Vitamins | Linus Pauling

Prevent Osterporosis With Vitamin K

March 16, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

Different vitamins are essential in preventing debilitating body conditions. Vitamin K for instance can be very effective in the fight against osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a scary condition and usually effects older people. Indeed, there are no symptoms when the disease first starts. Over time however, bone tissue things out and there is a decrease in bone density. This result in bones that are easy to break and very slow to heal. It is also a painful disease to have as your bones will actually start hurting just from walking or getting out of bed in the morning. The best thing to do is to avoid the disease altogether with a steady diet of vitamin K. So where is vitamin K found?

1.) Leafy Green Vegetables- Sure, they aren’t everyone’s favorite, but leafy green vegetables will help supply you with th vitamin K you need. Cooking up some broccoli is a great way to get some vitamin K into your system. Raw leafy green vegetables are terrific as well. Indeed, if you hit the grocery store for some raw spinach or lettuce then you will be getting yourself a sufficient doe of vitamin K.

2.) Eggs- Egg yolks in particular supply a good deal of vitamin K for your system and is one of the few alternative sources to the green vegetables. If you tend to skip your vegetables, make sure to work in some eggs or even liver to make sure you are not deficient in the vitamin.

Vitamin K is not naturally produced by the body and the foods they reside in may not appeal to everyone. If you don’t see yourself eating any of the aforementioned foods, then make sure you’re buying youself a suitable supplement.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Leaf vegetable, Osteoporosis, Vitamin

The Essential Vitamin A, as in Awesome

March 9, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Vitamins are categorized by letter and it’s no coincidence that perhaps the most important vitamin to your body is vitamin A. Like vitamin A and vitamin D, it can be a great help to your immune system to be up on your vitamin D. The health benefits of vitamin A are enormous as it is a key component in helping to keep your teeth healthy and strong. Vitamin A also helps to keep your bones strong and healthy and less likely to break. Your skin benefits from vitamin A by retaining it’s natural color and vibrancy. Bad or less than perfect eyesight will also benefit from a healthy dose pf vitamin A. Here are some of the foods you can eat to make sure you are getting enough vitamin A in your diet.

1.) Dairy Products- Milk and cheese are an excellent source of the vitamin.

2.) Vegetables- Make sure you are consuming fresh vegetables or at least frozen vegetables. Canned vegetables do no retain the same amount of vitamins than do their fresh or frozen counterparts. Sweet potatoes provide a great source of vitamin A but be sure to eat the peeling as well. Some vegetables that can be cooked to provide a good source of vitamin A include carrots, collard greens, spinach, and winter squash. Raw carrots will supply a sufficient amount of vitamin A as well.

If you’re not a dairy or vegetable person, egg yolk also provides a good amount of vitamin A for your body. While meat isn’t source, liver is the one exception. You can also visit your local pharmacy and pick one a once daily vitamin supplement. it will provide you with the daily source of vitamin A that you require as well as a number of other vitamins your body longs for. Ignoring the importance of vitamins in favor of fast or processed foods is not recommended.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Health, Vegetable, Vitamin

Make Sure To Get Your Allotment of Vitamin D

March 7, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Vitamin D is one of the few vitamins with a nickname, being called the sunshine vitamin. That’s because we can get our on the sun and the rays will actually help to produce the vitamin in our bodies. You don’t need to lay out all day in the sun by any means, but getting enough sun to produce vitamin D is ideal. It will help your body to retain it’s vitamin C, therefore helping to boost your immune system and fight off infections and other bacterias. Here are some more reasons to get your daily dose of vitamin D.

1.) Adverse health effects- A lack of vitamin D could have a very negative effect on your body. Tooth decay is a very common result of not having enough vitamin D in your system. Likewise, failure to get vitamin D in your blood stream may weaken your muscles making it difficult to lift objects. Soreness in your muscles is also a consequence of a lack of vitamin D. Several decades ago, rickets was the direct cause of no vitamin D and sunlight exposure but it is exceptionally rare now for anyone do get the condition.

