Posted by dodo on Jul-31-2008
Posted by dodo on Jul-23-2008
Posted by dodo on Jul-4-2008
How Much Calcium Do You Need?
Not everyone agrees with the formal RDAs for calcium. A National Institutes of Health consensus panel on osteoporosis has advised that women consume more calcium than recommended in the RDAs-1,500 mg in the years after menopause if they are not taking supplemental estrogen. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends 1,000 mg per day for postmenopausal women who are not on estrogen replacement therapy.
Although the RDAs call for only 800 mg of calcium for men and women over the age of 25 (with an increase to 1,200 mg for pregnant and lactating women), we recommend a daily intake of 1,500 mg for everyone. Women clearly need more calcium to help protect them against osteoporosis, even if they are postmenopausal and on hormonal replacement therapy (which can also help protect their bones). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on Jul-1-2008
Hypertension Cure
Magnesium may help reduce high blood pressure. Some evidence suggests that too little magnesium in the body causes muscles in the blood vessel walls—the so-called vascular smooth muscles— to constrict. As the channels in these vessels become narrower, blood pressure tends to increase.
In ongoing studies, researchers are examining magnesium as a potential treatment for other health disorders, from osteoporosis to asthma to diabetes. To date, this research has been too limited to produce any conclusions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on Jun-30-2008
Before you decide that you need to take iron supplements or change the way you eat, you should know where you stand and how much improvement you really need. To help you analyze your current diet, we’ve developed a system you can use to calculate your approximate iron intake. Our ODA for men is 10 mg; for women, it ranges from 12 to 15 mg, rising to 20 mg for women with heavy menstrual flow. For the purposes of this test, we have used an ODA of 15 mg.
To determine your average daily intake of iron, start by keeping an accurate food diary for three or four days. The longer you keep the diary, the more accurate your calculations will be. Write down exactly what you eat and drink, together with an estimate of the serving size. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on Jun-29-2008
Toxicity
Zinc does not generally cause toxic symptoms, except in very large amounts—such as 2 g or more taken at one time, or less (but still a lot) taken regularly over several weeks. By taking as little as two times the RDA of zinc over a period of months, for example, you can interfere with the status of copper in your body.
If you do have too much zinc in your body, you could experience vomiting and diarrhea, and have a decreased HDL (”good”) cholesterol level. More serious problems include anemia and an impaired immune function. Very high zinc intake-10 to 30 times the RDA for prolonged periods—can interfere with your immune system (as can levels that are too low). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on Jun-28-2008
How Much Selenium Do You Need?
Conclusive evidence of the need for selenium has emerged only in recent years, and our knowledge of this nutrient is still evolving. With some research indicating that elevated levels of selenium could help prevent certain types of cancer, we believe that the consumption of selenium at doses somewhat higher than the RDAs is important.
We recommend that all people consume 100 mcg of selenium per day. This nearly doubles the RDA for women and is almost a 50 percent increase for men.
While you could probably safely increase your selenium intake to 200 mcg per day, it’s unwise to go any higher because a few people may begin to experience adverse reactions at these elevated levels. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on Jun-18-2008
Many other actions of vitamin C contribute to its role as a protective vitamin. Ascorbic acid is found in close association with the white cells of the blood, particularly those that destroy harmful bacteria. They are found in the lymph cells which take part in immune reactions, and there is also a high concentration of ascorbic acid found in adrenal glands which is used up during times of stress.
Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and cannot be stored in the body for a long time, nor in large quantities. There is, however, a small reserve known as a ‘pool’ which consists of approximately five grams in a healthy individual. This is distributed between bone, blood, muscles and glands. When the diet is adequate this ‘pool’ remains constant and in times of shortage it can act as an emergency supply of the vitamin. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by dodo on May-22-2008
Posted in:
Amino Acid,
Calcium,
DNA,
Nucleic Acid,
Nutrition,
Oxygen,
Protein,
RDA,
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Vitamin B5,
Vitamin B9,
Vitamin C,
Vitamin E,
Vitamins
Posted by dodo on Apr-19-2008
First keep in mind the dangers of too much sugar and salt. And, in case you don’t think you eat too much sugar and salt let me remind you of the “invisible” sugar and salt you can be taking.
More than a hundred substances that qualify as sweet can be called sugars. The ones we come in contact with most often are fructose, a natural sugar found in fruit and honey; glucose, the body’s blood sugar and the simplest form of sugar in which a carbohydrate is assimilated; dextrose, made from cornstarch and chemically identical to glucose; lactose, milk sugar, maltose, the sugar formed from the starch by the action of yeast; and sucrose, the sugar that is obtained from sugar cane or beets and refined to the product that reaches us as granules. Read the rest of this entry »
