Vitamins and minerals are substances consumers and research never stop talking about. Consumers always like to know more about their function in the human body and aim to eat as healthy as possible. Research discover new aspects and functions and even complete new vitamins.

Vitamins are nutrients,like protein,carbohydrate, water, fiber and minerals. All food products consists of different nutrients. We know different vitamins and they all have a specific function. One thing is certain, they all contribute to keep our body in optimum health.

There are still groups of people who are at risk of vitamin deficiency, because of bad eating habits, like school children, pregnant women, alcohol and drug edicts and smokers, who need extra vitamin C.

Air pollution and over use of alcohol play a negative roll in an attempt to live healthy. It makes people insecure.

Since the discovery of vitamins at the beginning of the last century, there has been ongoing research about the exact function of vitamins. Most discovery is done between the years 1939 and 1960. Science discovered that extra vitamins, like antioxidants, can give long term protection and can prevent us against cancer, stroke and cardio-vascular disease.

To-day vitamins are a concept and can’t be ignored: they give life force. Vitamins can be found in fresh fruits, vegetables, also in grain products, meat and dairy products.

Vitamins are needed for growth, maintenance and for repair of tissues after illness. They form part of an enzyme system in the body. They are needed by the combustion and to regulate different chemical processes.

People who are living under a lot of stress can experience hormone and metabolic changes, in particular in the neurotransmitters in the brain. They can loose the neurotransmitters serotonin and tryptoplan. They become depressive, start to panic and can’t cope with a certain unpleasant situation.

Research is trying to prove the connection between protein rich food and a nice, relaxed feeling.

Meat, poultry and soy products contain much protein, meat also contain vitamin B6, that is needed as a coenzyme to build up neurotransmitters. Also Vitamin  B1, which is found in bananas beer and wholemeal bread.

Vegetables are rich in minerals and can reduce mental fatigue. In particular asparagus, avocados, cabbage, beans, radish, celery and unions.

To combat oxidation, vitamin C, E and Beta carotene can be used. Cell membranes are protected against oxidation by vitamin E. It also protect bad cholesterol against oxidation. Most lung cancer patients have a vitamin E deficiency.

   Edition #48

Intravenous Vitamin C for Terminal Cancer Patients

Studies in the 70’s appeared to show an extraordinary survival gain in terminal cancer patients with vitamin C, a simple, relatively nontoxic therapy.
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Science Based Nutrition, Training and Fitness Resource, By Ed Clements

YOUR SOURCE for cutting-edge, science based information on nutrition, strength and muscle building, sports and fitness improvement and supplementation.
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Exercise Preserves Brain Function

Nutritional Medicine is unknown to most physicians as well as the public. The benefits of a good exercise program and a healthy diet are well known. Few however, especially physicians, have any knowledge of the health benefits of taking high quality nutritional supplements. Vitamins are a hot issue within the medical field.

But the verdict is in. What your doctor doesn’t know about nutritional medicine may be killing you. Only about 6% of the graduating physicians in America have received any training in nutrition. Doctors believe that you don’t need supplements and that you get all the nutrients you need from a good diet.

Doctor and patients alike must take a long hard look at how they approach health care to-day. Numerous studies prove that a healthy diet, a good exercise program and high quality nutritional supplements is the absolute best way to maintain your health and to regain your health after you have lost it.

There are records of amazing results by practising nutritional medicine. Patients with multiple schlerosis, who have gone from wheelchair-bound to walking again. Some cancer patients have gone into remission, patients with macular degeneration have found significant visual improvement and fibromyalgia patients have regained their lives.

Oxidative stress is the underlying cause of all chronic degenerative diseases, like coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration.

Heart disease is not caused by high cholesterol, but the inflammation of blood vessels, which can be reduced and even totally eliminated by taking nutritional supplements.

Antioxidants and there supporting nutrients have become our new weapon in the war against our number one killer: heart disease.

Fruits and vegetables contain thousands of extremely potent bioflavanoids. They also have some anti-allergic and anti- inflammatory properties.

