5 Essential Vitamins We Need Daily

“It's no coincidence that four of the six letters in health are "heal." ”~ Ed Northstrum

Here is the list of essential vitamins that we need daily. They perform essential functions to keep us fit and healthy. Are you getting enough?

B12

Health Benefits:
Vitamin B12 is used in making DNA, the building block of genes,
and in maintaining healthy nerve and red blood cells.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
2.4 micrograms a day for people 14 and older provides all the
body needs; although some researchers have argued that a daily
intake of 6 micrograms would ensure absorption.

Best Food Sources:
B12 is bound to protein, so foods like meat, fish, eggs and dairy
products like yogurt and milk are the principal sources.

Vitamin C

Health Benefits:
Researchers have long known that vitamin C is an essential
building block of collagen, the structural material for bone,
skin, blood vessels and other tissue.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The current recommended daily intake for men is 90 mg and for
women it is 75 mg. The body can only absorb a maximum of about
400 milligrams a day.

Best Food sources:
Virtually everything in the produce section including oranges,
green bell peppers, strawberries, broccoli, cantaloupe and
tomatoes, turnip greens, sweet potatoes and okra.

Vitamin D

Health Benefits:
Early on, most of the concern focused on bones, since vitamin D,
working along with calcium, helps build and maintain them.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Official recommendations now call for 200 IU for children and 600
IU for people over 71, with other groups falling somewhere
between.

Best Food sources:
We rely on fortified milk and breakfast cereals to get most of
our dietary vitamin D. Apart from a few kinds of fish, including
herring and sardines, there aren't many natural food sources,
which leaves supplements and direct sunlight.

Vitamin E

Health Benefits:
Scientists have not yet discovered all of vitamin E's importance
to our health, but they know that it plays a vital role in immune
function, DNA repair, fight free radicals, red blood cells
formation and vitamin K absorption.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The RDA in men and women is 23 IU, or 15 milligrams, and because
many E-rich foods come from nuts and oils, some low-fat diets may
be inadequate in vitamin E.

Best Food sources:
Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ oil. Sunflower seeds, cooked
spinach, almonds, safflower oil and hazelnuts.

Vitamin K

Health Benefits:
Vitamin K is used by the body to produce an array of different
proteins. Some of them are used to create factors that allow
blood to coagulate—critical in stemming bleeding and allowing
cuts and wounds to heal.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The current recommended daily intake of vitamin K is 90
micrograms for women and 120 for men. Luckily, vitamin K
deficiency is extremely uncommon.

Best Food Sources:
Vitamin K can be found in spinach, broccoli, asparagus, kale,
arugula, green leaf lettuce, soybean oil, canola oil, olive oil
and tomatoes.

EAT WELL... BE WELL!

6 “Must Eat” Essential Nutrients & Minerals

“The scientific truth may be put quite briefly; eat moderately, having an ordinary mixed diet, and don't worry. ~ Robert Hutchison, 1932”

Eating nutritionally every day is not only health but life-saving. Our bodies are highly evolved complex interactive systems producing and consuming energy to keep our mind, body, and spirit healthy and fit. In order to keep our bodies in good health and operating at peak performance, there are many essential vitamins and minerals we need. Among the essential nutrients and minerals we need daily are:

Beta Carotene

Health Benefits:
Our body converts the nutrient, beta carotene, into vitamin A, which is essential for healthy vision, immune function and cell growth. It also acts as a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals.

Recommended Daily Amount:
Presently, there's no RDA for beta carotene. But eating too much can add a yellowish tinge to your skin.

Best Food Sources:
Beta Carotene can be found in orange vegetables and fruits (such as: papaya, mango) and in dark green vegetables. Eat plenty of both weekly to meet your vitamin A needs and reap beta carotene's powerful antioxidant benefits.

Chromium

Health Benefits:
Chromium is required by the body for the process that turns food into usable energy, helping insulin prime cells to take up glucose. Chromium may be important to people with type 2 diabetes. It may help them control their blood sugar and may play a role in the management of adult-onset diabetes. Low chromium levels may cause high cholesterol and a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD). Supplemental chromium may increase "good" (HDL) cholesterol and lower triglycerides and total cholesterol levels in people with high blood sugar and diabetes.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Once tauted as a muscle-building miracle pill recent studies have been very disappointing about claims of chromium being able to improve glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, weight loss, and cholesterol level; studies to date have been unable to substantiate these claims for large segments of the marketplace. However, the body still needs this essential nutrient to function properly. The daily recommended intake for adults is 50 to 200 mcg.

Best Food Sources:
Best sources of chromium are whole-grain breads and cereals, meat, nuts, prunes, raisins, beer and wine.

Potassium

Health Benefits:
Potassium is involved in almost every vital body process: maintaining blood pressure, heart and kidney function, muscle contraction, even digestion.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Surveys show that most Americans get less than half the recommended amounts of potassium, which is 4,700 milligrams (mg) daily for adults and teens.

Best Food sources:
Foods rich in potassium best eaten in their natural states, so be sure to choose whole, unprocessed foods as often as possible, especially fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and lean meats.

