A lot of people tend to shy away from anything that has the word fatty involved with it, thinking that it will cause them to gain unnecessary weight. What a lot of people don’t know is that there are good fats and bad fats. The beneficial ones actually can help decrease the desire for food and for harmful fats. Fats are essential to health, as they help to balance the body’s chemistry and provide padding for the vital organs in the body. Fats give a source of energy for body processes and also help with the transportation and absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are all fat soluble.
There are three main categories of fats: saturated fats, unsaturated fats, and essential fats. Saturated fats are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen molecules. The carbon atoms from fatty acids hold together in a chain-like fashion and they can attach a hydrogen atom to them. When each potential place for a hydrogen atom has been filled and there is no more room for any more hydrogen atoms, these fats are considered saturated. The fat will be harder or thicker in consistancy the longer the chain.
These types of fatty acids are found in red meat, butter, cheese, sour cream, palm kernel, and coconut oils. When someone has a diet that is high in saturated fats, these fats clump together in the body and form deposits that lodge in cells, organs, and blood vessels and can lead to many health problems like obesity, heart disease, and breast and colon cancer.
Unsaturated fats are called this because at least two adjacent carbon atoms on a chain are not attached to hydrogen atoms. When at least two pairs of carbon atoms are empty, it is known as a polyunsaturated fatty acid. The more saturated the fat, the more easily it will stay hard at room temperature.
Essential fatty acids are crucial nutritional compounds that our bodies need in order to perform many functions. They can be found in the seeds of plants and in the oils of cold-water fish. Pure EFA's can not be made in the body, so they must be found in a supplement or in the diet. Many factors, which include stress, allergies, disease, and diet high in fried foods, can increase the body’s need for essential fatty acids.
Fatty acids are the basic building blocks of all fats. A fatty acid is considered essential if the body is unable to synthesize it and the only way it can be obtained is through diet. Additionally, it is considered essential if a deficiency will cause disease. A deficiency of fatty acids can cause poor reproduction, lowered immunity, rough and dry skin, and slow growth.
Essential fatty acids are vital for many functions including: lowering triglyceride levels; helping to eradicate plaque from the walls of arteries; lowering blood pressure; altering the production of leukotrienes; constructing body membranes; helping strengthen cell and capillary structures; prolonging blood-clotting time, which helps wounds to heal; helping the body manufacture hemoglobin; assisting in the manufacture of cholesterol; preventing the growth of bacteria and viruses assisting in the functions of glands and hormones.
Essential fats nourish the skin, hair, and nails; increasing the rate at which the body burns fat; helping the body maintain proper temperature; assisting in the body’s production of electrical currents that are vital for a regular heartbeat; and acting as a precursor to the production of prostaglandins. It is essential that everybody obtain good fat in their diet to maintain health, if one can not eat the proper foods, supplement forms of essential fatty acids are available.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Reduce Inflammation With Essential Fatty Acids
How Aloe Vera Can Help With Embarrasing Illnesses
Here are three natural cures that you can use to help in eliminating your hemorrhoids...that most embarrasing and painful of problems. Despair no longer because a little green plant may hold the answer for you...
Aloe Vera gel is an astringent that helps to heal open sores. It is helpful in hemorrhoids by applying the gel straight away onto your anus. The best sort of gel for this is from the aloe plant.
If you don't have one, then a 100% organic full leaf aloe gel is second best. You can get this organic aloe at a health food or nourishment store. If you appear to have a fresh plant, wash a leaf completely with distilled water. Peel it on one side, bend it with the peeled side outward, and slip it into your anus. Just trim down the leaf so it slides into your anus simply.Of course you may not want to go through with this, in which case read my aloeride review for info on how to get an easy to swallow capsule which will have the same effect.
Aloe Vera juice, that you drink, is also good for hemorrhoids. It helps to melt your stools and to turn on peristaltic action. If you like aloe juice, then drink around a half cup of Aloe Vera juice three time a day. You're able to add 0.25 or 3rd part aloe juice to a cup of apple juice to make the taste better. To make this aloe-apple juice tastier, add 10 drops of bilberry extract. Buy the 25% standardized formula and take a hundred mg three times every day of bilberry. Now you can use either of the three herbal cures for hemorrhoid relief. If one is not working to good, try the other. When you have got the hemorrhoid relief that you want stop using the herbal cure...and relax!
