Do You Pop Vitamins?

So, did you take your vitamins today? Why Vitamins, you ask? Well, here’s why…

The word ‘Vitamin’ comes from ‘Vital Amine’ and was initially used to refer to a substance that cured Beri-Beri. Soon the word ‘Vitamin’ was used for an organic chemical compound that is found in small amounts in food and is necessary for the body.

Our body needs vitamins for normal growth, metabolism and health. Vitamins are needed to produce enzymes and hormones in the body – essential substances your body uses to make all the chemical reactions that is needed for life. Your body cannot make vitamins by itself; you need to get vitamins from food or from vitamin supplements. But once you continually use supplements, your body begins to get lazy and stops extracting the essential vitamins from food.

There are 13 essential vitamins and your body needs every one of them – in small doses. Vitamins are not food, they do not contain any calories and they do not directly provide energy to the body. But they are essential for the conversion of food to energy. This is because vitamins are needed for the various chemical processes taking place inside the body.

Imagine this: there are more than 60 trillion cells in the body. Every second of every day, there are thousands of different reactions that take place within the body. Every reaction needs a particular enzyme that acts as a catalyst in the reaction. When one reaction is over, that enzyme is then broken down and recycled by still other enzymes. To produce these enzymes and to keep all our bodily processes running smoothly, your body needs plenty of vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins are divided into two categories: Fat-soluble and water-soluble.

Fat-soluble vitamins are mostly stored within fatty tissues and in the liver. Fat-soluble vitamins are so called because while they do not dissolve in water, they dissolve in fat. These include the vitamins A, E, D and K. These vitamins are not destroyed by the ordinary cooking processes. Since these vitamins can be stored in the body, it is not necessary to supply these vitamins on a daily basis. In fact, accumulating too much of these vitamins can cause problems.

As the name suggests, water-soluble vitamins are easily dissolved in water. This is the reason why they cannot be stored in the body for long periods of time. They get washed away with our urine. As a result, the body needs to get a continuous and regular supply of water-soluble vitamins. All B vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble. A portion of these vitamins are lost while food is cooked. If the vitamin supplements you take contain these vitamins, there is really no danger of overdose, as the extra doses just get excreted from the body.

Used therapeutically, vitamins help in building resistance and in fighting diseases. A new form of therapy called Vitamin Therapy is breaking new paths in the process and science of therapy. This is because while drugs are effective they are also toxic. But vitamins, as a general rule, are non-toxic and do not have any side effects if taken at the correct dosages.

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Dieters need more calcium

Women on diets need more calcium than normal to avoid boneloss, say Rutgers University researchers.

Studies showed a weight loss diet of 1.5 pounds a week for 6 weeks cuts absorption of calcium. In 57 postmenopausal dieters it was discovered that those women who took 1,800 mg of calcium a day absorbed 78 percent more calcium than those who took only 1,000 mg a day. To prevent bone loss, women dieting after menopause should get 1,700 mg of calcium a day, the experts say.

For people on low-fat, high fiber diets calcium requirements are also higher. Studies show that 19 percent less calcium is absorbed. It is theorized that the healthier diet moves
food faster through the gastrointestinal tract.

While it is common knowledge that calcium is necessary for bone-growth research shows that calcium also fights fat absorption. Studies reveal that calcium blocks fat storage
in fat cells. A minimum of 1,000 mg. of calcium daily improves total cholesterol and good HDL, but lowers bad LDL.

Despite the publicity of the importance of calcium for healthy bones research shows that consumption has gone down over the past 30 years.

Experts recommend 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D daily for people under 50, and 1,500 mg of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D for those over 50. The safe upper limit for calcium intake has been set at 2,500 mg a day. Experts think going above that on a daily basis may invite kidney stone formation.

Once started, never stop taking calcium/vitamin D supplements daily. USDA researchers found that after a 3-year study over one-third of participants stopped taking the supplements. Within one year women lost all bone-density gains and men lost their gains in two years.

For those who are lactose intolerant calcium and vitamin D supplementation is even more important because it will be difficult to get the daily requirement through diet alone.

For those allergic to cow's milk. Drink enough soy milk to give you 500 mg of calcium per glass as compared to 300 mg in cows milk. Studies at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, showed that 25 percent less calcium is absorbed from soy milk as cows milk.

For more information on calcium and coral calcium:
http://www.apluswriting.net/diettips/evitaminscalcium.htm
Author: Marilyn Pokorney
Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and theenvironment.
Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading.Website: http://www.apluswriting.net

Coral Calcium – The Elixir Of Life?

Are there 200 human diseases? We don’t know; perhaps a doctor can tell. But proponents of coral calcium as human dietary supplements claim that the gifted mineral from Okinawa lagoons near Japan cures more than 200 diseases. They don’t hesitate to include miraculous cures for blinds, AIDS patients, cancers, MS; oh-what-not, to the list of diseases that will be supposedly cured in just 10 minutes.

Take a few more curative and preventive goodies of coral calcium. Coral calcium consumers don’t need hysterectomy, keep away rectal cancer; it cures migraine and so on. But is it for real? Has the world finally found an antidote to death threat? Well, hold a minute.

First, let us understand what is this coral calcium and what benefit it really brings us. Coral calcium is a type of calcium extracted from coral mined in Okinawa Island near Japan. The coral of Okinawa is said to be rich in calcium and magnesium content, which is useful as food supplement. It is also true that calcium is essential for bones and teeth, which can be sourced from anywhere including Okinawa coral reef.

Robert Barefoot and another self proclaimed doctor Carl J. Reich, who lost his license about 20 years ago in California for quackery made some outrageous claims about their magic discoveries and magic products over CFRB, a Canadian news radio. The claim went something like this: Their products, obviously made by coral calcium, had cured AIDS. And to diagnose whether someone had a disease, he used a litmus paper and the saliva of the subject, which showed whether he or she had an underlying condition (read AIDS).

Alzheimer’s, MS, rectal cancer, and so many diseases were diagnosed with litmus test and because as they claimed, we were living in an alkaline environment, humans were succumbing to the diseases.

Let see what US FDA has to say on the curative qualities of coral calcium. Let there be no doubt, FDA deals with new discoveries in unambiguous terms. It has referred to claims by many distributors and manufacturers before dealing with them individually. It has exposed the therapeutic claims of coral calcium being curative and preventive in its effect. Under section 201(p) of the Act [21 USC § 321(p)], most coral calcium sold in the market are violations, as their promotional materials project coral calcium as drug. Further FDA has no established information on safety and efficacy aspect of consuming coral calcium for curative or preventive purposes.

In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has held a marketer, Kevin Trudeau of Coral Calcium Supreme as having misled consumers by false and unsubstantiated claims. By the way, you would do good to remember that Kevin Trudeau was convicted and jailed for credit card and financial fraud sometime ago.

Finally, if Okinawans live longer than most of us, that’s a different story, which needs to be studied separately.

NamSing Then is a regular article contributor on many topics. Be sure to visit his other websites Benefit Of Coral Calcium, Calcium And Weight Loss, and Hub
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