Archive for the 'Health' Category
Jan
26
Emily Taggart asked:
When the subject of the best muscle food comes up, we have to remember that protein is the body’s main building blocks for muscles and tissues. Proteins, along with carbohydrates and fats, are the body’s three fuels necessary to sustain life. However, proteins are the more important fuel for building muscles as will be explained later on.
Types of Proteins
There are two types of protein that the body needs: essential and non-essential. Lest you think that one is more important than the other, the designation is usually made to distinguish between what the body can produce (non-essential) and what the body needs from the diet (essential).
Just for educational purposes, the 11 non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine, asparagines, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, praline, serine, and tyrosine. The 9 essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine and tryptophan. At the very least, you will know what to look for in protein supplements.
Importance of Eating Protein-Rich Foods
Proteins are necessary to achieve the desired fitness level especially in terms of building muscles. This is because once your body is deprived of any of the amino acids, it will turn to its own muscles and tissue for fuel consumption. Basically, your body ends up eating itself just to sustain its life and, hence, you end up little more then skin and bones if and when you continue to deprive yourself of high protein food sources. It’s definitely not the way to go for bigger muscles.
Plus, keep in mind that the body cannot store protein in large quantities, unlike in the case of fats and carbohydrates. What little that can be stored in the bloodstream is quickly used up. Thus, you have to eat protein from the right food sources in order to build muscle safely, efficiently and quickly.
Sources of Protein
Generally speaking, proteins from animal sources are considered higher in quality than the proteins found in plants. This is because animal-based food sources contain almost all, if not all, the essential amino acids necessary for muscle growth.
However, you still need to take both animal and plant-based protein sources because you do need your fruits and vegetables for their vitamins and minerals. After all, muscle building is not just about bigger muscles – it is also about being healthy to sustain your muscle-building activities.
Thus, do take your legumes, beans and whole grains to supplement your animal-based proteins. These include chicken, turkey, fish and shellfish, eggs, red meats, and dairy products like yogurt, milk and cheese. However, do beware that these foods can contain fats so opt for their low-fat varieties.
Many bodybuilders also take protein supplements to improve on their muscle-building activities. It must be noted that these supplements should never ever replace foods since your digestive system is designed to process foods, not just supplements all the time. You cannot sacrifice your health in favor of muscles, can you?
Needless to say, not even the best protein-packed foods in the world will be able to achieve bigger muscles for you. Exercise is still a very important component of any muscle-building program, which often means that weight training is in your near future.
When the subject of the best muscle food comes up, we have to remember that protein is the body’s main building blocks for muscles and tissues. Proteins, along with carbohydrates and fats, are the body’s three fuels necessary to sustain life. However, proteins are the more important fuel for building muscles as will be explained later on.
Types of Proteins
There are two types of protein that the body needs: essential and non-essential. Lest you think that one is more important than the other, the designation is usually made to distinguish between what the body can produce (non-essential) and what the body needs from the diet (essential).
Just for educational purposes, the 11 non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine, asparagines, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, praline, serine, and tyrosine. The 9 essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine and tryptophan. At the very least, you will know what to look for in protein supplements.
Importance of Eating Protein-Rich Foods
Proteins are necessary to achieve the desired fitness level especially in terms of building muscles. This is because once your body is deprived of any of the amino acids, it will turn to its own muscles and tissue for fuel consumption. Basically, your body ends up eating itself just to sustain its life and, hence, you end up little more then skin and bones if and when you continue to deprive yourself of high protein food sources. It’s definitely not the way to go for bigger muscles.
Plus, keep in mind that the body cannot store protein in large quantities, unlike in the case of fats and carbohydrates. What little that can be stored in the bloodstream is quickly used up. Thus, you have to eat protein from the right food sources in order to build muscle safely, efficiently and quickly.
Sources of Protein
Generally speaking, proteins from animal sources are considered higher in quality than the proteins found in plants. This is because animal-based food sources contain almost all, if not all, the essential amino acids necessary for muscle growth.
However, you still need to take both animal and plant-based protein sources because you do need your fruits and vegetables for their vitamins and minerals. After all, muscle building is not just about bigger muscles – it is also about being healthy to sustain your muscle-building activities.
Thus, do take your legumes, beans and whole grains to supplement your animal-based proteins. These include chicken, turkey, fish and shellfish, eggs, red meats, and dairy products like yogurt, milk and cheese. However, do beware that these foods can contain fats so opt for their low-fat varieties.
Many bodybuilders also take protein supplements to improve on their muscle-building activities. It must be noted that these supplements should never ever replace foods since your digestive system is designed to process foods, not just supplements all the time. You cannot sacrifice your health in favor of muscles, can you?
Needless to say, not even the best protein-packed foods in the world will be able to achieve bigger muscles for you. Exercise is still a very important component of any muscle-building program, which often means that weight training is in your near future.
Jan
25
Mario Churchill asked:
Vitamin benefits are substantial. From multi vitamins that offer our body all of the missing nutrients we do not get from eating the wrong foods, to supplements that boost energy, stave off disease, increase libido, and build our immunity. There are many different vitamin benefits.
Most doctors will advise you to take a multivitamin supplement. A multivitamin supplement gives us the nutrients we lack in our daily diets. Many of us do not get the proper vitamins that are derived from certain foods for a variety of reasons. In the world of today, everyone is in a hurry and many of us do not eat right. In addition, many essential vitamin benefits are derived from foods that certain people do not like to eat. Our body still needs these vitamins, however, so taking a supplement is one good way to get the nutrients needed without having to eat foods we do not like.
Vitamin benefits vary as do the different types of vitamins themselves. Vitamin A, for example, has many different benefits. It is shown to be a proven antioxidant and can protect against cancer. Vitamin A is also very useful in curing skin disorders, such as acne. It can even reverse cornea damage in some people.
Foods that are high in Vitamin A contain carrots, broccoli, dairy products, greens, peaches, liver, cherries and squash. When taking Vitamin A, one must be careful about overdosing on this vitamin. Symptoms of a Vitamin A overdose include nausea, vomiting, dry skin and fatigue and may even include hair loss.
Another essential vitamin that provides wonderful vitamin benefits is Vitamin B-1. The vitamin benefits of B-1 include helping with respiratory disorders, acne, fatigue, weakness and effectively fighting off many different diseases. Foods that are high in Vitamin B-1 include broccoli, cauliflower, nuts, eggs, rice, asparagus, turkey, peas, and parsley to name a few.
Vitamin benefits derived from Vitamin B-2 include aiding the body during pregnancy as well as healing wounds and mouth irritations. Many women who become pregnant suffer from anemia and for this reason, Vitamin B-2, along with iron supplements, helps them avoid some of the fatigue that often accompanies the condition. If you have cracked lips, burning eyes, hair loss or insomnia, you may be suffering from a lack of Vitamin B-2. Speak to your doctor about your symptoms as a Vitamin B-2 supplement may be the answer to your problems.
Vitamin B-3 controls cholesterol levels and is used in combination of other medications to treat cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B-3 contains Niacin which has also been used to treat schizophrenia. If you are suffering from fatigue, insomnia, depression or poor concentration, you may have a Vitamin B-3 deficiency. Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-3 are many and this is one nutrient that you do not want to do without.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-4, which is adrenine, include alleviating fatigue, strengthening the immune system and balancing blood sugar. This vitamin helps with low blood sugar, anemia, allergies, infections, constipation and also stunted growth. Children who do not appear to be growing at a normal rate are often injected with Vitamin B-4 injections. Recent studies have indicated that Vitamin B-4 can help with cancer.
Vitamin B-5 is widely available in most of our foods and actually converts fats and carbohydrates to energy and protein. Vitamin benefits from B-5 are used in post surgical procedures as well as by those who suffer from obesity. Too much of this vitamin, however, can produce diarrhea.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-6 also help convert protein and carbohydrates to energy and helps with anemia and depression. If you are suffering from depression, nausea, vomiting and even symptoms of PMS, ask your doctor about taking a vitamin B-6 supplement that may alleviate your symptoms.
