Getting To The Truth About Anti-Oxidants

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Anti-oxidants experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Anti-oxidants. Heed their advice to avoid any Anti-oxidant problems.

Anti-oxidants scavenge free radicals. Today the processed diets that we eat produce free radicals therefore it is essential that we take anti-oxidants to counteract the harm that is being done by the affluent diet.

Today there is concern about safe doses of anti-oxidants. As we know vitamins and minerals are good for us. However, anything taken too big a quantity can be harmful. Because vitamins and minerals do not work alone in nature they also do not work alone in our body. They actually work together. A good example of this is Vitamin E. It is regenerated by Vitamin C and supported by selenium. This process of working together is called synergy. This is how a balance of these vitamins is produced.

Actually if we can learn to take our supplements in balanced doses than they in turn will be more effective in lower doses.

Recently there have been levels set that are acceptable and safe to take. This has been done by the Institute of Medicine who were advising the National Academy of Medicine on minimum and maximum supplement levels.

They recommend that we take no more than 1500 I.U.'s of Vitamin E, 2000 mg of Vitamin C and 400 micrograms of selenium per day. Research has confirmed that these levels of vitamins and anti-oxidants are safe for us to take.

The Cambridge Heart Association did an anti-oxidant study on 2000 people and found that 400 to 800 I.U.'s per day is optimum to protect against heart disease. 150 to 300 micrograms of selenium is optimum per day and 1000 to 2000 mg of Vitamin C is optimum per day.

Some reports in the news have said that high doses of anti-oxidants are harmful to your health. The fact is that too high a dose of Vitamin C can only cause a laxative effect. Vitamin E can thin the blood and selenium if taken to much can cause hair loss.

We are living in times when anti-oxidants are essential. Anti-oxidants scavenge free radicals that are produced by: pollution, chemicals, drugs, alcohol, as well as excessive eating of processed foods.

A Mans Prostate Health Care

Learn health care for a mans prostate. What special diets and life style support a healthy prostate. Over half of all men over 50 have an enlarged prostate.

Prostate problems all too often and effect a mans activities and all ages can be effected. Men often know a lot more about a womens cycle than they do about their own sexual health. However, problems with a mans prostate as just as common that with womens period cycle issues.

Some of the symptoms with men with prostate problems are difficulty in urination with increased frequency of urination. Painful urination and having to get up at night to urinate are other symptoms. Pain in the lower back is another sign of possible prostate issues.

When a man ages, it is usual for the prostate gland to become bigger. This condition of enlarged prostate "benign prostatic hyperplasia" or BPH. For some men this causes no problems but for some the prostate enlarges and this causing the prostate gland to press inward against the urethra narrowing the space for urine to flow. The bladder wall can become thicker and irritable causing more frequent urination. Eventually some urine remains in the bladder A doctor can diagnose an enlarged prostate during a finger prostate exam.

About 400,000 men in the USA have prostate surgery each year costing over $2 Billion a year.
Experts in diet strongly recommend that a good diet and exercise routine help in preventive and treatment of prostate problems. THe general recommendations are to reduce red meat and saturated fat in the diet and eat more fruit and vegetables. Drinking more water rather that coke and a good exercise program are essential both for prostate care and leading a better, healthier and happier life.

The three nos are cigarettes, booze and high fat foods. Research has shown that aerobic exercise such as jogging, dancing or swimming can improve the state your your prostate.

Men who walked for two to three hours per week were 25 percent less likely to develop prostate problems than those who did little walking. Just 20 minutes walking a day is a little time to put aside for increased health benefits and more energy and as a side benefit better sexual function.

The good news is that lovemaking a few times a week helps your prostate due to the action of the semen and prostate function.

Antioxidents And Free Radicals

Antioxidants
The process of oxidation in the human body damages cell membranes and other structures including cellular proteins, lipids and DNA. When oxygen is metabolised, it creates ‘free radicals’ which steal electrons from other molecules, causing damage.

