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.

That’s because population-based studies have suggested that low levels of dietary magnesium are associated with an increased risk of airway reactivity and respiratory symptoms. Research also indicates that high intake cf this essential mineral can improve lung function and reduce the risk of wheez­ing.

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.

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 non heme. 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.

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 Structure

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.

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.

Folic Acid 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).

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.

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

Calcium Sources

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 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.

Calcium

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.

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

Daily Calcium Graph

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 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.

Calcium In Market

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 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.