Bost Energy Levels With Panax, American, Siberian, and Chinese Ginseng
Panax is a type of perennial plant with fleshy roots, and grows in Eastern Asia. Ginsengs contain ginsenosides that are triterpene saponins, steroidal compounds that are found only in Panax ginseng. The effects of these saponins are difficult to establish, but they are believed to be behind the properties of ginseng.
Panax ginseng is found predominantly in Korea, China and Siberia, although a genus has also been found in Vietnam. Panax are adaptogenic herbs that help promote resistance to anxiety, fatigue and stress, and are said to adapt the body to resist a number of different stressors. It has been proposed that adaptogenic herbs can balance the endocrine hormones of the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal axis.
They also normalize the immune system, and increase the activity of phagocytes, the killer cells. Additionally, they not only help to maintain homeostasis, but are believed to go further and act as allostatic agents, adapting response to maintain system stability in a more dynamic fashion, by changing interactive functions as opposed to the individual adaption’s made in homeostasis.
Not all ginsengs are the same, and although Siberian ginseng is an adaptogen, it is not a true ginseng. Its roots are woody rather than fleshy, and it contains eleutherosides as opposed to ginsenosides. These also are triterpenoid saponins, but of a different adaptogen. The herb is actually Eleutherococcus senticosus as opposed to Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius, both true ginsengs. Siberian ginseng was misnamed as a marketing ploy.
American ginseng is Panax quinquefolius, sometimes referred to by the Chinese as Huaqishen. It, too, is an adaptogen and a true ginseng, containing ginsenosides. However, it contains much less ginsenonide Rg1 than panax. This ginsenonide appears to possess estrogen-like activity and improves spatial learning. The other forms of ginesonide found in panax ginseng are:
Ginsenoside Rb1: This appears in greatest concentration in American ginseng, and appears to have an effect on the reproductive system. It not only has an effect on the testicles, but is believed to increase testosterone production through its stimulating effect on luteinizing hormone. It also helps to rdeduce the incidence of angiogenesis, which is the formation of new blood vessels from old, and also a stage in the development of malignant tumors from dormant ones.
Ginsenoside Rc: this possesses sedative properties, and in a study on breast cancer was found to have an effect in inhibiting the growth of these particular cancer cells. Ginsenoside Rc might therefore have use in the treatment or prevention of breast cancer. Studies have also suggested that this ginsenoside could increase the motility of sperm: the motiliy of sperm was found to increase significantly in a solution of ginsenoside Rc.
Ginsenoside Rf: this is present only in panax ginseng, and studies have indicate that it has an inhibitory effect on the Ca2+ neural channels in the brain, and so cokld have an analgesic effect. Studies have as yet failed to explain this effect that is seen in animal tests, but are continuing on this ginsenoside.
Ginsenoside Re: this ginsenoside has strong antioxidant effects and has a significant antidiabetic effect in that is reduces insulin resistance, which is likely why ginseng is taken to treat Type 2 diabetes. Studies are ongoing into the properties of this ginsenoside, and also on the other 10 or more that are known to be present in Panax ginseng. The effects of ginseng are difficult to establish with certainity because they work through so many different pathways and it is difficult to isolate one. More than one ginsenoside, for example, affects the calcium channels in the brain, and it is difficult to determine which does what.
There are fewer ginsenosides in Panax quinquefoilius, and in the USA it is only the panax version that can be traded as simply ‘ginseng’. One of the main problems with all ginsengs is that although it is one of the most studied plants, the majority of the studies have been on animals, and due to this, and the difficulties caused by the multiple pathways described earlier, many of the postulations have not been proved in humans.
However, if the theory as it is know today is taken into consideration along with the traditional uses of ginseng in traditional Indian (ayurvedic), Chinese and Native American medicine, it would be fairly accurate to say that ginseng is useful in helping your body to recover after illness or surgery, and to help you to deal with stress. It has also been proved to lower your blood glucose (sugar) levels, and help in the treatment of Type II diabetes, as already mentioned. There is evidence that it helps to boost your mental performance, memory and might help to slow down the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Ginseng can also give a boost to your energy levels, and it is genarally accepted that ginseng is more effective than the American version. In traditional medicine, Asian ginseng is said to be warming, and the American variery cooling. Thus Panax ginseng is useful for people recovering from illness and trying to recover their strength, acts as a tonic, stimulant and supports the immune system. In other words it helps the body to get whole again after being depleted.
It should not be used if you get very hot and red, such as with heat stroke, unless you use it in combination with the American version, because these are conditions of high yang and this type of ginseng will increase the yang even further.