The body can cope with some free radicals and needs them to function effectively. However, an overload of free radicals has been linked to certain diseases, including heart disease, liver disease and some cancers. Oxidation can be accelerated by stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol, sunlight, pollution and other factors.

Antioxidents and free radicals
Antioxidants are found in certain foods that neutralise free radicals. These include the nutrient antioxidants, vitamins A, C and E, and the minerals copper, zinc and selenium. Other dietary food compounds, such as the phytochemicals in plants and zoochemicals from animal products, are believed to have greater antioxidant effects than either vitamins or minerals. These are called the non-nutrient antioxidants and include phytochemicals, such as lycopenes in tomatoes, and anthocyanins found in cranberries.

Vitamin supplements
Some studies suggest that antioxidants are less effective when isolated from food and presented in tablet form. For instance, vitamin A (beta-carotene) has been associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers but an increase in others, such as lung cancer in smokers, if vitamin A is purified from foodstuffs.

A study examining the effects of vitamin E found that it didn’t offer the same benefits when taken as a supplement. Also, antioxidant minerals or vitamins can act as pro-oxidants or damaging ‘oxidants’ if they are consumed at levels significantly above the recommended amounts for dietary intake.

A well-balanced diet, which includes consuming antioxidants from whole foods, is best. If you insist on taking a supplement, seek supplements that contain all nutrients at the recommended levels.

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a chemical that reduces the rate of particular oxidation reactions in a specific context, where oxidation reactions are chemical reactions that involve the transfer of electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent, this generally results in different chemicals to the original ones. Antioxidants are particularly important in the context of organic chemistry and biology.

All living organisms maintain a reducing environment inside their cells, all cells contain complex systems of antioxidants to prevent chemical damage to the cells' components by oxidation.

These antioxidants include glutathione and ascorbic acid and are substrates for enzymes such as peroxidases and oxidoreductases. Antioxidants are widely used as ingredients in dietary supplements used for health purposes such as preventing cancer and heart disease.

Studies have suggested antioxidant supplements has benefits for health, but several large clinical trials did not demonstrate a definite benefit for the formulations tested, and excess supplementation may even be harmful. Dietary supplementation has few specific antioxidants compared to a broad diet rich in phytonutrients, which will yield thousands of different polyphenol antioxidants available for metabolism..

Top Healthy Foods To Keep You Fit

Healthy eating and physical fitness go together, but there are no magic foods that cause you to be one hundred percent healthy by just eating the one food. No, you need a variety of foods from each of these food groups each day. It's also important to watch the portion size so as not to overeat. Make your mealtimes pleasant and relaxed occasions and your healthy foods will work effectively with your healthy emotions to give you a healthy body.

Berries
You may like all types of berries or just one or two favorites, but you can never go wrong by adding a few fresh berries as a quick energy snack or frozen berries made into a luscious smoothie in place of calorie laden desserts. Berries are high in vitamin C across the board, but some are high in other nutrients as well. Choose ripe blueberries for vitamin C and heaps of anti-oxidants for the health of your circulatory system. Gogi berries are less well-known but are wonderfully rich in many of the nutrients your body needs to be nutritionally and physically fit.

Citrus
The foods of the citrus family are widely recognized as a valuable source of vitamin C. Choose fully ripe citrus fruits for the best nutritional value and choose citrus as near to the tree as possible. Tree ripened fruits picked at the peak of perfection and consumed with hours of picking give you the top nutritional rating. Try grapefruit for breakfast. Add a dash of fresh squeezed lime to your salad as a dressing and enjoy slices of orange with coconut in a light honey dressing for dessert.

Vegetables
The variety of vegetables is amazing. For people who are vegetarian or vegan, choosing vegetables to be part of a nutritionally sound diet is a way of life. Your vegetable group provides many of the minerals required in a good diet. For example, you may realize that potassium is necessary for healthy nutrition. Many people claim the benefits of potassium found in a single banana. But did you know, you can also get adequate potassium in your diet by eating a stalk of broccoli? Try a salad of fresh young spinach topped with pine nuts and stirred with lightly cooked penne'. Feta cheese and a light vinaigrette dressing to create the perfect light luncheon meal.

