The Powerful Health Benefits of Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

Adding fats to your diet is essential if you want to live a healthy lifestyle that results in feeling and looking great, but it has to be the right kind of fats. Essential fatty acids fall within this category and are a crucially important addition to anyone's diet.

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are made up of two components: DHA (which stands for docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

The best source of DHA and EPA are fish, especially salmon, seaweed, shellfish and algae. Furthermore, you can also get omega-3's from unrefined whole grains, dark & leafy greens and certain nuts and seeds like walnuts, flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds. This second group contains ALA (alpha linolenic acid) which your body then converts to EPA and DHA.

Your best bet, however, is to get your omega-3's from seafood because your body converts only about 15 percent of dietary ALA to EPA and much less to DHA.

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Looking After Your Skin

Unless you want your skin to end up looking like an old potato, it is essential to take care of it. Most children’s skin is beautiful and needs nothing more than the care of sunscreen when they go outside, but once they reach their teens, all sorts of problems begin to manifest. Acne is one of these, but even if you are fortunate enough to escape acne, you still need to take care of your skin. Most people know if their skin is oily or dry. Often skin that is a bit oily has dry patches in a T-section that includes the nose. If your skin seems dry and scaly here, you should apply moisturizer to it, but astringents to the oily part. The skin around the eyes is more tender and fine and should be treated with a product especially designed for it.

There are many products on the market and it might be perplexing to know which one is right for you. Seek the help of a beautician if necessary. There are some fun and inexpensive products you can make from the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard.

Oatmeal paste.
Mix 2 tbsp oatmeal, 4 tbsp plain yoghurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp chopped parsley, and 1 tsp olive oil together. Massage into the skin, rinse off after about 4/5 minutes. This is great for oily or irritated skin. You can put a handful of oatmeal into the toe of your old pantyhose and use it to scrub your whole body, too.

Mask to treat wrinkles.
Beat 1 egg into 2 tbsp of milk. Wash your skin first then gently dab this concoction on. Rinse with warm water after 4/5 minutes. Add moisturizer.

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Dietary Supplements – Calcium and Magnesium

Many health care professionals don’t see the need for supplements of vitamins and minerals, but it is possible to become deficient in these building blocks for the human body when we are under the stress of illness, pregnancy or aging. Children can often eat junk foods to excess and miss out on their daily nutritional requirements. The unborn child makes heavy nutritional demands on the mother, while those in the older age bracket often find their stomach doesn’t absorb nutrients like it should.

Adolescents and young adults often have stress of an emotional kind with school exams and late hours for whatever reason. Mothers of young children rarely have a moment to call their own so their bodies are under constant stress and often they have to cope with sleep deprivation too. Sometimes we can go for years feeling overtired or with other minor problems without realizing that they could be alleviated by the addition of certain dietary supplements.

Cramps in the lower limbs, restless leg syndrome and sleeplessness are all eased by the addition of calcium and magnesium to the diet. Magnesium is more easily absorbed by the body in the form of dolomite, or with the addition of calcium. People who are too busy to eat properly, nursing or pregnant mothers and children who refuse milk and are picky eaters should all take calcium supplements. Children need lots of calcium to build strong bones and teeth that will serve them faithfully for the rest of their lives.

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Dietary Supplements – Folic Acid

The debate about the necessity of taking dietary supplements is still raging. While many health care professionals believe we get all we need from the foods we eat, others prefer to offer extra vitamins when their patients are under a stress such as pregnancy or illness or even aging, when the body’s function is impaired or overloaded.

Studies have proven that taking extra B group vitamins, especially folic acid and B12 have reduced birth defects by 72 to 100%. And since regulations authorizing the addition of folic acid to grains have come into force, the incidence of birth defects in the USA has dropped by 19%, though sceptics claim there could be other reasons.

So what are some of the symptoms of folate deficiency? If your tongue is inflamed and you suffer from loss of appetite, shortness of breath, are irritable, forgetful and mentally sluggish, you may have a folic acid deficiency. Folic acid is one of the B group of vitamins and most animal and plant foods are poor sources of it. The exception is liver which most people don’t eat a lot of these days. Some habits and diseases also play a major part in causing a deficiency of this vitamin. Celiac disease, alcoholism and irritable bowel syndrome are three such.

Studies have also suggested that when elderly people suffer from depression it is caused by a lack of folate (B9). It should be taken with B6 And B12 to help its absorption and function in the body. These three vitamins work closely together and help relieve symptoms of depression. They do this by decreasing the amount of homocysteine, which is thought to play an active part in causing the depression. Sometimes the amount of folate in proportion to the other two may need to be increased.

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Sushi is Ideal for Healthy Diets

Sushi, popular for centuries in Japan, has become immensely popular in the Western world in recent years. You may soon find yourself invited to enjoy sushi with friends at a sushi bar or restaurant. Despite the common reaction of distaste at the prospect of eating raw fish, sushi is actually a simple and delicious food that can easily be enjoyed by adults, children, vegetarians and even the extremely squeamish.

Although sushi’s history goes back to the 7th century, the popular form that is served in modern sushi bars came into popularity in 1820, Tokyo. Variations of the lengthy pickling process that was the original variety of sushi were made so that sushi could be enjoyed freshly made from a portable stall. This 'fast-food' approach has resulted in Sushi Bars gaining popularity all over the world.