2.) Where can you find vitamin D- Mens or women’s once a day vitamin combinations will surely provide you with all you need. Some of the most common food sources of vitamin D include milk and eggs. Milk is specially fortified with vitamin D nowadays so if you drink milk or enjoy cereal, chances are you are getting a sufficient amount of vitamin D in your system. Vitamin D can also be found in a variety of fish including tuna fish and mackerel.

The recommended dosage of the vitamin is somewhere around 5-15 micrograms. The potential negative effect of vitamin D are too drastic to ignore. Check the foods mentioned here that you consume for their vitamin D content and make sure to adjust your eating habits accordingly to make that minimum dose.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Health, Vitamin, Vitamin D

Getting Some All Imporant Vitamin B

February 23, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

The human body requires vitamins for a variety of reasons. Vitamin B is considered a complex vitamin as it is comprised of eight different vitamins. This vitamin has enormous health benefits including helping your body to process food faster, keeping your skin looking young and shiny and helping to keep you healthy by providing A boost to your immune system. Here is what you need to know about vitamin B.

1.) Where to find Vitamin B- In addition to daily supplements which can provide you with a healthy dose of vitamin B, it can also be found in a variety of foods. In order to get your vitamin B fill be sure to eat plenty of eggs and green vegetables. These foods are rich in thiamine, a key component of vitamin B. Also, vitamin B can be found in nuts and berries as well as cereals containing wheat.

2.) What happens if you don’t get enough vitamin B?- Unfortunately there can be consequences to being vitamin B deprived. For instance, the effect it can have on your skin is decreased resistance to the sun, leaving you open to getting sunburned or even worse, developing skin cancer. It can also have quite a damaging effect on your stomach by causing indigestion, diarrhea, as well as general stomach irritability. The absence of B12 in particular can have quite a damaging effect. Indeed, a lack of this important vitamin B element include disruption of your nervous system as well as an inability to produce the right amount of red blood cells.

Many of our favorite foods will keep you rich in vitamin B. be sure to stock up on lean meats, as well as standard health fare milk and eggs. Generally, a diet rich in red meats, fast foods and other complex carbohydrates leave you running the risk of poor health. As a quick fix, consider taking a daily vitamin supplement. They generally provide twice the amount of dosage required to meet your health needs.

Filed Under: Chemistry, Vitamins Tagged With: Health, Vitamin, Vitamin B

The Importance of Vitamin C

February 10, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

There are some vitamins that the body is capable of creating on its own. Vitamin C however is no such vitamin. In order to get vitamin C you need to consume it. Vitamin C is essential for your body and a lack of it could cause your teeth to fall out if Scurvy results. The effects of a lack of vitamin C far outweigh the results of taking too much. If you take too much, it will likely come through in your urine but too little could result in easy bruising for your body as well as other effects.

Where to find vitamin C? The mot common source of vitamin C for most people is in oranges and orange juice. In fact, there are many vegetables and fruits that can be consumed for a boost in the vitamin. Great sources of vitamin C include cauliflower, broccoli and red peppers. You’ll want to make sure to eat these vegetables raw so as not to lose any essential vitamins. Lemons, grapefruit, and kiwi are also a terrific source of vitamin C.

What are the benefits of vitamin C? For anyone who has had a vicious cold, you no doubt wish you had taken a heavy dose of vitamin c before you contracted the cold. Indeed, numerous vitamin C products are purchased every day so that people can prevent the onset of a cold and get their defenses up to maximum potential. Vitamin C also has a very positive effect on your body’s cholesterol level. In addition, you will be strengthening your heart by regularly taking vitamin C and also have a positive impact in preventing heart problems.

Vitamin C is simple to find and you are likely getting your share if you take your recommended doses of fruits and vegetables everyday. If you’re not a fruit or vegetable eater, then you better get yourself some one a day vitamins where you should get all the vitamin C you need.

