Nutrients Chart

If you have healthy mucous membranes, your chances of having signifi­cant allergy problems will be less. The mucous membrane is a layer of cells that secrete the slimy substance we all know and should love, because it contains an array of infection-fighting bio-chemicals. Mucus also shields cells from direct contact with pollen and other allergens, sub­stances that trigger allergies.

This mucus layer protects cells from the damaging effects of air pollu­tion. Studies show that people who are exposed to both air pollution and allergens are more likely to have severe allergic reactions than those exposed only to allergens.

The allergic reaction itself also leads to the generation of unstable mol­ecules called free radicals, which injure your body’s healthy molecules by stealing electrons to balance themselves. In the process, free radicals injure mast cells and may make them even more twitchy and prone to histamine release.

Nutritionist suggests nixing junk foods and eating more unprocessed foods to get an adequate supply of all of these nutrients. Some doctors recommend taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement that covers all the bases. For some people with allergies, avoiding certain foods can be dramatically helpful for all of their symptoms.

The researchers discovered that those who ate fresh foods high in antioxidants, such as grapes, oranges, tomatoes, and nuts, were less likely to have wheezing and other respiratory symptoms. In yet another British study of over 2,500 middle-aged men, those who ate five apples a week had greater lung functioning than those who ate no apples. The researchers believed that healthy compounds found in apples, like anti­oxidants, have allergy-fighting effects.

It’s not clear if antioxidant supplements, particularly vitamins C and E, have the same effect. When inflammatory cells located in the airways and lungs, called eosinophils and neutrophils, are activated, they create oxidants, which irritate the lungs and cause mucus. Several studies have shown that vitamins E and C can help tame that reaction when it’s caused by smog and other air pollutants.

Vitamin C is believed to be a natural antihistamine, and vitamin E is said to enhance the function of immune cells to better ward off free radicals. A long-term study is taking a closer look at how these antioxidants function in the lungs and whether supplemental therapy will decrease inflammation produced by allergens.

Until the results of that study are in, alternative medicine experts believe the best reason to take antioxi­dant supplements is to accomplish what allergy drugs cannot: addressing the underlying problem of allergies by strengthening the immune system. Doctors recommend taking 500 milligrams of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E to balance and strengthen the immune system naturally.

Although the Daily Value for vitamin C is only 60 milligrams, these higher doses are considered safe for most people. Extremely high doses can cause stomach upset, nausea, and diarrhea in some people. If you experience any discomfort, you might want to cut back. Recent reports suggest that a daily dose of vitamin E greater than 400 IU can be harmful, so it’s best not to exceed this dosage.

In a 2-month study of 37 children and adolescents, Brazilian research­ers found that those taking 300 milligrams of magnesium a day had on average 28 percent fewer days of severe asthma reactions. The participants taking the supplements also used their inhaled medication 40 percent less.

It’s possible that magnesium’s ability to relax body and blood vessels is what’s at work here, but more large-scale studies are still needed to fully understand the respiratory effects of magnesium.

Studies show that most men and women don’t get adequate amounts of magnesium in their diets. Adults over the age of 70 usually take in far less magnesium than younger adults. The very best sources of magnesium are nuts, beans, and whole grains. Green vegetables are another good source, as are bananas. Most processed foods contain very little of this essential min­eral.

Fortunately, you don’t need to load up on magnesium to get healthful benefits. If you do, you’ll soon find your maximum tolerable dose: You’ll end up with diarrhea. (That’s why milk of magnesia is such a good laxative!) People with kidney disease, kidney failure, or heart block and those who have had an ileostomy should not take magnesium.

Bio-Flavonoids

ascorbic acid compound of vitamin C. The chemical structure of bio-flavonoids is similar to that of a drug called cromolyn, used in inhalers to reduce asthma-related inflamma­tion.

Bio-flavonoids reportedly help reduce the release of symptom-producing histamine, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy connective tissue.

Unfortunately, experience with one of the common bio-flavonoids, quer­cetin, suggests that it isn’t readily absorbed, so the effectiveness in influenc­ing allergic reaction doesn’t always match the research done in the laboratory.

Researchers are still investigating the role of bio-flavonoids in allergy relief. For now, don’t rely on supplements alone; instead, emphasize better food choices, including bioflavonoid-rich foods such as cit­rus fruits, cherries, dark grapes, broccoli, red and green peppers, and herb teas (stinging nettle is specifically recommended for allergies). You’ll be getting a host of other helpful nutrients as well.