Red whine and grape juice contain polythenols, which has been proven to reduce the formation of oxidized LDL cholesterol. Grape seed extract is known as the best antioxidant to prevent chronic inflammatory disease.

Vitamin E is the best antioxidant for the cell wall, vitamin C for the plasma and glutathione is the best intra cellular antioxidant. All of these antioxidants need the so-called antioxidant minerals and B-cofactors to do their job.

These ingredients work together in synergy as they accomplish the ultimate goal of defeating oxidative stress.

Doctors are content to let the pharmaceutical companies determine new therapies when they develop new drugs. But our natural antioxidant and immune system are the best defense against the development of chronic degenerative diseases.

There is some good news however, medical research is beginning to support the idea of supplementation with a mixture of antioxidants and supporting nutrients. This mix can enhance traditional chemo and radiation therapy and at the same time protecting normal cells from toxic effects.

But you don’t have to be a physician to start practising nutritional medicine, you as a patient can become proactive about preserving the health you have.

Cellular nutrition is defined as providing all of the nutrients to the cell at optimal levels or to those levels which provide a health benefit according to medical literature. Your life and health depends on it. They are far more superior to any drugs your doctor prescribe.

Has your doctor ever recommended a blood test to check your homocysteine level? After you have read this article, I guarantee you will wonder why. Not many people have ever heard of it, yet it is responsible for ca 15% of all heart attacks and strokes in the world.

Wouldn’t it be worth to know more about this major killer, more so when you realize that you can correct it by simply taking vitamin B?

The research on homosysteine was done by Dr. Kelmer Mc Cully, a promising pathologist and researcher, who graduated from the Harvard Medical School in the mid 1960’s.

Dr. Mc Cullly was in particular interested in studies that involved the connection of biochemistry with disease. He earned a strong reputation and became assistant professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr Mc Cully discovered that children who had a genetic defect that kept them from breaking down an essential amino acid called methionine. These children showed a tremendous buildup of a by-product, called homocysteine.

Dr. Mc Cully looked at two special cases of two under eight years old boys, who died from a heart attack. When he examined the boys’ pathology slides, he discovered that the damage to the arteries was similar to that of an elderly man, who had severe hardening of the arteries.

This led Dr. Mc Cully to wonder whether mild to moderate elevations of homocysteine that were present over a lifetime could be a cause of heart attacks and strokes in the average patient.

Homocysteine is an intermediate byproduct that we produce when our bodies breakdown the amino acid called methionine. It is found in large quantities in meat, eggs, milk, cheese, white flour, canned foods and highly processed foods.

Unlike cholesterol, which the body needs for the production of certain cell parts and hormones, homocysteine provides no health benefit. The higher the level of homocysteine, the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Homocysteine is converted by our bodies into either cysteine or back to methionine again. These products are not harmful, however, the enzymes to break down homocysteine into cysteine, need folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. If we are deficient in these nutrients, the homocysteine levels in our blood begin to rise.

Dr. Mc Cully’s theory was shut down and he lost his job at Harvard’s, because at that time the cholesterol- heart attack theory was gaining tremendous momentum and Dr Mc Cully’s hypothesis were a threat to its future.

The cholesterol theory achieved great victory and killed all other threatening theories.

Drug companies made their fortunes and everybody was convinced that heart attacks and strokes were associated with high blood cholesterol levels. Are you? If you have read my article about Nutritional Medicine, you should know better!

Anyway, the medical society and the pharmaceutical Companies did an excellent job selling this to the medical community and to the general public.

Cataract surgery is most common for people over the age of sixty In the US, eye surgeons perform 1.3 million cataract operations every year for a total cost of US $3.5 billion.

The lens of the eye collects and focus light on the retina. It is important for the lens to stay clear throughout our lifetime, In order to function properly. As we age, various components of the lens may get damaged, leading to cataracts.

