Athletes - Are You Taking Your Vitamins?

If you are an athlete or live a very active lifestyle you had better be taking high quality vitamins. All world class and Olympic athletes take vitamin supplements on a daily basis to make sure they are getting the proper nutrition to perform their best.

It doesn't matter if you are a golfer, a runner, or a pro football player, as an athlete you need your vitamins for one critical reason above all others; you need them to prevent sickness and injury.

Injuries, such as broken bones, sprains, strains, bruises etc. are often a result of poor nutrition in the body. Vitamins keep all parts of your body in top shape which can help you fend off annoying injuries that keep you sidelined. Also you get sicknesses such as the flu and the common cold because your body's immune system is worn down and susceptible for an attack. Vitamins also ensure that your immune system is functioning at its best.

Don't get me wrong, high quality vitamins aren't going to make you invincible, but they should give you the confidence that your body is at its best. The rest of your athletic ability is then up to you and your training.

What kinds of vitamins athletes take is more important than just taking them because many store bought vitamins and minerals are useless because they are never absorbed by the body. They literally go right through you.

Why Are Most Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Useless for Athletes?

Well, just simply put, they are poorly made. They are more like vitamin bricks than fuel for athletes.

Why would companies do this to athletes? Easy answer, money. They are more concerned with making the cash than how well you perform as an athlete. Don't be too disappointed, however, because there are several different natural nutrition companies that do make exceptional vitamins that are proven to not only be absorbed by your body, but also be absorbed by the correct part of the body.

You see, each vitamin and mineral has its own specific job in a specific part of your body. This is why you need so many different vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. For example:

* Folic acid should be released only into the stomach
* B vitamins and vitamin C should have a sustained release function so they can maintain blood nutrient levels for over 12 hours
* Amino acids should only be released when they reach the upper intestine. Most amino acids are destroyed by stomach acids because they are absorbed in the stomach, not where they should be, in the intestines.
* Vitamin supplements should always be taken with food to ensure proper absorption

As an athlete you may have never heard of some of the great natural vitamin companies because they don't waste tons of money on advertising, they spend it on research and scientists to develop top notch products that actually make a difference for athletes. Then they spread the word through Olympic and world class athletes who actually use their vitamins without being paid to.

Where Can Athletes Find High Quality Vitamins?

Most vitamins for athletes will be found online or at your local health food store. To determine if the vitamins are high quality the company should have:

* Integrity - make sure that they have a track record of success
* Clinical studies published in scientific journals proving that the vitamins are absorbed and used by the body
* Easy customer access to the ingredients and any other info pertaining to the product
* A money back guarantee so you can return them if they don't work
* Proof that real athletes use them

To get published in one of the clinical journals is extremely difficult because the scientific community as a whole has to agree with the findings of the independent clinical study. Most companies hire their own scientists to put out studies that "may suggest this and that," but prove nothing and aren't even reviewed by the independent scientific community as a whole. Athletes can't afford to waste their time, talent, or money on vitamins that aren't "proven" to work.

Athletes should also try to get their vitamins through healthy food like organic fruits and vegetables, as a healthy diet is also necessary for an athlete's body to perform at its best

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Weight Loss and Your Health

Maintaining a healthy weight is truly vital to keeping yourself in tip-top shape, and not just so you can get in to that little dress for the holiday parties.

Keeping your weight at a healthy level is a huge step toward the prevention a of a large number of diseases that you don't want to find yourself burdened with. These can include: diabetes, sleep apnea, heart disease, and cancer, just to name a few.

If you maintain a healthy weight, it can also help you manage diseases that you may already have such as Paget's disease, Osteoarthritis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). In addition to disease prevention, when you maintain a healthy weight, you will set an excellent example for your children which in turn will make it easier for them to make appropriate choices in the future.

With all the temptation out there though, maintaining that healthy weight and weight loss can be challenging for many people. And really, is there one specific thing that will keep you in perfect shape? The short answer is no; however, moderate exercise and eating right are absolutely vital to any healthy weight loss-maintenance plan.

