Posts Tagged ‘dietary supplements’
Can You Lower Blood Pressure With Fish Oil?
There are now clearly established heart benefits from increasing your intake of the essential fatty acids found in fish oil known as omega 3 fats. For this reason the American Heart Association recommends that each of us undertake a minimum intake of Omega3 fats every week. These are heart benefits such as a reduction in the risks of coronary heart disease, but today lets ask whether there is a fish oil blood pressure link or whether increasing your intake of fish oil can help lower blood pressure.
High blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension, affects many people in our population. Particularly those who are overweight can suffer from high blood pressure and may well spend years on drugs designed to lower blood pressure. If there is an omega 3 blood pressure link this may be good news to many people.
And the good news is that there are studies showing a clear link between increasing fish oil intake and lowering blood pressure. A study of 120 people split this group into 5 subgroups and supplemented each subgroup with a combination of fish, fish oil supplements or a placebo. The conclusion was that supplementation with omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil helps lower blood pressure.
There are 2 principal omega 3 essential fatty acids. These are called DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). A further study concluded that it is primarily the DHA which is responsible for reducing hypertension.
People who are overweight have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Another study examined lowering hypertension with omega3 in overweight people. Again this study found a clear link between increasing intake of essential fatty acids and lowering blood pressure, including amongst overweight people, and concluded that increasing the intake of fishoil with omega 3 essential fatty acids can help reduce hypertension and when taken in conjunction with a weight-loss regime in people who are already taking antihypertensive drugs can “substantially” reduce their dependence on those drugs.
There is a wide range of health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 and these benefits now extend to lowering hyperension. However there are sufficient heart and health benefits from increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids that even those with no incidence of hypertension have a wide range of health benefits available to them from increasing fish oil intake. This includes reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as increasing mental acuity and memory and reducing the risk of a range of age related diseases, and more.
The science is in on the heart benefits of increasing your intake of Omega3 fats in the American Heart Association tells us all to do this, given that over 90 percent of us have a deficient intake of omega 3. This is now more important for anyone with hypertension.
So it seems there is a clear blood pressure fish oil link. If you increase your intake of Omega3 fats you will help lower high blood pressure and may also reduce any reliance on antihypertensive drugs.
So how do you increase your intake of Omega3 fats? You could eat more fish but fish is expensive and contaminated with mercury and for this reason the FDA tells us not to eat too much fish.
But it is perfectly adequate and indeed preferable, and very cost effective to take daily omega 3 supplements, and the best ones are contamination free, though there is a wide variation in the quality of the different brands.
I take fish oil capsules myself and ensure my family does as well. To find out which ones visit my website.
Want to know more about Fish Oil? Or more about the Fish Oil Blood pressure link? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
Tags: benefits of omega 3, cardio, dietary supplements, fish oil, fish oil blood pressure, Health, health and fitness, heart, omega 3, omega 3 blood pressure, omega 3 fats, omega-3 fatty acids, Supplements
How To Grow Younger
Aging is an inevitable part of life, but only if we could somehow reverse or at the very least, slow down the process.
And please don’t categorize anti-aging efforts as narcissistic! After all, slowing down aging is a great way to increase the quality of life for anybody that’s willing to put forth the effort.
So without further ado, here is how to slow down the effects of aging:
1. Exercise: Not all exercise is created equal, intense exercise offers the most benefit. However, you do NOT need to exercise like a bandit in order to get health benefits. A simple walk in the park on a consistent basis will increase your health.
2. Manage stress: Stress is an essential part of life and growth, so don’t try to completely eliminate it. Instead, find your specific ways for reducing it. The best way to do this is by relentlessly experimenting with different techniques.
3. Supplement your diet: But don’t overdo it here or you run the risk of reaching toxicity. Instead, look for multi vitamins that have low doses of each ingredient. In the case of supplementation, less is more.
4. Vary your intake of fiber: Don’t just rely on a fiber supplement to meet your daily needs. Instead, look for the different types of fiber in different foods. The best way to accomplish this is to add variety to your diet. For instance, you could have berries, oatmeal and beans which would give you a balanced fiber profile.