Allergic Reaction

affect your nose, eyes, throat, lungs, stomach, skin, and nervous system. They can make you itch, wheeze, and sneeze, make your nose run and your eyes weep, give you a headache or a bellyache, and even bring on fatigue and depression.

Allergy symptoms occur when your body’s immune system overreacts to substances in your environment. Most people can live with a little cat dan­der, dust, or pollen, for example. But people with allergies have immune systems that can react to just about anything that comes along.

It fights these foreign substances just as it would bacteria or viruses, the main causes of run-of-the-mill allergy symptoms are histamine and leukotrienes, biochemicals that your immune system releases. Your immune system is an incredibly complex system of several different kinds of cells work­ing in tandem. The overly sensitive cells involved in allergies are mainly mast cells and basophils.

Mast cells are found in tissues such as your skin, lungs, throat, stomach, and intestines, while basophils hang out in your blood ves­sels. As you can see, these cells monitor nearly every part of the body.

Nose Runs

however, the cell releases its histamine into surrounding tissues.

Histamine plays an important role in certain types of allergic reactions. It causes small blood vessels to widen and become more permeable to fluid, allowing fluid to pass from the bloodstream into sur­rounding tissues, causing nasal congestion, runny eyes and nose, and some­times hives.

Histamine makes the smooth muscles in the walls of the lungs, blood vessels, stomach, intestines, and bladder contract. That contraction brings on a wide range of symptoms. In the lungs, for example, histamine may cause wheezing. Histamine release also indirectly stimulates the production of thick, sticky mucus.

Allergies

You can blame parent for the fact that you’re allergic; the ten­dency is inherited. But some doctors believe a healthy diet and certain nutri­tional supplements can balance your immune system, keeping it strong but not over reactive.

To crack the underlying problem, you really need a healthy nutritional foundation that’s based on diet. If you continue to eat poorly and simply take a few supplements, you aren’t likely to see much of a benefit. With that in mind, here are particulars on the nutrients that may be helpful in fighting allergies.

Pyridoxine, or vitamin B6, is more rapidly eliminated from the body during heavy drinking, over 50 percent of those who drink excessively seem to have defi­ciencies. Eating a well-balanced diet that includes 1.3 milligrams of vitamin B6 can correct the problem, but only if no further alcohol is ever consumed. Good food sources of pyridoxine include meat, fish, poultry, or fortified cereals.

Folate, another B vitamin, is also in low supply when people drink exces­sively, since folic acid is one vitamin that does not signifi­cantly alter the taste of any beverage in which it’s dissolved, some scientists have recommended that manufacturers add folic acid to alcoholic beverages as they are bottled or canned, but this hasn’t occurred and beverages except beer are completely devoid of folate.

A well-balanced diet may prevent folate deficiency in nondrinkers, but folate is lost from the body more rapidly in heavy drinkers. A folic acid sup­plement of 400 micrograms a day may prevent folate deficiency in drinkers.

Vitamin A Food Source

beta-carotene to vitamin A.

So it should come as no surprise that people with cirrhosis of the liver, a disease commonly caused by chronic alcohol use, are frequently deficient in vitamin A. Vitamin A plays an important part in helping you to reproduce, to grow new cells, to fight infection, and, because of its important role in the retina, to see at night.

Although it seems like common sense that the answer to a vitamin A deficiency is to simply pop a couple of pills, giving supplemental vitamin A to people with alcohol problems is tricky and cautions.

Vitamin A Structure

Vitamin A is not only toxic to the liver if taken in large amounts, but alcohol intensifies that toxicity. If you supplement vitamin A in an alco­holic, you have to be careful not to add insult to injury and enhance the toxic effects of alcohol. It’s important to correct the defi­ciency. But at the same time, it’s important to avoid any excess. There’s a very small therapeutic window. Even the usual doses of vitamin A can be harm­ful to alcoholics, so vitamin A supplements should only be taken under the supervision of a doctor. It’s a short hop from helping to hurting with vitamin A.

For a while, researchers wondered if they could avoid the toxic effects of supplementation and still prevent a vitamin A deficiency by prescribing beta- carotene, a nontoxic precursor of vitamin A that occurs naturally in dark green leafy vegetables and in orange and yellow vegetables. But for a drinker, beta-carotene has the same problem as vitamin A itself. Although it’s seemingly nontoxic to everyone else in the world, too much beta-carotene can damage an alcoholic’s liver just as easily as vitamin A.

