Category: Nutrition

Posted on

The Safety of Vitamin B6

by Bob Held

The Linus Pauling Institute found that adverse effects have only been documented from Vitamin B6 supplements and never from food sources.

Therefore, safety concerning only the supplemental form of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, also called pyridoxine hydrochloride) is discussed here.

Although vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin and is excreted in the urine, long-term supplementation with very high doses of pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) may result in painful neurological symptoms known as sensory neuropathy.

Symptoms include pain and numbness of the extremities and in severe cases, difficulty walking. Sensory neuropathy typically develops at doses of pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) in excess of 1,000 mg a day.

However, there have been a few case reports of individuals who developed sensory neuropathies at doses of less than 500 mg of Vitamin B6 daily over a period of months.

None of the studies in which a neurological examination was performed reported evidence of sensory nerve damage at intakes below 200 mg of pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) daily.

To prevent sensory neuropathy in virtually all individuals, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine set the tolerable upper intake level for pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) at 100 mg/day for adults.

To your health.

McVitamins

Posted on

You have to Check the Labels, and more – Healthy Foods

There was a time when shopping at a Health Food Store pretty much assured that you got whole foods without pesticides, hidden sugars or chemicals.   That time has passed.

It is now popular to be natural and healthy.   But once something becomes popular, you are now assured that there are marketers out there that are looking to trick you into buying their products.

First you have to check the labels on any processed foods.  What is really in them?  Make sure you know what each of the ingredients mean.   An example is MSG, which has a long list of of names that actually mean they include MSG.

Emergen-C has been around for a long time.  It’s quite popular.   The company has been bought out by a drug company – Pfizer.   Yes, the world’s biggest drug company.  Pfizer has a history of health care fraud and illegal marketing of its products now wants to sell you Vitamin C.   Their big name multi-vitamin is Centrum.   This is a popular brand due to their advertising, but is actually a collection of man-made vitamins created in the lab.   In fact, people complain about side effects from taking Centrum including headaches and gassy stomach.    What will they do to the vitamin C formula?

Do you like fruit juices?  You can buy many different combinations that sound delicious and are touted as healthy.  But are they what they say they are?   Naked Juice is a popular brand which is owned by the Pepsi Cola Company.  There is a lawsuit due to the fact that their advertising states they are natural but their ingredients are not.  They are being sued for using GMOs and synthetic substances in its “Non-GMO” and “All-Natural” products.  They are hardly “all natural”.

There are more.  The bottom line is that you have to be careful about any processed foods and supplements that you buy.   You have to check the labels.

Here is a site that gives you information on GMO Foods http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/

On supplements, remember to look for whole food supplements, the type that your body recognizes as food, not made in a laboratory.    Some info is here http://www.mcvitamins.com/natural-vs-synthetic.htm

And for that long list of names that mean MSG   http://www.mcvitamins.com/Causes%20of%20Neuropathy/toxins-cause-neuropathy.htm#A    Boy, was I upset when I found a “homemade” soup at a health food store that I liked and checked the ingredients.  Yes, one of the ingredients listed was another name for MSG.  You have to be vigilant.

To your health!

Posted on

How do you get good health when you lead a Fast Food Lifestyle?

In the 1950s, a movement was created to free the housewife of all the long hours of work it took to run a household. New gadgets abounded which helped her to cook and clean. If you look at the ads of the day, we find the latest modern convenience being advertised with this goal in mind. New types of dryers, new types of cookware, portable TVs, coffee makers, vacuum cleaners, etc. etc. Portable TVs seems to enable the housewife to watch TV wherever she was and thus be able to see the latest TV ads telling her what else she could buy to free up her time.

There were ads for new types of fabrics that you don’t have to iron. There were ads for the latest cleaning agents that cleaned things with less work. Little is said about the toxins that were added to the cookware, fabrics and cleaning solutions, but it makes things quicker.

Then the food industry caught on. Although already delivering canned and frozen foods, they started developing packaged foods, processed foods, instant cake mixes, instant coffee, and other instant types of beverages which helped shorten the time being spent on cooking. Nothing is said about what is added to the foods to keep them on the shelf longer or to enable them to be instant, etc. etc. but time spent cooking was shortened.

Then in the 60s, fast food restaurants opened up. Now you could herd you family into the local restaurant and for a minimum expense feed them. Of course, you were actually feeding them minimal nutrition as well, but it saved time.

So, yes, now that we are used to this, how do you reverse it and actually get food that is healthy but doesn’t take a long time to prepare. I’ve tried buying cooked foods at my local health food store, which is better than elsewhere but tends to be redundant, doesn’t really give you the foods that you want to eat, and you have to check the small print next to the printed of the food to be certain there isn’t something in the food that you don’t feel good about putting in your body. I’m always looking for evaporated cane juice which seems to be considered an okay way to assimilate sugar, or for the various names that MSG is called.

Yes, we are going to have to use those modern gadgets to figure out if they can make our cooking faster (mixers, food processors and vegetable juicers do help), but we really do have to confront preparing foods to get the most out of what we put into our mouths.

To your health,

Posted on

Is Organic Produce Worth The Extra Cost? by Gretchen Scalpi

Found this article and wanted to pass it forward.

Is Organic Produce Worth The Extra Cost?

