Vitamins and mineral supplements are a good way to supply your body with nutrients that you might not be getting from your diet. Go down any vitamin aisle in a drugstore, market, or health food store. The first thing you will see is all the ‘natural’ supplements and vitamin complex tablets that all claim to provide all kinds of benefits. There are supplements that claim to help you lose weight without exercise. Does it sound too good to be true? It is. You have to burn more calories than you consume and exercise will help you accomplish that but I digress. If you are considering adding supplements to your diet have a discussion with your doctor will help to determine whether or not adding supplements would be beneficial for you or not.
Are vitamins necessary for optimum health? Most people, if they eat a healthy diet, do not need them. Most vitamins are fine and are not harmful. If someone does not eat a healthy diet or because of illness has a limited diet a vitamin supplement could be very helpful. Fruits and vegetables have important vitamins in them and should not be eliminated from a diet unless a doctor orders it. In this case a supplement would almost be necessary. Your body needs vitamins to keep it functioning.
Most people think that vitamins are a source of energy that is not the case. Vitamins help regulate the body’s metabolism. Vitamins also help the food we eat to release its energy. It’s the food that when absorbed and broken down into the nutrients the body can use that provides our body with energy. The body more easily absorbs calcium if you are also taking Vitamin D. Most calcium supplements are already fortified with vitamin D. There are thirteen vitamins that are all important to achieve optimum health. Vitamins E & C contain antioxidants. Antioxidants help to release free radicals, which are high-energy particles. These high-energy particles damage healthy blood cells. Studies are now coming out that indicate that the consumption of vitamins and supplements may aid in fighting cancer and preventing other chronic diseases. The research is by no means conclusive in this regard. Studies continue to be conducted in an effort to provide us with the ultimate health.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. An excess amount of vitamins in your system could cause bleeding, negative interactions with some prescription medications.
Listed below are some vitamins and how overdoses can affect you.
Vitamin A - Too much vitamin A can cause neurological problems
Vitamin D - Too much vitamin D disrupts the balance of calcium in the body that can lead to calcium deposits in the soft tissues of the body.
Vitamin C - Too much vitamin C can lessen the effectiveness of other medications.
Vitamin E - Too much vitamin E can cause blood not to clot and can cause other bleeding issues.
Vitamins are just one tool among many that are available to us to help us get healthy and remain healthy. Vitamins alone will not do this. A healthy diet, exercise, and regular health checkups will do this.
No one knows better than I do how important it is to eat properly and take care of my body. Also, like many others I have a tendency to be drawn to the junk food much to my own detriment. You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to get some exercise in. I also take vitamins and other supplements to help my body work better.
There are a variety of opinions about vitamins, supplements, and healthy eating. Vitamins are generally ok unless they are fortified with iron. The effectiveness of vitamins with iron is often hotly debated. Too much iron can cause iron overload and it doesn’t get ‘washed’ out of the blood as efficiently if at all. There is a disease called Hemochromatosis, which is fatal, as it attacks liver function. It can be controlled and there must be liver function tests done among other things. The controversy continues to reign.
You have complete control in this area. Do your research; there are a great number of websites that provides information on supplements and how they work. You should sit down with your physician and discuss your options. S/he may suggest you meet with a nutrition specialist as well. Get smart and be healthy. A little knowledge is a very good thing and in the case of vitamins the more you know how they work and how they could be harmful, the safer and healthier you will be. Trust your instincts, know your body, and get help if you need it. Good eating, good exercise plenty of water and common sense will help you to meet your goal of good health.
About the Author
Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of products which includes
Vitamin C and
Herbal Supplements, and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information.
Tags: Vitamins, multivitamins, Nutritional supplements, herbal supplements
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When the DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health Education Act) was passed by the USA Congress in 1994 it was a boon to all of us consumers. Finally, we all could buy herbals that had long histories of safe and effective use throughout the world. Before the DSHEA we were unable to get them, much less even educate ourselves about them. This was because the FDA was stopping education on them, and their actual manufacture supposedly for “Our” protection.
Certainly, there are slime in every business who prey on unsuspecting consumers who have not really educated themselves. We as consumers have to understand that there is no “Magic bullet” that will instantly reverse years and years of abuse of our systems.
There is no magic pill that will instantly cure cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, the common cold, etc. Some companies hype products as miraculous cures. It kind of reminds me of some of the shall we call them less than upstanding martial arts teachers who claim that they were taught a secret style by some hermit monk from the mountains. Yeah. Right.
That being said, it makes no sense to not allow good products on to the market.
The idea is to have supplements that can help you to live a better life. Can keep you healthy, prevent illness. And when you are feeling sick (dis-eased) can help make you feel better. They can be used to regulate your blood pressure, help you to relax, help you to sleep when you have to much on your mind. Something you can take to help fight off the beginnings of a cold, etc. Basically, help keep your body in perfect balance and health so you do not have to worry about ever getting sick.
Before the passage of the DSHEA some of the wonderful products being blocked included, Traditional Chinese herbal medicines, Ayurvedic medicines, and traditional folk medicines. So, rather than being able to easily get herbal remedies, we were forced to buy less effective drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. We were forced to buy synthetic vitamins. We could not get the education on vitamins and herbs as to what they could do for us. It was Prohibition all over again. Only instead of alcohol, the “Evil” was natural products.
