Vital Wellness

Doctor recommends other nutrients: vitamin A, selenium, and zinc. These nutrients play important roles in the health of mucous membranes, your body’s internal skin.

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Some doctors who treat people with allergies recommend that their patients get the Daily Value of magnesium, which is 400 milligrams. 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. Read the rest of this entry »

Allergies are versatile. They can show up just about anywhere in your body and create an incredible variety of symptoms. They can

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Research suggests that long-term alcohol use causes the liver to excrete vita­min A and impairs the body’s ability to convert

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. Read the rest of this entry »

The unsteady gait, confusion, and poor memory that many of us associate with someone who drinks excessively are also symptoms

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. Read the rest of this entry »