Vitamin Supplements

Phytochemical

Plants are a rich source of nutrition, but everything that is found in plants is not necessarily a nutrient.

Nutrients are things that our bodies need to grow and function correctly. If you think of a person’s body as a chessboard, nutrients are the chess pieces that are needed to play the game. Sometimes, however, the plants also contain some substance_s that are not chess pieces, although they can influence the game.

Many plants contain chemicals that, just like prescription medicines, have a modifying effect on the body’s processes. About 25% of prescription medicines come from plants. Aspirin, for example, comes from the bark of a type of willow tree, but is a chemically purified and modified form of the original salicylate. Read the rest of this entry »

They keep hormones in check

These essential fats also help to control the sex hormones in both men and women. In adolescents, they help to alleviate the hormone fluctuations so common during puberty, and thus prevent against outbreaks of acne, mood swings, and even ‘growing pains’. In adults, they help to stimulate fertility, decrease the severity of pre-menstrual syndrome and regulate menstrual cycles. In menopausal women, they alleviate mood swings and depression, and make this rather rocky ride a little easier to cope with.

They indirectly help to improve insulin resistance

For this reason they are used in fat loss programmes. Read the rest of this entry »

A common protest of patients whom I advise to embark on a fat- free diet is, ‘But don’t our bodies need some fat?’ Yes, in order to achieve optimum health they do. Now I’m going to introduce you to what I call the golden drops: essential fatty acids. So powerful are these fatty acids in maintaining health that they have been nicknamed ‘Vitamin F’. I like to think of them also as the master vitamins, because they play such a crucial role in nutrition. Read the rest of this entry »

During the formation of niacin from tryptophan yet another vitamin is needed and again it acts as a coenzyme. This is vitamin B6 and it is given the name pyridoxine. Of all the vitamins this is probably the greatest worker and it takes part in over sixty different metabolic reactions.

As we saw in the descriptions of NAD and FAD many coenzymes are involved in the transference of single atoms from one substance to another. Many reactions in the body require a greater change to take place and whole groups of atoms may be transferred between molecules. Read the rest of this entry »

There are two distinct schools of thought about vitamin E and they can be divided between those who are concerned with the known facts and findings about the vitamin, and the others who prefer to promote its more attractive, but as yet unproven, qualities. If you study an academic text on the subject you will find that vitamin E is a true vitamin and is essential in our diet. Few of us are likely to go short of it or suffer any form of deficiency disease and the only exceptions are premature babies, and people who cannot digest and absorb any fat. Compare these facts with those presented in praise of vitamin E and you will find a very different story. It seems that vitamin E is a magic ingredient which will ensure health and happiness, improved sex life and eternal youth. It is hard to believe we are discussing the same substance, and inevitably we are faced with the problem of who to believe, and we need to know why there is such a discrepancy between the scientist’s evidence and the layman’s approach. Read the rest of this entry »

Choline is needed for many metabolic reactions in the body. It forms part of a substance called acetylcholine, which is one of the prime neurotransmitters (nerve messengers) and helps to conduct messages from our nerves to the muscles. Choline is also found in lecithin, a phospholipid. Lipids are similar to fats and there are many different types found in the body. A simple lipid contains three fatty acid chains composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms. One of these chains may contain a phosphate group, hence phospholipid, and when choline is also incorporated into the lipid it is called lecithin. All the phospholipids we need can be made in the liver from the raw material that the blood brings direct from the intestines, so neither lecithin nor choline can be classified as true vitamins. Read the rest of this entry »

Absorption: the process by which nutrients are passed into the bloodstream.

Acetate: a derivative of acetic acid.

Acetic acid: used as a synthetic flavouring agent, one of the first food additives (vinegar is approximately 4 to 6 percent acetic acid); it is found naturally in cheese, coffee, grapes, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries; Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) when used only in packaging.

Acetone: a colourless solvent for fat, oils, and waxes, which is obtained by fermentation (inhalation can irritate lungs, and large amounts have a narcotic effect). Read the rest of this entry »

Vitamin F [Unsaturated Fatty Acids — Linoleic, Linolenic and Arachidonic]

FACTS:

Fat soluble, made up of unsaturated fatty acids obtained from foods.

Measured in milligrams [mg.].

No RDA has been established, but the National Research Council has suggested that at least 1 percent of total calories should include essential unsaturated fatty acids.

Unsaturated fat helps burn saturated fat, with intake balanced two to one.

Twelve teaspoons sunflower seeds or eighteen pecan halves can furnish a day’s complete supply. Read the rest of this entry »

The Protein Amino Acid Connection

Protein is a life necessity in the diet of man and all animals. Actually, though, it is not protein itself that is required, but the amino acids which are the building blocks of protein. If any essential amino acid is low or missing, the effectiveness of all the others will be proportionately reduced.

Amino acids, which bonded with nitrogen form thousands of different proteins, are not only the units from which proteins are formed, but are also the end products of protein digestion. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the years, amino acid procedure has turn into more and more admired in enhancement form. Why? Because several people have come to understand just how much they can advantage from these costly supplements, and how these acids can offer benefits ranging from enhanced enlargement hormone levels to improved cancer fortification. Amino acids are necessary to our bodies, and there are a number of customs in which we can make certain that we preserve sufficient levels of these acids. Read the rest of this entry »