Even though your bones serve as the scaffolding that supports your body, you might not give those all-important bones a second thought until something goes wrong with them. Nutritional imbalances can contribute to bone-thinning conditions such as osteopenia and osteoporosis, raising your risks for fractures and collapsed vertebrae.Fortunately, you can improve and maintain the health of your bones by feeding your bones with the nutrients they need most. Depending on your diet, lifestyle, and baseline health, you may get these nutrients from food or supplements as directed by your physician. Pay special attention to the following four vitamins and minerals.1. CalciumThe human body contains more calcium than it does any other mineral, with nearly all of this mineral residing in your bones. The more calcium your bones can absorb, the greater your bone density and the less trouble you may have with degenerative skeletal conditions such as osteoporosis.Most adults should get betw…

Supplements And Vitamins To Boost Athletic PerformanceThe average person can get sufficient energy from enough sleep, a healthy lifestyle, and a balanced diet. However, most athletes require peak body performance that needs regular energy boosts. The energy boost can come from various types of supplements and vitamins. Therefore, here are supplements and vitamins that can help athletes perform better.B-VitaminsB vitamins help with the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. These vitamins help with providing more energy to the body. If you have insufficient amounts of B vitamins in your body, you won't exercise properly. Instead, you will feel tired and weak, especially if you lack B-12 vitamins.Common B vitamins that may improve athletic performance include vitamins B-12, B-6, and niacin. You can get these vitamins from various animal products or in multi-vitamin capsule form.Beta-Hydroxy Beta Methyl Butyrate (HMB)HMB boosts muscle synthe…

Why should you consider adding fish oil supplements to your daily nutrition routine? This popular pick has benefits galore. But if you're not sure why to include fish oil, how to use it, or if you really need it, take a look at the top questions about this supplement.What Are Fish Oil Supplements?This type of dietary supplement is filled with omega-3 fatty acids. The two primary fatty acids fish oil contains are eicosapentaenoic acid (also known as EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (also known as DHA). Both of these omega-3s are naturally in some of the fish you may eat, such as oysters, mackerel, trout, salmon, mussels, crab, and trout.Why Do You Need To Add a Supplement?If omega-3 fatty acids are naturally in some types of fish, why would you need supplements? Some people may not need extra omega-3s. But it isn't always easy or possible to get a consistent dose of these fatty acids from food sources. If you don't like the taste of fish, don't have access to fish as a food sour…

Vitamins are essential nutrients naturally occurring in inorganic elements, which plants absorb later. While some companies produce synthetic vitamins and supplements, vitamins are most helpful in their natural form, as naturally-sourced vitamins are absorbed better by your body. Here are the main benefits of natural vitamins.Reduce InflammationToxins, injuries, and infections can cause inflammation. Although inflammation is painful, it helps to activate the immune system and repair any damaged cells. Acute inflammation is a natural process and shouldn't worry you. However, inflammation can become chronic and affect your blood vessels, joints, and tissues.Chronic inflammation can cause skin irritation, joint swelling, and widespread pain. When this happens, you can take specific vitamins daily to reduce chronic and acute inflammation as well as improve your overall health. One of the most common types of vitamins that helps fight inflammation is curcumin. Vitamin A also hel…

The school year is back and we have some tips on how to cold and flu-proof your child.Children need special nutritional support as they head back to school each fall. Any gathering of kids creates a perfect opportunity for germs to spread, and no sooner has the school year gotten underway then flu season beginning.How can you strengthen your child’s immune system and avoid winter colds and flus?Number one, banish sugar from your child’s diet. Even a small amount of refined sugar can suppress your child’s immune system for hours. Immune cells need a lot of vitamin C to function normally, but sugar, which has a chemical structure similar to vitamin C, competes with the vitamin to enter the cells, creating an artificial vitamin C shortage. Avoid fruit juices (including orange juice), which are also too high in sugar. Whole fruits, however, are fine in moderation.Feed your child the right fats. Trans fats and excess omega 6 fats (found in supermarket vegetable oils) depress immunity,…

Almost half of all Americans take a multivitamin-mineral supplement. They do it to maintain and improve health, and for protection against the chronic diseases associated with aging, like heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, arthritis, and metabolic syndrome. While many studies validate all the above claims, other studies find multis to be ineffective. Some even claim vitamins are dangerous! Often researchers who’ve found multis are effective in preventing disease—like Swedish researchers who followed a group of women for 10 years, and found that among over 30,000 women who began the study with no heart disease, those who took a multi for 5 years or more had 41% less risk of having had a heart attack—have trouble explaining why other studies come to such different conclusions.  The answer is that the doses and compositions of ingredients in multivitamin supplements were very different in different studies. Let’s get one thing clear: While prescription drugs are the 3rd lea…

