Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
It’s no secret that even being moderately physically active can benefit your overall health, wellness and fitness and may reduce your risk for numerous chronic and preventable diseases. But what happens if you are a fit and active older adult and decide to stop exercising? …
By Nicole Crane, BS, NTP Working out is hard work! Whether you get up early, hit the gym during lunch, or pound the pavement before or after dinner, exercise takes time and dedication. That hard work also comes with significant rewards and health benefits. Just …
by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.
Why are you so tired? Because the power-plants inside your cells are old and wrinkly! Within each of your trillions of cells (with few exceptions) there are tiny power plants called mitochondria. Some cells have a few hundred of these dynamos and some have thousands, depending on the type of cell; the power plants are strategically situated allover the cell so every little bit gets energy. These power-plants transform the metabolites derived from the fats and carbohydrates in your food, converting them into usable energy known as ATP. About ninety-percent of your bodies daily energy needs are met through ATP.
In much the same ways as your skin becomes old and wrinkled, your mitochondria also wrinkle and have a decreased ability to manufacture energy. Good news! Certain nutrients improve metabolism and foster energy production through their effects on the mitochondria, increasingly being referred to as mitochondrial nutrients. A nutrient known as Resveratrol, the red wine antioxidant, triggers the recycling of old power-plants breaking them down and reforming them into newly made and efficiently working mitochondria.
Two important mitochondrial nutrients are ALCAR and ALA. ALCAR is an excepted abbreviation for the amino acid Acetyl-L-Carnitine; this amino acid acts like the truck driver delivering fuel for the creation of ATP. ALA (the accepted abbreviation for the nutrient Alpha-Lipoic Acid) is part of the fuel itself. ALA is also a powerful antioxidant and restorative for nerve tissue. In fact, NF-Kappa B is an immune system messenger that triggers aging; an additional benefit to ALA is its ability to shut down NF-Kappa B slowing the aging process. When you supplement an aging body with these three supplements, you may improve metabolism and energy production. Human clinical trials show that these nutrients increase energy, reduce fatigue, and support many aspects of aging including brain function, heart function and circulation, sexual function, a better balance of blood fats and blood sugar, improved muscle mass with a decrease in truncal fat, and decreased generalized inflammation. They also support the health of your ears and eyes (both extensions of your brain), the sense of taste and smell, liver function, the efficiency of blood vessel walls and ALCAR and ALA are among the most important of all life-extending supplements.
Clinical trials show that one or more of these nutrients increase energy in the elderly (those over 80) and even in the very elderly (centenarians). They increase stamina in heart patients, increase energy in people with chronic diseases, in individuals on medications that cause fatigue, or in conditions associated with fatigue including chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chemo-brain, and various viral infections. They are safe and good for anyone who needs energy.
Viral researchers at the School of Medicine at Wuhan University investigated the effects of Green Teas major antioxidant EGCG on the bird flu (influenza A) virus. EGCG was administered to human cells before, during and after infection with the flu virus. EGCG effectively inhibited the virus in these cells. To strengthen the evidence mice were infected with the flu. GreenTea’s EGCG reduced the death rate in the infected mice and decreased viral damage to the lungs; a major danger from the flu. The researchers concluded that EGCG has a strong effect against influenza A H1 N1 virus in a dose-dependent manner meaning the higher the dosage the better the effect.