Vitamin B-8 is found in liver, yeast, nuts, chocolate, chicken, eggs, mushrooms, salmon, grains and cauliflower. The vitamin benefits of B-8 are needed for growth as well as the central nervous system and skin and bone marrow. In some cases, Vitamin B-8 is used to treat certain skin disorders.
Many women who are thinking about becoming pregnant are now advised to take Folic Acid, which is found in Vitamin B-9. It is believed that the vitamin benefits of B-9 can prevent birth defects as well as treat anemia. It is advised that women begin taking supplements of this vitamin prior to becoming pregnant.
Vitamin B 10, which is Paba, is not really considered a vitamin, but is used as a sunscreen and is essential for those who wish to avoid the ultraviolet rays in the sun that can cause skin cancer. Vitamin B 10 is not used orally, but directly on the skin. Years ago, Vitamin B 10 was used to fight rheumatic fever.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-12 include relief from menopause as well as anemia. It is also believed that one of the vitamin benefits of B-12 can cure warts. People who are suffering from lower back pain, mental problems, memory loss, weakness and fatigue may actually have a deficiency in Vitamin B-12. A simple blood test to measure the levels off this vitamin in your body can determine if you are indeed suffering from such a deficiency and the solution can be easily remedied with a supplement.
Clearly there are many different Vitamin Benefits from the many different types of Vitamin B. Many people take a Vitamin B complex to alleviate confusion over which vitamin B they should take. A vitamin B complex has many vitamin benefits and is usually the best choice for those who want to make sure they are getting plenty of the essential vitamins found in the B vitamins.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin C are many. This essential vitamin is proven to ward off colds, prevent some cancers and heal wounds. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and many people swear that by taking Vitamin C, they actually ward off colds. Toxicity from vitamin C is rare as it would take very large doses to cause harm. However, excessive use of vitamin C can produce a false positive in a urine glucose test.
Vitamin D is often found in dairy products and is known to promote strong bones and teeth. It is also essential in the prevention of osteoporosis, and most post-menopausal women are advised to take supplements of Vitamin D to ward off this crippling disease.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin E range from repairing skin, reducing smoking lung damage and helping with drug therapies for those undergoing cancer treatment. People who have deficiencies of Vitamin E may experience muscle weakness, anemia, increased infections and even fibrocystic breast disease.
Vitamin K is useful in controlling blood clots. This vitamin is found in many foods and is rarely toxic, even if taken to great extremes. Most vegetables contain this valuable vitamin.
Vitamin benefits vary from treating skin diseases, preventing sunburn, curing colds to preventing cancer. Before beginning on any vitamin regiment, consult with your physician. In many cases, a good multivitamin may be all you need to make sure that your body is getting the right amount of the valuable properties found in the above mentioned vitamins.
Vitamin benefits are substantial. From multi vitamins that offer our body all of the missing nutrients we do not get from eating the wrong foods, to supplements that boost energy, stave off disease, increase libido, and build our immunity. There are many different vitamin benefits.
Most doctors will advise you to take a multivitamin supplement. A multivitamin supplement gives us the nutrients we lack in our daily diets. Many of us do not get the proper vitamins that are derived from certain foods for a variety of reasons. In the world of today, everyone is in a hurry and many of us do not eat right. In addition, many essential vitamin benefits are derived from foods that certain people do not like to eat. Our body still needs these vitamins, however, so taking a supplement is one good way to get the nutrients needed without having to eat foods we do not like.
Vitamin benefits vary as do the different types of vitamins themselves. Vitamin A, for example, has many different benefits. It is shown to be a proven antioxidant and can protect against cancer. Vitamin A is also very useful in curing skin disorders, such as acne. It can even reverse cornea damage in some people.
Foods that are high in Vitamin A contain carrots, broccoli, dairy products, greens, peaches, liver, cherries and squash. When taking Vitamin A, one must be careful about overdosing on this vitamin. Symptoms of a Vitamin A overdose include nausea, vomiting, dry skin and fatigue and may even include hair loss.
Another essential vitamin that provides wonderful vitamin benefits is Vitamin B-1. The vitamin benefits of B-1 include helping with respiratory disorders, acne, fatigue, weakness and effectively fighting off many different diseases. Foods that are high in Vitamin B-1 include broccoli, cauliflower, nuts, eggs, rice, asparagus, turkey, peas, and parsley to name a few.
Vitamin benefits derived from Vitamin B-2 include aiding the body during pregnancy as well as healing wounds and mouth irritations. Many women who become pregnant suffer from anemia and for this reason, Vitamin B-2, along with iron supplements, helps them avoid some of the fatigue that often accompanies the condition. If you have cracked lips, burning eyes, hair loss or insomnia, you may be suffering from a lack of Vitamin B-2. Speak to your doctor about your symptoms as a Vitamin B-2 supplement may be the answer to your problems.
Vitamin B-3 controls cholesterol levels and is used in combination of other medications to treat cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B-3 contains Niacin which has also been used to treat schizophrenia. If you are suffering from fatigue, insomnia, depression or poor concentration, you may have a Vitamin B-3 deficiency. Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-3 are many and this is one nutrient that you do not want to do without.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-4, which is adrenine, include alleviating fatigue, strengthening the immune system and balancing blood sugar. This vitamin helps with low blood sugar, anemia, allergies, infections, constipation and also stunted growth. Children who do not appear to be growing at a normal rate are often injected with Vitamin B-4 injections. Recent studies have indicated that Vitamin B-4 can help with cancer.
Vitamin B-5 is widely available in most of our foods and actually converts fats and carbohydrates to energy and protein. Vitamin benefits from B-5 are used in post surgical procedures as well as by those who suffer from obesity. Too much of this vitamin, however, can produce diarrhea.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-6 also help convert protein and carbohydrates to energy and helps with anemia and depression. If you are suffering from depression, nausea, vomiting and even symptoms of PMS, ask your doctor about taking a vitamin B-6 supplement that may alleviate your symptoms.
Vitamin B-8 is found in liver, yeast, nuts, chocolate, chicken, eggs, mushrooms, salmon, grains and cauliflower. The vitamin benefits of B-8 are needed for growth as well as the central nervous system and skin and bone marrow. In some cases, Vitamin B-8 is used to treat certain skin disorders.
Many women who are thinking about becoming pregnant are now advised to take Folic Acid, which is found in Vitamin B-9. It is believed that the vitamin benefits of B-9 can prevent birth defects as well as treat anemia. It is advised that women begin taking supplements of this vitamin prior to becoming pregnant.
Vitamin B 10, which is Paba, is not really considered a vitamin, but is used as a sunscreen and is essential for those who wish to avoid the ultraviolet rays in the sun that can cause skin cancer. Vitamin B 10 is not used orally, but directly on the skin. Years ago, Vitamin B 10 was used to fight rheumatic fever.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin B-12 include relief from menopause as well as anemia. It is also believed that one of the vitamin benefits of B-12 can cure warts. People who are suffering from lower back pain, mental problems, memory loss, weakness and fatigue may actually have a deficiency in Vitamin B-12. A simple blood test to measure the levels off this vitamin in your body can determine if you are indeed suffering from such a deficiency and the solution can be easily remedied with a supplement.
Clearly there are many different Vitamin Benefits from the many different types of Vitamin B. Many people take a Vitamin B complex to alleviate confusion over which vitamin B they should take. A vitamin B complex has many vitamin benefits and is usually the best choice for those who want to make sure they are getting plenty of the essential vitamins found in the B vitamins.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin C are many. This essential vitamin is proven to ward off colds, prevent some cancers and heal wounds. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and many people swear that by taking Vitamin C, they actually ward off colds. Toxicity from vitamin C is rare as it would take very large doses to cause harm. However, excessive use of vitamin C can produce a false positive in a urine glucose test.
Vitamin D is often found in dairy products and is known to promote strong bones and teeth. It is also essential in the prevention of osteoporosis, and most post-menopausal women are advised to take supplements of Vitamin D to ward off this crippling disease.
Vitamin benefits from Vitamin E range from repairing skin, reducing smoking lung damage and helping with drug therapies for those undergoing cancer treatment. People who have deficiencies of Vitamin E may experience muscle weakness, anemia, increased infections and even fibrocystic breast disease.