As the summer season rolls on, our thoughts turn to getting outdoors. Spending time in the sun can be fun and relaxing, and it can even lift you out of any depressed mood. Yet, there are some who will caution you to stay out of the sun, but don’t be so quick to stay cooped up indoors because you were actually designed to be out in the sun.The hidden health benefits of sunlight There are many subtle ways the sun supports our health. For example, plants use sunlight to create energy through a process called photosynthesis, which helps them grow. You benefit indirectly from their sun exposure by consuming a recommended minimum 7 servings (3-1/2 cups) of these nutrient-packed fruits and vegetables every day, which helps you achieve optimal health. The sun is also a natural source of heat, causing our bodies to maintain a higher core temperature, which promotes health by facilitating improved cell function leading to higher energy levels and providing a natural mechanism for detoxific…

The strongest and most hard-working muscle in your body, your heart is also associated with vulnerability . . . and for good reason.  Powerhouse though it may be, the heart is living tissue that requires proper nourishment. A nutrient called coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is essential for keeping your heart strong and healthy. Yet it’s quite possible your CoQ10 levels are suboptimal, leading to a condition that underlies many heart problems called “energy-starved heart.” Every cell in your body contains hundreds of little energy factories called mitochondria. CoQ10 facilitates various chemical reactions in the mitochondria’s energy-producing process. Simply put, when you lack CoQ10, you lack energy. Your muscles, including your heart, may be ready, willing and able, but there’s just not enough fuel in the tank. Even minor deficiencies in CoQ10 can impair heart function and eventually damage the heart itself. CoQ10 plays yet another crucial role in cardiovascular health: Keeping…

“I believe that inflammation is at the basis of virtually every disease process.” – Nicholas Perricone, MDTake a deep breath. Fill your lungs with one of Mother Nature’s most precious gifts: oxygen! There is no life without oxygen. But oxygen can also be dangerous. Every chemical process that involves oxygen—and there are many in the human body, including extracting energy from food and attacking and killing pathogenic viruses and bacteria, and many outside the human body, including fire and rust—creates oxidative byproducts. Like the embers of a fire, these byproducts need to be quenched by antioxidants. It’s a matter of balance. In terms of Chinese medicine, oxygen is Yang—the active, heating, energizing force, while antioxidants are Yin—the restful, cooling, restorative force. We need both, but in the modern world we are getting too much Yang, not enough Yin. The body is not repairing itself from oxidative damage as it should, and this produces inflammation…

It is now considered normal to lose cognitive function as you age -- to experience diminished memory, reasoning and speed in processing information. This "normal" age-related cognitive decline is contrasted to dementias, like Alzheimer's, which are much more debilitating and include severe nerve cell damage and death of nerve cells. In fact, age-related cognitive decline and dementia are the same thing. What you call it is a matter of degree, and it is primarily a product of our unhealthy diets and lifestyles.Maintaining a youthful brain does, however, require superior nutrition from both diet and high-quality supplements. A brain support program would include the B vitamins and the antioxidant vitamins A, C, D and E. Fish or flax oil is a must, and the need for it increases with age.By middle age, it's best to be supplementing with CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, and multiple B vitamins. (Deficiencies in vitamin B12 are common and often misdiagnosed as dementias or…

Do you find yourself eating most of your meals in front of a TV or computer screen? Do you grab food on the go, gulping it down with a beverage before you’ve had a chance to chew it? During meals, are you also talking on your smartphone, or is your mind preoccupied with your next project or concern so much that you barely notice what you’re eating?All of the above are examples of “mindless eating,” the opposite of “mindful eating.”“Mindful eating” is a concept that comes from Buddhism, a religion that cultivates mindfulness not just in eating but in all aspects of everyday life. Although books have been written about mindfulness, very simply it is noticing, in a relaxed, nonjudgmental way, what is happening in the present moment. Although it’s called mindfulness, it necessarily includes the senses, because it is through the senses that we experience the present—through what we see, smell, touch, hear and taste. The practice of mindfulness requires that we slow down, quiet ou…

Widespread magnesium deficiency has been implicated in a host of chronic diseases, including obesity. How would healthy levels of magnesium in our cells help us to attain and maintain a healthy weight, and how does magnesium deficiency sabotage those goals? Fatigue. The number one complaint patients bring to doctors is “feeling tired.” Being unable to lose weight probably ranks a close second.  The two concerns are related: It’s hard to eat less and exercise more when you’re already feeling tired all the time. Fatigue is one of the first signs of magnesium deficiency. Magnesium and the B vitamins are our main energy nutrients, involved in almost every step of energy creation in the cells’ energy factories, the mitochondria. Nutrient Deficiency. Magnesium and the B's activate enzymes that control digestion, absorption and utilization of all three macronutrients—fats, proteins, and carbohydrates—making the vitamins and minerals they contain available for our bodies to use.…

