A revolution is underway. A non-violent, quiet revolution. It has the potential to create significant changes in the way we think about our health.

Now it is about to be compromised.

European directives that regulate vitamins, minerals and herbs are already in the process of wiping out hundreds of natural health products, including those containing Echinacea, Black Cohosh, St John's Wort and flower essences.

Unnecessary restrictions have already been imposed on popular nutrients and, by 2005, you will not be allowed to buy a high-dose vitamin C to combat a cold.

The winners in this senseless exercise are multi-national corporations selling a limited range of low dose supplements across the EU that have virtually no therapeutic value.

The losers are smaller, specialist retailers and ordinary people like you and me who would like to safeguard our health and quality of life.

There is no question that modern humans now require supplementation after a century of heavy soil depletion, pollution and the adulteration of our food.

Government researchers McCance and Widowson exposed the differences in the nutritional quality of fruit and vegetables between the years 1939 and 1991.

Carrots, for instance, contain 75 per cent less magnesium, 48 per cent less calcium and 46 per cent less iron than they used to 50 years ago. Broccoli contains 75 per cent less calcium and spinach 60 per cent less iron.

You can bet your life such a loss affects you mentally and physically and that many of us are not maximising our potential. Worse still, nutrient deficiencies and nutritional imbalances may be undermining our health.

Even the journal of the American Medical Association is now telling doctors to routinely recommend vitamins and minerals to all their patients.

Intake and combination of supplements should always be based on an individual's medical history, lifestyle and environment and, if given the chance and the right ingredients, human bodies have a surprising capacity to heal.

So, what is the point of attacking the availability of safe, preventative medicine?

It seems odd that harmful anti-nutrients such as tobacco and alcohol are not subject to the same criteria.

European unification, rather than encouraging product innovation, takes us back to the Dark Ages when laws were passed without consulting public opinion and according to the whims of those in power.

In Brussels, one only has to "follow the money" to see who benefits from wiping out historically-proven remedies so their own expensive drugs can be promoted instead.

Once legislation has been passed, who is going to question donations used to buy influence or the cover-ups that will prevent us all from making informed choices?

The quiet revolution seeks a genuine reinvention of health care that respects our past heritage and insists on our future freedom of choice.

Find out how to challenge the EU directives by writing to: The Health Freedom Movement, 2 Salisbury Road, London SW19 4EZ (or visit www.healthfreedommovement.com )

Defend your right to choose and join us on the march for our liberty in London on June 15, 2003. Happy New Year.