Vitamin Information Center

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
•Drugs that deplete vitamin B1: furosemide, antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and
phenytoin.
•Most people get adequate thiamine from diet and/or a multivitamin.Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
•Required for energy production, nerve and muscle function, enzyme reactions, and
fatty acid production.
•Defi ciency causes beriberi, a disease that affects cardiovascular, nervous, muscular,
and gastrointestinal systems.
•Defi ciency is common in developing countries; in North America it occurs in alco-
holics, those with kidney disease, malabsorption syndromes (celiac disease), and
in those with poor diets.
•Drugs that deplete vitamin B1: furosemide, antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and
phenytoin.
•Most people get adequate thiamine from diet and/or a multivitamin

Do a search for Acai benefits and you will find that this South American berry does everything from cure cancer to slowing the aging process and everything in between. Unfortunately, most of these results are unproven. And with that being said, you have to be a little skeptical of these amazing claims.

But there are some small tests being done by individuals regarding weight loss and the results look pretty amazing. Most of these tests are done scientifically. They do not disclose any changes that were made in the diet of participants nor do they give any information on the participants’ starting weight.

But even so, the results from these unscientific studies (and you can find many of them online) look impressive. I was so impressed that I have just ordered my own supply of acai and I will report back as soon as I get some results. (Some people might consider me a bit over weight so I will be a good test subject.)

Getting back to the unscientific online test results: On average, participants lost an average of 12 pounds in the first 3 days. (Several individuals reported losing 18 pounds during that period.)

And over a 14 day period, the average weight loss was 22 pounds.

Again, these are unscientific results taken from a number of websites online. Of course, this type of information should be taken with a grain of salt. But the results I saw made me interested enough to try the product. I am using a free trial from Ultra Prime. The company is reputable and they have a good reputation. I have nothing to lose but a few unwanted pounds!

A diet lacking in B-vitamins may increase the risk of vascular dementia, according to a US study.

Researchers tested the effects of a vitamin B-deficient diet on the spatial learning and memory of mice. They found that mice fed a diet deficient in folate and vitamins B6 and B12 over 10 weeks had deficits in spatial learning and memory compared with mice fed a normal diet.

Examination of the brains of the vitamin B-deprived mice showed that they had suffered microvascular damage in the regions of the brain involved in memory.

The vitamin B-deprived mice also had high blood serum levels of homocysteine, a chemical that has previously been associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment.

The researchers concluded that a diet deficient in B-vitamins causes cerebrovascular damage, and could result in cognitive impairment and dementia or other cerebrovascular disease.

I woke up with a sore throat and a bad attitude last week.

The sore throat was the first symptom, followed soon after by a runny nose and a lot of sneezing. And the raunchy mood resulted when I realized I was coming down with my second cold in less than a month.

I do not have time to be sick!

I went months without any kind of cold, and then to have two within weeks of each other, well, it was very discouraging.

So I immediately began doubling my daily intake of Emergen-C. Normally I take a packet in the morning and a packet at night. Sometimes, after a run of more than six miles or so, I take a packet before and after the run to deal with an occasional post-run headache.

By the second day, the cold was worse, but my resolve to beat it remained. I took six packets a day, in bottles of water, and by the fourth day, the cold had gotten much better. Six days after that first sore throat, I am almost symptom-free.

As I was driving home one night this week, I heard a radio commercial for a vitamin C supplement. What I found interesting is that it cited two studies that found higher doses of vitamin C can lengthen your life, help with PMS, and are a natural anti-inflammatory. Seriously, can this be true? And was it possible to overdose on vitamin C?
So I did some research. At first, I was more confused than ever as different studies and scientists offered different opinions.

But I did find some of what I was looking for. First, if you take more vitamin C than your body needs, you will just get rid of it.

“You really can’t overdose on water-soluble vitamins,” said Ken Hollen of Diet and Sport Nutrition, who has become my go-to guy on supplements. “What will happen is that you will get diarrhea.”

