Archive for May 2014
Hummus Health Benefits and Recipes
Posted on: May 22, 2014
Greetings to you,
The chickpeas in hummus are a delicious food that can help lower cholesterol, help to protect cells from cancer, and they are also high in protein, fiber, calcium and iron. The chart below gives some great, simple recipe ideas for making your own humus. Enjoy!
Best of health,
Jobee Knight
Nutrition Breakthroughs
Maker of the Effective Natural Insomnia Remedy Sleep Minerals II
http://www.worldhealth.net/news/quality-sleep-eludes-women/
From World Health .Net
Poor quality sleep, frequent interruptions in sleep duration, and waking earlier than desired are commonplace in today’s 24/7 society.
Paivi Polo-Kantola, from the University of Turku (Finland), and colleagues surveyed 850 mothers about their sleep when they were 42 years old, on average. Sixty percent of the study subjects reported waking up frequently at night, and 42% experienced morning sleepiness with 32% plagued by daytime sleepiness.
The team observed that postmenopausal hot flashes and night sweats further increased the difficulties with sleep. Observing that: “Chronic diseases and use of medications was associated with various sleep disturbances,” the study authors observe that: “Almost one-quarter of middle-aged women is dissatisfied with their quality of sleep.”
This news is brought to you by http://www.NutritionBreakthroughs, maker of the effective natural insomnia remedy Sleep Minerals II. Sleep Minerals II is the original drug-free calcium and magnesium formula for relaxation and better sleep. It contains powerful forms of the best known minerals for relaxation and sleep — calcium and magnesium, in combination with vitamin D and zinc. The ingredients are formulated in a softgel with healthy oils, making them more quickly absorbable than tablets or capsules and providing a deeper, longer-lasting sleep.
Valerie H. of Santa Clarita, California says: “I had such severe menopause insomnia it took me hours to fall asleep even though I was extremely tired. My legs also had crawling and tingling feelings at night. I got the Sleep Minerals and after a few days, it started to work really well. I fall asleep now within 20 minutes and no more restless legs.”
For more information, visit the SleepMinerals II page.
News on Natural Remedies for Allergies and Hay Fever from Nutrition Breakthroughs
Posted on: May 16, 2014
Ahhh Chooooooo! Twenty percent of Americans suffer from chronic allergies or hay fever and would like to benefit from natural remedies for the sneezing, runny nose, teary eyes and scratchy throat. Allergies are the result of the immune system’s overreaction to a normally harmless substance, such as pollen, molds, animal hair or indoor dust mites.
Specifically, an allergy occurs when the immune system develops a sensitivity and attacks what it considers to be an invader. When the substance enters the body, the body produces many antibodies in the blood to attack it. The antibodies then bind to a certain kind of white blood cell and this binding causes the release of histamine, a chemical in the body which causes the uncomfortable, yet familiar allergy symptoms.
Remedies that have been proven useful for allergies include Nettle Leaf, Vitamin C, Quercetin, and air ionizers. Quercetin belongs to a class of water-soluble plant coloring agents called bioflavonoids. Bioflavonoids are found in many fruits and they aid in the absorption and metabolism of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Quercetin is often recommended as a treatment for allergies and asthma. Several test tube studies have found it beneficial in stopping the release of allergenic substances and histamine in the body (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology).
A study of the herb nettle leaf was published in the journal “Planta Medica”. In this study, 58% of the people experienced less symptoms of hay fever, including sneezing and itchy eyes, after taking doses of nettles for one week. Nettle leaf is high in vitamin C and trace minerals and is a rich source of chlorophyll.
Some people with allergies have experienced improvement in their symptoms after taking 1–2 grams of vitamin C per day (1,000 to 2,000 milligrams). A buffered form of vitamin C such as calcium ascorbate may work better for allergy or asthma sufferers than regular vitamin C (per a study in American Journal of Digestive Diseases). One group of researchers proved that vitamin C reduces the tendency of the lung’s bronchial passages to go into spasm (Annals of Allergy), and another study in China showed that people with more vitamin C in their diet had greater lung volume — meaning they could exhale more air than those eating less of the vitamin.
Negative ion therapy can be a wonderful relief to allergy sufferers. The air we breathe contains molecules with electrical charges, both positive and negative. These minute electrified particles called ions, affect the environment in which we live and breathe. Researchers have shown that most of us who live, work and travel in closed spaces suffer some degree of negative ion starvation or the effects of too many positive ions.