Thiamin Food Source

of brain damage caused by long-term alcohol abuse. Alcohol not only affects the brain indirectly by impairing absorption of vital nutrients, but it’s directly toxic to the brain as well. Studies using brain imaging have consistently found that alcoholic men and women have greater brain shrinkage than non-alcoholics. The cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for coordination and some forms of learning, seems to be especially vulnerable to alcohol. The cerebellum is also affected by the body’s stores of thiamin, which regulates the metabolism of brain cells.

Thiamin is an important player in the way the brain works, and although the brain requires a continuous supply of thiamin, the body does not store it in any appreciable amount. Up to 80 percent of alco­holics have a thiamin deficiency. Laboratory studies

Thiamin Structure

indicate that a thiamin deficiency from alcohol abuse disrupts the ability of brain cells to do their job, resulting in impaired function and cell death. This may eventually lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a brain disorder characterized by an unsteady gait, confusion, and memory loss.

Some doctors prescribe 50 milligrams of thiamin a day to temporarily supplement the diets of alcoholics, but brain damage caused by a thiamin deficiency cannot be reversed.

Alcohol Abuse In Pregnacy

Although alcohol devastates the body both directly as a toxin and indirectly through nutrient loss, scientists suspect that it may also affect the body’s natural antioxidant defenses. Antioxidants are substances that protect your body’s healthy molecules against damage by unstable molecules called free radicals. Heavy alcohol use not only increases the production of free radicals, but it also depletes stores of antioxidants, like vitamins C and E. That means that while those nasty rogue molecules are increasing exponentially, the natural warriors needed to fight them off are decreasing rapidly. This imbal­ance is called “oxidative stress.”

There is some experimental evidence that when combined with abstain­ing from alcohol, supplemental antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium may prevent the progression of liver damage. Many doctors who treat alcoholism put patients on a supplemental program designed around their own antioxidant deficiencies. However, everyone, from teetotalers to problem drinkers, will benefit by getting the Daily

Alcoholism Center Nervous System Depressant

Values of antioxidants.

The recommended daily intake is 30 IU for vitamin E and 60 milligrams for vitamin C, and the Daily Value is 70 micrograms for selenium.

Alcoholic Problem

Problems with alcohol are fairly common in the United States. Two- thirds of all Americans drink and sixty percent are light to moderate drinkers, but up to 10 percent drink excessively.

The lights to moderate drinkers are probably in pretty good health, because is safe and may be beneficial, since it lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. But excessive alcohol consumption is another story. Excessive drinking on a daily basis—more than three drinks for a woman and more than six for a man—increases your risk of cancer and can damage the liver, pancreas, heart, and brain, and also increases the risk of breast cancer in women, says doctor. It can cause vitamin deficiencies resulting in anemia, memory loss, osteoporosis, and night blindness. Although rare in this country, when scurvy due to vitamin C deficiency and pellagra due to niacin deficiency do occur, it’s usually in alcoholics.

The Liquid Saboteur

How does alcohol damage your health? It hinders your body’s ability to absorb, process, use, and store the nutrients found in

Affection of Alcoholism

food—plus it tends to edge out food in your diet.

Alcoholic beverages are essentially made up of water, pure alcohol, and sugars, so they offer virtually no nutritional value. Alco­holic beverages are full of empty calories. If you’re a heavy drinker, those empty calories replace other nutrients in the diet. In addition, alcohol has a direct, toxic effect on the gastrointestinal tract.

The result is that many, if not most, of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients extracted from food during digestion cannot be absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream. Compounding the prob­lem is the fact that alcohol is toxic to the liver, the organ that processes nutrients. Normally the liver stores the nutrients it receives and turns food into the energy your body needs.

Alcoholism Treatment Units

But once the liver is damaged, your body’s ability to properly use many vitamins and minerals such as thiamin, B6, and folate (the naturally occur­ring form of folic acid) is significantly reduced. And since a damaged liver produces less bile, a substance the body uses to prepare fat-soluble vitamins for absorption by the intestines, your body’s ability to absorb vitamins A, D, and E is also impaired.

Body Cell

radical bombard­ment generated by the modern world. Your body’s natural antioxidant sys­tems were simply not designed to handle rooms full of cigarette smoke, a diet loaded with fat and constant exposure to new and more virulent viruses.

This may change once scientists learn how to alter our genes so that we produce more natural antioxidants. But in the meantime, we do have another option: enhancing our natural antioxidants with synthetic antioxidants—in a word, supplements.