Filed Under: Chemistry, Vitamins Tagged With: Health, Vitamin, Vitamin C

Want to be Healthier? Take Your Vitamins

February 1, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

For those of us too lazy or unconcerned to eat the right foods, vitamins can be a life saver, literally. Indeed, we are constantly told to eat certain foods because they are high in vitamin A or vitamin C but many of us do not heed the warnings. We continue to eat too much red meat, too much fast food and far too much processed food. However, once we come to the realization that we can skip many of these food by swallowing a pill once a day, the process seems more feasible. Here is what you get just for remembering to take a pill in the morning.

1.) Vitamin C 150% daily value- Vitamin C is a vital component to your immune system as well as an antioxidant. Fruits and vegetables like oranges and lemons are very high in vitamin C but if those really aren’t your speed, you can swallow a one daily vitamin pill to get the job done.

2.) Vitamin E 150% daily value- Vitamin E will help protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun as well as increasing your chances of resisting the effects of Alzheimer or prostate cancer. Vitamin E is found in sunflower seeds and vegetables like spinach and olives. If you aren’t likely to eat any of these, again a once daily pill will fill your quota of this vitamin.

3.) Vitamin B12 300% daily value- This is needed for basic body functioning and growth and you get three times your necessary daily allowance in a once a day pill. Vitamin B12 can be found in potatoes, egg yolks, almonds and other nuts.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Dietary supplement, Vitamin, Vitamin E

Tips for Strong Bones

January 15, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

We all want to have healthy bones so that we don’t have to worry about them breaking. There are things that you should do in order to make sure that your bones are nice and healthy and taken care of well. listed below are some of the top tips that you can use to make sure that you have healthy bones for now and that they will remain healthy as long as you do these things.

Don’t take supplements for Vitamin A
If you are taking a multivitamin, choose one that gets some or all of the Vitamin A in it from beta-carotene. If there aren’t any amounts listed, call the toll-free number and speak to the manufacturer to find out. The reason for this is that Vitamin A from retinol is more dangerous for older people because it breaks down some of their cells in their bones.
Perform some weight bearing exercises on a regular basis to improve the density of bones.
Each day, get 1,200 mg of the all important mineral calcium and 400 IU of the necessary Vitamin D.
Eat a lot of vegetables and fruits that have beta carotene in them, such as yams, tomatoes, red peppers, oranges, pumpkin, spinach, carrots, cantaloupe, peaches, and apricots are all good for beta-carotene.

As you can see, there are five good things that you can do in order to help you have healthy bones now and for the rest of your life. As long as you keep these tips in mind you are going to have some healthy, strong bones and you are going to greatly reduce your chances of breaking a hip or something else if you fall. When you take care of your bones, you will find that they are taking good care of you as well, now and in the future.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Beta-Carotene, Vitamin

Functions of Different Vitamins

January 13, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

When a patient is told that they should take a multivitamin, sometimes they wonder why they should take it. They wonder what the different vitamins do for them and the advantages of the different vitamins. Here are some of the more common vitamins and what they do for the body.

Vitamin A – This helps to keep skin, mucus membranes, and eyes moist. It also helps to prevent cellular and tissue damage through neutralizing the free radicals.
Vitamin C – This helps in healing wounds, promoting an immune system that is strong, and helps to keep gums and teeth healthy.
Vitamin D – This aids in the health of teeth and bone, supports the functions of muscles and nerves, and helps to prevent osteoporosis.
Vitamin E- This is an antioxidant which helps in blood clotting and neutralizes damage to cells.
Vitamin K – This is something that is needed for clotting the blood and also helps in bone repair and growth and function of kidneys.
B Vitamins – These include all of the B vitamins play really big roles in cell production as well as maintenance, cardiovascular and nervous system function, and help in converting protein into necessary energy.