And keep in mind that slowing down aging is not a quick process. Instead, the strategy is to incorporate different lifestyle habits that will slow down aging over the long run. Realistic expectations will save you a lot of headaches and heartaches.
One more thing: take action on this information as soon as possible. You see, waiting too long to take action leads to the forgetting of new information. So please don’t wait to get the ball rolling here!
Obtain free and valuable advice on the top toning flabby arm exercise immediately by going to Katherine Crawford’s M.S. website Sleeveless in 7. And discover how to get sexy and lean arms in no time by visiting her blog about how to lose arm flab with the best techniques right now!
Tags: anti-aging, beauty, dietary supplements, exercise, fat, fitness, Food, Health, metabolism, Nutrition, skin health, vitamins, wellness, Women
Dietary Supplements And Their Benefits
Generally speaking, a dietary or health supplement is a preparation that will usually take the form of a powder, tablet or shake. These preparations are developed to specifically provide the desired nutritional addition to your diet. Supplements can be developed to provide pretty much every type of nutrient there is, such as fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and most commonly of all, protein.
There is a dispute between countries about what category these supplements fall under, food or drugs. Although it has been agreed by the UNs highest authority of food standards (the Codex Alimentarius Commission) that any supplements containing minerals or vitamins are to be recognised as a food item.
Undoubtedly protein supplements are the most popular kind, with many different varieties. One variety of protein supplements are whey isolates, which usually contain Taurine for improved energy output, L-Glutamine for recovery and amino peptides for muscle growth & recovery.
A powdered protein supplement is often taken by bodybuilders. Usually, a powdered protein is taken before and after a workout, or to replace a meal. The idea behind this type of supplement is that a healthy flow of protein into the body allows for maximum repair and growth of muscle tissue.
The most common type of protein is whey protein (mentioned above), its absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly and contains all essential amino acids in high levels. Whey itself is a by-product of cheese making, and whey proteins are comprised of a mixture of globular proteins, which have been extracted from the whey.
Another kind of protein is Casein protein (milk protein) and has particularly high levels of Glutamine (an amino acid that aids recovery). It also contains casomorphin, which helps the body absorb the amino acids over a longer time period.
There is a vegetarian alternative protein supplement, and that is soy protein. It contains all the essential amino acids and a type of phytoestrogen with weak estrogenic activity which can give greater testosterone levels.
Tags: diet, dietary supplements, dieting, Health, health supplements, protein shakes, protein Supplements, self improvement, Supplements
Dietary Supplements That Aren’t As Good As They Say
Deep down inside, who wouldn’t want to find a magic pill that could give them the body of their dreams? Well, the fitness industry is aware of this and as a result, there are an infinite amount of nutritional supplements on the market.
Here is the challenge: how are you supposed to separate fact from fiction? After all, I’m sure you don’t want to waste money on useless pills and powders.
To save you some headache, here are some supplements that are a potential waste of money:
1. Arginine: The supplement companies claim two things about Arginine. One, that it increases vasodilation-the expansion of blood vessels. Two, that it increases growth hormone. The problem with taking large doses of a single amino acid is that it can block the absorption of others. Moreover, even if Arginine did increase growth hormone production, the body would decrease its own internal production.
2. Mitochondrial transporters: The main supplement here, carnitine, helps push the contents of fat cells into mitochondria-the sites where fat burning takes place. Keep mind, however, that you are much better off spending money on food than carnitine.
3. Cell hydrators: Cells grow whenever they are hydrated. And creatine is a cell hydrator and volumizer. Creatine, however, does not work as good as the supplement companies claim. It does have an effect on your body, but don’t expect massive gains here.
4. ZMA: ZMA is a blend of zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. The claim here is that ZMA increases levels of testosterone and IGF-1, anabolic hormones that help muscle repair itself. Again this logic is flawed because the body doesn’t operate on such simplistic terms. Even if this supplement did increase hormonal output, your body would simply counteract the effect by decreasing production.
5. Protein powders: Protein powders will never be able to rival whole foods. After all, whole foods in the right combinations have the slowest digestion rates you can get. And slower digestion rates translate into better protein synthesis.
