Brain Fog Solution

Clarity Every Day

Archive for July, 2009

Benefits of Vitamin B1, Deficiency and Sources

Posted by admin on July 29, 2009
Posted under Memory Improvement

Vitamin B1, also known as thiamin, gives energy to our body by converting carbohydrates (starches) into energy. It also helps keep the mucous membranes healthy, and is very essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system, cardiovascular and muscular system.

It is a water-soluble vitamin, and thus the body needs a continuous supply of the vitamin from food. Very little of this vitamin is stored in the body, and depletion of this vitamin can happen within 14 days.

Like a few other B complex vitamins, thiamine is also considered an “anti-stress” vitamin because it is believed to boost the activity of the immune system and improve the body’s ability to endure tense conditions.

Thiamine is found in both plants and animals and plays a crucial role in certain metabolic reactions of the body. Thiamine is especially essential during exercise, when energy outflow is high.

Benefits of Vitamin B1 â??

« Essential for the proper metabolism of sugar, carbohydrates, proteins and starch to provide energy - adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to the body.

« It helps maintain a fit and well functioning nervous system as well as helps proper function of the heart and the muscular system.

« Anti-stress vitamin and boosts the activity of the immune system and improves the body’s ability to cope tense conditions.

« Vitamin B1 enhances blood circulation, helps blood formation.

« It is used in the biosynthesis of a number of cell constituents, including the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

« It is essential for the manufacture of hydrochloric acid, and therefore plays an important part in digestion.

« It is also largely responsible for proper functioning of the brain and may help cope with depression. Helps with memory and learning.

« In some cases, it is said to aid in arthritis, cataracts as well as infertility.

Deficiency of vitamin B1 -

Deficiency of Vitamin B1 will result in beriberi. Symptoms include swelling, tingling or burning sensation in the hands and feet, confusion, difficulty breathing due to fluid in the lungs, and uncontrolled eye movements (termed as nystagmus).

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a brain disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. It involves neural damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems and is generally caused by undernourishment accompanied by regular alcohol consumption. Korsakoff syndrome is characterize by memory loss. High doses of thiamine can slightly improve faulty muscle coordination, but rarely improves the memory loss.

Cataracts - people with plenty of protein and vitamins B1 in their diet are less likely to develop cataracts.

Heart failure - Thiamine deficiency may contribute to the development of congestive heart failure (CHF). Eating a balanced diet, including thiamine, and avoiding stuff that depletes this vitamin is essential, particularly for those at the initial stages of CHF.

Alzheimer’s disease â?? Although not fully proven, but assumed that thiamine deficiency can lead to this disease because of the effect it has on the brain and the symptoms that people develop when deficient in thiamine. Deficiency may also lead to extreme fatigue, irritability, constipation, edema (fluid retention) and an enlarged liver.

Symptoms of Vitamin B1 deficiency â??

« Poor memory

« Poor coordination of body parts

« Weak and sore muscles

« Changes in heart beat

« Mood swings accompanied by irritability

« Stressful breathing

« Loss of appetite

« Gastrointestinal disturbances

« Tingling sensation in feet

« Nervousness

« Numbness of the hands and feet

« Severe weight loss

Who is prone to be deficient?

Thiamin deficiency is rare. However, a decline in vitamin B1 levels in the body automatically occurs with age, irrespective of health condition.

« Deficiency is most common in alcoholics (alcohol interferes with the absorption of thiamin through the intestines), all people whose body does not readily absorb the vitamin due to some malfunctioning, and those eating a very poor diet.

« It is also common in children with congenital heart disease.

« People with chronic fatigue syndrome are also prone.

« Individuals undergoing regular kidney dialysis.

Dosage -

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is about 1.4 mg per day for males, and for females - about 1.0 mg per day. About 50 mg is usually used in supplementation.

This dosage is the minimum that one requires per day, to ward off deficiency of the vitamin. Remember to keep the toxicity level in mind.

Large doses (5,000 to 10,000 mg) can cause headaches, irritability, rapid pulse, and weakness

Sources of Vitamin B1 -

Thiamine is found in both plant and animal sources.

Sunflower seeds, whole grain cereals, peanuts, wheat bran, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, sea-fish, liver, egg-yolk, kidney beans all contain good amounts of thiamin

Vitamin B1 can also be found in multivitamins (including children’s chewable and liquid drops) or B complex vitamins.

Storage of Vitamin B1 â??

If you want to derive the maximum vitamins possible from food - then refrigerate fresh fruits and veggies, and keep milk and grains away from strong light.

Water-soluble vitamins are easily destroyed and washed during food preparation and storage. If you are taking vitamin B1 supplements, store them at room temperature in a dry place that is free of moisture.

