Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin. The "K" is derived from the German word "koagulation." Coagulation refers to the process of blood clot formation. Vitamin K is essential for the functioning of several proteins involved in blood clotting (1). There are two naturally occurring forms of vitamin K
Dr Myers believes diet has an essential role in successful treatment of prostate cancer. He claims there is strong evidence from randomised trials that diet is a significant factor in the development of prostate cancer. He believes there is much stronger
Vieth R, Fraser D.
Vitamin D insufficiency: no recommended dietary allowance exists for this nutrient.
CMAJ. 2002 Jun 11;166(12):1541-2.
PMID: 12074121
In fact, current recommendations for vitamin D are not designed to ensure anything. They are simply based on the old, default strategy for setting a nutritional guideline, which is to recommend an amount of nutrient similar to what healthy people are eating. This approach underlies the circular logic behind a familiar refrain about nutrition: "If you eat a good diet, you won't need supplements." By this logic, the answer to the question, "How much nutrient do you need?" is, "Whatever healthy people happen to be eating." The essential point, lost in the confusing terminology of modern nutrient recommendations, is that a recommended daily allowance (RDA) does not yet exist for vitamin D. Instead, the recommendations for it are referred to as "adequate intake" (AI).12,13 The AI for young adults (5 µg or 200 IU) was chosen to approximate twice the average vitamin D intake reported by 52 young women in a questionnaire-based study reported from Omaha, Neb., in 1997.13,14 Because the available evidence was acknowledged as weak, the Food and Nutrition Board of the US Institute of Medicine called its recommendation an AI.
The Food and Drug Administration agreed in December that rebaudioside A, an extract from the leaves of the stevia plant, is safe to add to food and drinks.
Stevia has one distinct advantage over all the rest. Because it comes from a plant, marketers can call it a natural sweetener. And that allows companies that have invested millions in new stevia products to tap into two powerful markets at once: natural ingredients and low-calorie products.
Two of the biggest backers, Cargill and Whole Earth Sweetener Company, earlier this year began rolling out packets of stevia-based sweeteners, called Truvia and PureVia respectively. The extract is in the companies' drinks, too. Among the new stevia products marketed as naturally sweetened are Sprite Green from Coca-Cola and Trop50, from the PepsiCo subsidiary Tropicana. It's essentially half water and half orange juice doctored with stevia.
Hypovitaminosis D in British adults at age 45 y: nationwide cohort study of dietary and lifestyle predictors.
Hyppönen E, Power C.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):860-8.
PMID: 17344510
Conclusion: Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in the general population was alarmingly high during the winter and spring, which warrants action at a population level rather than at a risk group level.
Data from the 1958 birth cohort suggest that, at different cutoffs for hypovitaminosis D, a substantial public health problem exists in British whites. Obese participants and those living in Scotland were at the highest risk of hypovitaminosis D. However, the prevalence in the general population was very high during the winter and spring, which suggests that, to improve the situation, action is required at a population level rather than at a risk-group level. In the United States, calls have gone out for an increase in vitamin D fortification of foods (11), and the data from the current study suggest that such action is also warranted in the United Kingdom. Vitamin D is currently available without prescription as a dietary supplement only as part of cod liver oil or multivitamin products; hence, a need clearly exists to consider increased availability of over-the-counter supplements. Hypovitaminosis D has been implicated in the development of serious conditions, including diabetes, various types of cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to its essential role in maintaining bone health (1, 2). The high rates of hypovitaminosis D reported in this study suggest that immediate action is needed to improve the vitamin D status of the British population.
Vitamin D: a D-Lightful health perspective.
Holick MF.
Nutr Rev. 2008 Oct;66(10 Suppl 2):S182-94. Review.
PMID: 18844847
DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00104.x
Sunlight provides most humans with their vitamin D requirement. Adequate vitamin D(3) by synthesis in the skin or from dietary and supplemental sources is essential for bone health throughout life. Vitamin D deficiency is defined as a 25(OH)D concentration 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L), and insufficiency as 21-29 ng/mL. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency has been linked to a wide variety of chronic diseases including common cancers, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases. Healthcare professionals need to be aware of the vitamin D deficiency pandemic. Guidelines for sensible sun exposure and supplemental vitamin D of 800-1000 IU/day are needed.
January 1, 2009 - A biochemist and cook explains that cooking is all about chemistry and knowing some facts can help chefs understand why recipes go wrong. Because cooking is essentially a series of chemical reactions, it is helpful to know some basics. For example, plunging asparagus into boiling water causes the cells to pop and result in a brighter green. Longer cooking, however, causes the plant's cell walls to shrink and releases an acid. This turns the asparagus an unappetizing shade of grey.
Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in Brazilian adolescents.
Peters BS, dos Santos LC, Fisberg M, Wood RJ, Martini LA.
Ann Nutr Metab. 2009;54(1):15-21. Epub 2009 Feb 5.
PMID: 19194104
DOI: 10.1159/000199454
CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that even in a sunny climate like Brazil the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in adolescents is high. Most likely this is due to low intakes of vitamin D in this group. Due to the limited extent of natural dietary sources of vitamin D, a policy of vitamin D food fortification should be considered in the future, and in the meantime greater use of vitamin D supplements in this population group should be encouraged to provide the increased amounts of this essential nutrient for optimal health.
Differences in vitamin D status between countries in young adults and the elderly.
McKenna MJ.
Am J Med. 1992 Jul;93(1):69-77.
PMID: 1385673
PURPOSE: To compare vitamin D status between countries in young adults and in the elderly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Reports on vitamin D status (as assessed by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) from 1971 to 1990 were reviewed. Studies were grouped according to geographic regions: North America (including Canada and the United States); Scandinavia (including Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden); and Central and Western Europe (including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). RESULTS: Vitamin D status varies with the season in young adults and in the elderly, and is lower during the winter in Europe than in both North America and Scandinavia. Oral vitamin D intake is lower in Europe than in both North America and Scandinavia. Hypovitaminosis D and related abnormalities in bone chemistry are most common in elderly residents in Europe but are reported in all elderly populations. CONCLUSIONS: The vitamin D status in young adults and the elderly varies widely with the country of residence. Adequate exposure to summer sunlight is the essential means to ample supply, but oral intake augmented by both fortification and supplementation is necessary to maintain baseline stores. All countries should adopt a fortification policy. It seems likely that the elderly would benefit additionally from a daily supplement of 10 micrograms of vitamin D.
Proteins are broken down through digestion that begins in the stomach. Proteins are broken down by enzymes known as proteases into smaller polypeptides to provide amino acids for the organism, including the essential amino acids that the organism cannot b
"Proanthocyanidin (PA or PAC), also known as procyanidin, oligomeric proanthocyanidin (OPC), leukocyanidin, leucoanthocyanin and condensed tannins, is a class of flavanols. Proanthocyanidins are essentially polymer chains of flavonoids such as catechins.[1] One was discovered in 1936 by Professor Jacques Masquelier and called Vitamin P, although this name did not gain official category status and has since fallen out of usage. It was Masquelier who first developed techniques for the extraction of proanthocyanidins from certain plant species.
Proanthocyanidins have been sold as nutritional and therapeutic supplements in Europe since the 1980s, but their introduction to the United States market has been relatively recent.
In the human body, they might act as antioxidants (free radical scavengers).[citation needed] OPCs may help protect against the effects of internal and environmental stresses such as cigarette smoking and pollution, as well as supporting normal body metabolic processes. The effects may include depressing blood fat, emolliating blood vessels, lowering blood pressure, preventing blood vessel scleroses, dropping blood viscidity and preventing thrombus formation [18].
Additionally, studies have shown that OPCs may prevent cardiovascular diseases by counteracting the negative effects of high cholesterol on the heart and blood vessels.
Pycnogenol® is the name of such an OPCs commercial formulation.
OPCs are available from fresh grapes, grape juice, and red wine. Although in milligrams per ounce red wine may contain more OPCs than red grape juice, red grape juice contains more OPCs per average serving size. An 8 ounce serving of grape juice averages 124 milligrams OPCs, while a 5 ounce serving of red wine averages 91 milligrams.[19][20] Many other foods and beverages also contain high amounts of OPCs, but very few come close to the levels found in red grape seeds and skins (which readily disperse into grape juice when crushed)
"Meat eating made us human. The anthropological evidence strongly supports the idea that the addition of increasingly larger amounts of meat in the diet of our predecessors was essential in the evolution of the large human brain. Our large brains came at the metabolic expense of our guts, which shrank as our brains grew.
In April 1995 an article appeared in the journal Current Anthropology that was an intellectual tour de force and, in my view, an example of a perfect theoretical paper. "The Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis" (ETH) by Leslie Aiello and Peter Wheeler demonstrated by a brilliant thought experiment that our species didn't evolve to eat meat but evolved because it ate meat.
It was our gradual drift toward the much higher quality diet provided by food from animal sources that allowed us to develop the large brains we have. It was hunting and meat eating that reduced our GI tracts and freed up our brains to grow. As I wrote at the start of this post, the evidence indicates that we didn't evolve to eat meat - we evolved because we ate meat."