A person would need to take 10,000 to 13,000 mg to get to that point. I was taking six packets of Emergen-C, which has a lot of other vitamins and minerals in it, but that means I was taking 6,000 mg of vitamin C. (In fact, one article I found said it’s best to take vitamin C in conjunction with other vitamins or nutrients because of the synergistic effect that mimics whole food and reduces negative side effects.)

Another article made the point that megadosing any vitamin or mineral can throw your system out of balance, so you should consult a doctor or nutritionist to make sure you don’t create a different problem for yourself.

Hollen also pointed out, as did two of the articles I read, that taking vitamin C with calcium ascorbate can buffer your stomach and make sure you don’t increase the acidity of your system. Unfortunately, many supplements, including my beloved Emergen-C, use ascorbic acid, which can cause increased acidity.

As for all of those fabulous things that infomercial said vitamin C could do for you, there are studies that show significant impacts on health by increasing the intake of vitamin C. The one I was most interested in was the anti-inflammatory properties. Hollen explained to me that because vitamin C is found in the fluid around the joints and ligaments, it removes some of the inflammatory properties, but it’s not significant enough to be taken for that purpose alone.

Interestingly, nearly all of the articles and studies I read said increasing vitamin C even a little bit would most likely make most people feel better.

There is plenty of information out there about different things that are available to cure wrinkles. One of them is Vitamin C that you can get from various foods including oranges. There is quite a bit of research that indicates Vitamin C may be just what women are looking for as a very natural way to get rid of those wrinkles.

Back in the early 1970’s there was a significant study done on women. More than 4,000 of them spanning from 40 to 74 years of age were evaluated with their skin problems. They were then closely monitored and what they consumed was tracked. It became apparent that a person’s diet definitely has plenty to do with the aging of their skin.

One important determination from that study was that women consuming large amounts of Vitamin C had healthier looking skin than those that didn’t. They have fewer wrinkles and their skin was smoother. It was reasonable for them to assume that Vitamin C does slow down the aging process. This is due to the antioxidants found in it. They help the body to naturally produce more collagen. The Linoleic Acid that they contain also helps to prevent the skin from drying out.

The thought of adding more Vitamin C to your diet is easy right? But most people don’t want to consume oranges all day either. There is also the fact that fresh oranges and even orange juice tend to be expensive. There are some other alternatives though because many other types of fruit also contain plenty of Vitamin C. Some of them you may enjoy include kiwi and papaya. They are also found in certain vegetables including broccoli and peppers.

In order to get the most Vitamin C though from them you need to avoid boiling them. You need to eat them raw. You also need to consume Vitamin C all day long instead of at one sitting. That way your body is able to absorb as much of it as possible. Just think adding more Vitamin C to your diet is an easy way to control wrinkles.

There is no reason to let those wrinkles form on your skin and make you look older than you really are. You also don’t have to pay for expensive treatments such as Botox or a face lift. Consuming Vitamin C is a natural way for you to control the look of your skin. You can also do it at home so no one has to know you are fighting wrinkles. They will just be jealous that you have skin they would love to have.

So there you go.

Consuming so much Vitamin C will also help to boost your immune system. This means you will be less likely to become ill with common ailments such as the flu and colds. Your overall dietary intake will likely improve as well so you will have more energy and you may even lose some weight. Overall, this could be the tip you need to look and feel much better than you have in a long time.

Stacey Williams helps you to find the best wrinkle cream and antiaging cream to turn back the clock on your skin’s appearance. See this review of Athena 7 Minute Lift wrinkle cream at his review site here. Does this ‘face lift in a jar’ known as Athena 7 Minute Lift really work? Find out right here.

Last week, we reported that high consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks seems to increase the risk for type 2 diabetes among African-American women. In the most recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators from England reported that high levels of vitamin C in the blood are associated with a substantially decreased risk of diabetes.

The researchers studied a population of people, ranging from age 40 to age 75, who completed food questionnaires. The study population was followed for 12 years - in that time, 735 cases of diabetes were identified among 21,831 health individuals. After analyzing the information from the food questionnaires, the researchers found that individuals with high vitamin C levels in the blood were substantially less likely to develop diabetes. They found that higher fruit and vegetable intake was also associated with a significantly decreased risk of diabetes.