Tom alter
http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/benefits-of-vitamin-b1-deficiency-and-sources-104067.html

Antiaging Nutrition - How Food Can Defeat Age

Posted by admin on July 23, 2009
Posted under Memory Improvement

Proper anti-aging nutrition can seriously reduce most signs of aging. Wrinkles, memory loss, heart disease risk and osteoporosis to a certain extent can be prevented with the right diet. Find the secrets of anti-aging food and nutritional supplements.

Modern medicine offers many anti-aging treatments – special antiaging programs and clinics, creams and skin lotions, anti-aging food supplements and vitamins. But your diet is the first and most important tool to defeat age.

What are most important anti-aging nutrients?

As we age, our body slowly looses its ability to process vitamins. So to keep the right level of nutrition you need to consume more of the key vitamins than before. For example, vitamin D is essential in preventing osteoporosis. While we are young, our skin produces enough of Vitamin D when we are exposed to the sun, but with age its production is reduces by approximately 30 percent.

Vitamins of B group are also very important. It is responsible for keeping memory loss and heart diseases out. Most important B group vitamins are B 6, B 12 and Folic acid. You also need more of Vitamin B as your body ages.

How to achieve anti-aging nutrition

To get the right anti-aging nutrition is easier than you think. All you have to do is to increase the intake of vegetables and fresh fruit in your everyday diet. This will also help you to loose weight if you have any extra kilos.

Consuming vegetables and fruits gives you three anti-aging benefits at once. First, most fruits and veggies contain no fat or cholesterol. Second, they are full of important nutritients – most fresh fruits contain Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, beta carotene and folic acid. All of these are vitally important for anti-aging. And, third, vegetables and fruits provide a lot of fiber which helps keep your digestive system healthy and clean.

Foods that bring most anti-aging benefits are spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, berries, oranges and other citruses, apples, lettuce and onions. But this doesn’t mean that other vegetables and fruits should be excluded from your diet, because almost any fruit if it is fresh contains important anti-aging agents.

Most fruits and veggies don’t provide much protein for your body. As we all know good sources of protein are meat and fish. When it comes to anti-aging diet, lean fish is preferred. It also supplies Omega 3 fats, important for antiaging.

Antiaging diet or antiaging supplements – which is better?

It is better is to use both. As mentioned before, the ability of our body to process vitamins reduces with age. This means you will need to consume more vitamins as you age. It doesn’t make any sense to double your food intake, so antiaging supplements can be very helpful.

There are many anti-aging antioxidant supplements on offer. Some are quite pricy, others are more affordable. One thing you should know is that antioxidant complex is just a fancy name for vitamins and certain minerals. So a quality multivitamin would serve well as anti-aging supplement. Additionally, you can take vitamin C. Most multivitamin pills don’t include enough of Vitamin C, so unless you are in a habit of drinking several glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice every day, a Vitamin C supplement is necessary. According to the Alliance for Aging Research 1,000 mg is an adequate daily dose.

You should be careful not to overdo it with the vitamin supplements. Most Vitamins, with the exception of Vitamin C, are not water soluble, which means that they can accumulate in your body. Too much of vitamins can be toxic. This is the reason; you should not take any supplements without consulting a doctor.

That was anti-aging nutrition in a nut shell. There is no miraculous “anti-aging food”, just a balanced diet rich in vitamins and low in fat is your best anti-aging solution.

Tatyana Turner
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/antiaging-nutrition-how-food-can-defeat-age-63120.html

Vitamin Benefits, Sources and Deficiency

Posted by admin on July 15, 2009
Posted under Memory Improvement

Vitamins are organic substances necessary in very small amounts to direct different processes within living cells. Even though vitamins offer no energy benefits to the body directly, they do help set free the energy stored in carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Thus, most vitamins help chemical reactions to take place. The human body does not produce most of the vitamins it requires and must obtain them from foods.

When taken as a dietary supplement in the daily diet, they help balance out the deficiencies of improper eating habits, overcooked foods, and non-nutritive processed foods. Vitamins are also critical in the production of red blood cells and the protection of the nervous, skeletal, and immune system.

Humans require 13 essential vitamins.

Four are fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, and K), and the remaining nine are water-soluble (Vitamins C and the eight B-complex vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, vitamin B-12, biotin, and pantothenic acid).

Solubility refers to how a vitamin is absorbed, transported, and stored in the body. The water-soluble vitamins are absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Extra water-soluble vitamins are removed by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. Fat-soluble vitamins are usually transported in the blood by special proteins and excess gets stored in the fatty tissues of the body rather than excreted.

Some of the vitamins and their benefits are as follows -

Beta-carotene protects against cancer, memory loss and heart disease.

It helps improve vision and fight skin disorders, such as psoriasis and eczema, protect throat, mouth, and lungs from pre-cancerous cells.

