Immune System Support and Aging

Old age isn't so bad...when you consider the alternative. Right. In youth-oriented societies, the alternative is plastic surgery and, for men, finding trophy girlfriends. Relax. You can still date (Sherry Halperin humorously explores this in RESCUE ME, HE'S WEARING A MOOSE HAT AND FORTY OTHER DATES AFTER FIFTY) and exercise and eat right to look good. Some of our not-so-bad alternatives to putting on your mom's granny dress:

• Cinnamon will spice up your immune system and keep your heart healthy.
• Vitamin C and E--'nuff said.
• Acidophilus, so varicose veins and the portrayal of older women on TV don't turn your stomach.
• Luo Han Kuo from China, where they respect aging -- you're adventurous enough to try new things, right?
• Beta-carotene so you can eliminate free radicals like the ex-hippie you dated last night.

Old age isn't so bad...when nutrition smarts come with it. Immune system vitamins will keep you glowing and growing!
Heidi Splete

Proper Nutrition To Protect Against Aging

During the past thirty years, there has been a steadily growing body of scientific evidence showing that vitamins and minerals play a much more important role in our overall health than previously acknowledged.

The proper balance of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients has been linked to health benefits that include stronger immune system response, prevention of many degenerative diseases, and the slowing of the daily wear and tear that is the aging process. A well balanced diet, rich in the necessary nutrients, while difficult to achieve in our fast paced culture, has a wide range of benefits.

It is essential to overall health and longevity to keep the immune system functioning well. There are a number of nutrients that have been shown be necessary to our immune function. Antioxidants, such as the vitamins A, C, E, beta carotene, and selenium have been shown to boost immunity.

The minerals zinc and magnesium are also important for immune function. To ensure a beneficial intake of these antioxidants, you must include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. Zinc and magnesium can be found in dairy products, and seafood.

Certain vitamins and minerals have been shown to aid in the prevention of some degenerative diseases, and aging disorders. Antioxidants can help to lower the risk of cataracts, and macular degeneration, which are conditions associated with aging. It is also suggested by experts that they can help slow the aging process by reducing the daily cell damage done by environmental pollution, and time.

Vitamin E has been linked with a lower risk of heart disease. Niacin, a B vitamin can help in reducing the level of cholesterol. Some other nutrients that are helpful in protecting against age related disorders are selenium, cartenoids, flavinoids, and some Amino acids.

Proper nutrition via the diet, while definitely achievable, is often a difficult process in today’s fast paced culture, particularly in combination with the social changes we’ve experienced. People often work longer and harder, and the two income family reigns supreme, followed closely by the single parent family unit.

Another difficulty involved in achieving the standard recommended daily intake levels of essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients each and every day has to do with food quality. As minerals are depleted from the soil, due to growing practices that include single crop plantings and failure to rotate crops or let field remain fallow to rest and regenerate, as well as through the erosion of topsoil, the mineral content of food is not always what we think it is.

Nutritional supplements offer a reliable and safe means of ensuring that we reach our nutritional goals. Nutritional supplements are not meant to substitute for a good diet, but rather to complement it.
In fact, they tend to perform much better when they have real food to interact with. If you are inexperienced with nutritional supplements, you may benefit from a consultation with a licensed nutritionist who will be able to help you to devise a nutritional supplement plan best suited for your dietary needs and health goals.

Proper Nutrition before Menopause Might Prevent Breast Cancer

By Maureen Williams, ND

Healthnotes Newswire (June 7, 2007)—Many women start thinking about calcium and vitamin D after menopause, but new evidence suggests that paying attention to these nutrients before menopause could protect against breast cancer.
The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was drawn from the large, long-term Women’s Health Study. The analysis included information about diet and cancer diagnoses over a ten-year period from 10,578 premenopausal women and 20,909 postmenopausal women.
Some of the richest sources of dietary calcium are green leafy vegetables, such as kale, spinach, and broccoli, as well as sea vegetables such as kelp and dulse. Figs and some nuts and seeds also provide high amounts of calcium. Vitamin D has few natural sources (primarily egg yolk and fish oil) but the body is able to make plenty when it has adequate sun exposure.
Most of the calcium and vitamin D for the women in this study, however, came from fortified dairy foods and supplements. Calcium-fortified orange juice and vitamin D–fortified cereals also contributed to the total intake. This pattern reflects the eating habits of most Americans and people from other Western-influenced cultures.
Calcium and vitamin D intakes were both linked to lower breast cancer risk in premenopausal women, but not postmenopausal women. Compared with premenopausal women with the lowest intake of calcium, those with the highest intake had a 39% lower risk of developing breast cancer; for vitamin D, having the highest intake reduced the risk by 35%. Aggressive breast tumors in particular were less likely to develop in women with high calcium and vitamin D intakes.
“Higher intakes of total calcium and vitamin D were moderately associated with a lower risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women, and the lower risk was more pronounced in more aggressive breast tumors,” the study authors reported, pointing out that this was not the case for postmenopausal women.
“We already knew that women should be trying to get lots of calcium and vitamin D well before menopause to ensure the health of their bones. With these findings, there is even more incentive,” commented Dr. Julianne Forbes, a naturopathic doctor practicing in Maine. “It’s encouraging to see that science is giving us more tools for protecting women against breast cancer. I hope that future research will tell us more about how specific sources of calcium compare in their protective effect.”
(Arch Intern Med 2007;167:1050–9)

Maureen Williams, ND, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She has a private practice in Quechee, VT, and does extensive work with traditional herbal medicine in Guatemala and Honduras. Dr. Williams is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire.

Vitamins And Minerals For Healthy And Efficient Functioning Of The Brain

Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can play an important role in memory. Memory is far more than a practical process that allows us to remember where we left the house keys, how to delete those temporary files clogging the system or the password for the ATM card. It is place where we store that which is most precious to us, the cute baby phrases the children soon leave behind, where we were when we decided to get married, and the faces and voices of those beloved that have long since passed away.

Striving each day to reach the standard recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients is an important way to make sure that our capacity for memory last a good long time.

The vitamins that make up the powerful Vitamin B complex are essential to the healthy and efficient functioning of the brain, not only in the sense of maintaining its physical structures, but also in the sense of its cognitive functions and feeling of mental well being. That is because the brain, how we think and what we feel, come from a variety of chemical and electrical interactions.

The success of these interactions depends a great deal upon the balance of chemicals in the brain, which is often a direct result of the nutritional content the brain has to work with. Very simply, it we don’t provide sufficient fuel, the brain will be unable to function at peak performance levels.

Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is necessary to the creation of the myelin sheath, which serves to protect the nerves and to speed up its electrical transmissions, which is part of how the brain communicates with itself and part of the production of cognition and emotion. Vitamin B12 is essential for memory and concentration. Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, also serves to enable communication between nerves.

Vitamin B9, also called folic acid, has come to the attention of researchers as potentially yield some protection from Alzheimer’s disease. On every level, maintaining the standard daily amount of each of the vitamins in the Vitamin B complex is one of the best things you can do nutritionally to support both the physical structures and the mental functioning of the brain.

The antioxidant vitamins, Vitamin C, E, and A, offer vital protection for the brain by controlling damaging free radicals, which flourish in the brain as, in order to carry out its sophisticated functions, the brain requires a high degree of oxygenation. Selenium is a mineral that partners with Vitamin E, enhancing the work it does. The mineral zinc supports memory, as well, and iron serves to improve concentration. Nourishing the body undoubtedly nourishes the brain.