Vitamin Trader - Healthy Discounts on Quality Vitamins

Midday, while the nearby volcano softly rumbles during our Sky Walk (a walk among the canopy of the rainforest on suspended bridges) William, our guide, warns not to touch any of the exotic flowers we encounter as that is where snakes hide, camouflaged so they can grab unwary victims, usually hummingbirds. Although I am quite larger than a hummingbird, the advice was heeded. Just after crossing one of the bridges each of which are named for one of the 12 poisonous and deadly Costa Rican snakes, a curious parade of leaves seemed to be marching themselves across our hiking trail. On closer look, the leaves were the cargo of leaf cutter ants, who capably carry 10 times their own weight (similar to a 200-pound adult carrying a 2,000-pound car). Their trail led to their home, a mound approximately 6 feet high; William estimated 3 million ants lived in that giant mound! From Leaf Cutter nests there can be more than one thousand trails that reach over one hundred meters⁴.

The dominant herbivores of the neotropics are Leaf Cutter ants.⁴ While eating almost 20% of the annual vegetation growth, they always stop harvesting from individual trees to allow them to recover before harvesting from them again. Hence the ants have a sustainable farming system. Foraging ants frequently travel past intact food plants close to the nest to attack others far away.⁴

In May 2006, my good fortune brought me to visit Luna Nueva, New Chapter's 200-acre organic farm in the Monteverde region that borders the Children's Rain Forest and the active Arenal volcano. This farm is a world model of organic sustainable farming in the rainforest.

Luna Nueva is a biodynamic organic farm, meaning it utilizes a form of agriculture that sustains the ecology of the forest. It considers the cycles of nature, the moon's phases, all the plants and creatures in the system, including people that live and work in and around it—in other words, the whole web of life. At the same time, a balance of profit, community, and consumer needs is met.

At Luna Nueva, you find no clear cutting or rows of crops, no tractors, no chemical fertilizers and no pesticides. Here, a gentle water buffalo assists with heavy tasks. Beneath the shade of trees and bamboo, growing in a patchwork in the natural environment, ginger and turmeric thrive.

Among Ginger's known benefits are: digestive support, antioxidant activity, reduction of inflammation, blood platelet health and cardiovascular support. Turmeric, Ginger's cousin, is known to be DNA-protective, modulates nitrous oxide, is anti-inflammatory, and has anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties. These important herbs are key ingredients in New Chapter's products, including Every Man and Every Woman Multivitamins, Estrotone, Prostate 5LX, GingerForce, TurmericForce, Zyflamend and others.

Right now the Children's Eternal Rainforest, bordering the Luna Nueva farm, urgently needs to purchase land on its borders for protection against poachers, to advance reforestation, and to create wildlife migratory corridors. "Rain forests cover less than two percent of the Earth's surface, yet they are home to some 50 to 70 percent of all life forms on our planet. The rain forests are quite simply, the richest, oldest, most productive and most complex ecosystems on Earth"¹ producing the oxygen that sustains life. New Chapter is working with retailers across the country to increase protection of these precious resources. Please see the ad in this newsletter to find out how you can help and how you can win a trip to visit Luna Nueva.

Leaf Cutter Ants and New Chapter's farm, both are excellent examples of sustainable farming. New Chapter's farm is an example for the world. Out of their desire to provide cultured natural organic food nutrients that our bodies need, they have raised the bar on multivitamins by being the first company to provide organics.

Suggested Reading:

"The Life Bridge: The Way to Longevity with Probiotic Nutrients," "Beyond Aspirin" by Shulick & Newmark, "Ginger" by Shulick, all available from The Vitamin Trader.