Laboratory studies indicate that antioxidant supplements, predomi­nantly vitamins C and E plus beta-carotene and selenium, seem to be able to neutralize free radicals caused by exposure to environmental pollut­ants.

Fruit Supply

Does that mean that supplements can actually slow the aging process? Nobody knows yet, but scientists are actively trying to figure that out.

Although antioxidant supplements perform well on laboratory animals, it may be some time before science can answer that question for humans.

Yet while we’re waiting to find out, one thing seems absolutely clear: Those folks who take supplemental antioxidants or who enrich their diets with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables certainly seem to be preventing development of the diseases that can accelerate the aging process. A long-term study conducted by French researchers called the SUpplementation en Vltamines et Mineraux AntioXydants (SU.VI.MAX) set out to assess the effects of vitamin and minerals supplements on chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. They looked at whether a cocktail of antioxidants at doses that are available through a healthy balanced diet could reduce the risk of disease over a period of 7 ½  years. Over 13,000 adults between the ages of 45 and 60 were given either a placebo or a supplement containing 120 milligrams of vitamin C, 30 milligrams of vitamin E, 6 milligrams of beta- carotene, 100 micrograms of selenium, and 20 milligrams of zinc. After 7 ½ years, the researchers found that the men in the group taking the supple­ments had a lower incidence of cancer.

Cysteine Peptide Chart

Hundreds of population-based studies like this one conducted over the past 2 decades have demonstrated that high intake of antioxidants, through food or supplements, reduces the risk of diseases that accelerate us into old age and helps us maintain a high quality of life. However, clinical studies of antioxidant supplements taken singly or at high doses over an extended period of time aren’t as consistently positive.

Getting people to eat a more nutrient-dense diet as they age is impor­tant, says Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, director of the antioxidants research lab­oratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. But what you eat is also important, he adds.

In essence, eating a super high-quality diet is crucial if you want to do all that you can to stay young longer. It’s especially important to key in on good food sources of vitamins C and E and carot­enoids like beta-carotene. Good sources include orange and yellow vegeta­bles, fruits, and whole grains.

Fruits

damage or disease is a tribute to the natural free radical—fighting systems with which you were born. These systems are fighting free radicals every moment of every day.

Each system is ingeniously designed to produce an antioxidant, a natu­rally occurring chemical that binds to the free radical (or the oxidant, as it is sometimes called) before it reaches the cells. In doing so, the antioxidant helps preserve your body’s healthy molecules.

Each antioxidant is designed to work in a different way in a different part of the cell. Its marching orders come from the genetic instructions on your chromosomes, and its power comes from a ready supply of specific nutrients in your diet. One natural antioxidant is dependent upon the availability of copper, zinc, and manganese. Another is

Natural Antioxidants Table

dependent on iron, and a third is dependent on selenium.

How much do you need? That all depends on what it takes to maintain an ideal balance of antioxidants. But since scientists are just beginning to understand what’s necessary, the best that we can do right now is eat a vari­ety of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.

Beside her is a cooler containing several bottles of spring water and a fresh fruit salad of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew for lunch. Next to her on the sand is a pair of well-used sneakers for the 2-mile walk she takes along the water’s edge every day.

There are no wrinkles or stretch marks marring her perfect body. And she’s determined that there never will be. She’ll do whatever it takes to defy aging until the day she dies.

What are the odds that she’ll make it? Better than they were a decade ago. Back then scientists had already found the reasons that we deteriorate into wrinkles, bags, age spots, flab, and life-threatening conditions. The reasons were, and still are, genetics, disease, environmental factors such as smoking and diet, and the aging process itself. Today these scientists also know that every single one of these factors may be directly influenced and perhaps even altered by getting enough of the right kinds of vitamins and minerals.

A Chemical Blitzkrieg

Both the diseases that contribute to aging and the physical and mental “dam­age” that we associate with old age seem to be

Age Spots

triggered by a lifelong blitz­krieg of damaging molecules that affect us on many levels.

These molecules, sometimes called free radicals by scientists, are sent zinging through our bodies by cigarette smoke and chronic infection as well as by the normal cell metabolism that converts the carbohydrates and fat we eat into the energy required to power our cells. Yes, just eating your daily breakfast normally produces untold numbers of these harmful molecules. There’s no way to avoid them completely.

Unfortunately, free radicals have the nasty habit of stealing electrons from your body’s healthy molecules to balance themselves. In the process, they damage cells and their DNA, the genetic blueprint that tells a cell how to do its job. And without a perfect copy of that DNA blueprint, a cell doesn’t know what it’s supposed to do. Yet biochemists estimate that every cell in the body is hit 10,000 times every day by free radicals.