Green Tea And Antioxidants

Green tea has been used in ancient Chinese culture for thousands of years and was only drunk by the most fortunate of people. It was not until many years later that the public was allowed to consume the tea. Many teas can be found in China but it is said that green tea has the most medicinal and health purpose.

Todays biggest focus of green tea is the antioxidants that are found in the tea. By not fermenting the tea the antioxidants are kept in the tea to where as with other teas that are fermented they are lost. The traditional Japanese way of steaming the leaves stops the oxidation process. The Chinese use flat pans to dry the leaves to stop oxidation. By stopping the oxidation the tea retains its medicinal properties. Antioxidants are used by the body to keep are healthy cells from oxidizing premature and becoming unhealthy. They also help to keep free radicals from attacking and damaging healthy tissue.

Green tea has many health benefits people who drink at least two cups of tea a day are said to live longer. It helps in the prevention of different cancers, heart disease and liver problems. The Epigallocatechin gallaten antioxidant found in green tea is said to be 100 times more potent than vitamin C and 25 times stronger than vitamin E at protecting cells and DNA.

The most potent of all the anti-oxidant flavonoids is believed to be a compound called quercetin, which is widely found in common or garden vegetables. The consumption of fruits with their skins on, such as apples, pears, grapes, bilberries, tomatoes etc will also provide a good supply. But perhaps the richest source is onions, a foodstuff also known since ancient times as a powerful anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory agent.

There's no doubt that a diet including plentiful supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables can only be beneficial to health. But the anti-oxidant properties of the flavonoids found in many common, even supposedly unhealthy, beverages should not be neglected.

For example, the anti-oxidant properties of the catechin polyphenols found in black and green tea and red wine are now well known and attested. But, as remarkable as it may sound, there is now evidence that even beer may contain unique anti-oxidants equal in potency to vitamin E. The flavonoid compounds, xanthohumol and isoxanthumol appear to be found only in beer and the hops that flavour it and although they have not been studied directly, there is speculation that they may be responsible for the remarkable and counter-intuitive finding that lager type beers may be more effective as anti-oxidants than red wine, grape juice or even green tea. Obviously there are other reasons, not least its high calorific value, why you wouldn't want to depend on a high consumption of lager for your anti-oxidants, but in moderation it may indeed be beneficial.

In fact studies suggest that these particular flavonoid anti-oxidants may have a particular role in combatting the oxidation of low density lipids (LDLs), the so-called "bad cholesterol", which is a known risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The other main fat-soluble anti-oxidant which fights this process is vitamin E, and although there is evidence that the anti-oxidant potential of xanthohumol and isoxanthumol may be comparable with that of the vitamin, it is also clear that each of the three compounds functions best in the presence of each of the others.

Whilst orthodox medicine concedes, in fact insists, that further research is necessary, the implications of these findings are exciting; suggesting that there may be many more as yet undiscovered benefits of flavonoids. As always, however, the holistic functioning of the body means that maximum benefits will only be obtained by the consumption of the widest possible variety of all these compounds. As flavonoids are not yet widely available as supplements, this consumption is best achieved through the foodstuffs and beverages which combine them as nature intended. Such a flavonoid rich diet can only be of benefit to the action of the better known anti-oxidants, such as vitamins E and C, which are more readily obtainable in supplement form.

The Health Benefits Of Flavonoids As Anti-Oxidants

Flavonoids are highly beneficial anti-oxidant compounds found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, red wine and even beer, and it's now well established that a plentiful intake of anti-oxidants through foods, drinks and supplements is vital for optimal human health.