American ginseng, on the other hand, is good for those with fevers, hypertension (high blood pressure), and suffereing the effcts of heat. It helps build the yin and reduce the yang, so if you always feel flushed and hot or are hyperactive then go for the American, and if you easily get chilled or find your hands and feet get cold very easily, reach for the Asian ginseng to increase your yang.
You often find ginseng as an ingredient in soft drinks, but the concentration is so low that it has no metabolic or pharmacological effect. The dose to be taken should be as stated on the pack, since there is no specific standardization. It has been noted that the effects can be lost if an excess of ginseng is taken, but generally the herb is safe and if you feel a bit down or lacking in energy, ginseng can work wonders for you.
Controversial News About Anti Aging Vitamin D
Undoubtably, you have heard about the advantages of Vitamin D. The miraculous vitamin has been in the news quite a bit recently - particularly Vitamin D3.
If you haven't heard about the benefits of Vitamin D, here is a brief list:
- inhibits inflammation (major cause of aging)
- maintains calcium balance
- helps to regulate blood pressure
- boosts your immunity
- protects against some cancers (mainly colon)
There are lots of other research studies being done with additional benefits discovered all the time.
But here is some controversial news about Vitamin D you may NOT know:
Fact: Your body produces Vitamin D naturally with sun exposure.
What you don't know:
- Wearing sunscreen inhibits Vitamin D production.
- You may be lacking in Vitamin D if you have a tan or are dark skinned because its absorption is suppressed.
- As we age, we produce less Vitamin D from the sun, so if you are over 40, you may be deficient.
- Overweight people need more Vitamin D than slender people.
Fact: Most sunscreens actually block the rays that produce Vitamin D. Amazingly, the occurance of cancer has increased since the use of sunscreen has increased!
What You Don't Know: It turns out that since Vitamin D3 protects against some cancers, by inhibiting the sunshine from sunscreen, we are actually increasing our cancer rate.
According to the American Dermatology Association, it is absurd to ask anyone to get any sunshine without sunscreen.
Fact: The government recommends 400 units of Vitamin D per day
What You Don't Know: Most research indicates that 4,000 units per day is needed.
It is possible to get an overdose of Vitamin D, but the likelihood is actually quite slim. Getting tested is a wise first action.
Important questions to ask yourself:
Am I deficient in Vitamin D?
Where do I get tested?
What should be considered before purchasing Vitamin D?
Making anti aging a part of your life can be easy with the right information.
To answer the questions you have about this important vitamin, go to Anti Aging Vitamin D
Energy Supplements For Low Energy Can Get You Through A Long Day
Energy supplements for low energy could be your answer to fatigue.
Are you one of the many people who drag through the day and never seem to have any extra energy? Do all the responsibilities and chores you face throughout the day wear you out so all you can really do at night is vegetate in front of the television and plop into bed? Do not feel alone; there are lots of folks in just that situation, and if you find yourself tired all the time, you may consider the benefits of taking supplements for low energy. Perhaps you feel you have "good reason" to be tired; I know that is how I felt back when my children were little.
I was married, raising a family, taking care of a husband and house, working full-time, and taking college classes after work. To top it al off, I lived about forty-five minutes from work, so I had a long commute every day, as well. Boy, was I ever tired, and quite frankly, I really never thought much about it. Of course I was tired, right?
Well, yes and no. I did have a lot on my plate, but really, everyone does. And even if your life is piled up with chores and responsibilities every day like mine was, it does not necessarily mean that you have to walk around in an exhausted daze all the time. It makes good sense to eat nutritiously, of course, and also to get plenty of sleep, but even during those times that even sleep and a real meal seem like luxuries, you may find just the right amount of the boost you need with energy supplements that can help you feel better and enjoy life more.
There are high quality supplements for low energy available at nutrition centers and online, and after talking to your doctor or other health care professional, you may just find that the natural ingredients like bee pollen and amino acids that are often found in top-notch energy supplements are just the ticket for your ride to extra energy. It seems like good old common horse sense to get the most energy possible, and to do so in a way that avoids coffee and other caffeine products, or, even worse, the sugar highs and lows that result from inhaling a chocolate bar in the middle of the afternoon.
If your lifestyle is demanding - as if there were any whose aren't - you may be well served to look into the benefits of energy supplements. More energy equals more time to do things you enjoy (instead of just working and passing out every day); more energy equals better moods; more energy equals more opportunity to be everything you can be. I know that the bee pollen and ginseng supplements for low energy that I discovered, along with my doctor's help, really made all the difference in my life. Perhaps you can lift the fog out of your day with superior quality energy supplements, as well.