Some allergy-provoking substances, such as dust and pollen, have a positive electrical charge. Negative ions appear to counteract the allergenic actions of these positively charged ions on respiratory tissues and people have experienced considerable relief from respiratory allergies (from the Book: The Ion Effect). A plug-in negative ion generator can work wonders in enclosed spaces.
Allergy symptoms can be greatly reduced with the right combination of herbs, vitamins, healthy food, and healthy air.
This health news is provided by Nutrition Breakthroughs. Since 2001 Nutrition Breakthroughs has been providing natural health articles and effective natural remedies. Their mission is to provide nutritional supplements that get results and therefore help people to avoid drugs and their side effects.
Since 2009, their natural sleep remedy Sleep Minerals II has been keeping that promise — by soothing even the worst insomnia and helping everyone from teenagers to seniors to get a good night’s sleep. For more information, visit www.NutritionBreakthroughs.com.
Greetings to you,
Many of us are seeking out ways to be healthier and have more energy. One of the best ways to do this is to listen to your body. How can one do this? There are some specific ways and times that you can increase your awareness of the effects certain things are having on you. It’s actually most important to notice the positive effects, as then you can reinforce them and feel even better.
1. When you eat certain types of foods, how do you feel afterwards? If your energy is increased and your thoughts are clearer that’s a great sign. If you feel more tired, your stomach aches, or you get heartburn, that’s a good time to examine what you ate and make some changes to create a better effect next time.
2. When you take nutritional supplements, try to add new supplements one thing at a time so you can isolate where any effects are coming from. If it helps to energize or strengthen you, that’s great. Unless it’s a sleeping supplement! In that case, take a smaller dose and see if it relaxes you instead. A good natural sleep aid should help to relax you and also help you sleep sounder and longer. If there are any after-effects such as grogginess in the morning, take less of the supplement or take it earlier in the day than bedtime, such as at dinner.
3. If you do exercises or take walks, etc. try to notice the effect it has afterwards. A good exercise should not completely exhaust you or make your muscles overly sore. If you have a muscle spasm or cramp, you can either reduce the amount of exercise next time, or increase the calcium and magnesium in your diet (or use supplements).
This health information is brought to you by Nutrition Breakthroughs, maker of the effective natural sleep remedy Sleep Minerals II. Here’s to your good health and well-being.
Best regards,
Jobee Knight
President
http://Nutrition Breakthroughs.
Anyone who has experienced a bladder infection can attest to the unpleasant symptoms of lower abdomen pain, a burning feeling during urination, an urgency to urinate frequently, and possibly cloudy urine. Both women and men can develop bladder infections.
A couple of good tips would be to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day, especially chlorine-free (non-tap) water, and to decrease the amount of refined white sugar in the diet.
Regarding white sugar, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that when healthy volunteers consumed a large amount of refined sugar, their immune system’s white blood cells had an impaired ability to destroy bacteria for at least five hours.
Antibiotics are the standard medical treatment for bladder infections, and while they are sometimes necessary, those who do not want to regularly use antibiotics have the option of benefiting from a well-documented nutritional remedy.
Cranberry concentrate in capsule form, together with cranberry juice, can be extremely helpful. Cranberry makes the urine more acidic and creates an environment which is hard for bacteria to live in. It has the unique ability to interfere with bacteria establishing a foothold on the bladder wall and when taken regularly, especially in capsule form, it can help to break the cycle of repeated bladder infections.
One research study with women who had a history of recurring bladder infections, found that daily treatment with cranberry concentrate capsules (400 mg twice per day) for three months, significantly reduced the recurrence of urinary tract infections. Drinking cranberry juice is also helpful, but remember to drink a natural cranberry juice that is unsweetened or sweetened from natural fruit sources, rather a cranberry juice cocktail sweetened with white sugar.
This health news is provided by www.NutritionBreakthroughs. Since 2001 Nutrition Breakthroughs has been providing natural health articles and effective natural remedies. Their mission is to provide nutritional supplements that work and get results, and therefore help people to avoid drugs and their side effects.
Since 2009, their natural sleep remedy Sleep Minerals II has been keeping that promise, by soothing even the worst insomnia and helping everyone from teenagers to seniors to get a good night’s sleep.
For more information on Sleep Minerals II, visit this web page.