It is best to get beta-carotene through dietary sources, as artificial supplementation in high doses is still controversial. Rich dietary sources are yellow, orange and green leafy vegetables.

Biotin is used in the metabolism of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. It also helps in energy production and can to a certain extent help people with diabetes by keep glucose levels reduced. Other benefits include healthy hair, skin, nails, reducing tiredness, heartburn and some allergies.

Folic acid (Vitamin B9) - is an important vitamin for women who are trying to conceive and those already pregnant. It helps to make the heart healthy, increases overall energy level and helps combat

Alzheimer’s disease.

Good sources of folic acid are leafy green vegetables, liver and fruits.

Vitamin A is a very effective antioxidant. It also plays an important role in maintaining healthy vision, keeps the cells of the skin healthy, helps relieve skin disorders, boosts the immune system and helps in early healing of wounds.

Older people should not take vitamin A supplements because they are at risk for vitamin A toxicity.

Vitamin a is found as retinol in milk, butter, cheese, egg yolk, liver and fatty fish; as carotenes in milk, carrots, tomatoes, dark green vegetables.

Vitamin B2 is essential for the metabolism of carbohydrates (to produce energy) and amino acids. It also helps keep mucous membranes (such as those lining the mouth) healthy.

Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to serious health complications such as nerve damage, weak muscles, depression, memory problem, anaemia, and stunted growth in children. It also helps the formation and regeneration of red blood cells, along with the proper functioning of nerves.

Rich sources are meat, eggs and milk. Almost no plant foods contain B12. Fortified breakfast cereals are a useful source.

Vitamin B1 is necessary for proper metabolism of sugar and starch to provide energy. It helps maintain a healthy nervous system as well as aid in the proper functioning of the heart and other muscles. Stress increases the need for B-1 and all B vitamins.

Cereals, nuts and pulses are rich sources. Green vegetables, fruits and fortified cereals contain this vitamin.

Vitamin C has helps in the production of the protein - collagen, boosts the immune system, protects artery linings, and helps in the prevention of cataracts.

Good dietary sources are citrus fruits, berries, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes.

Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, thereby helping to form and maintain strong bones. Best source is sunlight. Dietary sources include oily fish, egg yolk, fortified breakfast cereals.

Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant, which helps in the protection against heart disease, some types of cancers, boosts the immune system, and acts as an aid in the healing of injuries.

Good dietary sources are common vegetable oils and the products made from them,, wheat germ, nuts and green leafy vegetables.

Vitamin K is beneficial because it helps in blood clotting and helps to strengthen bones and counter osteoporosis.

Can overdose of vitamins be harmful -

Extra vitamin in the diet can be harmful, especially when taken as supplements. Overdoses of fat-soluble vitamins are particularly dangerous because the excess gets stored in the body, thereby increasing the risk of toxicity. Although all vitamins do not show toxicity nature.

What can vitamin deficiency lead to?

Intake of required vitamins below the recommended levels can have adverse effects on health, even though not low enough to cause a deficiency disease.

If the deficiency is for a persistently long time, then one could develop characteristic deficiency symptoms. For example, vitamin B deficiency can cause anaemia, beriberi. Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness.

Low intake of folic acid increases a woman’s chance of delivering a baby with a defective neural tube as well as increased heart disease risk

Tom alter
http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/vitamin-benefits-sources-and-deficiency-104078.html

B Vitamins Deficiency

Posted by admin on July 8, 2009
Posted under Memory Improvement

Even though you have many benefits from taking vitamin B, you will find that if you lack the nutrient that you can have a vitamin b deficiency and you can get several illnesses including . Beriberi if you have a vitamin B1 deficiency. This disease will cause you to have weight loss, emotional imbalances, weakness in your arms and legs, irregular heartbeat, and swell.

It will also affect your visuals. Beriberi will eventually cause you to go into cardiac arrest and then death may be possible. You can also get Korsakoff’s syndrome, which will be a psychosis state that cannot be reversed and is characterized by amnesia. It can be like Alzheimer’s disease. That is if you have a vitamin B1 deficiency, however they are several parts of Vitamin B complex and you can get plenty of other illnesses. If you have a Vitamin B2 deficiency will cause you to be sensitive to the sun’s rays, your lips will crack from dryness, angular cheilitis, your tongue will swell, dermatitis issues will arise, syphilis like symptoms, and hyperemia. If you have a vitamin B3 deficiency, you will have Pellagra symptoms. You will have an increase in aggression, dermatitis, insomnia, weakness, mental confusion, and diarrhea.