Researchers from the University of Florida, Gainesville gave healthy adults either concentrated Green Tea capsules or inactive placebo twice a day for three months in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Green Tea capsules strongly reduced the number of people with the flu, reduced the duration of infection if they developed the flu, and reduced the number of days with any symptoms. The immune system of the subjects on green Tea had a much greater ability to fight the flu with a greater pool of disease fighting T cells and a better production of interferon gamma in response to infection. Interferon gamma is very important for fighting viruses, bacteria and tumor cells. The results of this study were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition
An important group of people who need flu prevention are the elderly, since according to the CDC more than 90% of the deaths related to the infection occur in those over age 65. A recent study measured the effectiveness of gargling with green tea in elderly patients living together in a nursing home. Researchers in Japan measured the rate of influenza infection in two groups of nursing home residents, one gargling three times daily with green tea extract, and the other group gargling three times daily without green tea extract. All residents received influenza immunization prior to the gargling experiment. However, immunization often fails to protect the elderly. When a healthy person is immunized they make a pool of antibodies that protect them from future infection but because the elderly have an aging immune system they are not capable of making enough antibodies and they are still susceptible to infection. During the three month study period (January-March), many residents became infected with the flu in spite of the flu vaccination. However, 87% fewer residents gargling with green tea developed the flu compared to those gargling placebo; an astounding result. The results of the study were published in the journal Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Your muscle stores glycogen; a reservoir for future fuel used for energy during physical activity. The reason why marathon runners gobble down pounds of pasta before a race is to increase the amount of glycogen stored in their muscles to help supply fuel longer during the race. Unless you are an elite athlete your glycogen stores are minimal, with less to burn during exercise and this affects your endurance. In fact, even elite athletes do not have enough glycogen to power an athletic event. However, their body compensates for this by switching to burning fat instead of glycogen. However, your body isn’t trained to do this; Green Tea may be your answer. Researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom note that drinking Green tea promotes the burning of fat in humans even when they are resting. The scientists investigated the effects of green tea extract and its ability to burn fat during moderate-intensity exercise in human volunteers. Two crossover studies were performed.
In the 24-hour period before the experiment participants took 3 capsules containing either GTE supplying a total of 366mg EGCG, or they took an inactive placebo for comparisons sake. The results were fantastic; the men burnt 17% more fat while exercising if they supplemented with GTE. Moreover, they also derived a greater amount of their energy from fat and not muscle glycogen with this also improving by about 17%. Green Tea Extract also improved insulin sensitivity by 13% in study B. The studies are published in the March 2008 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Nucleotides are the essential building blocks for all cells in our body; this is the reason why they offer such a wide variety of benefits, especially for energy, immunity, and healing. Nucleotides are naturally found in small amounts in some nutritious foods including liver, fish, and brewers yeast and they are an important component of breast milk needed for the development of a quickly growing baby. We also constantly require Nucleotides, especially for tissues that turnover quickly, such as the cells of the immune system or for any organ when healing takes place after surgery or an accident.
When it comes to immune system function there is a great deal of evidence showing how Nucleotide supplements act as regulators of the immune system and studies show that Nucleotides stimulate the production of antibodies to fight an infection. A study shows that Nucleotides maintain immune system function during intense exercise and that they offset the negative effects of stress hormones which would offset the increased risk of a cold or flu infection in elite athletes and exercisers. A previous study at Queen Margaret University College in Scotland demonstrates that Nucleotides help prevent secondary infections in people with a cold or flu infection; flu patients are in a weakened state and often develop a secondary infection usually as bacterial pneumonia and this is the major killer responsible for most deaths attributed to the flu. The same study shows that Nucleotides decrease the severity of symptoms in patients infected with a cold or flu including sore throat (20% reduction), muscle ache (15% reduction), headache (40% reduction), with a strong reduction in sinus and ear pain.
Nucleotides also support energy production, after all our old friend ATP is a Nucleotide and it supplies 90 percent of your body’s daily energy needs. This effect is handy during recuperation, during an infection or illness, while exercising or dieting.
Jerry Hickey is a pharmacist and radio personality and fills the esteemed role of Scientific Director and President of Invite Health. He has spent his professional life analyzing nutritional information and medical studies with the aim of creating the highest quality and most natural nutraceuticals …
In honor of National Walking Day, InVite® Health is urging you to start walking! Whether you head to the park for a stroll or dust off that treadmill for a slow walk, any physical activity is better than no physical activity. To get you moving, …
If you have pledged that 2016 will be the year you lose weight and get healthy, we have some tips for you! Though it can be a difficult lifestyle change, losing weight does not have to be a stressful and dull time in your life. Here are some tips for those who want to lose weight, get healthy and stay motivated throughout the process.
Understand why you need/want to lose weight.