Magnesium

Health Benefits:
Often over looked, magnesium's importance is getting more attention. A recent Harvard study of almost 130,000 men and women reporting that those who consumed more magnesium in their diets were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Other studies show that it may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Magnesium is necessary for some of the body's most basic processes, magnesium triggers more than 300 biochemical reactions for the production of energy from the food we eat. It help make proteins in the body, maintains muscle and nerve function, sustains a steady heart rhythm, regulates blood pressure, and keeps bones and teeth strong.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Around 300 mg/day (women) and 350 mg/day (men), with the upper limit for supplemental magnesium at 350 mg.

Best Food sources:
The mineral magnesium is abundant in avocados, nuts and leafy greens including acorn squash, kiwi and almonds.

Folate/Folic Acid

Health Benefits:
Folate is necessary for the production of new cells, including red blood cells. Folate deficiency remains a major cause of spinal-cord defects in newborns.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
Many dietitians recommend taking a multivitamin with 400 mcg of folic acid; 1,000 mcg per day is the safe upper limit for folic acid.

Best Food sources:
The best sources that are rich in folate include liver, dried beans and peas, spinach and leafy greens, asparagus and fortified cereals.

Zinc

Health Benefits: Zinc is essential to virtually every cell of the human body that ranges from keeping the immune system healthy to regulating testosterone. The metal is a micronutrient, one of 11 “trace” minerals that the body needs in very small amounts to maintain health. In the body, zinc binds to proteins, to help regulate many metabolic functions, including normal growth, tissue repair and wound healing, various functions of the immune system, and in the senses of taste and smell.

Recommended Daily Amount (RDA):
The recommended dietary intake for men is 11 mg/day, for women 8 mg/day.

Best Food sources:
Zinc is present in many foods. Zinc can be found in oysters other shellfish, cooked beef tenderloin, turkey, chickpeas, roast chicken leg, pumpkin seeds, cooked pork
tenderloin, plain low-fat yogurt, wheat germ, tofu, dry roasted cashews and Swiss cheese. In addition good amounts of zinc are also present in the bran of many grains, nuts, legumes, and red meats.

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(Source: MSN Slideshow 11 Featured Nutrients: Why You Need Them )

EAT WELL... BE WELL!

Natural Warriors That Fight High LDL Cholesterol Levels

“In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.” ~ Unknown

High cholesterol levels in proving to be a real and serious hazard to our healthy living quest. The offending culprit, LDL cholesterol, is the bad “evil twin” to the good HDL cholesterol which is very good for us.

Our high cholesterol problem can be traced directly to that harmful malcontent, “trans fat” that wormed itself into our diets thanks to food manufacturers looking to increase their profits by substituting natural wholesome food ingredients with cheap artificial junk made in laboratories. Yecch!

And the really disgusting aspect of this mess is that trans fats have NO nutritional value at all. And the only purpose they served was as a “bulk filler” to fool us into believing that we were getting real food and true volume in whatever we were eating. So for example, if you were eating a 5 oz hamburger, only 2 to 3 ounces was real beef.; the rest was trans fat. So when you start peeling the onion, it like we were eating consumable silly putty favored to taste like beef. Yecch! Yecch!

The problem arose when that with cheap artificial junk made in labs, could NOT be metabolized (absorbed and burned-up) as energy by our bodies. So that trans fat just stayed stuck in our arteries and veins, clogging-up our systems making us sick and fat!

NATURAL FOOD WARRIORS BEAT HIGH LDL LEVELS
It’s no secret that high cholesterol levels lead to an onslaught of serious more serious diseases, such a heart problems, strokes, obesity, poor circulation and fatigue. The cholesterol problem is totally out of control and it’s a national health crisis. There’s no argument that our high, bad LDL cholesterol levels need be lowered -- dramatically and quickly. Why? Because the higher your HDL cholesterol, the lower your risk of heart disease. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic says it is just as important to raise good HDL cholesterol levels as it is to lower bad LDL levels. According to research findings clearly show:

WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL, ANYWAY?
Cholesterol is a white waxy substance, vital for the human body as it helps form cell membranes, various hormones, bile salts and vitamin D.

High-density lipoproteins. HDL, or "good," cholesterol picks up excess cholesterol in your blood and takes it back to your liver for disposal. The higher your HDL cholesterol, the less bad cholesterol you'll have in your blood.

Doctors are writing lots of prescriptions and drug companies are making huge profits from selling us drugs that lower high LDL cholesterol levels.

But thank goodness there are natural foods that are proven warriors that can effectively and consistently lower high, bad LDL cholesterol levels. Mother Nature rides in on her trusty steed with a battalion of whole natural foods that we can eat that will lower our bad cholesterol levels and help in restoring healthy to our bodies.

Lisa Dorfman, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says, “If you eat a predominantly plant-based diet—with lots of fruits and vegetables plus some fish—you are on the right track to keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level.” Indeed, there are superfoods that we can eat plenty of that deliver a “one-two, knock-out punch” to bad cholesterol while boosting our good HDL cholesterol levels.