Medical research has proven that supply of sufficient anti- oxidants at an early age can prevent cataract formation. Antioxidants are needed to combat against free radicals, due to ultraviolet sunlight.

In particular the fluid around the lens of the eye has to be protected by antioxidants against oxidative damage. The most important antioxidant is vitamin C, which is found in high concentration around the lens, as well as vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and beta-carotine.

A study showed that consuming vitamins in supplementation protects the eye and decrease the risk of developing cataracts by 50%. There is sufficient evidence that taking antioxidants is an inexpensive way to decrease cataract formation.

Another problem concerning the eye is macular degeneration. It is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of sixty.

This is the decay of an important part of the retina called macula. This is the area, which deals with central vision, where the greatest concentration of photo receptors are located.

We recognize wet and dry forms. Ninety percent of the cases represent the dry form, in which central vision gradually reduces and may proceed to the wet form for the remaining ten percent.

There is currently no treatment available for the dry form. The wet form can be treated via laser photo coagulation, by which new vessel formation can be slowed down, which causes swelling and bleeding into the retina. Blindness usually follows rather quickly.

Theories suggest that light entering the eye and focused on the macula of the retina causes significant free-radical production in the outer aspect of the photo receptors.

If there are no sufficient antioxidants available to the photo receptors, lipofuscin formation, a toxic substance, within the retinal pigment epithelium, causes more oxidation damage to the retina and research believe it is actually the cause of damage and destruction of these sensitive photo receptors.

Lipofuscin accumulate in the pigment epithelium cells and are eventually excreted in the form of drusen, which is one of the first indications of macular degeneration development.

The development of drusen separates the photo receptors of the eye from its blood supply and causes an area of blindness.

High-energy ultraviolet light and visible blue light are in particular responsible for the production of free radicals in the retina of the eye.

Our natural antioxidant defense system that protects us from this free radical damage, declines when we get older. Macular degeneration is characterised by low levels of zinc, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoid.

High levels of carotenoids, called lutein and zeaxanthine, absorb the blue light portion of visible light, that can damage the lens and he retina of the eye. They are strong antioxidants and are found in corn and leafy green vegetables.

CoQ10 can also play a part in reducing the oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

Glutathione, which is a very potent antioxidant found within every cell of our body, is in particular critical within the lens of our eye and the pigment and the photoreceptor cells of the retina. The level of glutathione declines when we get older.

Glutathione peroxidase is one of the natural antioxidant defense systems that our body creates. The nutrients needed for the body to make its own defense are selenium, vitamin B6, N-acetyl-L-cysteine and niacin.

Vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid have the ability to regenerate glutathione. Zinc is important for the function of our catalase antioxidant defense system and selenium is necessary for the glutathione peroidase system and both are important to combat free radicals produced in the eye.

As we get older, the lens of our eyes allows more ultraviolet light through and no longer protects the retina from damage of ultraviolet light. A good quality pair of sunglasses that block all UV light are important.

Without any doubt, the underlying cause of cataracts and macular degeneration is oxidative stress. Consequently, we can’t be too aggressive in our supplementation plan.

Protecting yourself with antibiotics is impossible. Dr. Michael Colgan, Director of the Colgan Institute of Nutritional Science in San Diego, wrote: “Our out-of-control disease industry has created most of the new bugs that now plague us. Our physicians are unwittingly engaging in biological warfare against the American public, far worse than anything done by Saddam Hussein.”

Each prescription of an antibiotic that is unnecessary, kills off the weak members of any bacterial colony present, that include any beneficial bacteria in our intestines. It’s called selective breeding. Only the strongest bacteria survive.

Because there is no competition for space and food, these resistant bugs can multiply quickly. When different antibiotics are repeatedly misused against a particular bacterial strain, it quickly breeds bugs that are resistant to all of them.

Misuse of antibiotics against self-limiting infections will not allow your immune system to develop its own powerful resistance. Most children in America today compromise their immune system by wrongfully prescribed antibiotics. They have never been allowed to develop resistance against unnecessary use of drugs, causing ear, nose and throat infections.

