Supplements
Fish oil - Yeah, you need it
August 01, 2011
Mary Poppins knew it. Your grandma knew it. Now scientists are coming around to the fact that fish oil is the best way to get your Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 compounds can be found in many foods, but there are important differences in the bio-availability.
First of all, if you have access to grass fed beef, chicken, eggs and other meats you will be getting healthy Omega 3's. Once the animal's diet shifts even a little to grain, the levels of Omega 3's drop quickly. This has to do with the animal needing the Omega 3's itself to combat the damage that the rich grain diet does to the animal's physiology. But most of you are not as lucky as I am with a freezer full of grass fed Milking Devon beef. Grass fed meats are more and more available. You can ask at your local farmers' market to see if you can find a farmer.
Second, stay away from vegetable based Omega 3 products. Yeah they have Omega 3, but it's not in a bio-available form. Your body must first convert the plant based Omega 3 to a form your body can use. Sounds innocent enough, however your body is particularly inefficient at making this conversion. Women convert about 14 percent and men in the neighborhood of 7 percent. This, coupled with the fact that the plant based products, (flax oil, hemp oil, etc.) contain Omega 6, which in excess, counters the effects of Omega 3, you may actually be worse off than not taking any supplement at all.
Second, stay away from vegetable based Omega 3 products. Yeah they have Omega 3, but it's not in a bio-available form. Your body must first convert the plant based Omega 3 to a form your body can use. Sounds innocent enough, however your body is particularly inefficient at making this conversion. Women convert about 14 percent and men in the neighborhood of 7 percent. This, coupled with the fact that the plant based products, (flax oil, hemp oil, etc.) contain Omega 6, which in excess, counters the effects of Omega 3, you may actually be worse off than not taking any supplement at all.
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Vitamin k
August 01, 2011
Since the amount of vitamin K1 in typical diets is ten times greater than that of vitamin K2, researchers have tended to dismiss the contribution of K2 to nutritional status as insignificant. Yet over the last few years, a growing body of research is demonstrating that these two substances are not simply different forms of the same vitamin, but are better seen as two different vitamins: whereas K1 is preferentially used by the liver to activate blood clotting proteins, K2 is preferentially used by the other tissues to place calcium where it belongs, in the bones and teeth, and keep it out of where it does not belong, in the soft tissues. Acknowledging this research, the United States Department of Agriculture, in conjunction with researchers from Tufts University, finally determined the vitamin K2 contents of foods in the U.S. diet for the first time in 2006.
The Autumn Exuinox
August 01, 2011
You have two choices to replace you vitamin D stores:
#1 Vacation
# 2 Take a vitamin D3 supplement
Are you gettig enough sunshine?
August 01, 2011
Sunshine exposure and vitamin D levels have been shown to influence, pain, heart disease, diabetes, parkinson's, cancer, infections, weight gain, mental health and many other conditions. Now that Spring has sprung, and the midday sun has enough power to activate your body's production of vitamin D, it's time to review your vitamin D supplementation.
1) Get your 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels tested. If you are lower than 65 you need to supplement and/or get out in the sun.
2) Get 15 minutes of midday (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) sunshine on your face and arms each day. Any type of sunscreen or UV coating on glass will stop your body from making the vitamin D. Many face creams and even make-up now has sunscreen added.
3) Take at least 2,000 i.u of vitamin D3 a day even during the summer.
4) If you cannot get out in the sun regularly you need to take at least 5,000 iu of D3 a day.
5) If your test shows your vitamin D levels are low, you can take as much as 10,000 i.u a day to recover from your deficiency.
1) Get your 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels tested. If you are lower than 65 you need to supplement and/or get out in the sun.
2) Get 15 minutes of midday (11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) sunshine on your face and arms each day. Any type of sunscreen or UV coating on glass will stop your body from making the vitamin D. Many face creams and even make-up now has sunscreen added.
3) Take at least 2,000 i.u of vitamin D3 a day even during the summer.
4) If you cannot get out in the sun regularly you need to take at least 5,000 iu of D3 a day.
5) If your test shows your vitamin D levels are low, you can take as much as 10,000 i.u a day to recover from your deficiency.