Skin DNA

Depending on how badly they’re hit and how quickly they’re returned to service by cellular repair squads, the cells may mutate or die. And when either of these events happens, it may initiate the underlying biochem­ical processes that cause many of the diseases that accelerate aging: heart disease, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, cataracts, diabetes, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Some scientists also believe that free radicals affect the aging process even more directly. In fact, there’s a growing consensus that aging itself is due to free radical reactions.

The idea is that there may be an accumulation of damage from the con­stant cellular bombardment by free radicals. A cell gets hit once, the cellular repair squads come to the rescue and cut out the damage to the cell’s DNA blueprint, and the cell bounces back into action. But when the cell gets hit over and over again, there may come a point at which the repair squads can’t patch everything back together the way it was. So the cell continues to do its job, but not as well as it had been.

Skin UV And DNA Protection

If it’s a skin cell, for example, you might end up with wrinkled skin rather than smooth, polished skin. If it’s an eye cell, maybe you just can’t see as clearly as you used to.

In any event, scientists have found that up to 40 percent of all of the proteins in an older person may be damaged by free radicals. Proteins are involved in myriad functions in the body, from guiding chemical reactions to supplying energy to maintaining the body’s structures.

And that, plus the fact that studies indicate that damaged proteins shorten the life span of laboratory animals, has led some scientists to suspect that free radicals may directly cause aging.

Researchers have shown that d-alpha-tocopherol, natural vitamin E oil, can prevent inflammation and skin damage if applied before sun exposure.

Vitamin E oil can be bought over the counter in drugstores, as can vita­min E-fortified creams. Research has shown that if the cream or oil contains at least 5 percent vitamin E, it can also be effective in reducing post—sun damage.

You can also reap some of vitamin E’s sun-protective properties by taking supplements, suggest by dermatologic surgeon and

Sun Burn Skin

dermatologist in private practice in New York City. “It’s highly effective as an anti-inflammatory agent, and it reduces sun damage to the skin,” says professional beautician recommends that people take 400 IU of vitamin E daily in the natural form of d-alpha-tocopherol.

Good dietary sources of vitamin E include polyunsaturated vegetable oil, wheat germ, spinach, and sunflower seeds.

Try Up Selenium Sun Protection

You might want to boost your dietary intake of the antioxidant mineral sele­nium as well. Selenium can prevent solar damage, pigmentation, and dark spots, but because the selenium content of water varies across the country, not every­one is getting enough to be beneficial, citing the Southeast in particular as an area deficient in selenium.

Sun Burn Problem

To quench the free radicals caused by sun exposure and to prevent skin damage, doctor recommends daily supplements of 50 to 200 micrograms of selenium in the form of 1-selenomethionine. Your dosage depends on where you live and whether you have a family history of cancer. Selenium can be toxic in very high doses, so if you’d like to try this therapy to protect your skin, you should discuss it with your doctor before taking any more than 400 micrograms a day. Children should not take extra selenium until they have their adult teeth.

To get more selenium in your diet, try tuna; a 3-ounce can serves up a full 99 micrograms. Or treat yourself to an ounce of baked tortilla chips for a whopping 284 micrograms.

In general, vitamin C is important for keeping the skin younger look­ing, recommends a safe daily vitamin C intake of about 300 to 500 milligrams to maintain skin quality.

Studies have shown that just a minimal amount of ultraviolet rays can deplete exposed skin of vitamin C by 30 percent. Exposure to the ozone in a polluted city can decrease levels of vitamin C by as much as 55 percent. Med­ical researchers have also found vitamin C to be of some help when applied topically. It has been shown to significantly reduce the amount of so-called free radical damage that occurs from sun exposure. Free radicals are naturally occurring unstable molecules that steal electrons from the body’s healthy mol­ecules to balance themselves. Unchecked, they can cause significant tissue damage.

Antioxidants—vitamin C is one—neutralize free radicals by offering their own electrons and so protect healthy molecules from harm.

Since vitamin C prevents skin damage from sun exposure, it’s reason­able to suspect that it can also prevent the consequences of that damage, including wrinkling and age spots,” says reseracher.

One such topical vitamin C product is Cellex-C, which is available in a 10 or 17 percent vitamin C lotion or cream. It can be purchased without a prescription from dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and licensed aestheticians (full-service beauty salon operators) and by mail order from Cellex-C Inter­national. For optimum sun protection, the product should be applied once a day along with a sunscreen, according to doctor, whose patented technology led to the development of Cellex-C.

