up to investigate the relationship between wine and cancer. The study was initiated by the University in Aix-en-Provence, I was asked to partici- pate because they know my work and believe I can lend insight in that area. They are studying the relationship between wine and cancer, and they suspect that the consumption of wine, which is rich in OPC, can play a protective role against cancer in a large section of the population. “The French Paradox has been limited to the realm of vascular diseases. But I think 30 ¢ NEXUS FEBRUARY-MARCH 1996