Vitamin Information Center

Açaí berry juice and supplements have become more and more popular in terms of its antioxidant power, anti-aging properties and potential weight loss benefits. Celebrities like Oprah and Dr. Perricone cheap açaí Berry for their health, but these benefits the costs?

Açaí berries are small purple colored fruits in Central and South America. You are in the same family as other dark colored fruits like blueberries and cranberries. The coloring of the fruits is due to the antioxidants, anthocyanins and flavonoids. Fruit and vegetables with the deepest purple and blue color are the richest in antioxidants.

Antioxidants are responsible for the promotion of good health because they help to wear by harmful substances in the body called free radicals. Therefore, an antioxidant diet consumed May reduce or slow aging and the diseases caused by free radicals activity. Furthermore, açaí also many other nutrients such as omega fatty acids, and it is a good source of protein (both are rare for a fruit). It is for this reason, açaí berries are prized as one of the most nutrient-packed fruits.

Although the benefits of powerful nutrients açaí berries are not denied the ability to açaí to weight loss efforts are not yet on the scientific research. In addition, the Western world is ready for large amounts of money to purchase this super fruit. Starting prices for many supplements and juices are usually about $ 30 (for less than a 1-month supply), but many additions significantly more expensive.

The bottom line is açaí berry supplements do pack a nutrient shock, but with a hefty price. No reason to worry, if you’re not in a position, the cost of these expensive supplements. The antioxidant flavonoids and anthocyanins, can by the consumption of other dark-colored fruits like blueberries and pomegranates. All other nutrients, which in this super fruit can by eating a balanced diet of lean proteins such as impaired (wild salmon, tuna, chicken), a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and nuts.

Antioxidants
Definition
There are natural antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin
E, carotinoids and artificial citrates. They are used
in food, pharmaceuticals and in synthetic materials to
avoid the oxidation (reaction with aerial oxygen or other
oxidize chemicals) of sensitive molecules. Mostly
they act as scavengers. Because natural antioxidants
delay or advert the growth and development of many
cells they possibly block the development of cancer.
A lot of antioxidantswhich decrease the hazards of cancer
are found in fruit and vegetables. And they also
make aggressive oxygen particles harmless. It is supposed
that a high intake of fresh fruit and vegetables
has a protective effect against the development e. g. of
cancer.

Abundant dietary vitamin C may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, say researchers from the Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England.

Scientists there followed 21,831 men and women aged 40 to 75 over a 12-year period, during which they tracked diet, exercise, and blood content. By the end of the study, 423 men and 312 women-3.2 percent of the study group-had developed type 2.

The researchers concluded that the subjects with the highest levels of vitamin C in their blood were 62 percent less likely to develop type 2 than the subjects with lower levels.

Fruit and vegetables were the subjects’ main sources of vitamin C. The researchers said that other factors commonly associated with a risk for diabetes, such as age, sex, smoking, family history, weight, and alcohol consumption, did not significantly alter the beneficial effects of vitamin C.

Is Gum Disease a Precursor to Diabetes?

If you have gum disease, your chances of developing type 2 diabetes are nearly double those of people who don’t have gum disease, according to researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

That was their conclusion after a 20-year study that tracked 9,000 people without diabetes.

The presence of periodontal disease has often been noted as an accompaniment to diabetes, but nobody is sure whether it is a precursor to the disease or possibly even a contributing factor.

Because gum disease, like diabetes, involves tissue inflammation, there is some speculation that it is an indicator of susceptibility to inflammatory disease.

Thirty-five percent of adults have some form of gum disease, and one third of those experience a troubling level of infection.

Researchers don’t know what causes periodontal disease. Theories include genetics, smoking, and dry mouth caused by medications. Treatments include antibiotics, topical gels, extremely deep tooth cleaning, and even surgery to graft tissue from the roof of the mouth onto affected spots to encourage new gum growth.

The hope is that lowering the level of inflammation in the mouth may decrease the likelihood of inflammation developing elsewhere in the body.

Source: Diabetes Care, July 2008

According to the rock musician Frank Zappa, the only things you can’t have too much of are sex and vegetables. He was a great musician, but maybe slightly lacking as a nutritionist. It turns out that eating only uncooked non-meaty food is too much of a good thing.

