Category Archives: Vitamins

Five Steps to Choosing a Great Vitamin

Choosing a Great VitaminHave you ever waltzed into your friendly neighborhood Nutrition Store or frantically surfed the worldwide web searching for that elusive miracle pill, deluding yourself into believing that maybe, just maybe, it would somehow magically transform your so-called body into the next Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie? Or perhaps you want pecks like Arnold. Or the energy to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Or heck, maybe you’d simply settle for enough energy to pry your sleepy little self out of that comfy bed as your annoying alarm clock goes berserk Monday morning, like a runaway freight train on steroids. If so, then you’ve probably encountered a severe mega-dose of chronic overwhelm. Yikes! We are continually bombarded with a never-ending avalanche of pills and potions. Plus, you’d almost need the bank account of Bill Gates or Donald Trump to afford the buffed-up body you’d “really” like to have. Meanwhile, Madison Avenue persistently insists that you won’t be able to live with yourself until you finally succumb to today’s latest nutritional fad.

So what’s the solution?

If you’ve read this far, you are probably convinced that supplementing your diet with vitamins is critically important. You probably already know how depleted our topsoil is. Chances are, you’re also cognoscente of the highly processed state of the foodless foods we consume on a regular basis. Taber’s Medical Dictionary concludes that vitamins are indispensable for the maintenance of good health. Likewise, The Journal of American Medical Association concluded that everyone should take a multi-vitamin everyday.

So it’s not a question of whether or not we should take vitamins. Rather, the question we ought to be asking is, “With so many brands of vitamins on the market, which one is the smartest choice?”

Great question.

However, before we can even begin to answer that question, we have to answer a series of other sub-questions, such as:

1. Are cheap, synthetic vitamins just as good as all-natural vitamins?

2. Which vitamins and minerals do my body need?

3. What dosage should I take?

Choosing a Great Vitamin

Let’s narrow the playing field by addressing those questions one at a time.

Are cheap, synthetic vitamins just as good as all-natural vitamins?

First, let’s compare synthetic vitamins with all-natural vitamins. I just completed an article entitled “Vitamin Wars: Natural VS Synthetic.” Putting everything into a nutshell, synthetic vitamins simply cannot measure up to nature’s finest. Over 3,800 different compounds have been identified in foods as having nutritional significance. However, in a laboratory, twenty nutrients are about all that modern science can reproduce and put into a vitamin product.

But even more of a concern than the ineffectiveness of these synthetic vitamins is the harm that they can cause. One of many examples is a recent study on Vitamin C as synthetic ascorbic acid. It was found to thicken the walls of the arteries.

On the other hand, all-natural vitamins made from whole-food sources have many positive benefits that synthetic vitamins just can’t duplicate in a lab. Whole-food vitamins derive their nutrients directly from fruits and vegetables. Unlike synthetic vitamins, whole-food vitamins do not rob precious nutrients from the body. Rather, they supply the individual cells with the nutrients they need to flourish. For greatest gains in terms of health, take only whole food vitamins. When evaluating a vitamin supplement, simply read the label. Rather than multi-syllable, unpronounceable chemical names, you should find the names of foods listed as the vitamin sources. What a concept! This is your way of knowing that you are getting the best possible absorption and retention of your vitamins.

Which vitamins and minerals do my body need?

The short answer is, there are many benefits to all vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin A is important for our vision, while preventing cancer and promoting wellness of bones, eyes, hair, mucous linings, membranes, nails, skin and teeth.

Vitamin B2 promotes healthy skin, nails, and hair.

Vitamin C extends life by enabling protein cells to hold together.

And we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.

Minerals are critical

Minerals are also critical to maintaining good health. Approximately 75% of the people living in the Western World are not ingesting the right amount of Magnesium, approximately 68% are not ingesting enough Calcium, approximately 58% are not ingesting enough Iron, and approximately 40% are not ingesting enough Zinc.

Make sure your minerals are chelated – here’s why:

Most minerals found in synthetic supplements are cheap and not what we would recommend for the body. They are not chelated minerals and therefore it is extremely difficult for the body to absorb and utilize these minerals after ingesting them. Many times they cause problems with the digestive tract and other systems of the body.

What you might not know is that a chelated mineral acts differently within the body. A chelated mineral is a mineral that is bonded with amino acids or malates naturally found within the food in a stable form. Since 95% of amino acids are absorbed through the intestinal tract, it makes it very easy for high quality chelated minerals to be absorbed and utilized by the body.

Don’t forget to take your Probiotics!

You may be asking, “Probi – what – ics”?

