Vitamin Information Center

According to legend, there exists an eternal spring somewhere in Florida that can make anyone who drinks of its water forever young. Ah but the fable was wrong! The real Fountain of Youth lies deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest — a magical drink called acai juice.

In terms of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, the acai is the most complete food source on the planet. It contains all the nutrients necessary not only for survival but for maintaining good health.

Amazon natives have been consuming acai juice like water for centuries. Acai in their diet is comparable to red wine in the French diet. What’s amazing is that acai juice is 30 times more powerful than red wine in preventing heart disease. Thanks to acai, senior Amazon dwellers look much younger than their age. In fact, you will not see a single wrinkle on the face of a 60-year-old Amazonian woman. It is believed that the acai juice is also the enigma behind those beautiful Brazilian bodies that acai aficionados have began labeling it Botox in a bottle.

The acai berry is the most substantial source of nutrients and antioxidants that prevent diseases and control aging. Its secret ingredient? Anthocyanins. Studies show that anthocyanins are powerful agents that can control aging and prevent diabetes, bacterial infections, inflammation, as well as neurological diseases.

Anthocyanins in acai juice are also known to slow down the development of malignant tumors, both in initial and progressive stages. Cancer cells are effectively destroyed, inflammation damage is reduced, and blood vessels that cultivate tumors are suppressed, thus minimizing the damage caused by cancer on the human body.

Acai juice is also an excellent source of dietary fiber, protein and niacin. It boosts energy levels, improves blood circulation, keeps your skin and hair glowing, enhances sleep, alleviates depression symptoms, and washes away toxins.

The Acai Berry was recently proclaimed the world’s greatest super food. Rumors have it that this little purple berry from the Amazon can fight off heart attacks 10 times better than red wine–and guess what, studies have backed up some of these suggestions. Today, the Acai Berry is not only one of the world’s leading solution to anti-aging, it’s also one of the most effective fruits that aid in weight loss. Read through the passages below to find out why.

Getting Rid of Toxins Includes Getting Rid of Bad Cholesterol
We take in a gargantuan amount of trans fat from the fast food we eat everyday. Some blame it on our fast paced lifestyle, while others have enough common sense to recognize that these burgers and fries are highly addictive–and we end up eating them when we do have the time to prepare healthier dishes. Imagine gulping down an average of 5 glasses of soda a day, two burgers, two slices (at least) of pizza, and bags and bags of potato chips, while we languidly sit in front of the computer screen or in front of the TV. Even without batting an eyelash, a five-year-old can tell you that you’ll end up looking like a blimp and clogging your arteries if you don’t act on it soon.

You can either kill yourself by shocking your body into jogging an hour a day, or take something in that can aid in the fat burning process. While you will still need to have a proper exercise routine, acai berry supplements and products can help aid in the process.

Effectiveness of Acai Berries Compared To Other Fruits
Basically, an acai berry product works in the same way any fruit product would work–only better. Like most fruits like grapes and blueberries, an acai berry contains antioxidants, anthocyanins, vitamins and minerals. Antioxidants can be found in any fruit, and it helps fight off the toxins or free radicals we acquire through daily stress. When these free radicals get out of proportion and take over our bodies, they eventually cause the growth of cancer cells. A regular intake of quality acai berry juice and supplements has been shown to prevent this in some cases. Acai berries contain twice the antioxidants found in blueberries, which were the current reigning wonder fruits before the acai berries’ discovery.

Anthocyanins, on the other hand, are the substances found in red wine that fight off heart failures due to bad fat or cholesterol. Red wine, although it does aid in the fat absorption, still has slightly negative health effects because it’s alcohol. Acai berry, aside from being non-alcoholic, offers ten times the amount of anthocyanins found in red wine. So aside from dodging the unhealthy side effects, acai berries are also essentially more effective than grapes in red wine.

Important Information About Acai Berry
Only 10% of the acai berry fruit is actually beneficial for anti-aging and weight loss: the pulp and the skin. About 90% of acai berries are seeds, which are not digestible and are used only for jewelry or fuel. Acai berries are also high in fat, which means they spoil easily. It’s nearly impossible to effectively import them to other countries, except when frozen or freeze dried. When you’re buying supplements and juices made from acai berries, make sure that you find “frozen” or “freeze dried” on the labels. It’s also pretty useless to buy “extracts” of this fruit alone, because you would want the full benefits of acai berries, not just parts of it.