By instituting even small changes, you will be well on your way. It is amazing what even a short walk after dinner can do for weight loss, not only for the way your body metabolizes the food you just ate, but also for your mood in general.

Diabetes is a disease that is being diagnosed in record numbers, not only in adults, but also in children. This is the most obvious red flag that America is overweight, yet many people have no idea how extra weight and diabetes are connected.

Diabetes is a lifelong disease that is not curable and therefore requires that you take some form of medication for the rest of your life to manage it. Poor eating habits affect your body chemistry; when it is thrown off, it can cause your pancreas to fail in its job of insulin production. The result is diabetes.

Another reason to maintain a healthy weight is your joints. Excess weight carried on your frame puts extra stress on your joints. This will cause aches and pains every day, and really, who wants to live with that?

Later down the road, you may find yourself with Osteoarthritis as a result; this is a chronic disease that causes the cushioning between your joints to wear away which, as you can imagine, can be excruciating. It can also cause bone spurs to grow around the joints. By maintaining a healthy weight, you can lessen the likelihood of getting this disease, and if you already have it, dropping even a few pounds can help ease some of your pain.

Are you always tired? You might be suffering from what's known as Sleep Apnea. A few extra pounds can weigh against the muscles in your throat when you lie down to sleep.

As those muscles relax, they can push against your airway and force it to close; the result is periods of time during the night when you actually stop breathing, followed by gasping for air. Whether you are fully aware of it or not, this disrupts your sleep pattern and can cause you to become increasingly tired, seemingly without reason.

Cancer is a word that no one likes to hear; a common disease, many people worldwide are faced with fighting it. There is no one single thing that causes it, yet there are many possibilities.

One of these causes is being overweight. Several types of cancer are linked with being overweight.

In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovaries, breast and colon. Overweight men are faced with an increased risk of developing cancer of the colon, rectum and prostate. High-fat and high-calorie diets have been found to be attributing factors in cancer of the breast and colon; common sense would say that both of these would lead to a less than healthy weight and therefore, also this could also be a contributing factor.

The message is clear: weight loss and health go hand in hand. Maintaining a healthy weight is vital to your health. No matter your age, it is never too late to start practicing a healthy lifestyle. Not only will you feel better and be healthier, your friends and family will thank you for it as they will likely get to spend many extra years with you.

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

The Real Dirt on Cleaning Your House

You know that seemingly good, fresh scent you smell when you are cleaning your home? Sorry to spoil it, but it's not "rain," a "mountain breeze," or "spring." Those cleaners are loaded with harmful chemicals that actually make your home dirtier.

Think of it this way. You wouldn't let your kids play with toxic chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl over a floor that has just been wiped with them?

That's much more dangerous than the orange juice that was just there. How dangerous? Just take a look at these statistics. Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home. Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning.

Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners, are found at levels 2 to 5 times higher inside your home than out. A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the "acute one-hour exposure limit" for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease. One in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980-2004. Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants.

Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food, and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food, or air.

If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste). To find out what's lurking on your shelves, go to the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine Household Products Database.

You can search almost any brand of cleaner you use, find out what's in it, and uncover its links to health effects. Or search by chemical ingredients (see list below for some examples) and discover what brands contain it. The information may shock you.

Chemical ingredients to look out for:

* Sodium hydroxide
* Hydrochloric acid
* Butyl cello solve (2-Butoxyethanol)
* Formaldehyde
* Bleach (sodium hypochlorite)
* Ammonia
* Sulfamic acid
* Petroleum distillates
* Sulfuric acid
* Lye (potassium hydroxide)
* Morpholine

Here is how to keep your home impeccably clean, and safe. Get the dirt, educate yourself about what you bring into your home. Have a clean-for-all. Put on the gloves and get rid of the nasty stuff in your home. Responsibly, of course.

Your local waste collection service has guidelines for proper household hazardous waste disposal, as well as collection sites for things like paint, batteries, and cleaners. Whatever you do, please don't toss this stuff in the garbage.