The fitness industry is not going to stop promoting supplements. The key here is to not be hypnotized by the marketing and to stick to the facts. In the end, you are far better off spending your money on high quality food.
Get free advice on the best toning movement and toning exercises for flabby arms immediately by going to Katherine Crawford’s M.S. website Sleeveless in 7. And learn how to get sexy and lean arms ASAP by visiting her blog about how to get rid of unsightly arm flab that wiggles right now!
Tags: beauty, dietary supplements, exercise, fat, fitness, Food, Health, metabolism, Nutrition, weight loss, weight loss program, weight loss programs, wellness, Women
The 5 Top Benefits of Green Tea for Dieting
Green tea is one of the most effective supplements that can be used to lose weight and keep it off. There are a myriad of the benefits of green tea for dieting. Here are what I consider the 5 top benefits of using green tea for dieting:
Green Tea Can Boost Your Metabolism Did you know that green tea is a natural source of caffeine? Caffeine will aid in raising your heart-rate, thus, boosting your metabolism. A higher metabolism increases the number of calories that your body will burn.
Green Tea Burns Fat Naturally Your capability to burn fat is increased by the boost in your metabolism. You can raise your metabolism on a constant basis by drinking or consuming green tea each and every day.
Green Tea Helps Control Glucose Green tea is a natural way for your body to control its glucose levels. After you eat a carbohydrate rich meal, your glucose levels tend to fall quite sharply. As a consequence, you may feel a very strong wish to get your body’s energy levels up quickly. Your natural tendency will be to reach for an item loaded in sugar content. You can avoid these longings for sugar by drinking or consuming green tea, that may help to balance your glucose levels naturally.
Green Tea Is A Wonderful Appetite Suppressant When you consume or drink green tea on a consistent basis, you won’t feel as hungry between meals. Yur appetite levels will begin to balance out and you can eat less food. This will allow you to lose more weight because you will not feel hungry all the time. In one fresh study, rats were injected with green tea. Those rats ate up to 60 percent less food than the rats that were not injected with green tea.
Green Tea Helps Reduce Calories Here is one way that green tea decreases the amount of calories that you consume. If you simply substitute a cup of green tea for your morning coffee, you may still receive an identical quantity of caffeine. However, if you are like most folks, you do not drink your coffee black. You load it up with sugar and creamer, adding additional, unwished-for calories. So, you can get that same burst of energy and fewer calories by drinking green tea. You may see a difference next time you step on the scale with this one tiny substitution.
As you can see, there are many benefits of green tea for dieting. If you’re searching for a healthy way to naturally boost your metabolism, which will lead you burn more fat and calories in the process, then please consider looking into this natural weight loss supplement and see if it is right for you.
Tags: dietary supplements, dieting, fitness, green tea diet pills, Health, weight loss, weight loss supplements
What Exactly Are The Benefits Of Flax Seed Oil To Your Health?
There are a number of different Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The main one of benefit to us is called DHA, or what is technically called Docosahexaenoic acid. DHA is the dominant Omega 3 fatty acid found in our brains.
Both are good for your health and both are found fish oil supplements because they are present in the oil found in fish.
However there is also a third Omega 3 acid that is important but not as important as the other two. This is called ALA. Where is the first two essential fatty acids are found in marine sources such as fish the third essential fatty acid ALA is a plant-based acid. This is present in flax seeds more then in any other plant-based sauce and for this reason flax seed oil is used as a polyunsaturated Omega 3 supplement.
So let’s see what are the health benefits of flax seed oil as an Omega 3 health supplement. It is not only in flax seeds that you find Omega three fats in the oil, you can also find these fats in the oil of other plant-based foods such as walnuts. However it is most common in flax seeds. That is why flax seeds are used in the major plant-based Omega 3 supplement.
The main benefit of flax seed oil supplements is in the ability of the human body can change the ALA into DHA and EPA. The ALA cannot be used directly by the body but the body can convert it into DHA and EPA.