What are the benefits of taking acai berry fruit is it really a superfood? You will find many reviews about the benefits of acai on the internet. If you would like a rise in your vitality or need to detox your body or perhaps just slow the aging the acai might be just what you need.

A very distinct purple berry much like a grape, acai is only found in the Amazon rainforest. This fruit, the acai berry, is produced in palm trees that can reach the height of 82 feet. The acai berry fruit does not grow individually like the apple but in clustering like a banana. Each of these tall palm trees can grow anywhere from a few to as many as eight bundles of this black purple fruit.

Although it is a recent addition to the market in the US the acai berry has been used every day in Brazil. Containing a higher level of the antioxidants of grapes and easily twice that of blueberries acai is considered a super food. The little purple fruit is filled with many of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omega fatty acids that a person needs. There have been many health benefits reported about the popular acai berry fruit. There are accounts that the acai detoxifies the body and aids the immune system The health benefits also include it combats free radicals that cause aging and has high levels of fiber.

Wholesome beautiful skin is also described because of the key minerals in the acai berry fruit. It has been reported that the acai assists the heart and lungs by bettering circulation. Cancer cells seem to be killed when acai berry fruit is added to the cancer cells at least in the science laboratory.

There are so many ways it helps cure and defent the body that one has to ask what it can’t serve. There have been accounts that diabetes is alleviated and swelling decreased.

People who have taken acai bery report that it accelerates healing, helps level out normal blood sugar levels, and helps patients suffering from leukemia.

Acai has joined the list of food items that are called superfoods. Acai has superior nutrient attributes and is by nature rich in amino acids, electrolytes, and antioxidants.

The acai berry fruit is found in various meals and drinks in Brazil. Acai drinks, smoothies are a few of the many ways acai berry is utilised. It is not unheard of to flavor even meat and fish meals with the acai berry fruit.

Regrettably it is not possible to consume these berries fresh from the palm. The acai berry fruit must be processed quickly close to the harvest by taking out the pulp from the fruit. After being freeze-dried to preserve the berry nutrient level is readied for transportation. Once it is combined with other ingredients to produce a drink or shake or made into capsule form the acai will contain a full level of nutrients.|When it reaches the processing plant the freeze-dried acai is combined with other ingredients to make a drink and will still be a potent mixture of nutrients.|The freeze-dried acai is merged with other ingredients ingredients and made into capsules or prepared into a smoothies.}

Canadians and people of the United States are joining the band wagon about acai berry fruit and the amountskads of energy it gives. You might discover acai as an element in the next drink you purchase. Freeze-dried acai is the desired action for acai berry fruit since doing so helps maintain the value high.

A Great Deal has been reported on the benefits of taking acai berry fruit but you need to research further to discover truth from falacy on the nutrition benefits for you. Scientific testing needs to be done to verify these results so prior to taking the acai do some more reading to learn about the health benefits. There seems to be many ways the acai berry fruit can help your health if even one of the reports are true. Be sure to read reviews about the acai berry fruit to discover if this product is for you.

Next time you visit your local chemist, pause in the aisle containing vitamin supplements, and take in the quantities and varieties of pills and potions on offer. Tiny boxes and bottles stretch as far as the eye can see, affirming that even in these cash-strapped times, the gorging of such “miracle cures” continues to be big business.

But as the UK population continues to shell out millions annually on vitamin supplements, the scientific evidence supporting their efficacy is waning. Earlier this month, US scientists discovered that taking vitamins A and E does not lower your risk of cancer, one of the supposed major benefits of taking them.

“There have been a number of previous studies that have suggested that vitamin E and vitamin C might be important in the prevention of cancer,” says Dr Howard Sesso, one of those involved in the recent research. “The lack of an effect that we observe for vitamin E or C on cancer does convince us that these particular doses that we tested really have no role for recommendation for cancer prevention,” continues the academic. The clinical trials he oversaw involved nearly 15,000 American men.