Alexander Fleming, who discovered the penicillin, warned us against these problems. At the beginning of this crisis, the microbiologist Dr. Stuart Levy of Turfts University at the head of a group of 150 scientists stated:”Unless we apply antibiotics correctly, there may come a time when they are no longer useful against diseases.” We didn’t pay attention to Dr. Levy’s warning and as a result the crisis is now upon us.

In the year 1992, physicians wrote more than 4,000,000 useless antibiotic prescriptions against the common cold and ‘flu viruses. They continue this malpractice year in and year out, despite clear instructions in the Physicians Desk Reference that the drugs are only effective against bacteria.

The picture for hospitals is even worse. According to recent studies, up to half of all antibiotics used in hospitals in America is improper. This criminal malpractice has caused hundreds of man-made, antibiotic resistant bugs, including new strains of tuberculosis, pneumonia, Ecoli, salmonella and meningitis. They make hospitals very dangerous places to be!

   Edition # 47

SUMMARY: Studies have shown peppermint oil to be fairly effective at relieving irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a collection of symptoms that includes abdominal pain and cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea that affects 5 to 20 percent of the population.
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Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia are both destructive and disabling diseases that the medical community recognize as to be different manifestations of the same disease.

Chronic fatigue patients suffer severe fatigue but have more sore throats, swollen glands and fever; fibromyalgia patients suffer from severe fatigue and total body pain. They both share a common cause: oxidative stress.

The first time a victim of chronic fatigue visit a doctor, he usually recommend a comprehensive medical examination. On the next visit the doctor will listen to the patient’s complains again and review past, present and family health histories.

He will direct another physical examination and after valuation is complete, the doctor will carefully examine the results, occasionally he discovers evidence of diabetes, anemia, hypothyroidism or some other disease process that is the cause of these fatique symptoms.

But mostly he finds nothing wrong and the doctor may even suggest that it’s all in the patient’s head. The doctor may say: well, you are really in excellent health. Give it some time and see if you feel better. But the patient is certain that he has given it already plenty of time before he went to the doctor the first time.

The patient feels frustrated and starts to look for an alternative solution in a more natural way. He may visit a natural therapist who does a hair or eye analyses, blood and urine tests and usually recommend certain herbs, diet changes and nutritional supplements to correct the problem.

The patient has finally found someone who has diagnosed the problem and although it seems his health and sense of wellbeing may improve because of lifestyle changes,he is “not himself” and may even start feeling depressed.

Alternative practitioners are trying to find out which nutritional deficiencies the patient may have and than try to correct them. But they are not correcting the root of the problem, which is oxidative stress. He probably still feels frustrated and keep looking for help from other sources.

People who suffer from chronic fatigue are in the beginning stages of degeneration, because of oxidative stress. They should have a serious look at their lifestyle and enviremental factors that may develop oxidative stress.

When people are victims of oxidative stress, this not only creates fatique, but it also weaken their immune system. With the use of nutritional supplements, patients overcome oxidative stress and they start to function normally, which makes them feel much better.

The number of people suffering from fibromyalgia in the US alone are close to 8 million, more than 80% are women. Those people are usually living in total pain or extreme fatique and suffer from lack of sleep.

They may wake up stiff, experience mental confusion, irritable bowel and TMJ syndrome. Many develop fibromyalgia after a serious illness, a major injury or a stressful time in their lives.

As you could have read in my previous articles, all these situations increase the production of free radicals in our bodies. Once this disease starts, holding in seems impossible. Because this is a chronic, lifelong disease, it takes time , at least six months, to regain one’s health.

Starting with a nutritional supplement program, combined with a healthy diet, a moderate aerobic exercise program with a light-weight-resistance program.

When people are starting to improve, the first thing they notice is that they can think and concentrate better. Also they sleep better and finally the pain starts to leave.

Most doctors recognize the benefits of a healthy diet and a moderate exercise program. However, these doctors don’t fully understand the consequences of oxidative stress. Otherwise they would recommend strongly the use of nutritional supplements.

