Whole Food Supplements Versus Isolated Or Synthetic Supplements
People think that all vitamins are created equally. Eating food that is artificial like processed and fast foods can bring a sense of being dull-witted and a feeling of wanting to just go to sleep. So when naturally grown tomatoes are dehydrated and put in capsule form, you could get the benefits of the vitamins only by swallowing a few capsules of pure goodness.
\n\nWhole food supplements will contain not only alpha-tocopherol but also the 7 other alpha, beta, gamma and delta forms of both tocopherol and tocotrienol derived from concentrated food. Healthy meals are often forsaken for the ease of fat-laden fast food and the convenience ingredients found on the shelves of the local supermarket lack many of the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs.
\n\nBy consuming whole food vitamins, you can supplement your regular diet with much-needed minerals and nutrients that are missing from many processed foods. Better known as vitamin C, L-ascorbic acid is perhaps the most popular of supplements, and has been used to treat disease ever since the French explorer Jacques Cartier boiled the needles of the arbor vitae tree to treat scurvy in 1536.\n\nStudies have indicated that synthetic Lycopene supplements have inconclusive results when it comes to the prevention of cancer. There is an enormous difference between vitamins found in natural foods unaltered chemically, and those manufactured, drug-like substances that are called vitamins which are in no way beneficial.\n\nIt seems popular culture respects the consumption of processed food and the additional synthetic vitamins to supplement otherwise bad diets. The herbs in some supplements help to control night sweats. Whole foods such as vegetables and fruits contain thousands of components that provide several health benefits that are not found in vitamin supplements.…
Garlic, Inflammation and Atherosclerosis
Garlic, Inflammation and Atherosclerosis
Recent studies have shown that garlic extract is helpful at preventing inflammation which is a leading cause for atherosclerosis.
Before a person suffers from heart disease, stroke, or vascular disease, they generally suffer from atherosclerosis first. Atherosclerosis is the slow build up of either hard or soft plaque within the wall of the arteries. The buildup of hard plaque can cause the artery wall to become thick and hard leading to constriction of blood flow. A formation of soft plaque can actually end up breaking free from the arterial wall and become a clot within the blood stream.
One of the precursors to atherosclerosis as well as problems with the heart and circulatory system is inflammation. Inflammation is the body’s response to infection or the invasion of foreign substances in which white blood cells and certain chemicals in the body kick into overdrive and attack the invader causing swelling, redness and pain. Inflammation helps get plaque buildup started by causing cells to adhere to the walls of the blood vessels. These stuck on cells then migrate into the lining of the vessel thanks to cell adhesion molecules and facilitate the progression of atherosclerosis. Therefore, researchers believe that the key to preventing atherosclerosis and the subsequent heart and vascular disease is to prevent inflammation.
This is where garlic can come in handy.
Garlic has been grown and consumed by humans for more than 5000 years and during those 50 centuries, it has always been valued for it medicinal and beneficial properties. Garlic is loaded with antioxidants that help prevent free radical damage and it is also a powerful antimicrobial capable of killing off viral, fungal and bacterial infections. It has been used not only as something that adds a little pungent zing to food, but also as a means to prevent dysentery and gangrene in hospitals during the turn of the century.
In a recent study, artery cells were exposed to garlic extract in various concentrations then exposed to a protein that is known to cause inflammation for one day. Researchers found that garlic helped inhibit the cells from sticking to the cell walls. They also found that garlic helped decrease the number of cells that migrated to the blood vessel walls.
Because of these two factors, scientists now know why people who eat garlic on a regular basis have less inflammation related pain problems and are generally more heart healthy. Garlic helps decrease inflammation and by doing so helps prevent the onset of atherosclerosis.…