Another recent study, part-funded by German chemicals firm BASF, whose products include vitamins, working in association with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, discovered that there were no significant effects on rates of heart disease after taking vitamins E and C. Two months ago, a major trial studying whether vitamin E and selenium (which, among other things, helps regulate hormone metabolism in the thyroid) could lower a man’s risk of prostate cancer ended amid worries that such treatments may do more harm than good. As if that were not enough, doctors at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre have warned that vitamin C seems to protect not only healthy cells, but cancer cells, too.

So should we be taking vitamin supplements at all? “We say that people don’t need to take vitamin supplements to have a healthy balanced diet. The only situation in which you should have to take vitamin supplements is if you are elderly or suffering from a long-term illness. People should address whether they have a healthy diet rather than seeing vitamins as a complete solution,” says Heather Caswell, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation.

“People get a lot of vitamins from food,” adds health expert and author Oliver Gillie. “The exception is, of course, if you have too many things in your diet that are vitamin-depleted because they are totally refined. This includes cake and biscuits, which have large amounts of refined starches in them. On the other hand, if you are eating brown bread and you are consuming lots of vegetables, and a certain amount of meat and eggs, you will be OK.”

If the evidence against supplements is rapidly becoming insurmountable, why do people keep taking them? Well, some supplements still have proven advantages for people’s health. Vitamins such as B12 – that are good for facilitating normal functioning of the brain and nervous system – are still believed by some to have benefits for women of child-bearing age and the elderly. Furthermore, calcium and vitamin D in women over 65 appear to protect the health of the bones of those taking them.

People seem to experience the placebo effect more than ever with vitamins – thinking that the more they spend, the more they are able to stave off the worst effects of disease and age. The general belief is that they boost the body’s ability to mop up cancer-and-heart-disease-causing free radicals.

In some cases, in the UK at least, there is increasing evidence that some vitamins do have benefits. “Vitamin D is different,” adds Gillie. “A healthy person normally gets 90 per cent of the vitamin D they need from the sun. Unless you are an Eskimo or a Scottish fisherman living 100 years ago where you ate fish every day, then you can’t get enough from your diet.” A lack of vitamin D has been linked to increased rates of cancer, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, depression and schizophrenia.

Today, top Scottish doctors are meeting to discuss how to deal with the fact that, due to the country’s northerly location and consequent lack of sunlight, large swathes of its population are not getting enough of the vitamin, which is believed to support the healthy operation of organs.

“I am going to a conference in Edinburgh called by Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Harry Burns, who is concerned with the low levels of vitamin D in the Scottish population. It is an extreme case in the industrial world. In places like Glasgow there is so little ultraviolet light that people are in drastic need of vitamins. They are in an extreme situation because of their maritime climate. Scotland has got more cases of multiple sclerosis [which is believed to be naturally inhibited by vitamin D] than any other country in the world.”

But there’s now increasing evidence that taking too much of some vitamins can cause harm to people’s health. Recent studies – one by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine – have shown that taking large amounts of vitamin E with other vitamins results in a 6 per cent higher risk of premature death. Another study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, of 540 patients showed that cancer recurrence rates were higher among vitamin users than among non-users. There seems to be increasing evidence that the death knell for certain vitamin supplements has now well and truly been sounded. Could it be time to step out of the chemist’s and back into the kitchen?

Complete meals: How to get your daily dose

Vitamin A

Liver, full-fat dairy products, spinach, broccoli, tomato juice, peppers and watercress. Orange things, such as mango, dried apricots, butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin tend to be good sources of this vitamin.

Vitamin D

Oily fish (salmon, sardines, pilchards, tuna, mackerel, trout or herring), dairy products and eggs. Also exposure to sunlight.

Vitamin E

Broccoli, nuts, soya beans, brussels sprouts, spinach and eggs. Some believe vitamin E is destroyed by heat, so try to eat your vegetables raw or lightly cooked.

Vitamin C

Citrus fruits and juices, kiwi fruit, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes and peppers.

Vitamin B

Vitamin B1 is found in whole grains, flour and bread and green leafy vegetables; Vitamin B2 is found in eggs, liver, milk, and cheese; B3 is in protein-rich foods like meat, liver and peanuts; B5 is in chicken, eggs, beef and broccoli;

B6 is in fish, chicken and wholegrain cereals; B9 is in raw fruit as well as yeast and liver and B12 is in fish, dairy produce, meat and yeast extract.

