Good gut health for all

Good gut health is vital for maintaining a health digestive system and immune system. One way to do this is to include more of something called probiotics into you diet. These are live, beneficial bacteria that live in our gut.
By adding more of them to the mix they help ward off the bad bacteria that also live in the intestines.
With their recent surge in popularity and uses you can find them in things like yogurt, orange juice and even cereals. Still, the more potent form is through an oral supplement. Taking in a pill form is usually 200 times stronger than in the food form.

To give you a better idea on how they work here is a clip showing how the probiotics in yogurt enter the body and start to work.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

If this is something you would like to take or want more info on feel free to contact me at support@thriveonline.ca

Veggies to protect the skin?

A recent study conducted at Johns Hopkins University showed initial findings that broccoli extract may serve as an added protector of the skin from certain types of cancer and from harmful UV radiation. The active ingredients in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables have been shown to act as powerful anti-carcinogens inside the body.

What does this mean?
These vegetables help protect the body against damaging free radical which are one of the main contributors to cancer causing mutations in cells. The test group that was fed the extract showed significantly lower rates of tumors and UV damage.

Along with these findings it has already been established that cruciferous vegetables like broccoli help to lower the rates of colon cancer. This benefit should also be another reason to increase your vegetable intake.

How can I benefits from this?
Here are a few of the cruciferous vegetables to add to your diet:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Bok Choy
• Kale
• Turnip

They can be prepared any way you like. The idea is to have a few servings of these a week.

What's next?

The next question that should be addressed regarding skin cancer is: if cruiferous vegetable are beneficial for the skin when taken internally how much better might they be if they were applied topically in a cream or lotion form as a preventative approach.

New research by market research group Decision Analyst found that North American Baby Boomers, aged 45 to 64, are much more likely to choose healthy ingredients and supplements than younger or older consumers. Some of the supplements they were more likely to take were omega 3 fish oils and anti-oxidant formulas. This comes as no surprise because both of these products help to maintain a healthy diet and contribute to the anti-aging effects boomers seek out.

Here is a list of products people aged 45-64 should consider taking on a regular basis:

• Omega 3 fish oil
• Vitamin D
• Calcium & magnesium
• Coenzyme Q10
• Vitamin C
• Digestive enzymes

With the right combination of products on can feel just as they did when they were in the prime of their life.

Consistency is the key

According to a new poll, nearly two-thirds of Canadians have tried to loose weight within the past five years. The majority of them have failed, not reached their ideal goal or even put on more weight.

Some significant mistakes people made during their attempts were to not take the time to ask the right questions or stick with their initial plan. The people polled indicated that they tried several different approaches ( such as high protein, low-carb, or no fat diets) was well as a combination of different weight loss supplements. Most of these approaches were done with little to no thought on the long term maintenance and sustainability of them.

The best advice is to ask a health professional on what diet/meal plan will suit your lifestyle, age, fitness level and health in order to minimize the potential of failure. Also, if one was to consider using supplements to aid in the weight loss efforts make sure the right questions are asked ( i.e. safety, long term usage and compatibility) before wasting your money.

If nothing else, be sure to take your time in setting out your weight loss goals, be realistic with the amount you want to loose and ask as many questions needed until you feel comfortable with your approach.

More on vitamin D

It seems like almost every few days a new study on the benefits of vitamin D emerges.
Recently, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products concluded that "a cause and effect relationship has been established between the dietary intake of vitamin D and contribution to the normal function of the immune system and healthy inflammatory response, and maintenance of normal muscle function”.

This just adds the ever mounting evidence supporting the importance of adequate amounts of vitamin D in the diet.

Now, all we need is for the health authorities in Canada to commission more studies and show Canadians how safe it is to take vitamin D supplements.

Bad taste in you mouth

Recently, Kraft Foods Inc. announced that it will be lowering the amount of sodium in a number of its products by an average of about 10% over the next two years.

At first glance, this statement makes Kraft seem as though they are taking significant steps towards addressing and changing the issue of the high sodium content in their foods. But if you take a closer look at what they are doing and crunch some numbers, you would soon realize that this change has a small and almost insignificant impact on their overall sodium levels. Not to mention the clever marketing ploy to allow people to continue eating their products guilt free.

Here is the article for reference.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/03/18/kraft-sodiumreduction.html#socialcomments

To give you a better idea of what the impact will be, here are some interesting facts.

· 1 cup of Kraft Cheese and Macaroni contains about 600mg of sodium.

On average people will eat about 2 cups of Mac and Cheese in one sitting. This equals to 1200mg of sodium or your recommended amount of sodium for the day!

By lowering this by 10%, all you are doing is shaving off about 120mg of sodium. This is so insignificant. You should be more worried about the 1080mg that you are eating and not the 120mg that you aren’t.

· If you try and eat other foods to equal the same amount of sodium in 2 cups of Mac & Cheese here is what you would have to consume:

o 1200 bananas or

o 6 Sirloin steaks or

o 12 glasses of milk or

o 40 potatoes

The point is, be mindful of what you are eating and how it compares to other foods. A bowl of Mac & Cheese can be eaten as a treat but not as a staple.

New studies that look at the benefits of Vitamin D

Recently, the Globe and Mail reported on a new long term study underway that will hopefully put to rest the debate on how much vitamin D to take a day and the overall benefits of it.

Here is the article:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/two-studies-hope-to-test-the-benefits-of-vitamin-d-once-and-for-all/article1490123/

More of these studies need to be conducted not only to understand how vitamin D plays a role in our health but to show people that nutritional deficiencies can strike anyone and are not limited to underdeveloped/malnourished nations.
A better understanding of what we are putting in our bodies, why it is good for us and its effects on our health will allow everyone to make smarter choices and keep deficiencies at bay.