As you can see, there are a lot of different things that vitamins do for the body and why they are so important to someone being healthy. When you are getting a good balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables, sometimes you aren’t going to need a multivitamin. But if you don’t eat the right things and your body isn’t getting what it needs from the food you eat, a multivitamin is the thing that can put into your body what food isn’t giving you. Vitamins all do something for your body and they are all necessary. Make sure that your body is getting them, one way or another.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Health, Vitamin

Prescription for Health

December 18, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The Linus Pauling Institute, founded by renowned scientist Linus Pauling, studies the role of nutrients on health. Naturally, they are experts on the topic of staying healthy. Their “Prescription for Health” contains their top recommendations; below are their top 10 lifestyle tips.

1. Eat your fruits and veggies. Get at least five servings every day (potatoes are not considered a veggie for these purposes, so no cheating and counting french fries as a veggie serving!). But don’t limit yourself at five. The latest recommendations actually have nine servings as the optimal amount, but that’s hard to aim for if you don’t even get five servings daily. Baby steps.

2. Include omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Easy ways to do this: flax seeds, walnuts, canola or flax seed oil.

3. When cooking with oil, don’t use saturated fats. Try to stick with olive oil, which is heart-friendly.

4. Avoid other saturated fats. This includes butter, full-fat dairy products, most meats, and shortening.

5. Reduce simple carbohydrates. This includes white flour, white rice, and potatoes. Replace with whole grain counterparts.

6. Reduce sugar intake. Common culprits are soda, cereals (Lucky Charms, anyone?), and obviously, candy.

7. Keep your weight healthy. If your BMI is over 25, you’re at a much higher risk of chronic diseases. Also, it’s been found that the more abdominal fat you have, the higher your risk of disease.

8. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day at moderate intensity. Incorporate weight training two days a week.

9. Quit smoking!

10. Drink alcohol. Actually, a small amount on a daily basis has been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease. However, this same amount has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. If your family doesn’t have a cancer history, keep your drinking down to one a day for women and two a day for men.

Filed Under: Health, Vitamins Tagged With: Linus Pauling, Linus Pauling Institute, Lucky Charms

Get Your Vitamins!

December 15, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Since Linus Pauling was considered a pioneer of Vitamin C research, it’s fitting that his Institute would offer free vitamin recommendations to the general public. Their “prescription for health” is meant for healthy people as a way to prevent common disease like cancer or heart disease. Below are the Institute’s top recommendations for vitamins and minerals.

Take a multivitamin supplement daily. Pick one with a recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 100% of most minerals and vitamins.

Believe it or not, iron is not always necessary in your multivitamin, as it can interfere with the absorption of the other nutrients. The Institute recommends that all men go without iron, and postmenopausal women take multivitamins without it as well. For all others, iron should be taken separately from the multivitamin.

The Vitamin A content of your multivitamin should be, at most, 2,500 IU. However, if the Vitamin A comes in the form of beta carotene, the amount should be 5,000 IU at most. The reasoning behind this recommendation is that beta carotene is only absorbed 50% by the body.

When it comes to Vitamin C, the substance that Linus Pauling is famous for studying, the Institute recommends at least 400 mg per day. If you’re taking a multivitamin and eating at least five servings of fruits and veggies on a daily basis, you should be getting enough.

The body naturally produces Vitamin D from sunlight, but doctors recommend taking it in supplement form instead. 2,000 IU is a good amount of Vitamin D daily.

Vitamin E should be taken as an extra supplement. The best source is naturally occurring alpha tocopherol; always take this supplement with a meal.

Calcium is a tough one, because it’s impossible to get 100% of the daily value into a multivitamin. Most people do not get enough calcium in their diets alone. Add a calcium pill to your routine if your total intake isn’t at least 1,000 mg. Take with a meal.

Filed Under: Vitamins Tagged With: Linus Pauling, Multivitamin, Vitamin