Get the latest information on natural energy supplements by visiting http://EnergySupplementsInfo.com
Tyler Trengee is a health enthusiast and enjoys sharing his experience and research with others on the internet. Visit his site for additional information on this important energy supplement topic.
Overnight Weight Loss
The rise in the number of fast foods joints that have a lot of saturated fat in the meals, the use of a lot of refined sugar in sodas and other processed foods and eating food with less fiber have all contributed to the fact that there are more people than before who are classified as either overweight or are obese.
A lot of other factors cause this to happen such as genetics, overeating and as people age; the metabolism slows down making it harder than before to burn the food that was just consumed.
The rate that a person loses weight is commensurate to how it is gained. Rapid weight is not good advisable since it leaves the person with lose skin and the only way to get rid of that would require surgery.
Weight loss depends on the condition of the person which includes weight, health, calorie-intake, age, gender, lifestyle, stress level and routine.
Being overweight does not necessarily make a person unhealthy. It just makes the person a bit unfashionable. Studies have shown that people who are a bit overweight live longer than those who have normal weight. Uncover the Rapid Weight Loss Program.
There is no quick or overnight solution for quick weight loss.
Nutritionists and other health experts will say that a person’s weight with proper exercise can actually help lose a certain number of pounds per week The best way to do this is with a low calorie diet and an exercise plan.
The first thing a person needs to do is to choose a diet program designed by a dietitian or another health professional. The patient has to be evaluated before any program can be made. The program usually consists of an eating plan and an exercise program that does not require the use of supplements or one to purchase any expensive fitness equipment.
The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and lose weight.
A good diet should have food from all the food groups.
This is made up by 2 things. The first is carbohydrates. The food that a person consumes should have vitamins, minerals and fiber. A lot of this can come from oats, rice, potatoes and cereals. The best still come from vegetables and fruits since these have phytochemicals, enzymes and micronutrients that are essential for a healthy diet.
The second is fat which can come from mono and poly saturated food sources rather than animal fats. Since fat contains more than double the number of calories in food, this should be taken in small quantities to lose weight.
All diet plans are designed to make the person induce reduced amount of calories into the body. This does not mean that the person has to eat less. It just means that one has to eat smart by choosing the foods that have less calories. This makes it possible for someone to lose weight without the need to eat less.
During the course of the program, the person should still consult with the doctor and other health experts to monitor ones progress. There will be times that it is essential to modify the diet plan to further lose weight. Uncover the Rapid Weight Loss Program.
It is up to the person already to stick to the program to see that it works.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Coral Calcium Benefits
Coral calcium benefits the body in many different ways. Coral calcium is a mineral supplement that is harvested in a couple of very different ways which makes a big difference in its effectiveness.
There are two basic forms: “Marine” coral and “Land” or fossilized coral calcium. Although Bob Barefoot believes that all coral is good, there is a difference, good coral and the Best Coral.
True Marine Coral Calcium (the best) is harvested with ecological safety and conservation from under the pristine waters around the islands of Okinawa Japan. This highly beneficial supplement is called SMP 44 or Sango Mineral Powder 44 and is considered to be a unique marine miracle for health and in the opinion of Bob Barefoot, the best calcium supplement available.
The mineral nutrients contained in coral calcium combine to support all body chemistry. The benefit of mineral supplementation has been well supported in scientific literature and the benefit of coral calcium has 600 years of history with millions of people word wide.
The main mineral component of coral calcium is calcium but contains several other essential mineral nutrients including substantial amounts of magnesium, zinc, strontium, boron and many more.
Coral calcium health benefits include:
Supplies essential Calcium which is the most abundant mineral in the human body that:
Signals biochemical processes in the cells.
Controls muscle contractions.
Initiates DNA synthesis.
Helps to Build Bones.
Critical control of the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of the body fluids.
Acidity results in the expulsion of oxygen from the body which can lead to numerous diseases, such as cancer, according to two time Nobel Prize winner Dr. Otto Warburg.
The level of calcium intake in the Western diet is much lower in many people than is required for optimal health. Supplementation with additional calcium and minerals has many health benefits that could support your healthy body for years to come.
The author Brad Riley is an associate and distributor for Bob Barefoot and has supported the teaching of coral calcium benefits for over 8 years.