Anti-oxidants operate to neutralise the activity of so-called "free radicals"; compounds produced in the body as by-products of normal biochemical reactions, but which may nevertheless be highly damaging as they produce oxidative reactions damaging to cell structures. Ultimately this damage may contribute to the development of degenerative diseases characteristic of ageing, including cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's Alzheimer's and even some cancers.

The best known anti-oxidant nutrients are vitamins C and E, although these can only function properly when supported by adequate supplies of a wide variety of micro-nutrients, which include many of the flavonoids found in common fruits and vegetables. These compounds may therefore be regarded as important elements in the body's anti-oxidant defences, but many of the more than 4,000 flavonoids identified have also been hailed for their beneficial effects on the immune system and anti-inflammatory properties.

From the point of view of incorporating flavonoids into a daily health regime, the good thing is the ease with which this can be achieved. Flavonoids are very widely found in fruits, vegetables, and even drinks normally regarded, for other reasons, as unhealthy. So even a diet ordinarily well provided with common fruits and vegetables may provide anything up to 800mg of various flavonoids.

Authoritative research has indicated that this level of flavonoid consumption may help protect against coronary heart disease and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), an important precursor of both heart disease and stroke. These remain two of the major causes of premature mortality and disability in the Western world, and to this extent the UK government and health advisors' frequent advice to consume five servings of fruit and vegetables each day is well founded.

Meditation: The Power Of Doing Nothing

Meditation is not well understood.
If it were, it would be practiced with the same regularity with which people take care of the other elements of their lives.

In this brief article, I hope to explain the value of this Eastern idea of doing nothing as a way to experience inner depth and wisdom.

The inner person has often been called the soul. This is like a seed. This seed carries the power of life. It also has potentiality that is not known. Sometimes we glimpse this potentiality in those who have been known to do miraculous things, like the saints of certain religions.

The urge for life is the evidence of this seed. Life is not a mere mechanical arrangement like the wiring in a house whose electrical current "animates" various devices. Life is much deeper and more mysterious. A mystery we label as consciousness.

This seed, like the shoot of a young plant, seeks always to grow. And like the young plant, it is vulnerable to the pressures of the environment and to survive must build its inner strength.

Pausing then to simply be and to notice that experience of individuality, we build our inner strength and fortify it from the depersonalizing pressure of society.

When this mechanism of survival is not conscious, we create a psychological shell and habits that protect. Yet when we become more aware, we awaken to our own process.

Putting it another way, conscious living does not usurp the function of the unfolding seed, but instead awakens it to its own process.

In this way, we do not conduct our lives as if from the outer rim of ourselves.

When we affirm the value of the private person within ourselves, we make life an adventure worth living.

The Benefits Of Green Tea

People from the Chinese culture have been using green tea for years. They claim that drinking green tea can greatly improve your health and will help you to live a longer, healthier life. The benefits of green tea have spread worldwide and now people from countries all over the world and testifying to the benefits of green tea. Some of the many health benefits include such things as lowering your cholesterol; boosting your immune system and even preventing tooth decay. There are also those people who say that drinking green tea can greatly help in losing weight.

Green tea is made from dry leaves that come from a plant known as the camellia sinensis plant. Green tea itself dates back to China as far back as five thousand years ago. There is a story behind the first use of green tea and it states that an ancient Chinese emperor was boiling water and some leaves from this plant accidentally fell into his water. The Emperor then began to claim that it was these leaves that helped to improve his health. People began to follow behind him and started putting these leaves in their water when they boiled it and then they drank the water.

There are a large number of teas available in the world today but none work the same as green tea. This is due to the fact that green tea itself is not fermented. This means that it maintains most of the antioxidants that are lost in other teas during the fermenting process. Green tea also contains polyphenols such as tannins. The vitamins and nutrients in this tea helps you body fight back against bugs and bacteria that can make you sick.

There have been numerous scientific studies that have been done to confirm the health benefits of green tea. Doctors recommend that people drink green tea at least once a day to keep their immune system good and to keep them healthy. It is also recommended for those wishing to lose some excess weight.