Welcome healthy into your home. Commit to carefully considering everything that crosses your doorstep. Here are some safe, healthy things to have in your home:

* Cleaners that are truly cleaner because they are nontoxic, natural, biodegradable, concentrated, and hypoallergenic.
* Fresh air. Open your windows to reduce indoor air pollution.
* Essential oils. Use these instead of air fresheners.
* Plants. Besides being nice to look at, they can absorb harmful gases and help clean the air.
* Organic cotton bedding. Avoid standard bedding treated with chemicals.
* Floors made of recycled and renewable resources.
* Healthier paint. That new paint smell can be as nasty as it smells. Choose low VOC paint instead.

Clean up our collective home. Make the earth healthier for all of us who call it home by using these things in yours: Compact fluorescent lighting. They last a whole lot longer. Energy Star-rated appliances. Save money and energy.

A low-flush toilet. Replace the largest user of water in your house. Ultra low flushers cut water use by one-fifth. Low-flow shower heads. Same pressure. Less water.

Your flicker finger. Turn off lights and appliances when you're not using them. Gray water system. Install one to recycle used household water for your lawn. Tankless water heater. Save money, energy, and space in the broom closet.

Do your research and take action. Get your home as clean and as safe as possible for you, your family, and your planet.

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Minerals and Health - They Go Hand in Hand

Minerals are essential for your health and nutrition. Minerals are need for the proper composition of body fluids, the formation of blood and bones, maintaining healthy nerve function, and minerals also function as coenzymes, which enable the body to build and feed cells.They are also partly responsible for your energy levels.

There are two ways for your body to get the essential minerals it needs. The best way for your body to get the minerals it needs is through food, but some people prefer supplements because of the difficulty associated with following a strict diet.

If you decide to take supplements, however, make sure they are of the highest quality and are independently regulated and tested. Most supplements are poorly made and are never broken down within your body.

Listed below are the food sources of the essential minerals your body needs on a daily basis to stay healthy:

* Copper---Soy beans, raisins, legumes, brazil nuts, molasses, and seafood
* Iron---Figs, beets, kelp, soy beans, carrots, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, watercress, raisins, bananas, grapes, and parsley
* Calcium---Figs, beans, almonds, raisins, brown rice, carrots, dates, spinach, cashews, papaya, celery, avocados, sesame seeds, brazil nuts, and garlic
* Chromium--- Clams, whole grains, brewers yeast, corn oil, and cheese
* Iodine---Dulce, lettuce, kelp, grapes, Irish moss, beets, oranges, celery, and mushrooms
* Potassium---Apples, tomatoes, spinach, bananas, strawberries, celery, mushrooms, figs, lemons, pineapple, rice, papaya, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, pecans, and raisins
* Zinc---Liver, seafood, mushrooms, sunflower, and soy beans
* Sulphur---Eggs, cheese, nuts, onions, turnips, corn, broccoli, fish, wheat germ, and cucumbers
* Manganese---Bananas, beets, celery, egg yolks, walnuts, bran, whole grains, and leafy green vegetables
* Magnesium---Honey, tuna, almonds, pecans, kelp, and green vegetables
* Phosphorus---Cashews, oats, pecans, squash, almonds, carrots, and mushrooms
* Sodium---Raw milk, cucumbers, okra, seafood, lima beans, turnips, wheat germ, and pumpkins

If you have a hard time eating a lot of the foods above, try taking supplements, but remember that you need to be careful and do your research first. Make sure that it is a reputable health company with a proven track record of success. They should have nothing to hide and should be able to provide you with all of the technical information, ingredients, research, and the results of the independent research for every product they sell.

Natural health is becoming a popular and ever growing industry. It is good that more people are becoming pro-active about their health., but you need to watch out for companies who are providing poor quality natural products to make a quick buck in the natural health trend. There are a lot of them. Good natural health companies have been around for more than thirty years--before natural health was ever a cash machine.