To remove an age spot, dermatologists often recommend applying the strongest dosage of retinoic acid that you can tolerate directly on the spot. The area will proceed to peel, and after a few months, the spot should dimin­ish and possibly even disappear.

In a 9-month study of 83 people with age spots, researchers found that people treated with a retinoic acid gel experienced lightening of these spots after 1 month. After 9 months, 57 percent of those treated with the gel showed significant lightening of their age spots.

Retinoic acid can be even more effective when used in combination with other treatment. We often have people apply glycolic acid in the morning and retinoic acid at night. Or combine it with a bleaching cream.

Skin Problem

Retinoic acid cream comes in a variety of concentrations, but it’s avail­able only by prescription, so you’ll need to work with your dermatologist to find the dosage that’s right for you.

And because retinoic acid continually sloughs off the outermost, dead layer of skin, it can not only eliminate existing spots but also nip new spots in the bud. The downside of this process is that an area of skin previously sheltered from evaporation and the elements is exposed. That’s why a com­mon side effect of retinoic acid is dry, sun-sensitive skin that can be irritated and scaly. Though this effect typically diminishes with time, if you’re using retinoic acid, you’ll likely need a moisturizer. Sunscreen is also a must once you start using retinoic acid.

But as we age, many of us do begin to see spots, especially on our hands, feet, and face.

And whether we call them liver spots, age spots, or sun spots, the reac­tion is likely the same: We want a spot remover.

Technically known as lentigines, age spots are the result of excess pig­ment being deposited in the skin during years of sun exposure. So along with treatment, dermatologists also recommend avoiding exposure to the sun.

Though the majority of age spots are harmless blemishes/that require no more than a trip to the dermatologist, early stages of skin cancer can masquerade as innocent-looking age spots. If any spot enlarges, thickens, changes color, has an uneven rather than a round edge, bleeds, or itches, have it checked by a doctor. For extra protection, also include a skin exami­nation in your annual checkup.

The good news is, if your spots really are just age spots, dermatologists today have an assortment of treatments at their disposal that can fade them, if not remove them completely. These include topical application of a vita­min A acid called retinoic acid.

Good Food Sources: Beef, Cream of Wheat cereal, baked potatoes, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, clams.

Description:

There’s no doubt that many of us can use more iron than we’re getting. Roughly 20 percent of Americans are deficient in this mineral. The group most likely to be coming up short: women in their reproductive years.

Iron, which is absorbed in the intestines, comes in two forms: heme and nonheme. Found in meats, the heme form is well absorbed. Men get about two-thirds of their iron needs met by heme iron; the amount varies for women. Nonheme iron is found in vegetables and isn’t as well absorbed.

Most of the iron you consume goes to form hemoglobin, the substance that helps your red blood cells transport oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. The remainder is stored in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and other organs.

Because iron also plays a key role in helping to prepare your immune system’s infection fighters for battle, a deficiency may lead to colds. Low iron levels can also cause fatigue, pallor, and listlessness—hallmarks of anemia. In children, low iron levels can cause stunted growth and impaired learning. Other symptoms of iron deficiency include split nails, a sore tongue, and cold hands and feet. An annoying condition called restless legs has also been linked to low iron.

Some experts even believe that vague gastrointestinal problems such as gas, belching, constipation, and diarrhea may be rooted in iron deficiency. If you suspect that you may be deficient in iron, ask your family doctor or your gynecologist to test your blood at your yearly exam.

How To Consume In Right Way?

Here’s a fact about iron supplements that should encourage healthy respect: The leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6 years old is acciden­tal overdosing on products with iron. So make sure your iron supplements are tightly capped and kept out of their reach.

Although accidental iron poisonings occur most often in children who ingest supplements containing iron that are formulated for adults, high levels of iron can also be toxic to adults. Therefore, most experts recommend that you don’t take iron supplements unless your doctor confirms the need with a blood test.

A daily intake of 25 milligrams or more for an extended period of time may cause undesirable side effects. Symptoms of acute iron poisoning include pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and shock. Still, doctors normally recommend iron supplementation for pregnant women and for infants.

