Probiotics Essential 'For Life'

The word probiotic actually means ‘for life’.  Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that live in the digestive system.  Did you know that the human digestive system contains over 400 different species of micro-organisms?  On average, an adult human carries approximately 1 to 2 kilograms of bacterial gut flora.  This represents an enormous number of bacteria.  The reason we have so many bacteria inside us is because we require them for many beneficial actions within the body.  They help keep nutrients that we are unable to make ourselves and they help to maintain a healthy immune system.

GOOD BUGS VS BAD BUGS

In order for us to maintain a healthy digestive system we need to ensure that we have more ‘good’ bacteria and less of the ‘bad’.  However certain factors, (e.g.: antibiotic therapy, antacids and gastric acid inhibitors, the effects of stress, a diet high in fat and low in fibre, excessive alcohol consumption) can all cause overgrowth of the ‘bad’ bugs and contribute to an imbalance in the gut environment – often referred to as dysbiosis.  By supplementing with ‘good’ bugs, balance can be restored.

SYMPTOMS OF AN IMBALANCE OF THE ‘GOOD’ AND ‘BAD’ BUGS

• Nausea
• Constipation
• Flatulence
• Vaginal thrush and candidiasis
• Infectious diarrhoea
• Diarrhoea
• Bloating
• Intestinal discomfort
• Immune dysfunction
• Urinary tract infections

NOT ALL BUGS ARE CREATED EQUALLY

Just as different breeds of dogs are bred to perform different duties, so are the different strains of bacteria in our gut designed to do different jobs.  The probiotics that are highly recommended are scientifically validated therapeutic human strains that will survive the harsh journey through your gastrointestinal system.  Many bacteria in yoghurts, for example, are what is knows as ‘transient’.  That is they do not live, or colonise, in your gastrointestinal system.  These bacteria will no necessarily produce a therapeutic result.  They may be helpful while they are there, but they don’t stay for long.

A good probiotic will adhere to your gastrointestinal wall and continue to grow.  This will help keep you healthy from the inside out.  Probiotics can help to restore and rebalance our intestinal health if it has been disturbed by medications, diet or lifestyle.

 - Metagenics Wellness Review Article

Stress Less with Magnesium

As Essential Mineral for Maintaining Health and Vitality

Minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium are essential nutrients that your body needs in small amounts for normal growth and development. Magnesium is one of the most important minerals – it is required for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body! It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, helps your cells make energy and keeps your heart rhythm steady. Magnesium is also required for:

·         Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels
·         Breaking down protein, carbohydrate and fat to make energy
·         Regulating calcium metabolism, helping keep your bones strong
·         Keeping your blood pressure low
·         Improving blood flow around the body
·         Enhancing muscle relaxation and relieving muscle cramps and spasms
·         Helping you cope with stress better

Are You Missing Magnesium?

Early signs of magnesium deficiency can include:

• Tiredness, lethargy and fatigue – not having enough energy to get through the day
• Muscle cramping and spasms
• Muscle tension
• Tension headaches and migraines
• Stress, nervousness and anxiety
• Insomnia
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• High blood pressure

Most Diets are Deficient in Magnesium

Magnesium is found in a wide range of foods, especially green vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes and chocolate. However, the bad news is that it can be difficult to get an adequate supply of magnesium from your diet. In fact, a recent scientific study found that the daily intake of magnesium was below the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for 76% of men and 86% of women tested! Compounding this is the fact that modern lifestyles actually increase your daily magnesium requirements significantly. For example, stress can deplete magnesium levels, as can a high consumption of tea, coffee and alcohol. Exercise can also increase your magnesium requirements.

Stressed Out?

If you are stressed, you actually need more magnesium than usual to keep your muscles relaxed and keep your nervous system going. The irony is that during times of stress, you excrete more magnesium, leaving your stores of magnesium depleted. This depletion of magnesium can leave you feeling anxious, uptight and can even affect your sleep. This results in a vicious cycle, whereby stress lowers your magnesium levels and low magnesium levels increase your stress!

Break the Stress Cycle!

To break the vicious stress cycle, you may need to take some supplemental magnesium. There are many different forms of magnesium, and having the correct form of magnesium is extremely important when it comes to supplementation. Some forms of magnesium can cause gastric upsets and diarrhoea for many individuals. Magnesium diglycinate is a form of magnesium is highly absorbable and can help alleviate stress, anxiety and insomnia. Magnesium diglycinate is the best form of magnesium to take if you are magnesium deficient.

What’s the Best Magnesium for Me?

Magnesium diglycinate is available from this clinic in an easy-to-take, pleasant-tasting powdered from. We have magnesium available in combination with other important nutrients to help you cope more effectively with stress in your life. We have formulas that combine magnesium diglycinate with:

• Taurine – The amino acid taurine plays a vital role in regulating mood, stress and anxiety. Taurine has been shown to directly reduce stress.
• B vitamins – All the B vitamins are important during times of stress and a combination that includes magnesium with B vitamins will certainly help restore you to a state of calm.
• Potassium citrate – When you are stressed, your body can become more acidic. This can deplete your energy and cause other health problems in the long-term. For optimal health, a more alkaline state is beneficial. The nutrient potassium citrate is an alkalising agent and will assist in alkalising your body during stressful.

