In many ways, if we wish to discover the path to health and wellness, we need to turn our eyes to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. The latter may have had shorter lifespans owing to long periods without food and attacks by vicious predators, but their bodies were free of some of the most common degenerative diseases faced by modern man, including osteoporosis and tooth decay. Interestingly, our Stone Age ancestors consumed far more than the current recommended levels of quality protein, essential fatty acids and fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin B9 (folic acid) is an important part in everybody’s diet, but it is particularly important for women who are planning to become pregnant and those who are pregnant. Women in either situation need to put folic acid at the top of their nutrient checklist and ensure that they are regularly taking pre-natal vitamins as well as eating foods that are high in vitamin B9.
Biotin has a couple of names. It has been called vitamin B7 as well as vitamin H. Whichever name you choose to call it, it is a water-soluble vitamin that belongs to the B-complex vitamins group. Biotin has many uses in the body, but is particularly important in metabolizing fats and amino acids. It is also used in cell growth. Biotin is a key component in the Citric Acid Cycle, which is a process by which energy is created during aerobic exercise.
Beta-carotene, we’ve all heard of it and we’ve all heard that it is good for us, but what exactly is it? Beta-carotene is the molecule in foods, such as carrots, that give them their orange color. It is a molecule found in your orange and yellow fruits and vegetables and it is even found in egg yolks.Carotenoids were isolated early in the 19th century and in the 1950s, we began using them for food colorings. Beta-carotene is essentially the most important precursor to vitamin A. Beta-carotene is known for its antioxidant properties as well and helps to prevent cancer a host of other diseases.
Because the child is vitamin K deficient, there is an impaired production of the various coagulation factors that are required for proper blood coagulation. The liver produces these factors.Newborns are relatively vitamin K deficient at birth for various reasons. Prior to birth, the placenta does not pass vitamin K to the baby sufficiently. This means at that the child typically has low stores of the vitamin K at birth. To compound the issue, breast milk has low levels of the vitamin and the gut flora has not yet reached the stage where it can produce vitamin K for the child naturally.
We all know that smoking is bad for our health and in particular the lungs. However, smoking’s effect on the body reaches further than just the lungs and is the cause for many diseases in the body. Many of these conditions result not necessarily from the act of smoking, but from the fact that smoking causes the body to use its stores of vitamins much more quickly.
In 1995, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation performed a study involving a team of cardiologists as well as biologists. The study showed us that people who have low levels of vitamin B6 have an increased chance for developing heart disease.Recently, there have been many more studies on this topic as well. These studies have shown us that high levels of homocysteine are associated with coronary artery disease. Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood and this increased level can cause heart attacks as well as strokes. Researchers believe that this link between homocysteine and vitamin B6 may even be more profound than the link found between folic acid and homocysteine.
Skincare is always on forefront of people’s minds these days. Not only do they want to avoid situations with acne, but they want to maintain a youthful and healthy glow as well. If you go shopping at your local drug store today, you’re likely to find several different products touting that they are full of vitamins, especially vitamins B3 and B5. These are all vitamin-enriched products that claim to help your skin, but do they?
When vitamin A is in its beta-carotene form, it can be an amazing antioxidant. Antioxidants are important in the body because there are a variety of different free radicals that develop and circulate throughout the body. At the biological level, free radicals are formed due to weak bonds in molecules that break. Free radicals are very unstable and can cause many issues within the body, mostly cause oxidation to occur. To rid the body of these free radicals, you need antioxidants.
The body absorbs Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, readily. Vitamin B2 is available in the body through a variety of different dairy products, meats and grains. Vitamin B2 is essential for energy generation, something the B vitamins are known for, as well as blood cell development, regulation of hormones and nerve development.Vitamin B2 does a lot for your body and it can work with other vitamins as well to ensure that your bodily functions properly function.