A good natural health company should also have clinical studies published in scientific journals. In order to get published in one of these journals, the scientific community as a whole must agree with the findings in the study. It is very difficult to get published and only a few natural health companies have ever done so. Last but not least they should offer you a money back guarantee, just in case their products aren't for you.

Please try and implement as many of the foods listed above into your diet as possible. They are loaded with the essential minerals your body needs for its health. Do your research and find some unique, healthy recipes that include the foods and minerals above.

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com

Iron and Your Health

Iron is good for you for a number of reasons, and it is an essential part of good health. Unfortunately, the intake of this mineral is notoriously low in the American diet and is considered to be the No. 1 nutritional disorder in the world, according to The World Health Organization.

Low iron seems to be especially prevalent in children under the age of two and in women ages 12 to 50. The main role of iron in your body lies within the red blood cells; this is where it combines with protein to form hemoglobin. When you inhale, oxygen is attracted to the iron in your hemoglobin and when these two elements combine, it courses through your body, converting sugar to energy and providing oxygen to your organs that keep you healthy.

A small biology lesson aside, it is easy to see why an iron deficiency can leave you feeling chronically tired and unhealthy. If the lack of iron in your blood becomes serious enough, you may develop anemia. If anemia is present, you may experience dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath.

If you suspect that you are anemic, you should not self-diagnose your condition; instead, seek advice from your medical professional, who will often suggest supplements to get you back on a more even keel. As you age, a lack of iron may cause even further problems.

One study out of Penn State suggests that a lack of iron can lowers the immune response to attacks of disease and common infections in the elderly; another one from the same school has shown that women with alopecia, or hair loss, have lower iron and hemoglobin levels than women who do not suffer the disease.

Another problem with a lack of iron in your diet may be concentration problems. Irritability, poor concentration, loss of appetite and frequent colds and flu symptoms can all be directly attributed to not getting enough of the nutrient. Current research shows that a lack of iron in ones diet, especially in children, can cause both behavioral and developmental problems.

In fact, children with iron deficiencies have shown poorer academic performance than their peers. Many parents do not recognize the problem might be an iron deficiency and pass it off to plain bad behavior. If your child is exhibiting any of these symptoms, it may be worth taking a second look. During research of the topic, it was found that some intellectual and psychomotor impairment, due to the lack of iron in children's diets, was irreversible.

Iron is easy to get in a balanced daily diet; the problem occurs when individuals vary their diets from the recommended nutritional guidelines that are offered by the USDA. Iron can be found in foods like:

* Beans
* Tofu
* Beef
* Turkey
* Plant foods.

A "good" source of iron is considered any food which provides you with 10% or more of your daily need as published by the USRDA. Many of us can remember Popeye, cranking open a can of spinach in times when he needed to put his muscles to the test. Was he right?

Possibly; spinach is very high in iron, but the problem is, our bodies can only absorb a small amount of what is found in this food. There are two types of iron in foods; haem iron and non-haem iron. The first is found in animal foods, such as beef, chicken and fish, the latter is found in plant foods like bread, beans, vegetables and cereals. Haem iron, found in meat, is much easier for the body to absorb. Hands down, lean red meat is the best natural source of iron.

What about those who are vegetarians? You should definitely seek the advice of a physician when it comes to iron and health as there can be ways to get your recommended daily allowance of iron, but you'll have to be very careful about keeping your diet properly balanced. Or, your physician may tell you that a supplement is the way to go. Either way, make sure you bring it up, as an appropriate amount of iron is absolutely critical to your health.

Overall, the message is resoundingly clear: Get your recommended daily amounts of iron to feel healthy and look your best. With a life full of things to do, you don't have time to be tired, lethargic and unhealthy. If you have young children, make sure they are getting as much as they should, and model healthy behavior and choices for them so that when they are adolescents and adults, they will know the difference between what's healthy and what's not.

To Your Health,
Diet Health & Fitness
'Blog Squad'
DietHealthandFitness.com