Health Foods and Multivitamins

Archive for the ‘Food and Nutrition’ Category

Teaching kids about vitamins is not as hard as you may think. Instilling an understanding of vitamins and other other basic nutrition principles can lead to a lifetime of healthy eating habits.

Children are inundated with fast food, candy and soda, so the earlier you can begin teaching them about vitamins, the better. When you first start to teach children about vitamins, stick to the basics: vitamins A, B, C, D, and E.

1. Teach your kids about vitamin A, which is needed for healthy eyes. It can be found in foods such as eggs, milk, spinach, carrots and nectarines.

Telling your children they will have better eyes is a good way to help them remember the importance of vitamin A.

If your child doesn’t like one of the foods, then tell him or her they will be able to see better because they’ll get more vitamin A by eating it.

2. Move on to the B vitamins. Explain to your child that B vitamins help provide energy for their body, so not getting enough B vitamins might make them tired.

This will help them understand that B vitamins help them play and do other fun things. B vitamins are in foods like whole grains, fish, chicken, eggs, green vegetables like spinach, beans and milk. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to food, a child’s dietary needs are slightly different than those of an adult. Children should eat foods that not only help them develop properly and stay healthy when they’re young, but also help them to grow into healthy, strong adults.

Recognizing that the needs of children differ from adults, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a special version of its popular Food Guide Pyramid just for children. The pyramid encourages children to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and get lots of exercise. A child’s diet should be well-balanced and include foods from all of the major food groups.

Are Multivitamins Necessary?
Most children get the daily recommended allowance of vitamins and minerals naturally from the foods that they eat. There are some instances, however, when a pediatrician will recommend a multivitamin and mineral supplement for a child.

Children who are extremely active, have medical conditions, are picky eaters, follow a vegetarian diet, or do not eat well-balanced meals are candidates for multivitamin supplements. According to the Mayo Clinic, children should only be given multivitamins designed specifically for children. Read the rest of this entry »

Research and Studies: the best results

Research conducted since the early 1980 indicate that good results when used as a dietary supplement in patients with intestinal or kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, acne, cardiovascular disease, cancer or AIDS.

The consumption of vitamins and minerals in the natural source is advantageous with respect to its synthetic analogues, as they are bound complex of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and chelates, which together are easily assimilated by the body.

Scientific reports indicate beneficial effects of spirulina in the treatment of some diseases with neuropathic disorders such as diabetes, some types of tumors and anemia, either for control of blood sugar levels, by its antioxidant effect or the addition of large amounts of iron, folic acid and vitamin B12, respectively. It also has antiviral activity against various pathogenic viruses, attributed in part to its content sulfoglicolípidos, which may be related to its ability to enhance immune response and stimulate the function of macrophages. Read the rest of this entry »

Nutritional and therapeutic action

The protein content of spirulina is superior to other traditional sources (fish, 10% soy, 30-35% milk, 3% peanut, 25% eggs, 12% grain, 8% meat, 20 -22%). Lacking hard cellulose in the cell wall provides better protein digestibility (95%), so that favors individuals with intestinal malabsorption.

Essential fatty acids are found in major proportion in the lipid constituents. In particular, the acid?-Linolenic acid is the precursor of prostaglandins (PGE), and some research has found a decrease of this fatty acid and PGE in degenerative diseases. It has emerged also a beneficial effect of acid?-Linolenic arthritis, obesity, alcoholism, neuropsychiatric diseases and inflammatory conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

The Spirulina is marketed internationally as a dietary supplement of exceptional quality, and not as a drug, but several studies suggest its therapeutic value.

Its composition has a high percentage of protein (65 to 70%), all nine essential amino acids and nonessential minerals such as potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium, manganese, selenium, iron and phosphorus, all B complex vitamins, vitamin E, etc.

It also contains natural complex sugars, carotenoids, enzymes and only 7% fat in the form of essential fatty acids. Many consider it as an alternative supply in the future, especially for third world countries. Read the rest of this entry »

Further studies should be conducted regarding the effects of calcium supplementation on iron nutrition, magnesium and zinc. Because of this gap in research today can not make recommendations on routine supplementation with calcium. In fact, given the differences in calcium intake from plant or animal sources and from supplements or fortified foods, it is necessary to make a more specific characterization of calcium intake in pregnant women from different places. Future research should compare countries where calcium intake from dairy products to those in which calcium is taken mainly from vegetable sources (North and Central Europe could be good models).

