In the first half, pharmacist Ben Fuchs shared natural health remedies and suggestions, along with vitamins and supplements that can aid our bodies in maintaining good health. He talked about the importance of Vitamin D, which could be considered more of a hormone than a vitamin. Its main role is to help the body work with calcium, which activates cells, he said. Vitamin D is good for the skin, the heart, and the immune and digestive system, yet deficiencies in it are common. "The best way to get Vitamin D by far is to make sure you're getting out in the sun" with maximum exposure, he added, but for only about 15 minutes, so that you don't burn (sunscreen will block absorption of the vitamin).
In response to a caller asking about combatting muscular dystrophy (MS) symptoms, he suggested the supplement selenium, and anti-inflammatories like MSM and Vitamin E. Focusing on gut health can also be beneficial for this and other conditions, he noted, such as by eating fermented foods and fiber. "Anything that helps with arthritis...will also help you with intestinal health," especially for those with leaky gut syndrome," he added, singling out the supplement glucosamine in particular.
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In the latter half, journalist, author, former television news reporter, and historian Ric Mixter discussed the most remarkable shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, including the Edmund Fitzgerald and the huge storms that plagued the lakes for hundreds of years. There have been 5,000 to 10,000 shipwrecks in the region, with some 25,000 lives lost since 1679, he cited. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10, 1975, is considered the most famous of the shipwrecks, with many made aware of the tragedy from the popular Gordon Lightfoot song. Mixter believes it was a giant wave that downed the Fitzgerald, leading to the loss of 29 lives. Their bodies were never recovered, adding to the mystery, but during a dive in 1994, a lone corpse was found that likely was one of the crew, he recounted.
The storm that hit the Fitzgerald is not considered to be the worst. Gales in November 1905, sank six ships, and in 1913, 260 sailors lost their lives in a weekend storm that raged for some 16 hours at 60 mph. Further, savage winds on November 11, 1940, cut a freighter in half and flipped a modern steel freighter, he detailed. Mixter, who has dived in the waters to view some of these wrecks, noted that the intensity of such storms may be due to evaporating lake water that interacts with cold arctic air from Canada. He also talked about his project documenting messages left in bottles, often from various shipwrecks.
News segment guests: John M. Curtis, Charles Coppes