The term “probiotics” simply means “pro life.” Their role in maintaining good health is tremendous. In the scientific community, they are known as “friendly bacteria.” Probiotics aid the digestive system and strengthen the immune system. Bottom line, probiotics have such a wide range of positive roles that nearly everybody could improve their health by supplementing their diet with probiotics.
The importance of Enzymes

Like probiotics, enzymes also aid digestion. Proper digestion of food should be your body’s top priority. Why? Because all other bodily functions, including the immune system, energy production and even brain functions, are all put on pause until the body digests its food. When digestion is functioning properly, food is broken down and nutrients are made available by the body itself for repair, metabolism, and healing without undue stress. Many negative factors wreck havoc on our digestive systems: the way our foods are grown and processed, toxins in the environment – even undue stress and anger. As a result, up to 70 million Americans experience a whole range of digestive disorders such as bloating, gas, and stomach cramps.

What dosage should I take?

Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

RDA’s are based on scientific research and are set at levels to provide for 98% of all healthy persons living in the US. There is a cushion built in so that if you get 67% of the RDA for a nutrient, you should be getting a minimum amount as an average person. Remember that the RDA’s are based on preventing deficiency symptoms specific to each vitamin and mineral. So when choosing a multi-vitamin, check to see if a daily serving contains 100% of the RDA, providing, of course, that a daily value has been established.

So in summary, there are five Steps to Choosing a Great Vitamin:

1. Choose a multi-vitamin made from the highest grade of Whole-Food sources. Do NOT choose a multi-vitamin that contains a concoction of synthetic ingredients that you can’t even pronounce.

2. Choose minerals that are chelated.

3. Choose a multi-vitamin containing Probiotics.

4. Choose a multi-vitamin containing Enzymes derived from vegetables.

5. Choose a multi-vitamin containing 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowances whenever established.

Keeping the above criteria in mind dramatically narrows the playing field.

It’s also a good idea to select a product that gives you a money-back guarantee. Quality multi-vitamins are not as cheap as synthetics, but they are affordable.

I hope this information has educated you and will help you make smart choices. Remember – you only get one body in this life. Treat it well and stay healthy.

Daily Intake Vitamin – Are Daily Vitamins Really Absorbed?

Are Daily Vitamins Really AbsorbedA good daily intake vitamin crucial issue is related to how absorbable the vitamin supplement really is. The majority of daily vitamin and mineral supplements dissolve in the stomach, and that’s a problem. So what’s the problem?

When you swallow a tablet, capsule, or take a supplement liquid, what happens is the active ingredients are released in the stomach. Stomach acids attack the ingredients and break them into smaller particles. Depending upon the ingredient, most of it is destroyed by the acids. And poor quality tablets made with cheap binders can pass through both the stomach and the intestine and out of the body with little or no absorption.

Are Daily Vitamins Really Absorbed

The ‘delivery system’ that provides the best daily intake vitamin absorption uses a process called “enteric coating”. This delivery system is state of the art and is usually only found with advanced pharmaceutical products. This coating which is made up of pH sensitive polymers attaches to the tablets and remains intact in the acidic environment of the stomach. Once it passes through the stomach, the coating disintegrates in the small intestine where the highest percentage of ingredients can then be absorbed.

In an ideal world, recommended daily intake vitamin and nutrient requirements would be supplied from your diet. However, many people make poor food choices every day. Junk food, processed food, sodas and sweets are the basis for the diet of millions. Even with a well-balanced diet, studies have found the nutrient values of foods have been declining for decades because of soil depletion.

Choosing one of the high-quality, broad-spectrum daily intake vitamin supplements helps fill the ‘nutritional gaps’ that everyone has. Daily vitamin essential nutrients that the body requires are extensive and are much more than just vitamins. When considering which daily intake vitamin to take, remember that the least costly ingredients in a daily vitamin are the vitamins and minerals. Your body also needs a wide array of anti-aging natural substances proven to provide specific health benefits.

High quality daily intake vitamins should include nutrients such as amino acids, antioxidants, bioflavanoids, neuronutrients, certain herbal extracts, enzymes and specialized substances such as L-Carnosine, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl L-Carnitine and so on. Nutrients such as these have been proven by clinical studies to provide important anti-aging benefits. And these nutrients have to be in the correct proportions to each other based on the latest research.

Finding highly absorbable daily intake vitamins can be difficult but there is a quality manufacturer that incorporates enteric coating in their vitamin supplements. Read more and understand the significance of the term ‘bio-availability’ as it applies when vitamins, minerals and nutrients are being taken every day. After all, it’s your health and wellness that’s at stake.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

The Effect of Zinc on Acne

There are many different vitamins with which a vitamin deficiency of them can lead to acne The Effect of Zinc on Acneproblems. One such vitamin is Zinc. Zinc is one of the most important vitamins when attempting to fight and prevent acne due to its many uses and how important it is to the body and the skin. A vitamin deficiency in Zinc alone can cause acne breakouts and therefore maintaining healthy amounts of Zinc in one’s everyday diet is very important for those looking to either combat their current acne problem or to help prevent a future one.