Among the variety of iron supplements, experts say those made with fer­rous salts are better absorbed. Among them, ferrous sulfate is considered best. Slow-release and coated iron tablets may cause less diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain, but since the site of maximum absorption is the beginning of the small intestine, delaying the time of release decreases the overall amount of iron absorbed by your body. Taking the tablets with a meal could go a long way in helping to reduce stomach upset, but then again, the food may inter­fere with the iron absorption. Therefore, since it is advantageous for absorp­tion, experts recommend taking iron supplements between meals if you do not experience side effects or you can tolerate iron taken in this manner.

Good Food Sources: Fortified cereals, pinto beans, navy beans, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, okra, brussels sprouts.

Folic Acid Food Source

Description :

Folic acid is a nutritional powerhouse that makes things happen within the body. It works with approximately 20 different enzymes to build DNA, the material that contains the genetic code for your body, and is essen­tial for normal nerve function.

It also seems to prevent heart disease and stroke by reducing the body’s levels of homocysteine, an artery-attacking chemical that accumulates in the blood of people who eat meats.

Folic Acid Structure

What’s more, folic acid may help protect against cancer of the ovaries, colon, and cervix. Researchers found that women with high levels of folate (the naturally occur­ring form of folic acid) were two to five times less likely than women with low folate levels to develop cervical dysplasia in conjunction with various risk fac­tors such as cigarette smoke, human papillornavirus, contraceptives, and child­birth. (Cervical dysplasia is a condition involving the development of abnormal cells in the cervix. This condition can progress to cancer in some women.)

Folic acid also protects a woman’s fetus from life-threatening birth defects of the brain and spine.

Studies show that 50 to 70 percent of neural tube defects, like spinal bifida, could have been prevented if mothers had taken folic acid supplements before and during their pregnancies. Because of the strong link between birth defects and folate deficiency, in 1998 the U.S. government mandated that folic acid be added to all grain and cereal prod­ucts. Unfortunately, a survey by the March of Dimes has found that two- thirds of women of reproductive age still aren’t getting the recommended 400 micrograms of folic acid they need to prevent birth defects, and only 7 per­cent knew that folic acid should be taken before pregnancy.

Folic Acid Deficiency

Consume In Right Way :

Folic acid has virtually no side effects, even when taken in high amounts. For most people,-taking more than 1,000 micrograms has no benefit. Unless a doctor prescribes high doses of folic acid, supplements shouldn’t exceed 1 mil­ligram (1,000 micrograms) a day. Doses of more than 400 micrograms a day can mask symptoms of pernicious anemia, a potentially fatal disease due to vitamin B12 deficiency.

In general, 0.4 milligram (400 micrograms) of folate is a good amount to get in a day, and with careful planning that can be achieved, a day’s worth of folate could look like this: 1 cup of orange juice (110 micrograms) and 1 cup of folate-fortified cereal (160 micro­grams) plus a cup of raw spinach in a lunch or dinner salad (130 micro­grams).

Folic Acid In Market

Although folate is available in these and many other foods, be aware that as much as 50 percent of the nutrient is destroyed during food processing, storage, and household preparation. In general, much of the folate in foods is killed by heat and light.

Several substances can increase your need for the vitamin, including alcohol, tobacco, aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, oral contraceptives, pancreatic extracts, estrogen, antacids, arthritis drugs such as methotrexate, and medications prescribed for convulsions, malaria, and bacterial infections.

Calcium Sources

Good Food Sources: Skim milk, nonfat yogurt, cheeses, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, broccoli, canned salmon with bones, sardines with bones, corn tortillas processed with lime, calcium-fortified orange juice

Description:

By now, just about everyone knows that getting enough calcium helps prevent diseases such as osteoporosis. Less well known is just how cal­cium goes about doing this.

When you eat cheese or drink milk, the calcium in these foods is absorbed through your small intestine and into your blood. The amount of calcium in your blood is regulated by a substance called parathyroid hormone. When calcium intake is low, parathyroid hormone signals for bone to be broken down, releasing calcium into the bloodstream. “Diets with adequate calcium intake produce less parathyroid hormone, so that we conserve more calcium and more bone,” says professor of nutrition.

Calcium

Calcium then combines with phosphorus to help form hard, crystal-like substances that create the latticework that undergirds strong bones and teeth. In fact, 99 percent of the calcium in your body is stored in your skeleton. Researchers call this ongoing process of removing old bone and forming new bone remodeling.

You also need a stable level of blood calcium for a normal heartbeat, nerve and muscle function, and blood clotting. Living cells require calcium to act as a messenger and to help respond to hormones and neurotransmit­ters.