Vitamin K is useful in controlling blood clots. This vitamin is found in many foods and is rarely toxic, even if taken to great extremes. Most vegetables contain this valuable vitamin.
Vitamin benefits vary from treating skin diseases, preventing sunburn, curing colds to preventing cancer. Before beginning on any vitamin regiment, consult with your physician. In many cases, a good multivitamin may be all you need to make sure that your body is getting the right amount of the valuable properties found in the above mentioned vitamins.
Jim Pretin asked:
You’ve probably been hearing and reading a lot about Human Growth Hormone (HGH) recently. Ever since Jose Canseco’s outing of several prominent professional baseball players and the steroid regimen employed by these athletes, there has been more attention paid to HGH recently than in years past.
HGH is a protein produced by the pituitary gland that stimulates the liver to produce somatomedins, which causes the growth of bone and muscle. There is an ongoing debate as to whether HGH therapy is benefical or perhaps dangerous.
During our earliest years and adolescence, our pituitary secretes a great deal of HGH, which helps us grow tall and develop. Sometime during our late teens, HGH secretion begins to decline, and by the time we’re in our forties and fifties, we produce very little HGH and certain signs and symptoms of aging begin to manifest themselves. Our skin begins to wrinkle, our bodies lose muscle tone if we’re no longer exercising, and our energy levels begin to decrease.
Proponents of HGH therapy argue that we should fight mother nature by shooting up with HGH once we reach a certain age, but that a doctor should administer the hormone treatment so that it’s done safely and effectively. Opponents of HGH supplementation argue that by increasing one’s level of HGH to levels that are unnatural or not needed for an older person, dangerous and perhaps lethal side effects will occur. However, there is little or no evidence to support that modest HGH supplementation can cause cancer or any other deadly diseases. Most doctors argue that HGH needs to decline as we age, as this is probably our body’s way of trying to prolong our life span; if we continued to produce as much HGH when we’re 50 as we did when we were 12, we’d probably keel over and die and wouldn’t live to be 50 in the first place. So, a decline in HGH is something that every one of us experience, the question is whether it’s something we should accept.
Some people are born with insufficient HGH production to sustain normal growth, which is associated with conditions such as dwarfism. Hyperglycemia is also associated with HGH deficiency. For these individuals, HGH therapy is sometimes a medical necessity.
Sales of HGH products on the internet has exploded over the past 3 years. There are many different forms of HGH supplements sold online, ranging from natural and homeopathic HGH to actual needles with a vial of HGH that can be shipped to you through the mail (this is illegal – it’s illegal to sell or distribute HGH without a prescription, but it’s legal to buy and sell homeopathic HGH without a prescription, as homeopathic versions don’t really have any HGH in them. Homeopathic HGH is just diluted HGH meant to stimulate your body to produce HGH on its own if your current levels are below normal for someone your age).
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) have joined together to wipe out the sales of illegal HGH products online. The FTC began contacting illicit HGH distributors during the year 2005, launching a massive crackdown on all HGH sold without a prescription and any products, homeopathic or not, that make erroneous claims or make specific statements about the efficacy or performance of the product without a clinical trial.
As a result of their efforts, the FTC has won several judgements against some of these internet companies, levying fines in excess of $10 million dollars against one company, and millions of dollars in total fines against several other companies. There are still quite a few companies that refuse to listen to the FTC, choosing instead to continue to sell their products and fight it out in court.
Most doctors concur that the best course of action for the consumer is to only use homeopathic HGH as part of your anti-aging therapy routine. These products are universally recongized as being safe because they basically contain no HGH and instead stimulate your pituitary to produce HGH only if you’re deficient for a normal person your age. Don’t buy injectable HGH through the mail or on the internet, first of all because it’s illegal, and also because the suppliers are often unscrupulous and have an incentive to sell you an inferior product due to the fact that injectable HGH administered at a clinic with a prescription can cost from $10,000 – $30,000 per month, making it unaffordable to most, whereas some internet hucksters retail it at $200 for a one month supply. So, be cautious and careful when buying HGH supplements online.
You’ve probably been hearing and reading a lot about Human Growth Hormone (HGH) recently. Ever since Jose Canseco’s outing of several prominent professional baseball players and the steroid regimen employed by these athletes, there has been more attention paid to HGH recently than in years past.
HGH is a protein produced by the pituitary gland that stimulates the liver to produce somatomedins, which causes the growth of bone and muscle. There is an ongoing debate as to whether HGH therapy is benefical or perhaps dangerous.
During our earliest years and adolescence, our pituitary secretes a great deal of HGH, which helps us grow tall and develop. Sometime during our late teens, HGH secretion begins to decline, and by the time we’re in our forties and fifties, we produce very little HGH and certain signs and symptoms of aging begin to manifest themselves. Our skin begins to wrinkle, our bodies lose muscle tone if we’re no longer exercising, and our energy levels begin to decrease.
Proponents of HGH therapy argue that we should fight mother nature by shooting up with HGH once we reach a certain age, but that a doctor should administer the hormone treatment so that it’s done safely and effectively. Opponents of HGH supplementation argue that by increasing one’s level of HGH to levels that are unnatural or not needed for an older person, dangerous and perhaps lethal side effects will occur. However, there is little or no evidence to support that modest HGH supplementation can cause cancer or any other deadly diseases. Most doctors argue that HGH needs to decline as we age, as this is probably our body’s way of trying to prolong our life span; if we continued to produce as much HGH when we’re 50 as we did when we were 12, we’d probably keel over and die and wouldn’t live to be 50 in the first place. So, a decline in HGH is something that every one of us experience, the question is whether it’s something we should accept.
Some people are born with insufficient HGH production to sustain normal growth, which is associated with conditions such as dwarfism. Hyperglycemia is also associated with HGH deficiency. For these individuals, HGH therapy is sometimes a medical necessity.
Sales of HGH products on the internet has exploded over the past 3 years. There are many different forms of HGH supplements sold online, ranging from natural and homeopathic HGH to actual needles with a vial of HGH that can be shipped to you through the mail (this is illegal – it’s illegal to sell or distribute HGH without a prescription, but it’s legal to buy and sell homeopathic HGH without a prescription, as homeopathic versions don’t really have any HGH in them. Homeopathic HGH is just diluted HGH meant to stimulate your body to produce HGH on its own if your current levels are below normal for someone your age).
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) have joined together to wipe out the sales of illegal HGH products online. The FTC began contacting illicit HGH distributors during the year 2005, launching a massive crackdown on all HGH sold without a prescription and any products, homeopathic or not, that make erroneous claims or make specific statements about the efficacy or performance of the product without a clinical trial.
As a result of their efforts, the FTC has won several judgements against some of these internet companies, levying fines in excess of $10 million dollars against one company, and millions of dollars in total fines against several other companies. There are still quite a few companies that refuse to listen to the FTC, choosing instead to continue to sell their products and fight it out in court.
Most doctors concur that the best course of action for the consumer is to only use homeopathic HGH as part of your anti-aging therapy routine. These products are universally recongized as being safe because they basically contain no HGH and instead stimulate your pituitary to produce HGH only if you’re deficient for a normal person your age. Don’t buy injectable HGH through the mail or on the internet, first of all because it’s illegal, and also because the suppliers are often unscrupulous and have an incentive to sell you an inferior product due to the fact that injectable HGH administered at a clinic with a prescription can cost from $10,000 – $30,000 per month, making it unaffordable to most, whereas some internet hucksters retail it at $200 for a one month supply. So, be cautious and careful when buying HGH supplements online.
Greg Williamson asked:
A popular anti skin aging ingredient is Vitamin C. In anti skin aging treatment Vitamin C is the most effective ingredient. The skin receives many good benefits from Vitamin C. Not only does this vitamin help get rid of the free radicals that can damage your skin but it also helps your body increase the production of collagen.
The biggest challenge for the skin care industry is the stability of Vitamin C. When exposed to the air, Vitamin C oxidizes immediately. When Vitamin C is oxidized it not only becomes ineffective but it is also harmful to individuals since it will increase the production of free radicals.