The most common complaint bringing patients to doctors’ offices these days is low energy.  Most often, if you go in complaining of fatigue, after a battery of tests, you will be told there’s nothing wrong with you. Well, although it may not show up in their tests, there is something wrong! Low energy means not only that you don’t have the energy to do what you want to do; it means your body doesn’t have the energy to do what it needs to do to keep you healthy. In fact, the amount of energy your body can make may be the single most important measurement of your health. It’s important to get to the bottom of what’s going on.  (A doctor who specializes in functional medicine may find answers that conventional doctors don’t.) One of the most common reasons for low energy today is a sluggish liver. The liver is the largest and most hard-working gland in your body, performing over 500 essential functions, and when it isn’t up to par, every other system in your body suffers as a…

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, has a grim prognosis for our future: “Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise . . . [As antibiotics lose their effectiveness a] post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. Some sophisticated interventions, like hip replacements, organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy, and care of preterm infants, would become far more difficult or even too dangerous to undertake.”Well, we aren’t as gloomy about a post-antibiotic era. For all the good they’ve done, antibiotics as we’ve known them have done a whole lot of damage to almost everyone’s intestinal probiotic population, harming immunity and paving the way for all kinds of disease. We need different kinds of antibiotics that don’t indiscriminately kill good and helpful microbes along with the bad, and that the bad bugs won’t build resistance to. Fortunately,…

Unjustly maligned for decades, coconut oil is reemerging as a miracle fat that boosts energy, burns fat, is antibiotic, and helps with thyroid problems. In the past, poorly done, misleading studies were used to discredit the saturated fats in coconut oil in order to displace it in our diet with soybean oil. Now that soybean oil has caused an epidemic of health problems, healthy coconut oil is being reintroduced. Coconut oil has been safely used for thousands of years. Natives in tropical climates who consume lots of coconut oil don’t suffer from the heart disease, cancer, colon problems, and other health challenges that we do. Because it is highly saturated, coconut oil is very stable, stores well, and is suitable for cooking. But don’t let the saturation bother you. These saturated fats are different. The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are easy to absorb, digest, transport, and metabolize in the body. Unlike other saturated fats, the medium-chain fatty acids in coco…

Why everyone’s hopping on the meal replacement bandwagon? Being overly busy has become our new reality. And when it comes to making the healthy meals and snacks that are so important for our health, there never seen to be enough hours in the day. We can resort to restaurant meals and take-out, but these are expensive and not necessarily healthy. Frozen dinners and cheap fast food chains have filled the gap since the 1950s, but though they may satisfy our stomachs and provide calories, these chemical-laden meals lack nutrition and have been a disaster for our national health—major contributors to obesity and chronic disease. What we need are healthy, good-tasting convenience foods that can be used to make quick, easy meals and snacks at a reasonable price. In recent years, a flock of meal replacement (MR) products have entered the market promising to fill that need. Some target specific issues, like weight loss and fitness support. Others are designed to meet the nee…

Worth its weight in goldA good olive oil has fantastic health benefits that make it unique and worth its weight in gold.The story begins in 1957, when scientist Ancel Keys discovered that people living on the island of Crete, in the Mediterranean Sea, had longer lives than any other European population. Even more exciting, their lives were relatively free from chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, age-related cognitive decline, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Keys believed the secret to this robust health lay in what he called "the Mediterranean Diet." A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and omega 3 fats from fish, the Mediterranean Diet's centerpiece was pure, unrefined olive oil -- lots of it! In fact 35-40% of the calories in this diet came from healthy olive oil! As valuable as the rest of the Mediterranean diet was, it's since been determined that olive oil accounted for the lion's share of the diet's health benefits.Thousands of studie…

Deficiency of vitamin E is more predictive of heart disease and cardiac death than any other single factorOne of the most important nutrients to protect the heart is vitamin E. Yet according to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, only 8% of adult men and 2.4% of adult women in the US met the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) for alpha-tocopherol intake. Even worse, EARs are about 20% lower than the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs).Although many factors are involved in creating heart disease low levels of vitamin E are more predictive of heart disease and cardiac death than any other single factor. Vitamin E inhibits the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis. When you prevent atherosclerotic plaque, you automatically help to lower blood pressure.In 1910, when heart disease was relatively rare, most people got at least 100 IU a day from freshly milled and baked stone ground whole wheat bread. Yet almost all Americans today…