The main difference between DHA, EPA and ALA is in the different carbon bonds of each of the molecules. There are highly complex chemical reasons for this. However, the bottom line is that the body can use DHA and EPA directly, where it cannot use ALA without changing it into the other two acids first.
ALA itself has not been shown to have the health benefits of the other 2 Omega fats.
Therefore the medical benefits of flaxseed oil lie in the ability of the body to convert the ALA. Unfortunately the body is not very efficient in doing this, and only a small proportion of the ALA is actually converted. Of course if you took a lot of flaxseed oil supplements your body may be able to convert enough to satisfy the need for an adequate amount of DHA and EPA.
But why not get your DHA and EPA directly, from fish oil supplements, rather than indirectly, from flaxseed oil capsules? It’s more efficient to do it that way. Use the best fish oil capsules and you’ll get your DHA and EPA direct, and at better value.
The people who can benefit from flax seed oil supplements are those who cannot eat fish. Most vegetarians do not eat fish and they will be deficient in the very important polyunsaturated fatty acids that they should be getting in their diet.
Vegetarians should be taking some form of omega-3 supplementation and if they cannot take fish oil supplements they can get their essential fatty acids from flax seed oil supplements.
However it is also possible to get vegetarian Omega three capsules that come from marine sources that do not include fish. These marine sources are primarily algae and it is actually from eating algae that the fish get their Omega 3 fats from in any event.
So it is possible to get marine based vegetarian Omega 3 supplements. Whether these are better than flax seed oil supplements will be the subject of another article.
Concluding my article about the benefits of flax seed oil is quite clear that there are benefits from taking flax seed oil supplements however these benefits are much less than the benefits of taking fish oil supplements. The benefits of flax seed oil come from the ability of the human body to convert a plant-based Omega three fats into a marine-based Omega three fat.
It’s quite clear that flax seeds are good for you, and if you have the opportunity you ought to eat them by taking flax seed supplements is not as good value as taking the best fish oil supplements.
Visit my website to find out where to source the best Omega 3 fish oil supplements.
Want to know more about Fish Oil Benefits? Or more about Flaxseed Oil Benefits? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
Tags: benefits of flaxseed oil, benefits of omega 3, cardio, dietary supplements, family, fish oil, flaxseed oil benefits, Health, health and fitness, heart, omega 3, omega 3 fats, omega-3 fatty acids, Supplements
Vitamin D And Maternity
More and more research is pointing to the benefits of Vitamin D during pregnancy, but this great pregnancy nutrient has so many additional functions in the body. Vitamin D’s role is fundamentally calcium maintenance; in this role it maintains the healthy calcium levels in your bones. When pregnant, vitamin D may work in a similar fashion. However, this individual vitamin also touches hundreds of discrete genes and to affect a lot of areas of wellbeing.
The research surrounding vitamin D is expanding every day, and recently the American Academy of Dermatology has updated their recommendations to caution the public not to not getting sufficient vitamin D. Vitamin D insufficiency is where you do not have the optimal amount of vitamin D circulating in your body, but are not identifiably deficient in the nutrient. In reference to their new guidelines, the American Academy of Dermatology’s new guidance is as follows:
“The vitamin D position statement supports the Academy’s long-held conviction on safe ways to get this important vitamin – through a healthy diet which incorporates foods naturally rich in vitamin D, vitamin D-fortified foods and beverages, and vitamin D supplements,” said David Pariser, president of the American Academy of Dermatology.
“The updated recommendation for individuals who practice daily sun protection acknowledges that while protecting the skin from the damaging rays of the sun is important, so is maintaining adequate vitamin D levels. Concern about vitamin D should not lead people to forego sun protection, but rather prompt a conversation with their physician about how to ensure adequate and safe vitamin D intake while guarding against skin cancer.”
Does this alter the guidance on vitamin D and pregnancy? Not specifically. You should still get acceptable sun exposure to manufacture the vitamin and get the rest through a healthy and balanced diet. Supplementation may help as well.
Visit julie today at Bloom’en Nutrition
Tags: american dermatology association, baby, dietary supplements, maternity, medical association, Nutrition, parenting, pregnancy, pregnat, prenatal vitamins, vitamin D, vitamins