These findings highlight a potentially important public health message - promoting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables could help in the prevention of diabetes.

Here’s something new to add to the growing amount of affidavit to get able amounts of vitamin D: it may advice anticipate borderline avenue ache (PAD), a action that causes leg affliction and asleep and can baffle with walking.

PAD develops if blubbery deposits attenuated the arteries in the legs, and affects about eight actor Americans. Advisers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York analyzed abstracts from a analysis of added than 4,800 adults to analyze vitamin D levels with the accident of PAD.

They begin that the college the levels of the sunshine vitamin, the lower the prevalence of PAD—in fact, the ache was 64 percent added accepted a part of abstraction participants with the everyman levels of vitamin D than a part of those whose vitamin D levels were highest.

The advisers did agenda that they couldn’t be abiding that vitamin D—or the abridgement of it—is anon amenable for PAD because top levels of the vitamin could artlessly be an adumbration of a advantageous diet and added benign bloom practices that ability be careful adjoin PAD.

Q. For foods that act as natural blood thinners (such as broccoli, cabbage, etc.), does it make a difference whether the foods are eaten raw or cooked? My mom, who takes prescription blood thinners, has been told that she should avoid all these foods. But these foods are also good for you and I would like to be able to find a balance. It seems to me that you would need to consume a great deal of vitamin K in order for it to produce a negative effect together with the Coumadin.

A. First, a clarification on why people taking blood-thinners are sometimes advised to avoid foods that are high in vitamin K. Vitamin K does not act as a natural blood-thinner; quite the opposite. Vitamin K regulates clotting action and can interfere with blood-thinning medication.

But you are quite right to note that these foods are also very good for you and, in fact, it is not necessary to eliminate them from the diet when taking blood-thinning medication.  It is important, however, to keep your intake of vitamin K relatively steady from day to day so that your doctor can calibrate your dosage appropriately. Please refer to this post for a more complete discussion of this issue.

To your question about how cooking affects vitamin K levels: The amount of vitamin K is not greatly affected by cooking.  Nonetheless, most vegetables are listed in our database in both their raw and cooked forms so you can check the vitamin K content of a food according to how its prepared.

The Master Cleanse, or “The Lemonade Diet, is a widely popular, fasting diet described in the book “The Master Cleanser” by Stanley Burroughs.

This is an excerpt from the 1st chapter:

“For the novice and the advanced student alike, cleansing is basic for elimination of every kind of disease. The purpose of this book is to simplify the cause and the correction of all disorders, regardless of the name or names. As we eliminate and correct one disease, we correct them all, for every disease is corrected by the same process of cleansing and building positive good health. Man’s mastery of disease will only be final when ignorance and fear are overcome by proper observance of all laws pertaining to the creation of bones, flesh, and blood.”

The Master Cleanse is a liquid mono-diet that cleanses and detoxifies the body as it stimulates healthy tissue growth. It consists of fresh lime or lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper mixed with water and drunk 6-12 times a day

Even R&B singer; Beyonce, is in on the program as she reportedly used the Lemonade fasting recipe to shed weight while filming the movie: Dreamgirls.

The Lemonade Diet is another name for The Master Cleanse. Because the principal ingredients of the diet are lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper, it is also sometimes called the lemon juice / maple syrup / cayenne pepper diet. Whatever name you call it, it remains one of the most effective cleanses known.

This regimen that can be followed for 10 days, and may also be safely extended to 40 or more days, depending upon a persons physical condition.

Master Cleanse

2 tbsp lemon or lime juice (1/2 lemon)

1-2 tbsp of pure grade B maple syrup (Grade B maple syrup contains a large variety of minerals and vitamins. These include: potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine and silicon. Vitamin A, B1, B2, B6, C, nicotinic acid and pantothenic acid are also present.)