Manufacturers have invested lots of money on researching a way to find alternative forms of solving the major oxidation problem. Increasing the concentration of Vitamin C so it doesn’t loose its effectiveness is one solution they have found. Often time manufacturers will increase the concentration to ten percent. As the concentration of Vitamin C increases so does the price. So for this reason many consumers look for alternatives to skin products that contain Vitamin C.
Vitamin C derivatives have also been found by researchers that can be used as ingredients. Derivatives of Vitamin C that can easily penetrate the skin cells and release a proper amount of acid to help the production of collagen are ideal. The most common fat soluble Vitamin C derivative in skin care products is ascorbyl palmitate. This ingredient is more stable and less irritating than Vitamin C. Another derivative is the water soluble magnesium ascorbyl phosphate. This ingredient is also good for products that are made specifically for sensitive skin. Both these derivatives don’t oxidize as easily as Vitamin C and don’t cause as much irritation. Although they aren’t as effective as pure Vitamin C.
It is best to check a product first before buying a skin care product based with Vitamin C. You can determine which products are effective to use since Vitamin C oxidizes easily. You can determine the effectiveness by the color of the product. A product is useless and harmful if it is yellowish-brown since this means it has been exposed to the air. With Vitamin C products you should read the label carefully to ensure you aren’t wasting your money on a product that won’t work.
Depending on the individual the effectiveness of a product will vary. While Vitamin C products will work well for some they can be useless for others. Some skin care product ingredients don’t respond effectively for all skin types. To maintain and improve the efficiency of products you should make sure you store products properly.
A popular anti skin aging ingredient is Vitamin C. In anti skin aging treatment Vitamin C is the most effective ingredient. The skin receives many good benefits from Vitamin C. Not only does this vitamin help get rid of the free radicals that can damage your skin but it also helps your body increase the production of collagen.
The biggest challenge for the skin care industry is the stability of Vitamin C. When exposed to the air, Vitamin C oxidizes immediately. When Vitamin C is oxidized it not only becomes ineffective but it is also harmful to individuals since it will increase the production of free radicals.
Manufacturers have invested lots of money on researching a way to find alternative forms of solving the major oxidation problem. Increasing the concentration of Vitamin C so it doesn’t loose its effectiveness is one solution they have found. Often time manufacturers will increase the concentration to ten percent. As the concentration of Vitamin C increases so does the price. So for this reason many consumers look for alternatives to skin products that contain Vitamin C.
Vitamin C derivatives have also been found by researchers that can be used as ingredients. Derivatives of Vitamin C that can easily penetrate the skin cells and release a proper amount of acid to help the production of collagen are ideal. The most common fat soluble Vitamin C derivative in skin care products is ascorbyl palmitate. This ingredient is more stable and less irritating than Vitamin C. Another derivative is the water soluble magnesium ascorbyl phosphate. This ingredient is also good for products that are made specifically for sensitive skin. Both these derivatives don’t oxidize as easily as Vitamin C and don’t cause as much irritation. Although they aren’t as effective as pure Vitamin C.
It is best to check a product first before buying a skin care product based with Vitamin C. You can determine which products are effective to use since Vitamin C oxidizes easily. You can determine the effectiveness by the color of the product. A product is useless and harmful if it is yellowish-brown since this means it has been exposed to the air. With Vitamin C products you should read the label carefully to ensure you aren’t wasting your money on a product that won’t work.
Depending on the individual the effectiveness of a product will vary. While Vitamin C products will work well for some they can be useless for others. Some skin care product ingredients don’t respond effectively for all skin types. To maintain and improve the efficiency of products you should make sure you store products properly.
Tim Mielke asked:
The explorer Ponce De Leon was made famous by his continuous quest for the legendary Fountain of Youth. While the Fountain of Youth may be just a myth, that doesn’t stop people today from exploring various avenues to defy the ravages of time. We desire to keep our skin from wrinkling, fend off illness, and maintain the energy levels we had during the prime of our youth. Although the Fountain of Youth may not be real, there are many very real anti-aging supplements that we can use to keep our youthful appearance and energy.
At about the age of 30, our natural hormone production begins to decline. Decreased levels of testosterone (the dominant male hormone), estrogen (the dominant female hormone), and Human Growth Hormone (more commonly referred to as HGH) can lead to:
The explorer Ponce De Leon was made famous by his continuous quest for the legendary Fountain of Youth. While the Fountain of Youth may be just a myth, that doesn’t stop people today from exploring various avenues to defy the ravages of time. We desire to keep our skin from wrinkling, fend off illness, and maintain the energy levels we had during the prime of our youth. Although the Fountain of Youth may not be real, there are many very real anti-aging supplements that we can use to keep our youthful appearance and energy.
At about the age of 30, our natural hormone production begins to decline. Decreased levels of testosterone (the dominant male hormone), estrogen (the dominant female hormone), and Human Growth Hormone (more commonly referred to as HGH) can lead to:
Kevin Gianni asked:
This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com. In this excerpt, Danny Dreyer shares his views on eating right and listening to your body.
The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Danny Dreyer, author of ChiWalking and ChiRunning.
Kevin: What does eating right mean to you?
Danny: I am mostly on organic diet. We cook everything from scratch. We don’t eat out of boxes or cans. I only eat meat about once a month. I mean, I will have – - that’s like red meat. I don’t drink coffee. I do drink tea but not an over abundance of it. And – -
Kevin: What about for training?
Danny: Oh, the training is really fun, you know on our break, we break part nutrition and diet as related to training so you know, what I do is that when I am going out for a really long run I want to have a lot of good carbohydrates in my system before I do that. It’s just like [pumping] for a race and not a run. And so usually I have beans and rice and peas – -
Kevin: OK.
Danny: the night before I run because it just burns really clean and even though it’s a complete protein and also a very good cover meal. And because I don’t eat pasta as a carbohydrate meal in fact I rarely eat pasta anyway. We have a law here. We don’t eat anything white.
Kevin: OK. [laughter]
Danny: Unless it’s yogurt.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: So you want to eat a good carbohydrate before a long workout and you want to eat a really good protein meal afterwards along with the carbohydrate and sometimes during the week you always want to eat a really healthy salad like really leafy green lots of colors.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: And other than that we eat a lot of green vegetable meals. I also eat most of my meals out of a bowl, and my bowl only holds two and a half cups and when it’s full it’s full, when I sit down and that’s what I eat.
Kevin: That’s interesting.
Danny: Yeah that way I don’t ever overeat and it doesn’t matter what’s in that bowl I just don’t eat more than that.
Kevin: So how big is it?
Danny: Two and a half cups might be two and three quarters.
Kevin: OK. When you pile it up?
Danny: Pile it up, OK salads a little lighter I might pile a little higher but you know for most meals I level to the top. And then I eat two meals a day, I don’t eat three. You know I learnt something for the Europeans. They just eat the right amount. A lot of people there have taken on some of our bad habits but a lot of people in Asia especially and also in Europe are just the right body size. Because they just eat, when they are done they’re done.
Kevin: Yeah.
Danny: And a lot, the other thing that I do is, it’s a hotsy question what do I do to stay in shape? One is I run about every other day or walk and I am not afraid to stop my running and start walking at any point.
Kevin: I think that’s a fantastic point right there.
Danny: Yeah, I am not a fanatic. Yeah, I wrote the books on running or walking but I am not a fanatic of either one. Here’s one thing I do when I get across to people and what we’re trying to do is this whole thing about having to being mindful about when you’re walking and running,
Kevin: Um.
Danny: Like always doing the right thing, is that we really are on a campaign to change running and walking from a fitness regiment to a practice and if you think of what you do as a practice, you know, there is Tai-chi is a practice, Yoga is a practice, Polaris is like a practice, Meditation is a practice. All those things are practice and nobody really thinks about approaching their running or walking as a practice. Because if you did then everytime you went out to do it there would be something you’re working on to get just a little better, just a little looser, just a little most grounded or centered or relaxed or there is always something to work on to get just a little bit better. And you end up becoming a better person through your practice of walking and not just get stronger muscles and a great heart.