With the passage of the DSHEA in the USA, the FDA is still regulating supplements. Contrary to what is reported in mainstream press, and by the FDA. There really are safety rules in place. Supplements are regulated. So are the foods you eat. Drugs are more regulated than dietary supplements. Supposedly, they are proven safe before being distributed to consumers. If that is the case, why is it that almost every month there is another recall of some drug due to unforeseen side effects and dangers? Why is it that once a drug is approved for use, many doctors start to prescribe it for uses it was not approved for? Yes this really happens.
If you could get an all natural product made specifically to treat your condition by a qualified, highly trained herbalist, would you prefer that, or would you prefer taking a laboratory produced drug that is synthesized from who knows what?
What if the herbal product was the same price? What if the herbal product was 10 times cheaper?
The drug companies certainly do not like consumers to be educated on products that would take away their profits.
Do you know that even though certain herbs have been proven to fight off cancers and destroy them, you will never learn about them? This is because even with the passage of the DSHEA, the FDA is suppressing this type information claiming that there “are not enough safety studies” even if it has been studied in most other modern countries around the world. Is that “Protecting” you? Or is it protecting the profits of drug manufacturers?
Do you know that as recently as a few years ago, no manufacturer of calcium products could claim that taking calcium would help fight off osteoporosis? Thanks to the DSHEA you can learn that calcium can help.
So now you have a small understanding of what benefits you get from the DSHEA. Here is the problem.
Now there are some Senators and Representatives who want to take away the rights of consumers like you and me to use the products of our choice. They want to limit the choices we have in how we are treated. They want us to be forced to use high priced poisonous pharmaceuticals rather than herbs. They do not want us educated as to what herbs do, how they can benefit us and keep us healthy.
This attack is being launched by Big Dick (Richard) Durbin (democrat of Illinois). The question is why. Is he really that well versed in every treatment so that he can tell you what is good for you and what is not? Is he really that educated in how all of the supplements, vitamins, herbs, and preparations really work? Or is it the usual. Politics and high level big money political contributions to his campaign at work.
While his idea is commendable - insuring that supplements are safe. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to force a supplement manufacturer to prove that the supplement does what they claim it does?
Wouldn’t it be better to allow…no in fact force the supplement manufacturer to have a lot of educational material available to consumers so they can educate themselves. Material including possible adverse reactions. Known and reported incompatible products (i.e. don’t take this with aspirin, etc.) Safe dosages, and unsafe dosages, as well as how much is to much..How much can you safely take during a 24 hour period. Information like that. I’m sure that this type of information would be more helpful than some bureaucrat deciding what you can and can not know about a particular product. Even if that bureaucrat has the best of intentions.
Imagine not being able to buy the herbal product of your choice because some politician and bureaucrat want to “Protect” you. Imagine not being able to find information on adverse effects and beneficial effects of a particular herb, or herbal combination, or dietary supplement? It is about to happen here in the USA.
If you really want to keep the ability to educate yourself on alternative medicine, the proper use of vitamins, herbs, etc, and have the choice to use them, then get in touch with your Senator and ask them to defeat Big Dick Durbin’s “Dietary Supplement Safety Act” (Senate Bill 722).
It’s for your own good.
About The Author
By Allen Weber Copyright June 10, 2003 JAJA Group, Inc.- newsletter Emperor’s Herbologist
Live Healthy! bi-weekly guide to living healthy in modern times. Featuring articles on alternative medicine, diet, herbs, supplements, foods, traditional cures and techniques you can use to give you more control over your health and well being. Subscribe today at: http://www.emperorsherbologist.com/newsletter.shtml
articlecity@emperorsherbologist.com
Tags: diet, diet pills, diet supplements, vitamins, health, weight loss, fat, fat trend, diet trend
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Discharge of phlegm
Phlegm troubles those who eat refined flour, milled rice, lentils and milk. Vegetables and fruit can reduce the amount of phlegm produced in the body. If the food is not properly digested or assimilated by the body, phlegm is abnormally high. Exercise and increasing of the vegetables contents of the food would meet this condition.
An expedient which can give quick results is this drinking of warm water (about a litre) with a tablespoonful of salt added to it. Drink it after you have gone to the toilet and then vomit in out. Most of the phlegm would be expelled.
Discharge of pus from the ear
A father writes: my eight-year-old son suffers from discharge of pus from his ear. No drugs have succeeded in giving him any relief.
Foods, which raise the amount of phlegm in the body, e.g., mild rice, sugar and lentils, should be avoided. You son should take whole meal bread, vegetables and fruits. He should be encouraged to take part in sports and games and should take regular exercise. Fresh air is of vital importance as is sun bathing. Ask the child to sit in the sun so that sunlight penetrates the inner part of his ear for fifteen minutes. This process will help in stopping the discharge of pus.
Night blindness
A father writes: My five-year-old son suffers from night blindness. He is unable to see after sunset and no course of treatment has so far been of any help.
Night blindness is a deficiency disease; if the elements needed are found in the diet night blindness will go. Natural salts and vitamins needed to make up the deficiency which causes night blindness are found in whole meal bread, unmilled rice, fresh vegetables and ask him to eat at least 250 grammes of carrots each day. Carrot is a vegetable, which contains vitamins, which make up the deficiency.
For more information regarding Natural Home Remedies for discharge of phlegm, Home Remedy and Natural Home Remedies for Ear Infections and pus from the ear visit http://www.natural-homeremedies.com
Tags: natural home remedies earache, ear ache, ear infection herbal remedy, discharge of phlegm
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