We all know it’s better to eat more fruit and vegetables. But concerns about the safety of conventionally grown produce versus organically grown always comes up as well.

When produce is organic, it means that it has been produced without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides. There are some compelling reasons why people choose to buy organic produce. The main reason to eat organic produce is to avoid the pesticide residue left on foods. Hands down, organically raised food is better for the environment. Absence of pesticides results in healthier soil, water, and wildlife. Buying organically grown produce supports small farmers and contributes to biodiversity.

Some people choose organic produce because they believe it has a higher nutritional value than commercially grown produce. The comparisons of nutritional content between food organically grown and conventionally grown produce, however, shows little difference. Consider also that much of the produce we buy today is not always locally grown. We have many fruits and vegetables to choose from year round because they have been shipped from other parts of the country (or the world). The fact that a fruit or vegetable is organic does not necessarily translate to nutritional superiority simply because it’s organic. If shipped from far away, it may already be past its nutritional peak.

For many health conscious families, the purchase of organic produce is cost prohibitive. As much as they would like to eat more organically grown food, they simply cannot afford the higher cost. Most of us have a food budget and have to make choices about what we buy, and perhaps a compromise is what’s called for. There are two things you can do to take advantage of organically grown produce as much as possible.

Buy local organic produce when it’s in season. In many parts of the USA, that means taking advantage of certain fruits and vegetables during the warmer months when available. Freezing or canning local organic produce is a possible option for when those items are out of season.

Buy conventionally grown produce from the “Clean 15” list, and organic only for those foods that are on the “The Dirty Dozen” list. The Dirty Dozen are the fruits and vegetables which have the largest amount of pesticide residues, and the Clean 15 have the least amount.

The “Clean 15”:

Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions

The “Dirty Dozen”:

Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

When the warm weather arrives again, make a habit of visiting your local farmers’ markets and buy local organic produce throughout the season.

© 2013 Gretchen Scalpi. All rights reserved.

Gretchen Scalpi is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She is the author of “The Quick Start Guide To Healthy Eating”, “The Everything Guide to Managing and Reversing Pre-Diabetes”, “The Everything Diabetes Cookbook, 2nd ed.” and “Pre-Diabetes Your Second Chance At Health”. Use your organic produce in the recipes from her book “Quick Start Recipes For Healthy Meals” available at http://gretchenscalpi.com/quick-start-recipes/.

Posted on

Nutritional Deficiencies Can Cause All Sorts of Problems

Recently, I came upon an article in the NY Times about B12 deficiency and the types of symptoms it can create.    An interesting part of this article  is the many different diagnosis that were possible.   Fortunately, the deficiency was found and the patient recovered.

Today, I was shown an information about Depression and D3.   I’ve talked about Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Depression, and this is a different deficiency.    It is good to realize that they both can create this type of symptom.

Here is the Article about B12 –  The Presenting Problem – Was the patient’s strange gait the key to his illness?  Read about it here. The Man with the Wobbly Walk

And the video about Nutrition and Depression   – Vast numbers of people have suffered through depression at some point in their lives. Depression takes a huge toll on individuals, and has significant social and economic costs.  What if foods could be a key to helping people lift out of depression and reduce anxiety?   Watch Dr. Saul’s Video about Nutritional Deficiencies

Never underestimate what vitamins deficiencies can do.

Posted on

Healthy Eating

I’m always on the go and often go to Whole Foods to buy some prepared hot foods that I don’t mind eating.  That’s not all the economical and is restricted to what they offer on that day.

In an earlier blog post about the Fast Food Lifestyle and Health I was doing research on how to eat healthier while trying to save time.   Well, I haven’t gone through all the recipes out there to see how many of them I would trust, but I did find a good healthy cook book.   It is just out, is available on Kindle and has a lot of really good recipes that uses food that actually helps to burn fat…. in case you are interested.   The doctor feels that you don’t lose weight to be healthy, but get healthy to lose weight.   Healthy bodies don’t store fat.

I got the recipe book and haven’t gotten through all the recipes yet where I can evaluate them, but thought I’d pass it on as something you might be interested in.

The Book is called “Healthy Fat Burning Recipes” by Dr. Eric Berg and can be found on Amazon.   You can also find his other books there. 

Check it out.

Posted on

Sciatica – what is it really?

I had a friend with severe sciatica.   She could hardly walk and was bent over in an attempt to not have so much pain.    She had seen the chiropractor as the nerve was compressed  and after a few adjustments, she was still feeling the pain.   Seemed to be that the nerve was injured and needed some help, so treated it like nerve damage (neuropathy) and gave her the RHP Nerve Support Formula.   She told me that 5 days later she was completely good with no more pain or problem.

So here is an article I put together about sciatica and what to do about it.

Sciatica

To you health!

Posted on

Can Fungus Be Your Problem?

There is a show on TV and website called Know the Cause.  It explores health issues and especially those connected to fungus. The food we eat can be full of fungus and it can create health problems.  Mold in the house can bring on fungal  infections…. it goes on. 

A primary mission for Know the Cause is to counsel all audiences on achieving optimum health by avoiding poisonous fungal byproducts called “mycotoxins.” 

I wanted to introduce this site as it has a lot of good information.  You can also look to see when it is on TV in your area, but you can also watch the shows on the site   Pretty good.

The site is www.knowthecause.com

To your health!

McVitamins