1/10 tsp cayenne pepper (red) or to taste

8-10 oz of purified water (very warm to medium hot)

Combine master cleanse ingredients and drink. You may double the Master Cleanser recipe and fill a large thermos bottle and drink all day long.

An herbal laxative tea is taken twice a day, and no other food is consumed.

The Master Cleanse helps purify the liver. The Master Cleanse helps dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion that have formed in any part of the body The Master Cleanse helps cleanse the kidneys and the digestive system The Master Cleanse helps purify the glands and cells The Master Cleanse helps eliminate unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles The Master Cleanse helps build a healthy blood stream The Master Cleanse helps relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries and blood vessels The Master Cleanse helps with weight loss

One common Misconception is that The Master Cleanse is for everyone.

Truth is The Master Cleanse is great, but it’s not for everyone. It is probably the second most powerful way to detoxify the body (a water fast is the most powerful). If a person has a great deal of stored toxins, releasing them too quickly results in detox symptoms, such as headaches, rashes, tiredness, irritability, even vomiting. Those people should not do the Master Cleanse. They should detoxify using a much slower, less powerful, diet. Also, people recovering from surgery need large amounts of protein to regenerate tissue and should not perform the Master Cleanse until they have completely recovered from surgery.

A patient of psychological disorder would usually get his treatments through

medication and services of a mental health institution or facilities. However, advocates of Complementary and Alternative Medicine believe that there are

less intensive, more holistic approaches that could be rendered to these patients in conjunction to their medical treatments. While they do not have approved

therapeutic claim and there are no conclusive proofs that these alternatives really work they have been practiced for years and have yielded significant

positive results in their own fields. Here are the suggested alternative solutions to mental health care:

Slowing down

Daily stressors contribute to the development of several mental health

disorders. In fact, stress itself is considered as a threat to mental health. It disrupts sleep, thinking and rest and it usually affects the way we

function everyday. Thus it is suggested to adopt several methods that will help lessen and manage the negative stressors we are exposed to everyday.

Biofeedback �” This method is normally used in treating mental health

disorders such as phobias, panic and anxiety. This works by controlling the involuntary muscle functioning such as skin temperature and heart rate and by

controlling muscle tension.

Massage therapy �” This method advances the belief the tapping, rubbing, and brushing the skin and muscle groups could relieve pent up emotions and internal

tension. People suffering from severe cases of stress and post-traumatic disorders are usually advised to take get massage therapy regularly.

Visualization �” Another method to lessen tension and stress is to redirect the perception and the individual techniques on visualization. This works by

entering into a deep state of relaxation where the person could create relaxing and “friendly” images that will contribute to his well-being and lessen the

occurrence of unwanted thoughts that are detrimental to one’s mental health.

Traditional alternative approaches

Ayurdeva �” Imported from Indian Traditional Medicine, Ayurdeva is a holistic approach to caring your mental health. This seeks balance on the body energies rather than on the

symptoms that affect the body. This system of traditional treatments includes yoga, a widely practiced alternative solution in the Western world these days.

Yoga makes use of postures, exercises, stretches and meditation to achieve the balance of body energies.

Native American approaches �” Cleansing rituals and chants are part of the Indian Health Services Programs that are focused on treating people suffering from

depression, stress-related disorders and anxiety disorders.

Acupuncture �” Used in treating many other ailments in the body, acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical approach that could also be used as treatment to

mental disorders. This makes use of needles with various sizes that are inserted to different pressure points in the body to be able to control its flow of

energy.

Diet and Nutrition

According to studies, diet and nutrition affects the manner by which our brains work. If it is deprived with certain nutrients, the brain may fail to

function the way it should be.

Vitamin and nutrient intake �” According to some studies, there are specific vitamins that our brain needs in order to produce other chemicals that are

crucial in maintaining our moods. Also, some vitamins are important in preventing the development of neurological and degenerative disorders such as

Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, proper intake of these vitamins and minerals plus supplementation of essential nutrients are highly recommended to maintain mental

health.

Mental health care does not only need to include medical treatments, support of other approaches is also needed to maximize the possibility of patient

recovery.