"The omega-3 essential fatty acids commonly found in fatty fish and algae help animals avoid sensory overload, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The finding connects low omega-3s to the information-processing problems found in people with schizophrenia; bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders; Huntington's disease; and other afflictions of the nervous system.
The study, reported in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, provides more evidence that fish is brain food. The key finding was that two omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) appear to be most useful in the nervous system, maybe by maintaining nerve-cell membranes.
"It is an uphill battle now to reverse the message that 'fats are bad,' and to increase omega-3 fats in our diet," said Norman Salem Jr., PhD, who led this study at the Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The effect of select nutrients on serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I levels.
Mooradian AD, Haas MJ, Wong NC.
Endocr Rev. 2006 Feb;27(1):2-16. Epub 2005 Oct 21. Review.
PMID: 16243964
One of the factors contributing to the increased risk of developing premature atherosclerosis is low plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDLc). Multiple potential mechanisms account for the cardioprotective effects of HDL and its main protein apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I). The low plasma concentrations of HDL could be the result of increased fractional clearance and reduced expression of apo A-I. To this end, nutrients play an important role in modulating the fractional clearance rate, as well as the rate of apo A-I gene expression. Because medical nutrition therapy constitutes the cornerstone of management of dyslipidemias, it is essential to understand the mechanisms underlying the changes in HDL level in response to alterations in dietary intake. In this review, we will discuss the effect of select nutrients on serum HDLc and apo A-I levels. Specifically, we will review the literature on the effect of carbohydrates, fatty acids, and ketones, as well as some of the nutrient-related metabolites, such as glucosamine and the prostanoids, on apo A-I gene expression. Because there are multiple mechanisms involved in the regulation of serum HDLc levels, changes in gene transcription do not necessarily correlate with clinical observations on serum levels of HDLc.
"Vitamin D facts are not well known - even though this fat soluble vitamin is essential to our good health. As more and more Vitamin D facts are being discovered in Vitamin D research, this vitamin is being found to be IMPERATIVE to our good health in many different ways."
"Defensins are small cysteine-rich cationic proteins found in both vertebrates and invertebrates. They are active against bacteria, fungi and many enveloped and nonenveloped viruses. They consist of 18-45 amino acids including six (in vertebrates) to 8 conserved cysteine residues. Cells of the immune system contain these peptides to assist in killing phagocytized bacteria, for example in neutrophil granulocytes and almost all epithelial cells. Most defensins function by binding to microbial cell membrane, and once embedded, forming pore-like membrane defects that allow efflux of essential ions and nutrients
"ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2009) - The omega-3 essential fatty acids commonly found in fatty fish and algae help animals avoid sensory overload, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The finding connects low omega-3s to the information-processing problems found in people with schizophrenia; bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders; Huntington's disease; and other afflictions of the nervous system
The study, reported in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, provides more evidence that fish is brain food. The key finding was that two omega-3 fatty acids -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) -- appear to be most useful in the nervous system, maybe by maintaining nerve-cell membranes"
After much consideration into this blog's new name in the light of my new direction, the decision has been made.
"Free the Animal"
Why? First, if you read that post linked above, you know that my health and fitness approach is perfectly in harmony with my philosophical approach; and hence, my approach to politics and all that. In other words, a big part of the reason I have discovered something that truly works; and moreover, is the simplest, most natural, downright fun way of living: that gets you lean and fit; gets you feeling and sleeping great; and gets you looking years and years younger is precisely because I don't believe in the gods of heaven or earth, we evolved over millions of years and are conditioned by survival pressures that in no way include all vegetable diets, gorging on bottled water all day, eating ground grass seeds (grains and derivatives) running on a treadmill or elliptical, or involving ourselves in social schemes and cons that leave us powerless, with no influence, and at the mercy of the crowd and collective (the cannibal pot). Some have a lot of the pieces and do good work. I have all of the major pieces, though acquiring all of the specifics is a lifelong and never-ending journey of discovery. I will focus on essentials and specifics that really matter to me and others living a normal life in pursuit of survival, prosperity and happiness. I will point to other sources that provide more depth in specific areas that are of interest to only some
Biotin, also known as vitamin H, is part of the B complex of vitamins. All B complex vitamins help in converting carbohydrates from food into glucose which is the fuel used by our bodies. They also help the body to metabolize fats and proteins. B complex vitamins are essential for having healthy hair, skin, nails and liver. They also allow our nervous system to function properly.
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