Kevin: Right.
Danny: It’s more about a holistic approach to whatever fitness thing you are doing.
Kevin: It’s actually the value of it.
Danny: That’s the value of it. That’s why it’s so cool because it’s not just a fitness thing. So people go “how do you stay fit”, well I don’t just use my body. I use my mind.
Kevin: Yeah.
Danny: You know, you just have to use both. Otherwise it’s not complete. You are imbalanced. So there’s a lot of jokes out there that really, you know, that’s why people get to mind over body. They don’t really listen to their body as well as they could. We have a principle called ‘body sensing’, its one of the Chi skills.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: ‘Body sensing’ is just learning how to listen to your body, how to direct it with your mind but how to really sense when it needs something, when it doesn’t need something. When something is right, when it’s not right, when you’re imbalanced when you are balanced, and if people were much more in their bodies we wouldn’t be near the disease rate, cancer rate, obesity rate anything that’s going on in the society today if people just learnt to listen what the body is trying to tell them.
Kevin: So how does somebody when they’re walking or running, how do they start to feel their body? Obviously sometimes they feel it, you know, but the body does not give them an option well – -
Danny: Yeah, you know if you are feeling, I will tell you this, it’s really simple. If you feel any discomfort in your body. Well, it starts with tension. If you feel tension then your body that’s not discomfort ness there, it’s just tense.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: So if you feel tension in your body, what I do is when you’re walking or running just do what I call a body sweep. When you start at the top of your head and just scan all the way down to your body top to bottom and if you feel just looking for any tension like you’re your own MRI, you just looking for tension anywhere head to toe, if you find any try to see if you can how to let go of that, how to just relax that part, how to breathe into it, give it a little more range of emotion to stretch it out or something, but listen to your body and just start the practice of just listening, just scanning. And then once you get good at scanning and listening then you want to know what you are listening for. And so first you are listening to tension, that’s the first, the lowest level.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: And then listen for discomfort. If the tension goes on long enough your body is going to start talking a little louder if you don’t start doing something.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: Right. And then discomfort turns to pain. Because if you don’t listen to discomfort it’s not going to get better, it’s going to get worse. And your body will start screaming, “Hey wake up, we’re hurting down here. What you going to do about it?” And then if you don’t listen to pain it’s usually either illness or injury. And it’s the people that you know just keep going no matter what the body is telling them; they end up with in the last two categories. So it’s really training to have a mindful practice that you’re always listening to your body and trying to co-operate with it and work with it, and say how can we do this better, you know how can we feel better, how can we eat better, how can we stop when we are supposed to. It’s a fabulous way to go through life listening to your body and instead of listening to what everybody else is trying to tell you what to do with your body.
Kevin: Absolutely. And you had a statistic that you told me once about runners and the average length that they run. Is that, do you recall what that was?
Danny: There’s a statistic that you know out of all runners, at least there’s a study done in the United States and that was couple of years ago when there was 22 million people that called themselves regular runners. There’s a 65 percent injury rate.
Kevin: Really?
Danny: Every year 65 percent of 22 million people get injured long enough to disrupt their training program. That’s like you’re sure of two out of three chances of getting injured if you start running unless you are doing it right. So what we tell people, it is not running that hurts your body, it’s the way you run. Its not walking that hurts your body, its the way you walk. And so if you are constantly mindful of studying how you move your body, then you are much much less likely, completely reduce your chances of injury or even discomfort, and so you get to a point where you can do your fitness program and feel great the whole way, the whole day, the next time you do it. It always feels great. And there’s no downtime.
Kevin: Now is there one thing you recommend someone do, what is it?
Danny: Move your body.
Kevin: Yeah?
Danny: Yeah. It’s got to be it. My Tai-chi says that when you stop moving your spine you start dying, that’s it. Period! You sitting on your couch watching TV, you are not moving your body you’re going to start dying. And so that’s why you got to get your Chi moving through your body. That means every time you move your body you’re activating your Chi moving through your body. The more relaxed you are, the easier it flows through your body. When you get outdoors there’s tons of Chi outdoors that your body can absorb through your eyes, through your skin, you know, and you’re gaining energy and you want to really be working at always gaining energy and it’s really your movement. And you know, unfortunately there is a large emphasis nowadays on the intellectual center. Anybody who wants to get ahead, you know, work hard and go to college and do all that and not forgetting that they have a body that also it’s the reason why you are in the planet. If you didn’t have it you wouldn’t be here. You got to take care of that as well as your mind. The mind isn’t everything. No. It tends to feed the brain too much I pod, the MP3 players, Videos, Computers, name it , it’s all brain stuff. So for as much as I am in front of the computer writing everyday whatever, I get outside move around, you know. You got to move your body. If I could say one thing, you know, and eat right.
This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com. In this excerpt, Danny Dreyer shares his views on eating right and listening to your body.
The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Danny Dreyer, author of ChiWalking and ChiRunning.
Kevin: What does eating right mean to you?
Danny: I am mostly on organic diet. We cook everything from scratch. We don’t eat out of boxes or cans. I only eat meat about once a month. I mean, I will have – - that’s like red meat. I don’t drink coffee. I do drink tea but not an over abundance of it. And – -
Kevin: What about for training?
Danny: Oh, the training is really fun, you know on our break, we break part nutrition and diet as related to training so you know, what I do is that when I am going out for a really long run I want to have a lot of good carbohydrates in my system before I do that. It’s just like [pumping] for a race and not a run. And so usually I have beans and rice and peas – -
Kevin: OK.
Danny: the night before I run because it just burns really clean and even though it’s a complete protein and also a very good cover meal. And because I don’t eat pasta as a carbohydrate meal in fact I rarely eat pasta anyway. We have a law here. We don’t eat anything white.
Kevin: OK. [laughter]
Danny: Unless it’s yogurt.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: So you want to eat a good carbohydrate before a long workout and you want to eat a really good protein meal afterwards along with the carbohydrate and sometimes during the week you always want to eat a really healthy salad like really leafy green lots of colors.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: And other than that we eat a lot of green vegetable meals. I also eat most of my meals out of a bowl, and my bowl only holds two and a half cups and when it’s full it’s full, when I sit down and that’s what I eat.
Kevin: That’s interesting.
Danny: Yeah that way I don’t ever overeat and it doesn’t matter what’s in that bowl I just don’t eat more than that.
Kevin: So how big is it?
Danny: Two and a half cups might be two and three quarters.
Kevin: OK. When you pile it up?
Danny: Pile it up, OK salads a little lighter I might pile a little higher but you know for most meals I level to the top. And then I eat two meals a day, I don’t eat three. You know I learnt something for the Europeans. They just eat the right amount. A lot of people there have taken on some of our bad habits but a lot of people in Asia especially and also in Europe are just the right body size. Because they just eat, when they are done they’re done.
Kevin: Yeah.
Danny: And a lot, the other thing that I do is, it’s a hotsy question what do I do to stay in shape? One is I run about every other day or walk and I am not afraid to stop my running and start walking at any point.
Kevin: I think that’s a fantastic point right there.
Danny: Yeah, I am not a fanatic. Yeah, I wrote the books on running or walking but I am not a fanatic of either one. Here’s one thing I do when I get across to people and what we’re trying to do is this whole thing about having to being mindful about when you’re walking and running,
Kevin: Um.
Danny: Like always doing the right thing, is that we really are on a campaign to change running and walking from a fitness regiment to a practice and if you think of what you do as a practice, you know, there is Tai-chi is a practice, Yoga is a practice, Polaris is like a practice, Meditation is a practice. All those things are practice and nobody really thinks about approaching their running or walking as a practice. Because if you did then everytime you went out to do it there would be something you’re working on to get just a little better, just a little looser, just a little most grounded or centered or relaxed or there is always something to work on to get just a little bit better. And you end up becoming a better person through your practice of walking and not just get stronger muscles and a great heart.
Kevin: Right.
Danny: It’s more about a holistic approach to whatever fitness thing you are doing.
Kevin: It’s actually the value of it.