The raw food movement probably began with Sylvester Graham in 1850. He was a Presbyterian minister and promoter of dietary reform, who started the American Vegetarian Society. Vegetarians eat no meat, including fish and poultry.

The next stage along are the vegans. Vegans are vegetarians who eat neither dairy nor eggs — in fact no animal products at all — but who can usually get a belly-full of fruit, nuts, seeds, grain, cereals, berries, beans and sprouts.

And the next stage after that are the raw-food advocates. They are usually vegans who often have only one type of food at each meal, and who do not cook their food.

The raw food movement sputtered along in the 20th century. It was helped by a few people. They included the American scientist, E. B. Forbes. In 1933, he aired his dislike of both cooked food and houses with glass windows. In 1936, the American dentist Weston A. Price, blamed cooked food for many dental problems.

And of course, there was the Chicago medical doctor, Edward Howell, who wrote a book called The Status of Food Enzymes in Digestion and Metabolism. Today, there are a few raw-food restaurants in California, New York and Germany.

There are a few theories underlying the raw food movement.

One theory badly mangles the principles of thermodynamics and entropy to blandly claim that the energy in “living foods” is “of the highest order”, and therefore is “most beneficial to health”.

In another theory, Howell wrongly claimed that each of the foods we eat contain natural enzymes to digest that food, that the heat of cooking destroyed these enzymes, and therefore cooking foods made them harder to digest.

The theories all claim that cooking strips fruit and vegetables of their vital nutrients, and makes them harder for our bodies to metabolise, so that cooked foods are supposedly less healthy than raw foods.

But when you look at the nutritional science of it all, you get a different story. In fact, heating foods normally makes their nutrients more easily digestible. It does this in several ways. These include: breaking down the physical barriers in the food, for example, husk and thick skin; bursting open the cells so that the contents are more available; modifying the molecules; breaking down large indigestible molecules into smaller digestible molecules; and finally, breaking down toxins or chemicals in the food.

Yes, cooking vegetables does reduce their vitamin C a bit, but not to zero, and you do get vitamin C from fruit. One study showed that if you cooked vegetables, you would actually increase their antioxidant activity. We’re not sure why, but probably the heat-softened the veges, and made their antioxidant chemicals more accessible to our digestive system.

Studies done on raw foodists show that they are generally undernourished. They have reduced bone mass (with bad implications for osteoporosis later in life), and reduced levels of good chemicals, such as vitamin B12, iron and vitamin D. And even though they eat more carotenoids (from yellow fruit and veges) than the rest of us, they have lower levels of vitamin A, because they seem to be poor converters of carotenoids to vitamin A.

The raw foodists claim that eating raw food has long been the “natural” way for us to eat our food. But we have archaeological evidence of humans cooking food some 700,000 years ago.

And finally, about half of the women who follow the raw food diet get so malnourished that they stop having periods. So if a raw-food diet makes women infertile, and if raw food was how we used to eat food, then how did the human race multiply so successfully? Surely baby-making should outrank a raw-food diet in terms of doing what comes naturally. It seems that with both food and baby-making, some like it hot…

Apr 17 2008 by Gerry Holt, Western Mail

Vitamin A

Important for:

A healthy immune system;

Bone and tooth development;

Healthy skin and mucus linings (in the nose for example); and

Vision in dim light.

Sources:

Milk, cheese, eggs, oily fish, fortified margarine and liver.

How much do I need?

It is fat-soluble so you don’t need it every day – any of the vitamin your body doesn’t need immediately is stored for future use.

0.7mg a day for men

0.6mg a day for women

What happens if I take too much?

Too much Vitamin A over many years can make bones more likely to fracture when you’re older.

If you’re pregnant, having large amounts of Vitamin A can harm your unborn baby.

Vitamin C

Important for:

A healthy immune system and helping the body to absorb iron.

Sources:

Found in a wide variety of fruit and vegetables including citrus fruit, blackcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and brussels sprouts.

How much do I need?

It is water-soluble, which means you need it in your diet every day because it can’t be stored in the body.

Adults need 40mg a day.

What happens if I take too much?

Can cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and flatulence.