Many times, the only thing missing from wanting to lose weight is the motivation you need to back it up. If you have no motivation to start eating healthier, you are going to continue to reach for things you shouldn’t, which may cause you to gain weight. For those who are severely overweight or obese, understand that your weight plays a factor in more than just a low physical fitness level. There are conditions that can arise like Metabolic Syndrome and diabetes that you can actually avoid all together. Genetic conditions and diseases should also be something that factors into your motivation. If you are at risk of developing a condition or disease, you should find ways to motivate yourself to stay ahead of it every chance you have.
In an article entitled, Natural Metabolic Weight Loss by Richard Walker, MD, he explains, “Here are some other things which add to the metabolic mess. As we age, we produce less DHEA, which is known to precede the slowing of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland controls the rate of metabolism meaning that here’s another trigger for even more fat storage. Our sex hormones also begin to decline starting at about the age of 35 for both men and women. Declining estrogens and testosterone contribute to the storage of fat in cells by reducing the type and amount of enzymes required for fat to burn. We begin to notice when we no longer loose the fat as easy as when we were younger.” Make a decision to better yourself today!
Set realistic goals.
Setting a goal such as losing 50 pounds in 30 days is pretty much setting yourself up for failure. There is no rule that says you cannot have both short term and long term goals. It’s very easy to start the New Year off by telling yourself you are going to lose a large amount of weight in a specific time period. But you may want to give yourself more time than you originally thought. Try to set a long term goal like, “I want to lose 20lbs. in 6 months.” Then you can have short term goals in between. Here are some ideas –
Walk for 10 minutes during your lunch break every day.
Eat at least one fruit and/or vegetable with every meal.
Drink at least eight glasses of water every day.
The list goes on and on. The secret to losing weight for those who have a hard time with motivation and keeping up with the lifestyle change is actually only changing your lifestyle in small amounts, increasing overtime. Some people do prefer to jump in at the deep end, however, which is fine if that’s what works for you. “The most important thing to remember is any weight loss is good,” says Louis Aronne, MD, the director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill-Cornell Medical College. “Any weight loss will improve your cardiovascular function, reduce your risk for diabetes, and help your blood-pressure.” By the time you’re ready to increase the smaller goals, the primary goals that you achieved may already be habits.
Technology can help!
If you are like most of the world, you have your phone in your hand or somewhere around you about 90% of day. Take advantage of that! There are numerous apps that can help you monitor your weight loss.
My Fitness Pal is a calorie counter right in the palm of your hand. With an extensive database of brand name foods available in the program, just type in the name of the food you are eating for an estimate of its nutritional information. With some basic information like your current weight, height and weight loss goal, My Fitness Pal will suggest an amount of calories you should consume each day. You can also subtract the amount of calories you have burned with your exercise on your daily log in, too. Stop counting calories the old way, and start logging your food easily (and for free!).
Here is an app that is not only keeping you moving but giving back. For every mile of exercise you do, you can help earn money for different charities! Whether you like to run, bike or just walk, Charity Miles will donate 10 cents for every mile you biked and 25 cents for every mile you walked or ran. The more you exercise, the more money you could earn for a charity. Talk about fitness motivation!
For more health, wellness and fitness APP ideas, click here!
Get moving!
This is a part of the weight loss process that is probably the most difficult – exercising. The main excuse you’ve used if you tried to lose weight time and time again is that you just don’t have enough time. But start to make short term exercising goals – walk 10 minutes a day, start taking the stairs, make sure you are not sitting for the majority of your day. “Physical movement makes you feel better and boosts your confidence,” says Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, Distinguished Lecturer at Hunter College and City University of New York School of Public Health. “Workouts increase the chances of reaching your weight loss goals and decrease the chances of slipping up.” These are small things you can do to keep yourself moving. Always remember: though small, any healthy changes and decisions you make now, are better than what you were doing yesterday.
There are other ways to keep the up with your New Year’s Resolution to lose weight – from finding a friend with the same goals as you for some moral support to reading every nutrition label you can get your hands on. But motivation is key! Keep moving and make small changes. By the time you realize it, you will have completed your goal.
Source: www.prevention.com