The Effect of Zinc on Acne

Zinc acts as an antioxidant and this is one primary reason why it is so helpful against acne. Antioxidants help to clear the body of toxins and free radicals. These can cause various problems in different areas of the body, and in the skin these can lead to pimples and acne breakouts. Keeping the skin, the largest organ in the body, clear is only too important. Zinc helps to keep the skin clear and healthy and prevent the build-up of these toxins and free radicals, therefore being proactive and helping to prevent acne breakouts altogether.

Zinc is also proactive in the way that it regulates the oil glands. Although what exactly causes pimples is not known, it is known that the sebum excreted from the oil glands plays a big part in the formation of the pimples. Proper oil regulation can lead to fewer and smaller pimples and helps to prevent them from spreading once they do occur. The advantage here is clear and shows why Zinc can help to stop acne before it starts.

Once acne has occurred, Zinc is extremely important due to it being involved in healing tissue and preventing scarring. Those nasty acne scars that result from acne can be healed and prevented when proper amounts of Zinc are present in the body. Acne causes numerous problems and damages the skin in many ways and Zinc helps to heal this damage and keep the scarring to a minimal level.

Zinc also promotes a healthy immune system and helps in the healing of wounds, to top it off. A healthy immune system also lends a hand to preventing acne and Zinc helps to maintain that healthy immune system in a variety of ways. This is just icing on the cake for those who decide to take Zinc to help with their acne since taking Zinc will also make their immune systems that much healthier and perform that much better.

As is readily seen, the advantages of Zinc in the body, both in how it is necessary to fight and prevent acne and due to it being active in maintaining a healthy immune system, are numerous. A Zinc deficiency can be a leading cause of acne and therefore it is necessary for anyone looking to prevent future acne breakouts to look to consume healthy amounts of Zinc each and every day.

What is a good source of Zinc? Here is a vitamin that has 22.5 mg. of Zinc – 150% of the Daily Recommendation. Click here for details. 

Your Diet… Is It Putting Your Health At Risk?

If you are dieting, ill, or eating a fast-food diet, you should you be concerned that you and your family are getting proper nutrition from your food.

is your diet putting your health at riskAre you feeling tired, stressed, or apathetic? Did you know these are all common signs of a diet lacking nutritional value? If you are dieting, ill, or eating a fast-food diet, you should you be concerned that you and your family are getting proper nutrition from your food.

– How can you know that you are getting enough nutrition?

Is your diet putting your health at risk

If you find that a day goes by and the only thing you’ve had to eat is a bagel and coffee or maybe some fast-food you will no doubt be feeling the physical effects of a lack of nutrition. Lack of mental clarity, weakness and irritability are all signs you haven’t given your body enough good food to eat.

On the other hand, if you or your children indulge in high calorie diets on a regular basis you will notice the effects of over nutrition. Weight gain and related symptoms will also zap your energy and put a strain on your body.

– Under and over nutrition. Finding balance.

Your diet is a crucial element to feeling good, strong and alert. If you’ve been suffering from a diet lacking in nutrition, or an over indulgence in nutrition, you’ll certainly be feeling the effects on your overall health – and even worse – you may be setting yourself up for more serious disease.

You obviously need calories for energy. It is vital to obtain the necessary amount of calories every day to maintain your optimum health. Individuals who do not take in the proper amount of calories because of ill health, physical disability, dieting or problems with absorption, usually begin to loose weight, lack concentration and as time passes they begin to loose the function of organs such as the reproductive system and eventually major functions of the heart and lungs.

A diet too high in calories will also put your health at risk. More common than under nutrition in developed countries like the United States, obesity puts a strain on the organs and increases the risk for health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

Knowing what a typical serving size of food is can help you determine if you (or a family member) are taking in the appropriate amount of calories. It is important for parents to teach children moderate eating habits to ensure good eating for life. I cannot stress this point enough!

– How nutritious is your food?

Aside from merely watching caloric intake it is important that your diet has strong nutritional value as well. You could eat an entire box of doughnuts to meet your calorie needs without having met your daily requirements for vitamins, protein, calcium and other minerals.

Choosing a diet that lacks nutrition on a regular basis will lead to a lowered resistance to illness, general weakness, and irritability. Other diet deficiencies, such as a lack of calcium, can lead to more serious disorders like osteoporosis.

While pregnant and/or lactating women, the elderly and ill individuals may have no choice but to to supplement their diet with multi vitamins, the average healthy person should attempt to get most of the nutrition they need in a normal diet that includes fruit, vegetables, protein (meat and lentils), dairy and fibre bread and cereals).