Vitamin E

Important for:

A healthy immune system; and,

Healthy circulation.

Sources:

Found in a wide variety of foods. The richest sources are plant oils such as soya, corn and olive oil. Other good sources include nuts and seeds, and wheatgerm (found in cereals and cereal products).

How much do I need?

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin. This means you don’t need it every day because any of the vitamin your body doesn’t need immediately is stored for future use.

4mg a day for men

3mg a day for women

What happens if I take too much

There isn’t enough evidence to know what the effects might be of taking high doses of vitamin E supplements each day.

Beta-carotene

Important for:

Its similar function to Vitamin A; and,

Used to make retinol, needed for healthy vision.

Sources:

Found in fruit and vegetables that are red-orange in colour including carrots, red peppers, mango, melon and apricots.

How much do I need?

You should be able to get the amount you need from your daily diet.

What happens if I take too much?

Increases the risk of lung cancer developing in smokers and in people who have been heavily exposed to asbestos at work.

Source: Food Standards Agency

Popping vitamin pills ‘like sweets’ could seriously damage your health, warn experts

HEALTHY people who take vitamin supplements were last night urged to be careful after research suggested they may do more harm than good.

Welsh health experts advised people to meet their nutritional needs by eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

There were also calls for tighter regulation of the sale of vitamins and minerals, which the public can buy “like sweets”, according to dietary advice groups.

The warning comes after researchers found that people who take antioxidant supplements, including vitamins A and E, to try to keep diseases such as cancer at bay, could in fact be interfering with their natural body defences and may be increasing their risk of an early death by up to 16%.

About 12 million Britons supplement their diets with vitamins and the industry is worth about £330m a year.

Paul Walker, chairman of the National Public Health Association Cymru, said: “We all need vitamins up to a certain level, but there is a misconception that taking more must be good for you.

“The evidence shows that this isn’t true. Having too much does no good and, in fact, could do people harm.

“The key is to have a very varied diet with at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day.

“More regulation of this industry is probably required.”

Antioxidants, including vitamins A, E, C and beta-carotene and selenium, are said to mop up disease-causing compounds called free radicals. It is this action that researchers say may cause problems with the defence system.

The research by Copenhagen University, released by the influential Cochrane Library, applied only to synthetic supplements and not to vitamins that occur naturally in vegetables and fruit.

Researchers carried out a review of 67 studies on 230,000 healthy people and found “no convincing evidence” that any of the antioxidants helped to prolong life expectancy but some “increased mortality”.

They found that vitamin A supplements increased the risk of death in healthy people by 16%. Taking beta-carotene was linked to a 7% increased risk, while regular users of vitamin E supplements increased the risk of an early death by 4%.

Although the review found no significant detrimental effect caused by vitamin C, it found no evidence that it helped ward off disease. Millions take it in the hope of avoiding a common cold.

Goran Bjelakovic, who led the review, said: “We could find no evidence to support taking antioxidant supplements to reduce the risk of dying earlier in healthy people or patients with various diseases.

“If anything, people in trial groups given the antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E showed increased rates of mortality.”

Catherine Collins of the British Dietetic Association said: “This study is deeply worrying and shows that there should be more regulation for vitamins and minerals.

“The public can buy vitamins as easily as sweets. They should be treated in the same way as paracetamol with maximum limits on the dosage.”

Camille Clarke, a naturopathic nutritionist, based at the Natural Health Clinic in Cathedral Road, Cardiff, backed calls for tighter controls.

“It [the industry] needs to be regulated, vitamins are too freely available,” said Camille, who urged people to opt for naturally- occurring vitamins.

“People read things in magazines and they are taking huge amounts of vitamins and minerals but have a terrible diet.

“There’s no point in taking vitamins if you don’t have a healthy diet. You should only take them if you have a health problem and only for a little while.”

Denise Parish, a lecturer in dietetics at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and a state registered dietician of 14 years, said: “As a general rule there is no evidence to say taking vitamins is of any benefit. Actually eating the foods that contain them is the best way of getting antioxidants.”

She said the only people who should take vitamin supplements are those who have particular health problems or pregnant women who are advised to take folate.

The chief medical officer for Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, said: “A good balanced diet which includes fresh fruit and vegetables will always provide individuals with the vitamins that they need.

