Hyvin
A Natural Health and Wellness Blog

Dr. Jamie McManus, MD, FAAFP, discusses the importance of including probiotics proven to survive until reaching the colon as part of one’s core nutritional wellness plan: “Our bodies are constantly detoxifying via our digestive system, genitourinary system, lungs and skin. There is a growing amount of evidence supporting the benefits of probiotics in supporting healthy digestion. And, when your digestive system is functioning well, many people will notice positive effects on energy and even the appearance of your skin!” I agree – probiotics are an important player in being hyvin (well)!

I’m sure you’ve heard news reports of the recent E-coli contamination of spinach and lettuce. What are you missing if you choose to avoid spinach and other greens?

Spinach and other greens are rich in B-vitamins and Vitamin K, as well as being reasonable vegetarian options for providing iron and calcium. Also, spinach has become a favored green vegetable in recent years because of its lutein content. Lutein has been shown to help maintain eye health.

What to do? Be sure to supplement with a baseline of foundational nutrients, including those in spinach, and add the clinically relevant amount of lutein to your daily regime. “Clinically relevant” is important, because you cannot get enough lutein to provide the benefits demonstrated from research in a multi-vitamin. A carotenoid-only supplement is the only way to get adequate amounts.

There is a growing consensus about the wisdom of daily supplementation.

The American Medical Association, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Berkeley Wellness Letter all now recommend multi-vitamins.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), everyone, regardless of age or health status, should supplement their diet with a daily multivitamin. That would include infants, kids, men, women, and seniors.

Research also shows, of course, that intake of some vitamins strengthens the immune system and helps promote long-term health. Supplementation is definitely a key to being Hyvin (well)!

Do you know what a supercentenarian is? I learned that it is someone who has reached the age of 110! Seem hard to believe? Well, it’s easier to believe when you read that this young-at-spirit Floridian “takes Shaklee vitamins every morning with a powdered protein drink sprinkled on her cereal”! It would appear Shaklee truly does create healthier lives. You can read the full interview with this delightful lady here.

Every stage of a child’s development has its own critical nutrition requirements. And research continues to support the understanding that meeting those nutrition requirements has a dramatic impact on school performance. (Hey, it’ll be back-to-school time before we know it!)

While a well-balanced diet is very important, most children are picky eaters and do not get all the nutrients they need from diet alone, so you’ll also want to consider supplementing their diet.

Supplement their diet with what?! Click here for specific recommendations by age category from a family physician! Your children (and their teacher(s)!) will thank you .

Study findings presented at the Experimental Biology 2005 meeting in San Diego showed that supplemental zinc helped students perform better in school.

This was a 10-week study of 209 seventh graders, some of whom consumed fruit juice supplemented with zinc while others received regular juice. Those receiving the supplemental zinc had better reaction time on a visual memory test, more correct answers on a word recognition test and had better scores on a task requiring sustained attention and vigilance.

It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try a nutritional approach to improving school performance before some of the recommended medicinals. Feel free to contact me if you’d like more information about this.

A review, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, of fifteen studies concludes that eating processed meats increases the risk of stomach cancer.

The Reuters Health report of this research review quoted the Swedish Karolinska Institute as saying that:

[P]rocessed meats were often salted or smoked, or had nitrates added to them, in order to extend their shelf-life, which could be connected to the increased risk of stomach cancer, the fourth most common type of cancer.

We don’t eat the bacon, the sausage, the smoked ham very often, but it can be so tasty once in awhile.

Did you know that Vitamin C is believed to help neutralize the free radical cell damage caused by nitrates? So, at least pop an extra sustained release Vitamin C when you indulge!

The July issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reports that women in their 50’s who took in more than 500 milligrams of calcium daily in supplements gained 4 pounds less over 10 years than women who didn’t use supplements

Why? Dr. Alejandro J. Gonzalez of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told Reuters Health the most likely explanation may be “studies showing that low calcium intake boosts the amount of calcium contained within cells, which in turn switches on genes involved in fat formation while inhibiting fat breakdown.” So, calcium supplementation would have the opposite effect and the fat-forming genes don’t get initiated.

I’ll take every help available in the battle of the bulge… how about you? The many other benefits of calcium supplementation make this an easy one!

Changing the type of fat given to babies and young children who must have prolonged feeding via IV has been shown to avoid the serious liver damage that can be triggered by the practice. According to a Yahoo news account the July issue of Pediatrics reports that the typical IV solution is high in omega-6 fatty acids and when researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston used another solution high in omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil, the often fatal liver damage of two infants was reversed!

There have been many reports of late of the various health benefits of essential omega-3’s. The post on AMD prevention and omega-3’s earlier this week is yet another example. We can get the omega-3 fatty acids from fish, flaxseed oil and canola oil. And if we don’t get enough in the diet, ultra pure, potent, uncontaminated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil capsules are available.

So, change the fat!

Here’s another “eye” (aye) for omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil: Studies just published in the Archives of Opthamology suggest that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) occurred less often in those who ate fish once or twice a week. And this was true even for smokers (who have a much higher risk of AMD).

According to the Yahoo news account of these studies:

Researchers don’t yet know why eating fish seems to protect the eyes. Omega-3 fatty acids may neutralize free radicals in the eye, preventing the formation of new blood vessels, reducing inflammation or all three, [National Eye Institute's Dr. Emily] Chew said.

You may want to consider omega-3 fatty acid capsules to maximize chances of AMD prevention. Be sure to get pure fish oil that is contaminant-free.