– So what about the occasional burger?

Fast-food in the diet is not harmful if it is only an occasional treat, but may show its negative effects if consumed as a major part of the diet. Educating yourself and your family on what a healthy diet is will help you and your family feel great and enjoy good health for years to come.

For a weight loss program that has been working for me, check out my story: http://bit.ly/1rLhW2c

Dr. Steve Chaney, Alzheimers, Dementia and B Vitamins

Dr. Steve Chaney

B Vitamins, Dementia & Alzheimers

Dr. Chaney is an active cancer researcher and Professor of Bio-Chemistry and Nutrition at UNC Medical Schoool.

“As we age there is perhaps nothing more frightening than the thought of losing our mind.

We can cope with lots of physical infirmities, but it is our memories and our cognition that make us who we are.

So what can we do to keep our mind in tip top shape as we age?

I’m going to start by talking about the importance of one B vitamin, folic acid, in maintaining our mental acuity as we age.

But, good health is seldom determined by one nutrient alone, so I’m going to end this discussion by
describing a holistic approach for reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Two recent articles have emphasized the importance of folic acid in preventing cognitive decline.

The first was a cross-sectional study of folate status and cognitive function in 1,033 non-demented older patients, ages 60-90 (de Lau et al, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 86: 728-734, 2007). The researchers measured blood levels of folic acid and did extensive cognitive tests on the subjects.

The results were fairly clear-cut. Those people with the highest levels of folic acid were the least likely to suffer from loss of cognitive function or psychomotor speed (reaction time).

But, cross-sectional studies are not the gold-standard placebo controlled clinical trial, which is why the second study is so important.

In this study, 818 middle aged subjects (ages 55-70) with normal vitamin B12 levels (the importance of this will become apparent in a minute) were given either 800 ug of folic acid or a placebo daily and followed for 3 years (Durga et al, Lancet, 369: 208-216, 2007).

At the end of 3 years, the subjects receiving the folic acid supplement did significantly better than the placebo group on several measures of cognitive function.

So you might be thinking that you should rush right out and buy a folic acid supplement.

Not so fast. You need to hear the rest of the story.

Vitamin B12 is also essential for cognitive function, and, with consumption of red meat declining, many older Americans are becoming deficient in B12.

B12 deficiency has two symptoms:

The first to appear is anemia. It is what usually brings the patient to their doctors office, and at this stage the B12 deficiency is easily reversible.

However, if the B12 deficiency is left untreated, the patient will eventually develop dementia that is not reversible.

The problem is that folate supplementation can mask the early, easily reversible, symptoms of B12 deficiency.

So that brings us to the third clinical study (Morris et al, Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 85: 193-200, 2007).

This study was a cross-sectional study looking at vitamin B12 status, folic acid status and cognitive function. When they looked at those subjects in the study with low vitamin B12 status, the ones who also had high blood folate levels actually faired poorer on cognitive tests than those with low blood folate levels.

So now you’re probably thinking that you should rush out and buy a B complex supplement providing both folic acid and vitamin B12.

Wrong again!

Some older Americans develop an inability to produce something called intrinsic factor that is required for the rapid absorption of vitamin B12 in the intestine. Those people cannot get enough vitamin B12 from their food, and for them a standard vitamin B12 supplement is of little use. Knowing this, you might now feel that there is no effective way to make absolutely sure that you are getting enough B vitamins to reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

But, you’d be wrong again.

There is a second, intrinsic factor-independent pathway for absorbing vitamin B12 that is present throughout the entire length of the digestive tract.

So what you want to look for is a sustained release B complex that releases its B12 a little bit at a time throughout the digestive tract.

And since not all companies make their supplements according to pharmaceutical standards, you would want to make sure that this sustained release B complex had been shown in a clinical trial to deliver at least as much B12 to the blood stream as an immediate release B complex in individuals with normal levels of intrinsic factor.

Finally, now that you know what to look for in a B complex supplement, let me remind you that mental acuity is not just dependent on two B vitamins.

Recent studies have shown that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, maintaining ideal body weight and exercising regularly all help us to keep our brains functioning as they should as we age.

A holistic approach to health is always best.

To Your Health!

Dr. Stephen G Chantey

P.S. The Sustained Release B + C in Shaklee’s Vitalizer continuously releases small amounts of the B vitamins and Vitamin C during the 12 hours that it takes to pass through the small intestine.

Clinical studies have shown that his results in up to a 200% increase in blood levels of some B Vitamins and that blood levels of Vitamin B12 are equal to or greater than the same amount of B12 in the immediate release B-Complex Supplement.

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