Danny: That’s the value of it. That’s why it’s so cool because it’s not just a fitness thing. So people go “how do you stay fit”, well I don’t just use my body. I use my mind.
Kevin: Yeah.
Danny: You know, you just have to use both. Otherwise it’s not complete. You are imbalanced. So there’s a lot of jokes out there that really, you know, that’s why people get to mind over body. They don’t really listen to their body as well as they could. We have a principle called ‘body sensing’, its one of the Chi skills.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: ‘Body sensing’ is just learning how to listen to your body, how to direct it with your mind but how to really sense when it needs something, when it doesn’t need something. When something is right, when it’s not right, when you’re imbalanced when you are balanced, and if people were much more in their bodies we wouldn’t be near the disease rate, cancer rate, obesity rate anything that’s going on in the society today if people just learnt to listen what the body is trying to tell them.
Kevin: So how does somebody when they’re walking or running, how do they start to feel their body? Obviously sometimes they feel it, you know, but the body does not give them an option well – -
Danny: Yeah, you know if you are feeling, I will tell you this, it’s really simple. If you feel any discomfort in your body. Well, it starts with tension. If you feel tension then your body that’s not discomfort ness there, it’s just tense.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: So if you feel tension in your body, what I do is when you’re walking or running just do what I call a body sweep. When you start at the top of your head and just scan all the way down to your body top to bottom and if you feel just looking for any tension like you’re your own MRI, you just looking for tension anywhere head to toe, if you find any try to see if you can how to let go of that, how to just relax that part, how to breathe into it, give it a little more range of emotion to stretch it out or something, but listen to your body and just start the practice of just listening, just scanning. And then once you get good at scanning and listening then you want to know what you are listening for. And so first you are listening to tension, that’s the first, the lowest level.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: And then listen for discomfort. If the tension goes on long enough your body is going to start talking a little louder if you don’t start doing something.
Kevin: Um.
Danny: Right. And then discomfort turns to pain. Because if you don’t listen to discomfort it’s not going to get better, it’s going to get worse. And your body will start screaming, “Hey wake up, we’re hurting down here. What you going to do about it?” And then if you don’t listen to pain it’s usually either illness or injury. And it’s the people that you know just keep going no matter what the body is telling them; they end up with in the last two categories. So it’s really training to have a mindful practice that you’re always listening to your body and trying to co-operate with it and work with it, and say how can we do this better, you know how can we feel better, how can we eat better, how can we stop when we are supposed to. It’s a fabulous way to go through life listening to your body and instead of listening to what everybody else is trying to tell you what to do with your body.
Kevin: Absolutely. And you had a statistic that you told me once about runners and the average length that they run. Is that, do you recall what that was?
Danny: There’s a statistic that you know out of all runners, at least there’s a study done in the United States and that was couple of years ago when there was 22 million people that called themselves regular runners. There’s a 65 percent injury rate.
Kevin: Really?
Danny: Every year 65 percent of 22 million people get injured long enough to disrupt their training program. That’s like you’re sure of two out of three chances of getting injured if you start running unless you are doing it right. So what we tell people, it is not running that hurts your body, it’s the way you run. Its not walking that hurts your body, its the way you walk. And so if you are constantly mindful of studying how you move your body, then you are much much less likely, completely reduce your chances of injury or even discomfort, and so you get to a point where you can do your fitness program and feel great the whole way, the whole day, the next time you do it. It always feels great. And there’s no downtime.
Kevin: Now is there one thing you recommend someone do, what is it?
Danny: Move your body.
Kevin: Yeah?
Danny: Yeah. It’s got to be it. My Tai-chi says that when you stop moving your spine you start dying, that’s it. Period! You sitting on your couch watching TV, you are not moving your body you’re going to start dying. And so that’s why you got to get your Chi moving through your body. That means every time you move your body you’re activating your Chi moving through your body. The more relaxed you are, the easier it flows through your body. When you get outdoors there’s tons of Chi outdoors that your body can absorb through your eyes, through your skin, you know, and you’re gaining energy and you want to really be working at always gaining energy and it’s really your movement. And you know, unfortunately there is a large emphasis nowadays on the intellectual center. Anybody who wants to get ahead, you know, work hard and go to college and do all that and not forgetting that they have a body that also it’s the reason why you are in the planet. If you didn’t have it you wouldn’t be here. You got to take care of that as well as your mind. The mind isn’t everything. No. It tends to feed the brain too much I pod, the MP3 players, Videos, Computers, name it , it’s all brain stuff. So for as much as I am in front of the computer writing everyday whatever, I get outside move around, you know. You got to move your body. If I could say one thing, you know, and eat right.
Dr. Smith Johnson asked:
Shilajit
General weakness –
Shilajit since long has been regarded has a health supplement that had been put under use to revive the lost powers of our body. Shilajit also known as shilajeet is an organo-mineral substance that has a very prehistoric origin. Long ago when our continents were drifting, the present Himalaya were not the mountains but a very fertile area with lots of vegetation there. Due to the continental clash the edges got raised up and the vegetation of that area got submerged into the mountains.
As the time passed this vegetation got putrefied with the action of various organism and minerals present in the rocks of the mountains, took a shape of a black sticky substance known as Shilajit to mankind. Now you well imagine that Shilajit is a herbal formulation that is empowered with the strength of vegetations (precious herbs of Himalaya) and various minerals and vitamins that makes it the herb that helps in treating general body weakness.
Below are some of the many benefits of Shilajit
1 Increases the muscle power
2 Supplements body with the vitamin and mineral deficiencies
3 It helps in detoxifying our body
4 Shilajit increases immunity
5 Shilajit is a powerful health supplement that strengthens the body both internally as well as externally.
Shilajit
General weakness –
Shilajit since long has been regarded has a health supplement that had been put under use to revive the lost powers of our body. Shilajit also known as shilajeet is an organo-mineral substance that has a very prehistoric origin. Long ago when our continents were drifting, the present Himalaya were not the mountains but a very fertile area with lots of vegetation there. Due to the continental clash the edges got raised up and the vegetation of that area got submerged into the mountains.
As the time passed this vegetation got putrefied with the action of various organism and minerals present in the rocks of the mountains, took a shape of a black sticky substance known as Shilajit to mankind. Now you well imagine that Shilajit is a herbal formulation that is empowered with the strength of vegetations (precious herbs of Himalaya) and various minerals and vitamins that makes it the herb that helps in treating general body weakness.
Below are some of the many benefits of Shilajit
1 Increases the muscle power
2 Supplements body with the vitamin and mineral deficiencies
3 It helps in detoxifying our body
4 Shilajit increases immunity
5 Shilajit is a powerful health supplement that strengthens the body both internally as well as externally.
Jan
11
Mitch Endick asked:
Does vitamin E really help your skin look younger? Can the application of creams and lotions that contain this ingredient may reduce the look of scars and other skin blemishes? There are such a diverse number of opinions that it would appear that the jury is out. Devotees of using this ingredient as a skin care supplement are certainly at odds with those who believe that, far from being a panacea for various skin problems, using this vitamin may actually make some skin problems worse. Needless to say there are many mixed messages regarding the use of vitamin E as a skin care supplement and sorting out fact from fantasy can be difficult.
Like many naturally occurring vitamins, this vitamin has been a topic for myth and criticism for almost one hundred years. It has been hailed as a miracle treatment and cure for numerous conditions, from sexual impotence to heart disease.
Lets take the issue of using vitamin E for treating scars from surgery, acne and other skin trauma. Proponents of using vitamin E on scars tell us that the scar and surrounding tissue will be softer and can aid in the healing process. Critics are quick to point out that some people may experience adverse reactions to the topical application of this ingredient that can result in dermatitis and inflammation that may actually work to hinder the natural healing process.
Advocates of vitamin E in the wellness and nutritional supplement industries make the claim that it acts as an antioxidant that controls the process of free radicals which they also claim advance the aging process. Recent peer reviewed medical studies would suggest that this vitamin does not possess the antioxidant qualities that the advocates claim.