Need a Magnesium Boost?

If you are experiencing any stress, nervousness and anxiety, make an appointment today. We can help you make simple diet and lifestyle changes and recommend the right natural medicine to help you manage your stress more effectively and get your magnesium levels back to optimal levels!

- Metagenics Wellness Review Magazine Article

The Health Benefits of Vitamin D - The Super Supplement

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because we get much of our vitamin D from the sun. Over the last two decades, studies have found that the level of vitamin D has dropped dramatically in Americans (and Australians); this is probably because we have been told to stay out of the sun or use sunscreen.

There is new enthusiasm with vitamin D studies showing that it does boost the immune system and fight off viral infections such as the flu and at the same time tempers the immune system from overworking, which can create more mucus and fluid in the lungs, causing further problems such as pneumonia. Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine, said "What vitamin D really does is play a sentinel role." What that means is that vitamin D is used by the immune system to fight infection and it also helps to control the immune response and limits inflammation. By "tempering" the immune system in this way, it keeps the immune system from literally overworking, which can actually lead to death and is suspected in many of the deaths in the 1918 flu pandemic.

Researchers from the Harvard Medical School did a study between 1988 and 1994 with 19,000 people aged 12 and older, with an average age of 39, and found a link between low levels of vitamin D and upper respiratory infections. Those with low blood levels of vitamin D were 55% more likely to get a cold, flu or an upper respiratory infection.

Vitamin D signals the intestines to absorb calcium. With low levels of vitamin D, the body will break down bones to get the calcium it needs. Without enough vitamin D, the body cannot absorb enough calcium to satisfy the body's need for calcium, no matter how much calcium you consume in food or supplements. The proper use of calcium is needed for the functioning of the nervous system, bone growth and bone density. Increasing vitamin D can help prevent non-vertebra fractures and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

A link has also been found between low levels of vitamin D and certain cancers. New studies have shown that vitamin D could be protective against colon, prostate, breast and other cancers. There is also evidence that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of diabetes type I and type II, hypertension, glucose intolerance, multiple sclerosis, some autoimmune diseases, schizophrenia and other medical conditions. Two small studies have suggested that vitamin D3 supplements provided benefits in people with active tuberculosis. In 2007, an analysis of 18 different randomized studies found that vitamin D supplementation might even help people live longer.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that vitamin D may slow the decline in the ability to breath in people with asthma and COPD. The researchers believe that by slowing this progressive decline, they can prevent or delay the irreversible decline in breathing that leaves many asthmatics even more vulnerable when they suffer an asthma attack.

Since there aren't that many foods sufficiently rich in vitamin D, the sun is then our only source for getting vitamin D. We have been told to stay out of the sun or use sunscreen, and sunscreen does an effective job of blocking the vitamin D. During the fall and winter months, we don't get much, if any, vitamin D from the sun, and most of us don't even get 400 IU from our diet, since there just aren't enough foods with vitamin D in them. To get just the minimal RDA required-400 IU per day-you would have to drink 1 quart of milk or eat 5 ounces of salmon or a 6-ounce can of tuna. Milk doesn't have any vitamin D in it naturally; it is fortified with it in the US and Australia.

There are two types of vitamin D: one is D2 (ergocalciferol) and the other is D3 (cholecalciferol). Vitamin D3 is the more potent of the two. When you look at multivitamins or supplements, look for vitamin D3. The label should say D3 and or cholecalciferol. A good multivitamin should have 700-800 IU of D3. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, when you take it you need to also have something with fat in it, a teaspoon of peanut butter for example.

Many are recommending that the amount of Vitamin D3 should be increased to 2,000 IU (50 mcg) in the fall and winter for healthy adults and 1,000 IU (25 mcg) for adolescents.

Vitamin D Keeps the Flu Away
A new study reported in the American Journal Clinical Nutrition found that vitamin D3 can keep children from getting the flu. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study with 167 children found that those who took vitamin D got the flu less than those who didn't take the vitamin D. [1]

Conclusion on Vitamin D
To sum this up, here is an impressive quote from the NIH report "A recent meta-analysis found that use of vitamin D supplements was associated with a reduction in overall mortality from any cause by a statistically significant 7%".

Vitamin D3 sounds like a supplement worth taking. The studies linking low levels and illnesses make it worth taking. Getting at least 700 IU in the summer in a multivitamin should be fine and taking a total of 1,000 to 2,000 IU in the fall and winter is now recommended. In the spring and summer, get out in the sun. Even if it's for a total of 30 minutes per day, sit in the sun with no sunscreen. Bare arms, lift your shirt up or take it off and get some needed vitamin D the natural way.

http://factoidz.com/the-health-benefits-of-vitamin-d-the-super-supplement/
© 2009 Sam Montana