The general-rule-of-thumb is that you want to keep your total cholesterol level under 200, with LDL (the bad one) under 110 and HDL (the good one) greater than 35;’ notes source article author, Sally Wadyka for MSN Health & Fitness. The Mayo Clinic suggests that both men and women could benefit greatly by have HDL levels of 50+ mg/dl. If your not sure what your current cholesterol level is, ask your doctor for a baseline cholesterol test which will tell you where you are and were you need to head to get on the right track.

So what are the “superfoods” that fight high levels of LDL cholesterol and help us maintain healthy levels of total cholesterol levels?

SUPER FOODS THAT FIGHT BAD LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS
Several scientific clinical studies have proven the value and effectiveness of these foods in lower bad LDL levels and/or increase good HDL levels.

• Almonds: Studies have found that eating just a quarter cup of almonds a day can lower your LDL by 4.4 percent, according to dietitian Leslie Bonci, who is also the director of sports nutrition at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
  
  
• Oatmeal: Gives you great results due to the high level of soluble fiber contains oatmeal. “The soluble fiber binds to the bile acids that are the precursor to the development of cholesterol and help flush it out.” explains Bonci.
  
  
• “Fish: Omega-3 fatty acids are widely considered to be the best of the “good” fats, and the best place to find them is in fish — especially fatty fishes like salmon, halibut and tuna. According to Dorfman of the ADA, you want to get 1.5 to 3 grams per day of omega-3. A 4-ounce piece of salmon will give you close to 3 grams, and you can also get these fatty acids from walnuts and flaxseed (two tablespoons of flaxseed provides 3.5 grams) and in fish oil supplements.”
  
  
• “Red wine: Not everything that’s good for you has to feel virtuous. A glass of red wine, which contains flavanols (also found in red grape juice and dark cocoa), has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties that may help lower cholesterol and stave off heart disease. But in this case, more is definitely not better. “For women, the recommendation is one drink a day and for men it’s two,” says Bonci. More than that will, literally, dilute any potential benefits.”
  
  
• Soy Products:Like soybeans, soy nuts, and edamame beans, natto (the green vegetable form of soybeans), “plus any products made from soy (like tofu, soymilk, etc.) can help to reduce the production of new cholesterol. A little can go a long way—aim for about 25 grams of soy protein a day (the amount in a cup of edamame). Note: The debate about how much soy a woman should consume, continues on. For those who are at an increased risk of breast or prostate cancer may want to skip it since too much of soy’s phyto-estrogens can act similarly to the body’s own estrogen (which has been shown to feed some hormone-dependent tumors).
  

Foods to avoid or greatly reduce consumption of because they are bad for your cholesterol levels include: whole-milk dairy products, processed meats such as, bacon, sausages, and most deli meats), processed baked goods, and tropical oils (like palm and coconut oils).””

The Take Away: You can safely take control of your cholesterol levels by eating more of those foods that have scientific evidence for lowering bad LDL cholesterol levels and increasing good HDL cholesterol numbers. Lowering your cholesterol can lower your risks for heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

Note: If you don't know what your cholesterol level is, you can test and track your own cholesterol level at home with a self-help home testing kit.

(Source: Cholesterol: Five foods that fight it and five that feed it.)


EAT WELL... BE WELL!
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Lowering Blood Pressure: Omega 3s Help!

“The... patient should be made to understand that he or she must take charge of his own life. Don't take your body to the doctor as if he were a repair shop. ~ Quentin Regestein ”

New study finds fatty acids have small, but important effect on hypertension
Eating a diet rich in liberal servings of fish, nuts and seeds containing
omega-3 fatty acids nutrients can help lower a person’s blood pressure

According to Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, professor emeritus of preventive medicine
at Northwestern University in Chicago, who worked on the study, there is an
alarming trend taking place, “a large percentage of people between ages 20
and 60 have a rise in blood pressure, and by middle age many have high blood
pressure.” In order to stem this tide, “We’re looking at dietary factors
that may help prevent that rise, and omega-3 fatty acids are a small, but
important piece of the action,” Stamler said.

THE STUDY
The study accessed the relationship between diet and blood pressure in over 4,500 men and women, ages 40 to 59, who lived in Japan, China, Britain and the United States.

Researchers adjusted for 17 variables known to influence blood pressure such as age, gender, weight, salt intake and exercise based on the in-depth details provided about their diets and alcohol consumption, gave urine samples and had their blood pressure measured twice at each of four study visits.


THE RESULTS
The people who ate diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids had slightly lower blood pressure, on average, than people who ate diets with less of the nutrient, the researchers reported in the American Heart Association Journal Circulation.

In a statement, Dr. Ueshima, who also worked on the study, said,
“With blood pressure, every millimeter counts. The effect of each nutrient is apparently small but independent, so together they can add up to a substantial impact on blood pressure.

If you can reduce blood pressure a few millimeters from eating less salt, losing a few pounds, avoiding heavy drinking, eating more vegetables, whole grains and fruits (for their fiber, minerals, vegetable protein and other nutrients) and getting more omega-3 fatty acids, then you’ve made a big difference.”

The researchers published their findings in the June 2007 issue of American Heart Association Journal Circulation.

(Article Source MSN: Omega-3s can lower blood pressure)

EAT WELL... BE WELL!