Vitamin Health Care Advice

“They”, the “experts” all say how important vitamins are - how we don’t get nearly enough of the nutrition we need in our every day diets because of all the processed food we eat these days.

Well, I won’t argue with that fact; seems like there’s nothing wholesome and healthy out there anymore. Oftentimes, my body is telling me what it needs - whether I crave salt, sugar, or fruit or vegetables. There are things that our bodies are missing, and I think we can all relate to those cravings.

The question I always had though, is how come I can spend all kinds of $$$ on vitamins, even trying different brands over the years, and my body doesn’t seem to respond? How come I end up craving yet another banana because my body is telling me it needs more potassium, or how I just have to have sardines, of all things, just to get more iron in me?

Well, I finally found the answer to my questions, and I’d like to share that with you. There’s no reason anyone should continue to waste hard-earned $$$ money on vitamins or supplements that don’t even work, or that don’t work nearly as well as our (often over-worked and stressed-out) bodies need it to.

Lots of people shop at a Walmart, or stores like it, because they claim to have “everyday low prices”, and prices that will beat the competition. Well, now that I think about it, did I really expect manufacturers of products for a Walmart, or any discount or dollar stores to be able to spend any money on quality ingredients that would actually do something, when they’re on such a limited budget to begin with?

Finally, this is all starting to make sense to me after reading a report that Dr. Cobb, M.D. reported to hundreds of people on February 20, 1999 in Boston, MA. It was a conclusion of a doctoral thesis performed on vitamins and how well they are absorbed. Dr. Cobb’s colleague, Dr. Jonathan A. Herbst M.D., graduated from the University of Ohio, and studied over 250 randomly chosen supplement brands for bio availability and absorption.

If you are interested in reading the article in its entirety, please send me an email, and I’ll get the article to you.

But here’s the BOTTOM LINE: Centrum, One A Day, Theragram, Amway, AND 244 others have an absorption of LESS THAN 5%.

I guess I know how foolishly I’ve been spending my money month after month. I have since found a line of nutritional / vitamin supplements that are heads and tails the best in content, absorption, and in $$ price. They came out number one in the study with a 96-98% absorption rate!

I think that’s unbelievable! Guess what else? After actually using this line of product, my quality of life is a true testimony of this study’s accuracy. I now believe that preventive medicine is the smartest way to go for all of us.

Feel free to contact me if you’re interested in what I’ve stumbled upon.

E-mail: hayleykeller@yahoo.com

Website: http://www.yourfamilyfirst.com/cgi-bin/team.cgi?id=Ha12573&action=show

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While getting all your essential nutrients from natural foods is ideal, it may not be practical in today’s society and many people turn to vitamin pills to supplement their diets. Make no mistake about it however, vitamin supplements are big business and not all manufacturers have your best interests at heart.

There are thousands of supplements to choose from and consumers spend billions of dollars each year - many never get even a small fraction of their money’s worth.

How do you choose a vitamin supplement that won’t just go down the toilet?

There are 3 types of vitamin supplement delivery systems. Capsules, Liquid, and tablets. The trick is to pick one that dissolves properly and does not just “pass through” thus wasting your hard earned money.

The liquid would be the best, but unfortunately there are not many choices out on the market. Plus, the can be inconvenient and they taste like cough syrup. But, they are great if you can’t swallow pills and are good for kids as well.

Tablets are the most common form of vitamin supplement. They are made by mixing in an organic or inorganic cement and compressing them into shape. For the pills to dissolve properly, an organic cement should be used but this costs more and as you can imagine, many manufacturers skimp on this stel. There are also coated tablets that resemble little candy-coated M&M’s. These are very commonly found in the one a day cheap drug store vitamins.

Capsules are gelatin containers that dissolve quickly and in most cases the best choice. Because they’re not compressed like the tablets, you will typically have to take two of them to equal one tablet.

One important thing with vitamin supplements is that you want to make sure you absorb as much as possible, otherwise you are just wasting your money. Studies have shown that individual vitamin isolates found in supplements are only about 10% absorbed while vitamins directly from a fresh plant source are 77% to 93% absorbed. Minerals have an even lower absorption rate - 1% to 5%. But, from plants like raw broccoli, the minerals are 63% to 78% absorbable.

The reason for this difference in absorption is that in nature, each vitamin and mineral molecule is attached to a protein molecule. That’s why you must take your vitamin supplements with meals - unless stated otherwise on the label. During digestion, only about 10% of the vitamin and mineral molecules, aided by enzymes, will attach to the protein molecules found in your food allowing them to be absorbed and used by your cells. Without these accompanying proteins, the body will see the vitamin isolates as a foreign substance and filter it out. That’s why you might have noticed bright yellow urine after you take a vitamin - that’s your bodies way of getting rid of chemicals it thinks it can’t use.