Finally, more research is needed to better understand the changes that occur in blood pressure during pregnancy, for this, longitudinal studies can be implemented before conception.

Sources of funding: International Programme on Prevention and Control of Micronutrient Malnutrition (International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program, IMMPACT), Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity in the United States (Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity), Centers for Disease Control Disease and U.S.. UU. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Atlanta, GA, USA. UU. Department of Public Health Research, National Institute of Perinatology Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes, 11000 Mexico City, Mexico

It is believed that the provision of calcium supplements pose a significant technological challenge, especially in developing countries (2). Strategies should be developed for the preparation, storage, distribution, quality control and assurance of compliance with daily supplements for large numbers of pregnant women. Cultural barriers, financial and educational to change policies and practices in the plans of supplementation with iron and folic acid requires an assessment. Although iron supplementation can alleviate iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy and folic acid supplementation can prevent neural tube defects, the effective implementation of seemingly simple interventions that promote such supplementation is a considerable challenge. The failures in implementation in various circumstances were attributed to inadequate infrastructure and poor compliance, particularly in developing countries (7). The change in current guidelines for nutrition to be more complex and include calcium requires further evaluation related to the feasibility and cost effectiveness. Recently it was suggested that hypertension induced by pregnancy is the result of impaired implantation (8, 9). If this is true, then calcium supplementation should begin approximately at the stage of conception or at least during the first quarter.

Hypertension is a complication in about 9% of all pregnancies worldwide, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Currently, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are considered different diseases that affect the same organs or different levels of severity of the underlying disorder (3). From the available estimates and case-fatality rates, some authors have suggested that die each year, mainly in developing countries, about 40 000 women because of preeclampsia or eclampsia (2).

In a recent systematic review to determine the distribution of causes of maternal deaths was found wide regional variation (4). It was reported that hypertensive disorders are the cause of 16.1% of maternal deaths in developing countries, 9.1% Africa, 9.1% in Asia, and 25.7% in Latin America and the Caribbean (4).

APPLICABILITY OF RESULTS

Although calcium supplementation, used to reduce the risk of hypertension and preeclampsia during pregnancy, can be an intervention feasible in developing and developed countries, several issues must be examined before recommendations can be made. One issue is the bioavailability of calcium in the supplements, depending on whether they are consumed with food, its solubility and dose. Additional research is needed on the most effective dose, frequency, calcium compounds and characteristics of the tablet before recommendations can be made clear. In addition, calcium interacts with iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus, which are important micronutrients that are also necessary during pregnancy (5). Calcium inhibits the absorption of iron in a dose-dependent mechanism and saturable dose-dependent, suggesting that calcium supplementation, when used, should be administered with the recommended daily iron and folic acid. The concentration of calcium in mineral supplements and multivitamins for pregnancy is much lower than the amounts used in the studies that appear in this review, in order to reduce the risk of hypertensive disorders. In fact, the multiple micronutrient supplement of the WHO / UNICEF / UNU does not contain calcium

Healthy eating is the best way to:

* Have energy all day
* Get the vitamins and minerals you need
* Stay strong for sports and other activities
* Reach your maximum height, if you are still growing
* Maintain a weight that is best for your body
* Prevent eating habits are not healthy

What is healthy eating?

* Aiming for regular meals and snacks on time
* Eat every day from all food groups, to fill your needs for growth and health
* Balance the highly nutritious food with moderate amounts of other foods like sweets and fast foods (fast foods)
* Eat when hungry and stop eating when you are full
* Learn more nutrition and making food an important part in your life

Good nutrition has many benefits for health and welfare, but without doubt the most interesting is the question of the marked improvement in the quality of life. There is evidence that the oldest people, besides having a unique genetic makeup, have been lifelong healthy eating habits that enhanced their health and their immune systems.

There are some foods that are essential in the daily diet and are considered extensions of life. The most important components of these products are antioxidants, which prevent cell aging. Among these we mention:

• Read the rest of this entry »