By: Jay Cao, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Research Center
You probably know that women after menopause are more likely than men to lose bone and develop osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become porous and easy to break. That’s because women
after menopause produce less estrogen, a hormone that helps prevent bone loss.
In the United States, about 10 million people, 80 percent of them women, aged 50 or older have osteoporosis. There are about 1.5 million people who suffer an osteoporotic-related fracture each year. Osteoporosis is responsible for more than $17 billion in direct annual health care expenditures.
Build healthy bones early
Bone is a living tissue that is constantly built and broken down throughout a person’s lifetime. The speed of building and breaking down determines bone mass. Bone mass is like a bank account in which balance is determined by deposits and withdraws. During the first two decades of women’s lives, bone formation outpaces breakdown, and bone grows in length and width. Women reach their peak bone mass, or maximum bone strength and density, before the age of 40 years. In general, women with higher peak bone mass achieved before menopause will be at lower risk for developing osteoporosis later in life.
Because almost half of the adult bone mass is acquired during the growth spurt before puberty, maximizing the peak bone mass in early life is crucial for the prevention of osteoporosis.
Although peak bone mass is strongly influenced by genetic factors that we cannot change, there are many other factors that we can modify to increase bone size and strength — such as nutrition, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors.
Calcium and vitamin D
Adequate calcium and vitamin D intakes are vital for normal bone development throughout womens’ lives. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body. Vitamin D is essential for intestinal calcium absorption by the body. Vitamin D can be synthesized by the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light in sunlight. The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommends adult women should take 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day and 400 IU vitamin D/day. Women older than age 70 years should take 600 IU vitamin D/day.
Fortified cereals and juices and dairy products like milk and yogurt are excellent sources of calcium. Good sources of vitamin D include fatty fish, salmon, or fortified orange juice and cereal.
Other dietary factors
Despite many years of research on the roles of calcium and vitamin D in bone health, we still haven’t been able to prevent osteoporosis. Now, we know many other dietary factors may have equal or more important roles affecting calcium absorption, bone formation and bone resorption as calcium and vitamin D.
For example, inadequate magnesium intake affects calcium metabolism, resulting decreased bone strength and volume. Iron may help bone formation. Zinc is also necessary to bone structure. People with low protein intake usually have low intestinal calcium absorption and low bone mass. Antioxidants in foods can reduce bone loss, increase bone formation, and improve bone quality.
And being obese is bad for your bones — the key to getting enough nutrients necessary for healthy bones is to eat balanced foods.
Physical activity
As with many other health disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and chronic heart disease, physical activity, especially weight-bearing activity, increases your bone mass and reduces your risk of osteoporosis. No matter how old you are, or whether you are male or female, weight-bearing activity increases bone density.
Women especially should engage in at least 30 minutes physical activity per day, as recommended by MyPyramid, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among the many activities to consider are walking, jogging, running, stair-climbing, dancing, and swimming.
No matter what kind of physical activity you choose and how much physical activity you perform, as long as you are active physically, you are helping your bones.
You can visit the website at MyPyramid .gov for physical activity and dietary recommendations to improve your quality of life. These recommendations should also help you build healthy bones.
Comments from the blog author Nutrition Breakthroughs: Calcium, magnesium and vitamin D have many beneficial roles in the body. Calcium strengthens bones, improves heart and stomach health, calms our nerves and muscles, and helps with sleeplessness and insomnia. Magnesium helps remedy migraines and supports healthy blood pressure. Calcium Supplements should be balanced and contain twice as much calcium as magnesium.
Sleep Minerals II from Nutrition Breakthroughs is an effective natural sleep aid for insomnia that contains absorbable forms of calcium and magnesium in a softgel, as well as Vitamin D and zinc. The minerals are mixed with healthy oils in a softgel, making them more readily absorbable than with tablets or capsules. The supplement serves double roles as both a bone supplement and a natural sleep aid.
Valerie H. of Santa Clarita, California says: “I had such severe menopause insomnia it took me hours to fall asleep even though I was extremely tired. My legs also had crawling and tingling feelings at night. I got the Sleep Minerals and after a few days, it started to work really well. I fall asleep now within 20 minutes and no more restless legs.”
For more information on Sleep Minerals II visit http://www.nutritionbreakthroughs.com/html/sleep_aid
Article credit: http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=20330
News on Natural Remedies, Good Sleep and Good Health 