The result would be a significant improvement in their patient’s health and a decline in patients who are looking for alternative health care.

Except from the two things we can be certain of in life: death and taxes, there is a third most of us can count on, which is arthritis. It effects nearly 70% – 80% of the population over the age of fifty.

The most common type is called: osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis, which is an inflammatory disease. Symptoms are:early morning stiffness, swollen joints and joint pain over the entire body. In an advanced state, it can cause significant pain, discomfort and even disability.

Osteoarthritis is caused by degeneration of the cartilage in the joints or the lining of the joints. The cartilage can worn out completely by mechanical stress, caused by excessive weight, trauma or activity.

The end of our bones is covered by articular cartilage. Our joints have additional cartilage that act like a shock absorber between the bones. Old cartilage breaks down, while new cartilage is formed. This process has to be kept in balance in order to keep healthy joints.

There are several causes of inflammation in our joints. The cytokins are among the leading causes. These are proteins who carry messages between cells and regulate immunity and inflamation. Two of the most important ones are: tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- a) and interleukin one beta (IL-B). They are highly concentrated in the joints of people with osteoarthritis.

The second group are the proteases, enzymes that cause the breakdown of proteins. Proteases are under control of the cytokines. Some have anti-inflammatory qualities and some have pro- inflammatory qualities, which are in the majority with arthritis.

The third group are the phagocytes (or neutrophils), which are attracted to the inflamed joint while trying to clear this reaction and to prevent damage to the cartilage and lining of the joint. But this inflammatory response can actually cause more inflammation to the joint.

The pressure caused by our weight on our joints block the blood supply to the cartilage. This phenomenon is called Ischemia. When we take our weight of the joint, the pressure is reduced and blood returns back to the cartilage, this is called reperfusion.

This process causes excessive production of free radicals. These free radicals put heavy weight on the antioxidant defence system and cause oxidative stress and consequently damage to the cartilage and synovial lining of the joint. When the body can’t rebuild cartilage fast enough, deterioration occurs.

Rheumatoid arthritis is another form of arthritis. This is an autoimmune disease. When our immune system starts to attack the cartilage and the synovial lining of the joint, an inflammatory process starts to destroy healthy tissue.This not only create excessive free radicals, but also attracts TNF-a cytokines.

Production of free radicals is five times higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis than in patients with osteoarthritis and causes greater oxidative stress and damage to the joints. This damaging effect can cause severe pain an deformity.

When considering traditional treatments, it is important to know the real causes of these diseases.

The traditional treatment of both types of arthritis, called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS) and aspirin, caused severe side effects, like stomach ulcers and upper – gastrointestinal bleeding (GI).

Because of this, pharmaceutical companies developed a group of new NSAIDS , called COX 2 inhibitors, which significally reduced GI. Unfortunately, these have side effects as well, like bowel perforation and upper GI bleeds, but less frequent.

These drugs mainly reduces the pain but do nothing about the basic cause of the disease, which is oxidative stress.

Apart from a well balanced, high quality mineral and antioxidant supplement patients suffering from arthritis should also take glucosamine sulfate, which is one of the basic nutrients for the synthesis of cartilage.

It is a simple amino sugar and gives the cartilage its elasticity. Unlike NSAIDS and aspirin, which only reduces the pain, glucosamine helps to rebuild the damaged cartilage.

In 1999 a large study revealed that glucosamine not only reduced the pain and inflammation of arthritis, but actually stopped the deterioration of the cartilage and even showed evidence of cartilage regrowth, without any side effects.

Another important advantage was that the pain didn’t return for weeks and even months!

Chondrotin sulfate is often combined with glucosamine in order to make the cartilage more pliable and spongy, as chondrotin attracts water into the cartilage. Without it, the cartilage becomes drier and more fragile.

Cellular nutrition is the key to prevent arthritis. This is another area in which nutritional supplements work together with your body to maintain or regain your health.