When selecting a vitamin supplement, make sure it has adequate amounts of the vitamins and minerals you want. Remember only about 10% of what is in the supplement will be absorbed. Look for the BP (British Pharmacopoeia) or USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) designation on the label. You will find the USP or BP initials next the the vitamin and this designation means the vitamin isolates are of the highest quality and are easily dissolved in the digestion process.

When looking at the minerals section of the label, look for “chelate” or “chelated”. This indicates that the minerals are attached to protein prior to being added to the supplement. This increases absorption by 400% to 800%.

Look for a supplement with a “food base”. This is concentrated plant material to which the vitamins and minerals are added. Supplements with a food base will contain enzymes and nutrients that boost the absorption of the vitamins and minerals. This is probably the best type of vitamin you can buy but the tablets will be larger and you may have to take more of them.

Nutritional supplements can never take the place of food and should not be used as a crutch to supplement a poor diet. The best recipe for health is to eat a nutritious and healthy diet which can be supplement when necessary.

Lee Dobbins writes for the A2Z Vitamin And Herbs Guide For Natural Healing where you can find out more about vitamins and herbs as well as natural healing methods.

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Visit your local supermarket, drugstore or health food store and you will find rows upon rows of vitamins and supplements. Each is minutely measured giving you the RDAs,DVs, IUs, milligrams and so on. It’s enough information to make your head swim!

Some studies suggest that specific vitamin and mineral supplements can help reduce your risk of heart disease by 30 to 40 percent and even slow the progress of the disease. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain over the counter.

Vitamins are also credited with boosting the immune system and it is believed that older people who take vitamin and mineral supplements do have stronger immune systems. The immune system becomes less efficient as we age. The belief is that if your immune system can’t protect you, the door is thrown wide open for cancer and other serious diseases to waltz right in.

So, the answer is yes, supplements can help but don’t expect them to work miracles. You can’t continue to do the steak and eggs or burger and fries thing and think that popping a pill will be a cure-all because it isn’t! Vitamin supplements will help prevent disease even though it may take at least six months to a year to register the improvement. That’s not an excuse to put it off, because the sooner you begin, the better the results.

Let’s take a look at weight for instance. If you take in too many calories and gain weight you increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke. But, cutting the calories to either lose or maintain your weight may result in deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. You can replace key vitamins and minerals lost by dieting with carefully selected supplements.

Another challenge is compensating as the body’s systems begin to slow down. As we age, our systems are not working as efficiently as they once were. For example, you don’t have as much stomach acid that helps to get nutrients from food. That means that as much as 40% of the nutrients you ingest may go unused resulting in deficiencies of vitamins D, B6, B12, riboflavin, folate and calcium.

Your body’s system for storing the nutrients isn’t as efficient either because the percentage of body fat increases with age. While your metabolism keeps you alive and healthy, it also produces by products that can be harmful including free radicals and other compounds that cause damage to cells’ DNA and can lead to many of the effects of old age.

As we get older, the body reduces the amount of antioxidants it produces and it will become more difficult to get enough antioxidant protection just from your food. Although you can get most of the nutrients you need from a multi-vitamin, you may want to take extra supplements of certain vitamins and minerals to promote optimum health.

As a cautionary measure, however, make certain that you are not exceeding the recommended ranges. You can get too much of a good thing. It is also advisable to consult with your physician regarding any supplemental regimen as some supplements may have adverse interaction with certain medications you are taking.

Here are a few suggestions we would like to share with you.

Avoid multi-vitamins with time release formulas. By the time they dissolve they may be too far down the intestinal tract where absorption is poor.

Store your vitamins away from hot or humid places. It is better to keep them with your spices rather than the bathroom or near direct sunlight or heat.

Take your vitamins with a meal. Some nutrients are only released with fat so taking them with your low-fat meal is optimum.

Check the expiration date on the bottle. Buying a large amount just to save a few dollars isn’t a bargain if you won’t be using them before their effectiveness expires.

If you drink even moderately, take extra vitamins and minerals.

If you want to lose weight, take more calcium. If you don’t consume enough calcium your body will over produce calcitriol. This hormone promotes fat storage in the body. But, calcium supplements won’t be as beneficial as dietary calcium. Have four daily servings of nonfat or low-fat dairy products instead.

About The Author: Wan Ibrahim is the Editor of Healthy 4Life eNewsletter.
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http://health.adipublishing.biz/newsletter.htm
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