Acai Berry is a superfood that has taken the world by storm in the last few months. All natural supplements have really started to make the turn and take over diet pills and fat burners that previously held the market hostage. What exactly does Acai Berry do?

Acai Berry is just that, a berry found in deep in the Amazon Rain Forest. For years, scientists thought the berry was toxic to people, as it was to animals. Testing ended up revealing that not only is Acai Berry not toxic, but it has amazing weight loss properties. The superfood goes in and completely cleans out your body’s toxins. If left alone, these toxins can be responsible for weight gain, along with the aches and pains of every day life.

Along with fat burning capabilities, acai berry can other amazing things for your body. It is said to suppress cancer cells from forming, which had lead to more research on this subject and the possible cure of cancer. Acai is also known to just improve your general sense of well being. Your skin, nails, and hair are all improved by this miracle supplement. Basically, anything you can think of with your appearance and feelings are improved by acai berry.

Being that this supplement is relatively new, their are many free trials of Acai Berry on the market. Scientists will continue to do research and find more and more all natural supplements that will have amazing effects on your body for years to come.

A new study finds high dose injections of Vitamin C can reduce cancerous tumors by half.

And what’s more — the treatment does not harm healthy cells, meaning
There are fewer difficult side-effects, often experienced with traditional cancer treatments like chemo and radiation.

Go home and die. That’s what doctors told 59 year old Arlindo Olivera.
His lung cancer was so advanced, it had spread to his brain and doctors
Said there was nothing they could do. Today, Arlindo is cancer free.

Arlindo believes his cancer is gone because of Vitamin C treatment.

Dr. Scott Greenberg says he has successfully treated many people with
Vitamin C infusions, including Arlindo.

Some doctors believe Vitamin C treatment works by killing the cancer
cells.

Researchers at the national institutes of health say it may also work as
An anti-oxidant protecting cells from the damage of free radicals.

The national institutes of health study treated mice with aggressive brain, ovarian and pancreatic tumors.
Tumor growth and weight was reduced by 41 to 53 percent and the brain cancer stopped spreading.
Doctor Greenberg says it only works in very high intravenous doses and can be used along with traditional chemo and radiation.
He says it’s a valuable option for those who don’t respond to other treatment.

Arlindo continues to be cancer free.
The treatment is not covered by insurance, but costs considerably less
Than standard chemotherapy or radiation.
It’s about 125 dollars per treatment versus several thousand dollars.

The idea that vitamin C might have potential in cancer treatment has been around for decades. Perhaps the late Dr. Linus Pauling is most linked with this concept. With his death, it seemed that interest in his ideas died a bit, too. However, some scientists have continued to be interested in the subject.

For example, The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the National Institutes of Health) has continued to research this topic. In fact, this organization published a paper recently that found that injecting vitamin C in the abdomens of mice led to a decrease in the size of tumors that had been induced in them [1].

A commentary article from two scientists at the Linus Pauling Institute in Oregon accompanied this paper. [2]. The authors of the commentary (Balz Frie and Stephen Lawson) highlight the fact that the work from NIDDK shows that vitamin C at high dose has been shown to be toxic to cancer cells, but leaves normal cells alone.

This quality is, obviously, highly desirable if we’re seeking to combat cancer but wish to leave the rest of the body unscathed. Frie and Lawson discuss how high doses of vitamin C can increase production of hydrogen peroxide, which is thought to be the principal substance that accounts for vitamin C’s anti-cancer properties.

Frie and Lawson go on to highlight some of the other evidence in the area. They refer to a study published in 1974 in which 50 patients with advanced cancer were treated with intravenous infusions of vitamin C (doses of 5–45 grams per day) or oral doses (at doses of 5–20 grams per day) [3]. In 19 of these patients, there was retardation, stabilization, or regression of their tumors.

They also cite another study in which the outcomes of 100 individuals treated with vitamin C (intravenous and oral vitamin C at a dose of about 10 grams per day) were compared with a control group (who did not receive vitamin C) [4]. Patients treated with vitamin C survived approximately four times longer than those in the control group.

A follow-up study reported that patients given vitamin C had an average survival time almost one year longer than the control group [5]. Overall, 22 percent of the vitamin C-treated group survived for more than a year, compared to only 0.4 percent of non-treated control group.