Did you know that a Vitamin B5 deficiency could be the reason behind your acne? The lack of Vitamin B6 seems to have side effects of depression, hypertension, and anemia. Deficiencies of vitamin B7 and B9 affect younger children. It can cause a stop in growth as well as lead to birth defects if the mother has a deficiency. Vitamin B12 will result in a loss of memory and can cause paralysis. If you think you have a deficiency, you may want to ask your doctor if you should take a supplement. Don’t begin to take any vitamin without your doctor’s consent. They are not regulated by the FDA

(Food and Drug Administration) and you need to make sure that it won’t have a reaction to your current medication. Some medication can not be mixed with certain supplements. You should go to the doctor if you start to have any of the symptoms appear. Even if you are just being cautious, you will at least be safe by getting a doctor’s opinion. Also, ask to see how or if you should change your current diet so that you can be healthy and stay healthy.

Roger Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/b-vitamins-deficiency-124839.html

Fight Bursitis With Vitamins And Over The Counter Products

Posted by admin on July 1, 2009
Posted under Memory Improvement

Bursitis is an inflammation of the bursea, the small enclosed sac containing the lubricating fluid between muscles, tendons and movable joints that must slide over each other. There are approximately 160 of the bursea sacs throughout the human body and they function to provide a cushion at the point where a muscle or tendon slides across the bone thus reducing friction between two moving surfaces making movement painless.

Bursitis is primarily caused by excessive use or abuse of the structures. The area involved becomes painful, tender, and if it is close to the skin surface hot and swollen. Continued movement of the any tendons and muscles over the inflamed bursa causes the condition to become worse.

We’ve all heard of tennis elbow. It is one of the most common stress injuries of the arm and almost one-third of all Americans who play tennis are affected at come point. Every time the tennis ball comes in contact with the tennis racket a small shock wave is transmitted from the racket throughout the entire arm. If the elbow is fully extended the shock wave will put a lot of stress on the elbow area causing irritation of the bursitis sacs.

Repetitive movement such as a janitor bending their elbows frequently and repetitively when using a vacuum for extended period of time or someone who plays baseball and throws a ball too many times can lead to Bursitis. This type of Bursitis is call olecranon bursitis. It may also be caused by prolonged pressure on a joint such as someone who rests on their elbows. Dr. Emanuel Josephson of New York said that pressures on the arm and shoulder during sleep can lead to bursitis.

Another cause of Bursitis can be a traumatic injury to a joint such as after an auto mobile accident or after an injury following a sporting event. The injury usually causes swelling within the bursa sacs and inflammation develops making movement painful.

Symptoms of Bursitis can consists of a slight stiffness in a joint, pain with any movement of the joint, loss of mobility, swelling and redness of the affected area, and persistent pain, and tenderness.

The most common complaint occurs in the shoulder joint and in the elbow but can occur in any joint such as the wrist, ankle, knee, hips, and fingers. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are susceptible to developing bursitis.

Vitamin B - Vitamin C - Vitamin E
Glucosamine - Chondroitin Complex - M.S.M
Aspirin

Vitamin B12 has been proven to provide effective pain relief for bursitis.

Vitamin C is essential for defending the body against pollution and infection.
It enhances the immune system. Aids in growth and repair of both bone and
tissue by helping the body produce collagen.

Vitamin E supplies Oxygen to the heart and the other muscles in the body. Accelerates wound healing and aids in the functioning of the immune system.

Rutin acts synergistically with Vitamin C to help maintain a healthy immune system.

Glucosamine Plus provides cartilage nutrition for healthy joints and is an anit-inflammatory. Promotes flexible and healthy joints by maintaining the lubrication levels in the joint area.

Chondroitin Complex works together with Glucosamine to block the action of cartilage-damaging enzymes and promotes the healthy flow of water and nutrients into cartilage-producing cells.

M.S.M maintains the development of the body’s protein by forming flexible disulfide bonds between certain amino acids and in maintaining the strength of connective tissue. This allows water and nutrients to flow freely into cells and allows toxins to flow freely out of the cells. M.S.M increases athletic stamina and helps eliminate muscle soreness. M.S.M is a natural supplement that is getting a lot of attention due to its role in tissue healing at the cellular level. It is a natural organic sulfur that comes from rain fall and is found naturally in the human body.

Aspirin and Ibuprofen are considered anti-inflammatory medications and may be helpful in the treatment of Bursitis. They will also help with the pain associated with the inflammation of the bursitis sacs.

The pressure can be reduces while sleeping by using a mattress that is composed of a memory foam and/or latex foam. These types of mattress conform to the bumps and curves of he human body and can thereby reduce the pressure spot by evenly distributing the bodies’ weight more evenly.

Always consult your doctor before using this information.

This Article is nutritional in nature and not to be construed as medical advice.

David Cowley
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/fight-bursitis-with-vitamins-and-over-the-counter-products-121249.html

Switch to Day Switch to Night