Sushi is a very healthy meal made mostly with rice, fish and vegetables. Sushi should always be made with fresh ingredients. Not only for the safety of the eater but for the flavors. The delicate flavors of rice, vegetables and fish are enhanced with healthy soya sauce, ginger and wasabi.

What are the health benefits of sushi?

The thin, toasted seaweed sheets, called Nori, used in rolled (maki) sushi are high in Vitamin A, B-complex, Niacin and Vitamin C. It is also good for digestion.

The rice used in making sushi, while not as healthy as brown rice, is still low in fat and sodium free while also being a complex carbohydrate which is needed as fuel for your body.

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How to Choose a Good Vitamin Supplement

Choosing a good vitamin supplement can be a frustrating ordeal. There are 1000's of supplements to choose from - some are good, but many are total rip-offs.

Many vitamin companies depend on the average consumer not being very well informed and they'll take billions of dollars from them this year.

In this article, you'll learn vital facts 90% of vitamin buyers do not know. Plus - 5 sure-fire ways you can use to judge every new vitamin supplement that comes along. Once you're armed with the information revealed here, you'll be "bullet-proof" against vitamin supplement hype.

HOW DOES THE SUPPLEMENT DISSOLVE IN THE STOMACH?

Not too long ago a TV news program showed a couple vitamin supplements found in hospital bed-pans. They were completely whole. You could even see the brand name on one of them. It was one of the most popular drug store vitamin supplements sold in America today. The hospital staff finds these often and call them "bed-pan bullets".

There are basically 3 types of supplement delivery systems. Liquid, tablets, and capsules.

Liquid, of course, is ready to go but there's not currently many choices. Liquid supplements are a bit inconvenient and taste like cough syrup. But, they're perfect for those having trouble swallowing pills - and for youngsters.

Tablets are the most common vitamin supplement. They are formed by mixing in an organic or inorganic cement and compressing into shape. To dissolve properly, an organic cement should be used - but it's more costly for the company. Also, there are coated tablets, as mentioned above, that look like little candy-coated M&M's. These are quite common with the one or two per day cheap drug store vitamins.

Capsules are loosely packed gelatin containers that dissolve quickly. My first choice. Because they're not compressed like tablets, you will usually have to take two of these to equal one tablet.

HOW WELL ARE THE VITAMINS AND MINERALS ABSORBED?

Fact is - studies have shown individual vitamin isolates in supplements are about 10% absorbed. Compare this to vitamins directly from a fresh plant source which are 77% to 93% absorbed. Minerals in a supplement are even worse - 1% to 5%. But, from a plant source like raw broccoli, the minerals are 63% to 78% absorbable.

The reason for this difference is, in nature, each vitamin and mineral molecule is attached to a protein molecule.

Dr. Gunter Blobel, in 1999, received a Nobel Prize for proving this attached protein molecule acted as a "chaperone". It's the chaperone that tells the body the vitamin or mineral is food, not just another chemical. He discovered this was the KEY to getting the vitamin or mineral into the blood-stream - and, most importantly, into the cells.

Vitamins in supplements are the very basic isolated form of each vitamin - completely stripped of any proteins. Like a Christmas tree with all the limbs cut off.

That's why vitamin supplements MUST be taken with meals - unless stated otherwise on the label.

In the digestion process, only about 10% of the vitamin and mineral molecules, with the aid of enzymes, will attach to protein molecules in your food. This allows them to be absorbed and used by the cells. Without these protein chaperones, the body sees the vitamin isolates as foreign chemicals. The body actually will absorb some of these too, but they're quickly filtered out through the kidneys.

Have you noticed a bright yellow urine soon after taking a vitamin supplement? Excess riboflavin causes the yellow color and it shows the body is getting rid of what it feels are foreign chemicals.

HERE ARE 5 TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SUPPLEMENT THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU!

1. Does the supplement provide sufficient quantities of each vitamin? For example - 50mg. to 100mg. of the B vitamins, 500mg. of vitamin C, 1000mg. of calcium. Remember, 100mg. of a B vitamin is needed to provide your body with about 10mg. of actual, useable nutrition. This is usually plenty. Use the 10% rule to know exactly what you're getting. The one or two per day supplements only start with about 3mg. or less of the B vitamins. 10% of this amount is like taking nothing at all.

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Treatment and Prevention of Acne

Is it possible to prevent acne? Most people would not even consider asking the question unless they were troubled by this disease in the first place, so it is not really a matter of preventing acne from occurring at all, but of curing it first, then preventing its return.

Much advice in the western world declares that diet is not a factor in causing acne, yet those who live in some other countries are not affected by the condition. Whether this is an inherited factor, or caused by diet has not been decided yet.

There are many who now believe that diet does play a large part in bringing on acne, while there are just as many, or perhaps even more who believe that junk food, chocolate and foods high in sugar and fats have nothing to do with acne. The trouble is that if you were not affected by it, you would not be motivated to modify your diet to resemble that of the eastern nations.

One thing is clear; acne is not caused by dirt. It is caused when the oil in our body is not metabolized efficiently and dead skin cells become sticky and block the pores of the skin. Bacteria then enters into the pores and causes infection and inflammation.

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