Frei and Lawson also refer to two randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials of vitamin C and advanced cancer sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Neither of these trials showed a positive effect from vitamin C in terms of survival. However, these trials used oral vitamin C alone and, as Frei and Lawson point out, it is unlikely that sufficient levels of vitamin C would have been achieved for benefit to be possible.

The authors go on to point to two recent studies that have tested the safety of high doses of vitamin C in humans. Once certain conditions have been screened for, it seems humans have enormous tolerance for vitamin C.

They end by saying that the scientists who produced the recent work in mice are now poised to explore the potential value of high-dose vitamin C for the treatment of cancer in humans. Let’s hope that its cheap price and non-patentable status do not hold back interest in this nutrient as an anti-cancer agent.

References:

1. Chen Q, et al. Pharmacologic doses of ascorbate act as a pro-oxidant and decrease growth of aggressive tumor xenografts in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2008; 105:11105–11109

2. Frei B, et al. Vitamin C and cancer revisited. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2008; 105(32): 11037–11038

3. Cameron E, et al. The orthomolecular treatment of cancer. II. Clinical trial of high-dose ascorbic acid supplements in advanced human cancer. Chemico-Biological Interactions 1974; 9:285–315.

4. Cameron E, et al. Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 1976; 73:3685–3689.

5. Cameron E, et al. Supplemental ascorbate in the supportive treatment of cancer: Reevaluation of prolongation of survival times in terminal human cancer. 1978; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 75:4538–4542.

Dr. John Briffa is a London-based physician and author with an interest in nutrition and natural medicine.
Dr. Briffa’s Web site

Research reports keep rolling in on the importance of vitamin D in our diet-beyond its familiar role in helping us to build strong bones. Here are some of the findings: Periodontal disease, in a dental study of 6,700 people from 13 to 90, the gums of patients with higher blood levels of vitamin D were 20 percent less likely to bleed. “The evidence on gingivitis and tooth loss suggests that vitamin D influences oral health by decreasing inflammation,” said Bess Dawson-Hughes, director of the Bone Metabolism Lab at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Cancer. Studies by Reinhold Vieth at the University of Toronto have reported a substantial reduction in the rates of colon cancer as blood levels of vitamin D went up. Dr. Vieth suggests that vitamin D inhibits a mechanism by which cancer cells spread or it may boost the function of blood vessels or the immune system.

Diabetes. A number of studies have found that people with higher blood levels of vitamin D had a lower risk of diabetes than people with lower levels. Researchers have suggested that vitamin D seems to influence responsiveness to insulin.

Fitness. A study at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine found that people with low blood levels of vitamin D scored from 5 to 10 percent lower on tests measuring grip strength, balance and walking speed than those who had higher levels. Apparently vitamin D helps build and repair muscles as well as bones.

Longevity. People who take vitamin D supplements may also live longer, according to Sara Gandini, Ph.D., of the European Institute of Oncology in Italy, and Philippe Autier, M.D., of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France. “The intake of ordinary doses of vitamin D supplements seems to be associated with decreases in total mortality rates,” they reported.

“The results are remarkable,” according to Edward Giovannucci, M.D., ScD., of the Harvard School of Public Health, in an editorial on vitamin D research in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

What to do. Adults should try to get 800 international units (IU) daily of vitamin D-or 1000 IUs a day if you are 70 or older. The average U.S. adult intake of vitamin D is 230 IUs daily, according to a study reported in the journal Nutrition Reviews. Vitamin D is available from sunlight, of course, and from foods such as fatty fish, eggs, fortified milk and fortified cereals as well as supplements.

-Sources: Bottom Line Health, CSPI Nutrition Action Letter, and Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter

New research has suggested that vitamin C could be effective in curing cancer.

Doctors reported yesterday that three cancer patients who were given large intravenous doses over a period of several months had their tumours shrunk and their lives extended.
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Currently, there is no known actual cure for cancer at the time of this writing. However, there are many a natural cancer remedy available for those who are interested. There are a huge growing number of people with cancer who are now beginning to realize the benefits that are offered by alternative medicine as a means of a natural cancer remedy. There are people who think this way immediately and initially and then there are those who will only turn to it after they are no longer able to continue with conventional cancer treatments.
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