The simple truth is that topical applications of vitamin E will not treat or cure skin conditions. Now this is not to say that applying a cream that contains a small amount of vitamin E will help or harm. There are a number of creams, lotions and compounds on the market that will help keep your skin soft and hydrated. Whether you use a simple petroleum jelly, an expensive cream or something in between, your skin will thank you. Do not be taken in by miracle claims for any particular product, certainly when it comes to topical applications of this vitamin. If you are convinced that E will help know that there is not difference between so-called natural vitamin E and the synthetically produced variety, expect perhaps the price.
With so many reports of adverse skin reactions associated with using vitamin E, be sure to consult a qualified medical professional before applying any cream or lotion to your skin. If you notice any redness or swelling, stop using the product and seek immediate medical advice. There are proven ways to maintain good skin health and a healthy look like not smoking, not drinking, avoiding overexposure to ultraviolet rays and eating a proper diet. Remember, you have only one body so take care when ingesting or applying any product that you are not absolutely sure of.
Does vitamin E really help your skin look younger? Can the application of creams and lotions that contain this ingredient may reduce the look of scars and other skin blemishes? There are such a diverse number of opinions that it would appear that the jury is out. Devotees of using this ingredient as a skin care supplement are certainly at odds with those who believe that, far from being a panacea for various skin problems, using this vitamin may actually make some skin problems worse. Needless to say there are many mixed messages regarding the use of vitamin E as a skin care supplement and sorting out fact from fantasy can be difficult.
Like many naturally occurring vitamins, this vitamin has been a topic for myth and criticism for almost one hundred years. It has been hailed as a miracle treatment and cure for numerous conditions, from sexual impotence to heart disease.
Lets take the issue of using vitamin E for treating scars from surgery, acne and other skin trauma. Proponents of using vitamin E on scars tell us that the scar and surrounding tissue will be softer and can aid in the healing process. Critics are quick to point out that some people may experience adverse reactions to the topical application of this ingredient that can result in dermatitis and inflammation that may actually work to hinder the natural healing process.
Advocates of vitamin E in the wellness and nutritional supplement industries make the claim that it acts as an antioxidant that controls the process of free radicals which they also claim advance the aging process. Recent peer reviewed medical studies would suggest that this vitamin does not possess the antioxidant qualities that the advocates claim.
The simple truth is that topical applications of vitamin E will not treat or cure skin conditions. Now this is not to say that applying a cream that contains a small amount of vitamin E will help or harm. There are a number of creams, lotions and compounds on the market that will help keep your skin soft and hydrated. Whether you use a simple petroleum jelly, an expensive cream or something in between, your skin will thank you. Do not be taken in by miracle claims for any particular product, certainly when it comes to topical applications of this vitamin. If you are convinced that E will help know that there is not difference between so-called natural vitamin E and the synthetically produced variety, expect perhaps the price.
With so many reports of adverse skin reactions associated with using vitamin E, be sure to consult a qualified medical professional before applying any cream or lotion to your skin. If you notice any redness or swelling, stop using the product and seek immediate medical advice. There are proven ways to maintain good skin health and a healthy look like not smoking, not drinking, avoiding overexposure to ultraviolet rays and eating a proper diet. Remember, you have only one body so take care when ingesting or applying any product that you are not absolutely sure of.
Kevin Gianni asked:
This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com. In this excerpt, Danny Dreyer shares on developing proper posture for walking and running.
The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Danny Dreyer, author of ChiWalking and ChiRunning.
Kevin: You are an expert at this topic, I have been to some of your seminars and I have absolutely loved this approach to walking running and it is so radically different. I want to tell everyone out there is, if you have views about walking and running I want you to listen to this with an open mind because this could possibly change the way that you approach it for years and years to come. So Danny, why don’t you tell us a little about your story?
Danny: Well, basically I have been running for about 35 years. In 1991, I started off just doing ultra running; I didn’t start off with 5kms or 10 kms I just went off to ultra running.
Kevin: Explain what ultra running is.
Danny: Basically an ultra marathon is, any distance longer than a marathon. So it goes from 26.3 [laughs] all the way up to any amount, in fact there are some that are 3000 miles.
Kevin: Wow!
Danny: I didn’t do that. My distance is 50km, 50 miles, 100kms, 100miles. I have done a couple 100 milers and I call myself a retired 100 miler at this point. But, I got into ultra running and in order to run those kind of distances I really needed to learn to become highly efficient with my running.
Kevin: Sure.
Danny: So I wasn’t burning up all my fuel plus I was not banging myself up over the race course. Then I took my first Tai-Chi class and there was a tai chi master from China that was teaching us how in Tai-chi you have a centre line that runs down through the axis of your body, from your head to your toes.
Kevin: OK
Danny: You rotate through the centre line and if your posture and alignment is correct then your body weight is supported by the centre line not your muscles. And then you can relax everything else because Tai-chi is done in very aligned state, but a very relaxed state. So your arms and legs are really relaxed. The whole thing about Tai-chi is to get chi to move through our body directing it with your mind but letting the Chi move through your body. And I combined that with trying to keep my posture line really straight, trying to keep my arms and legs really relaxed, and at the same time trying to fall forward because I had been playing with this thing of leaning into the pull of gravity. To help propel me and it completely rocked my boat, I mean, I was never the same runner after that. So I have been working on perfecting this technique now for 10 years and been teaching it for about that long and we are having great results with people, you know, especially people that are afraid of injuries. When you said you want people to do this with an open mind, it’s like you know, running has one of the worst reputations for hurting people — Suspended disbelief is when you have a belief that when you think running is going to hurt you, I want you to suspend your disbelief momentarily while we explain this, but we have gotten people that have really come back from knee surgery, or avoided knee surgery, you know, all kinds of athletes that have found that not only feels better afterwards but they don’t get hurt while they are doing it.
Kevin: Wow.
Danny: So two things that we really emphasize and teach people in ChiRunning is energy efficiency and injury prevention and those are our hallmarks. That is exactly what we are at. Not necessarily just with the lead athletes or anything. We’ll take anybody who has never had a pair of running shoes on. We turn them into a fabulous runner.
Kevin: Wow! And when you say ChiRunning, I mean, you apply the same principles to walking too, so there are people on the call who just want to learn how to walk more efficiently, this applies.
Danny: Oh. It’s across the board. Walking and running as long as you are bi-pedal we call it – yes, it definitely works for walkers too and the basic principles that I learned from Tai-chi I brought into running and walking. Running and walking even in themselves have technique that is different from each other but not that different.
Kevin: Let’s talk about those principles. How were you able to go to that Tai-chi class and say “alright, this is what I am learning here” and how are you able to directly apply that?
Danny: There was my Tai-chi class, I’ll tell you, the first three weeks I was there and that was the class that was twice a week for an hour and a half.
Kevin: Oh my!
Danny: First three weeks of class, all I did was stand there. The master had me just work on my posture. Then he got me into this correct posture form that Tai-chi uses. And then he had me stand there and then he went away and you know, and talk to other people in his class, they were about 30 people in the class and everybody was at different levels.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: And for twice a week, for an hour and a half, for three weeks all I did was stand there in class. Yes and I kept paying and am going “what am I paying this guy for” [laughter] But I will tell you, he was trained in the old way in the old school and this was how they started people and I tell you, I am so thankful that I learned, because in those three weeks I was standing there and there isn’t a whole lot to do but focus on what you are doing.
Kevin: Right.
Danny: And it was fabulous. It really altered my approach to the alignment of my body. And then I had to work out getting that down while I was standing still, so that when I am moving with my running and walking, I could still feel that same stand every time my foot came down on the ground.
Kevin: Got it.
Danny: So when you are walking or running your weight is supported basically by one leg at a time. Every time you come down on your leg while you are running, your whole body weight is on that leg. When you are walking and you step forward, as you go on to that leg, your whole body weight is on one leg while you pick up your other foot. So that is the similarity between walking and running. So while you are on that one leg, it’s very important to have your posture correct so that your weight is supported more by your structure than by your muscles. That’s where your energy efficiency begins.
Kevin: And how do you feel that posture? So how would I feel that I am in proper alignment?