Even though calcium is vital for bone growth and maintenance in every­one, experts don’t advise a one-size-fits-all intake. Here are the Adequate Intakes (A Ts) of calcium as set by the Institute of Medicine.

Daily Calcium Graph

A)     Infants, birth through age 6 months: 210 milligrams

B)      Infants, ages 7 to 12 months: 270 milligrams

C)      Children, ages 1 to 3 years: 500 milligrams

D)     Children, ages 4 to 8 years: 800 milligrams

E)      Children, adolescents, and young adults, ages 9 to 18: 1,300 milligrams

F)      Pregnant and nursing women, ages 14 to 18: 1,300 milligrams

G)     Pregnant and nursing women, ages 19 to 50: 1,000 milligrams

H)     Adults, ages 19 to 50: 1,000 milligrams

I)        Adults, ages 51 and older: 1,200 milligrams

Consume It In Right Way :

Not all calcium supplements are created equal. The actual amount of calcium contained in a supplement, called elemental calcium, varies from one form of calcium to the next. Calcium citrate, which contains about 21 percent of elemental calcium, is

Calcium In Market

the most easily absorbed and digested by the body. Cal­cium carbonate has a higher concentration of elemental calcium (40 percent), but it’s slightly more difficult to absorb, especially for people with decreased stomach acid, so it should always be taken with food.

A newer form of calcium called calcium formate has more absorbable calcium than calcium citrate, but it’s not widely available. There are several other forms of calcium to consider, but most of them have lower concentra­tions of elemental calcium or they aren’t nearly as digestible as calcium citrate. Calcium lactate and calcium gluconate contain only 13 percent and 9 per­cent elemental calcium, respectively. Calcium phosphate has a much higher percentage of calcium, but it’s difficult to absorb.

Another consideration when choosing a supplement is how the calcium was obtained. Supplements that are products of oyster shells, dolomite, and bone meal may contain traces of lead, mercury, or arsenic. Many manufactur­ers have taken steps to reduce these traces, and some labels indicate that the supplements are “lead-free.”

Calcium is best absorbed when it’s taken with food and at a dose not exceeding 500 milligrams. This means that if you’re taking supplements exceed­ing that amount, you should take them in divided doses throughout the day.

High calcium intake (more than 2,000 milligrams a day) may cause con­stipation and kidney stones and inhibit the absorption of minerals, like zinc and iron.

Good Food Sources: Brewer’s yeast, barley, oat bran, soybeans, filberts, walnuts, peanuts, bananas, cauliflower, milk, egg yolks, salmon.

Description:

Your nails are a disaster. They’ve been clipped, filed, and buffed, then I coated with polish. And they still look thin, brittle, and pathetic.

They will never appear in Vogue. But they do happen to be just about the first thing folks notice when you shake hands or pet their dogs. So what are you going to do?

Well, you may want to try your luck with biotin, a B-complex vitamin that your body needs to process carbohydrates, fats, and amino acids (the building blocks of protein). Years ago researchers discovered that hoof abnor­malities in horses could be successfully treated with biotin supplements. Since then biotin has been touted as a nail and hair strengthener. Some research has shown that biotin supplements can improve the condition of brittle nails. However, those studies were small and/or inconclusive. Larger placebo- controlled studies are needed before any positive conclusions can be made.

Biotin deficiency is uncommon and is usually limited to those who are being fed intravenously over a long period of time or have a genetic inability to absorb biotin. Most people really don’t need to worry about whether or not they’re get­ting enough. That’s because unless you have a genetic defect that alters the way your body uses this nutrient, either you get enough of it through the eggs, milk, and cereals in your diet or your body will manufacture what you need.

People with type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes may prove to be a different story. They often have lower levels of biotin than people without the disease. Fortunately, researchers are finding that biotin supplements may help those with type 2 diabetes manage their glucose levels. When research ers at Yale University School of Medicine gave 43 patients with poorly con­trolled type 2 diabetes a biotin/chromium supplement, their glucose and lipid levels were significantly improved after just 4 weeks.

Research is also showing that biotin can decrease symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy, a complication of long-term diabetes that causes numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness in the extremities due to nerve dam­age. People with peripheral neuropathy have reported an improvement of symptoms after 1 month of taking biotin supplements.

How To Consume It Safely?

Biotin In Market

Biotin may be one of the safest of all vitamins. There are no reports of toxic­ity, even when it’s taken in high doses up to 600 micrograms.

Biotin is destroyed by certain food-processing techniques such as can­ning and heat curing. So it’s always better to choose fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats over canned or cured foods.