“We would always advise people not to rely on such supplements as their primary source of vitamin intake.”

SATURDAY MARCH 1, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) — University of Cambridge researchers found those who had the highest level of vitamin C in their blood were much less likely to have a stroke, suggesting that intake of vitamin C ma help reduce the risk.

The study published in the Jan, 2008 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed those who had the highest level (greater than 66 micromoles per liter) had a 42 percent reduced risk for stroke compared to those who had the lowest level (less than 41 micromoles per liter).

The study did not mean that increasing vitamin C intake through one’s diet or a supplement would definitely reduce the risk of stroke or increased levels of the vitamin was the cause for the reduced risk although the possibility could not be excluded either.

Phyo Myint and colleagues suggested that vitamin C in the blood may be a good biomarker of lifestyle. A high level of it indicates that one follows a healthy lifestyle, minimizing their risk for stroke.

For the study, the researchers followed 20,649 men and women participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer for 9.5 years to record their health status such as incidence of stroke.

Their dietary habits and other lifestyle parameters were surveyed at the entry of the study using a health and lifestyle questionnaire and vitamin C levels in the blood samples were measured. During the follow-up, 448 stroke cases were identified.

The association between the plasma vitamin C level and the risk of stroke existed after a series of other factors were considered including age, sex, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, physical activity, and use of supplements.

The researchers said the association was probably not due to the supplemental vitamin C because when those who used vitamin C supplements were excluded, the link still held, suggesting that the possible benefit could come from vitamin C-rich foods such as fruit and vegetables.

The US government recommends in dietary guidelines adults should take at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day to maintain health. But often vitamin C supplementation is not encouraged.

The researchers said although the study did not mean to say taking vitamin C supplements would render this protective effect and trials of vitamin C supplements in preventing cardiovascular disease unlikely occur, the association was substantial and independent of known major risk factors for stroke.

Sebastian Padayatty and Mark Levine from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in their commentary accompanying the study report that “Vitamin C is an attractive marker of fruit and vegetable intake because these foods are the primary sources of dietary vitamin C.” and the take-home message is to use five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin C has proved controversial. Some experts notably Noble Prize laureate Dr. Linus Pauling had been advocating for years that people should use HIGH doses of vitamin C to prevent a whole spectrum of diseases from colds to cancer. But trials proved that vitamin C at low doses does not help prevent diseases.

Dr. Pauling had worked with a doctor to test how vitamin C affects the survival of cancer patients and they found that cancer patients subject to conventional treatments, but using high doses of vitamin C often lived a few more years than those who received only conventional treatments.

Vitamin C is non-toxic and many people use more than 5 grams per day, according to The Vitamin C Foundation, a not-for-profit organization advocating use of vitamin C.

Fresh Juice Snacks Can Be Healthy Balancing your work, family life and leading a healthy lifestyle can be challenging. Schedules are frequently demanding psychologically and physically and you may burn your meal calories quickly, especially if you have a physically demanding job or play competitive sports. In these hunger situations your body craves more food to replenish its energy. As a result it is a good idea to have a snack or mini-meal. This will help prevent acidic enzyme buildup in your stomach that can develop because of prolonged food deprivation. To quell snack-cravings and acid buildup it is important to eat light fruity snacks that provide the necessary nutrition and energy, and these healthy snack or mini-meals will not burden your body with heavy or hard to digest food like burgers and fries. It’s a smart idea to include a variety of healthy juices and smoothies in your snack routine. Fresh juice can easily maintain your required energy levels and provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates to boost your body’s vitality. Mini-Meal Variety and Great Taste Continue Reading…

So, are you enjoying the benefits of the organic food revolution that is sweeping the world?

Many people are find that their food tastes so much better using the organic variety and of course there are the other benefits:
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The problem with allergy medication is that they only treat the symptoms, they never treat the actual cause. As a result the symptoms tend to reappear as soon as you stop taking your medication. This can be very frustrating, and it can be pretty expensive depending on how susceptible you are to allergies. As a result many people have turned to natural allergy cures that treat the problem rather than just the symptoms. In this article we will take a look at some of these natural allergy cures. Continue Reading…