Danny: Well, one way to be able to feel is – - it’s interesting because what you are looking for in a posture stand, in a correct posture stand, is if you are standing beside a full length mirror you’d want to stand in a way that you could see that your shoulders, your hip bones and your ankles formed a perfectly perpendicular line and they were in line with each other.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: Most people stand with their hips a little bit forward, I would say 75 percent of all people in the United States and I would say [laughs] 10 percent of people outside. We have lousy posture. And our hips are too far forward as we are just standing there because we slouch a lot and things and so I would suggest, to start people up with basic posture. Stand on your two feet have them about hip-width apart, and you want to not lock your knees, it’s a big mistake.
Kevin: OK, and then.
Danny: Stand on your legs so stand on your two feet, feel the balance on your two legs. So one leg isn’t holding more weight than the other and then you want to balance it so that you don’t feel the front of your feet more than you heel. So you balance that way. And then you also want to balance inside to outside on your feet. So you are not a pronater caving in on the inside and you are not bowlegged when you weight is all on the outside.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: You want to really create balance from the bottoms of your feet in all three directions, side to side, inside to outside and front to back. Once your legs are aligned, then you want to straighten up your upper spine, you know, where you are not hunched over, just want to kind of straighten up a little bit to where you are not pulling your shoulders back, it’s like how the marines do it that’s really not correct. You know, you just want to straighten your spine a little. Then I just have people lift up, put their hand up under their collar bone and kind of lift up their collar bone. Well this helps you breathe easier and helps you align your spine better. And then the other thing they do like in the yoga class is just, links on the back of your neck pretend like you are trying to really make the back of your neck longer and this will naturally drop your chin in a comfortable way. Then once you get your legs kind of aligned, and your upper body aligned, what you want to do is look down and see if you can see your shoe laces and if you can’t see your shoe laces, then your hips are too far forward or you need to quit drinking beer.
Kevin: [laughs]
Danny: And so what you want to do is if you can’t see your shoes laces, put your two fingers on your upper hip bones, they are not really your hip bones, they are your aliac crest, your pointers, put your two fingers on that and just move your pelvis to the rear so that you can see your shoe laces.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: And if you do that and look into this side view, the rear view mirror at the same time you will be able to see that actually you are standing in a straight line, even if thought it might feel like you are y bent over at the waist a little bit. You are actually straight. And when you get into this where your feet are balanced and your posture is perfectly straight, you don’t feel any work going on in your body at all. Its like, it’s hard to explain, I don’t feel any muscles. When I was doing this three weeks of standing there, I could stand there and just about fallen asleep.
Kevin: Wow.
Danny: Yeah, you just don’t feel your body. It doesn’t ache, your back doesn’t hurt, your knees don’t hurt, you find this balance point where you don’t feel a thing.
This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com. In this excerpt, Danny Dreyer shares on developing proper posture for walking and running.
The Fountain of Youth World Summit with Danny Dreyer, author of ChiWalking and ChiRunning.
Kevin: You are an expert at this topic, I have been to some of your seminars and I have absolutely loved this approach to walking running and it is so radically different. I want to tell everyone out there is, if you have views about walking and running I want you to listen to this with an open mind because this could possibly change the way that you approach it for years and years to come. So Danny, why don’t you tell us a little about your story?
Danny: Well, basically I have been running for about 35 years. In 1991, I started off just doing ultra running; I didn’t start off with 5kms or 10 kms I just went off to ultra running.
Kevin: Explain what ultra running is.
Danny: Basically an ultra marathon is, any distance longer than a marathon. So it goes from 26.3 [laughs] all the way up to any amount, in fact there are some that are 3000 miles.
Kevin: Wow!
Danny: I didn’t do that. My distance is 50km, 50 miles, 100kms, 100miles. I have done a couple 100 milers and I call myself a retired 100 miler at this point. But, I got into ultra running and in order to run those kind of distances I really needed to learn to become highly efficient with my running.
Kevin: Sure.
Danny: So I wasn’t burning up all my fuel plus I was not banging myself up over the race course. Then I took my first Tai-Chi class and there was a tai chi master from China that was teaching us how in Tai-chi you have a centre line that runs down through the axis of your body, from your head to your toes.
Kevin: OK
Danny: You rotate through the centre line and if your posture and alignment is correct then your body weight is supported by the centre line not your muscles. And then you can relax everything else because Tai-chi is done in very aligned state, but a very relaxed state. So your arms and legs are really relaxed. The whole thing about Tai-chi is to get chi to move through our body directing it with your mind but letting the Chi move through your body. And I combined that with trying to keep my posture line really straight, trying to keep my arms and legs really relaxed, and at the same time trying to fall forward because I had been playing with this thing of leaning into the pull of gravity. To help propel me and it completely rocked my boat, I mean, I was never the same runner after that. So I have been working on perfecting this technique now for 10 years and been teaching it for about that long and we are having great results with people, you know, especially people that are afraid of injuries. When you said you want people to do this with an open mind, it’s like you know, running has one of the worst reputations for hurting people — Suspended disbelief is when you have a belief that when you think running is going to hurt you, I want you to suspend your disbelief momentarily while we explain this, but we have gotten people that have really come back from knee surgery, or avoided knee surgery, you know, all kinds of athletes that have found that not only feels better afterwards but they don’t get hurt while they are doing it.
Kevin: Wow.
Danny: So two things that we really emphasize and teach people in ChiRunning is energy efficiency and injury prevention and those are our hallmarks. That is exactly what we are at. Not necessarily just with the lead athletes or anything. We’ll take anybody who has never had a pair of running shoes on. We turn them into a fabulous runner.
Kevin: Wow! And when you say ChiRunning, I mean, you apply the same principles to walking too, so there are people on the call who just want to learn how to walk more efficiently, this applies.
Danny: Oh. It’s across the board. Walking and running as long as you are bi-pedal we call it – yes, it definitely works for walkers too and the basic principles that I learned from Tai-chi I brought into running and walking. Running and walking even in themselves have technique that is different from each other but not that different.
Kevin: Let’s talk about those principles. How were you able to go to that Tai-chi class and say “alright, this is what I am learning here” and how are you able to directly apply that?
Danny: There was my Tai-chi class, I’ll tell you, the first three weeks I was there and that was the class that was twice a week for an hour and a half.
Kevin: Oh my!
Danny: First three weeks of class, all I did was stand there. The master had me just work on my posture. Then he got me into this correct posture form that Tai-chi uses. And then he had me stand there and then he went away and you know, and talk to other people in his class, they were about 30 people in the class and everybody was at different levels.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: And for twice a week, for an hour and a half, for three weeks all I did was stand there in class. Yes and I kept paying and am going “what am I paying this guy for” [laughter] But I will tell you, he was trained in the old way in the old school and this was how they started people and I tell you, I am so thankful that I learned, because in those three weeks I was standing there and there isn’t a whole lot to do but focus on what you are doing.
Kevin: Right.
Danny: And it was fabulous. It really altered my approach to the alignment of my body. And then I had to work out getting that down while I was standing still, so that when I am moving with my running and walking, I could still feel that same stand every time my foot came down on the ground.
Kevin: Got it.
Danny: So when you are walking or running your weight is supported basically by one leg at a time. Every time you come down on your leg while you are running, your whole body weight is on that leg. When you are walking and you step forward, as you go on to that leg, your whole body weight is on one leg while you pick up your other foot. So that is the similarity between walking and running. So while you are on that one leg, it’s very important to have your posture correct so that your weight is supported more by your structure than by your muscles. That’s where your energy efficiency begins.
Kevin: And how do you feel that posture? So how would I feel that I am in proper alignment?
Danny: Well, one way to be able to feel is – - it’s interesting because what you are looking for in a posture stand, in a correct posture stand, is if you are standing beside a full length mirror you’d want to stand in a way that you could see that your shoulders, your hip bones and your ankles formed a perfectly perpendicular line and they were in line with each other.
Kevin: OK.
Danny: Most people stand with their hips a little bit forward, I would say 75 percent of all people in the United States and I would say [laughs] 10 percent of people outside. We have lousy posture. And our hips are too far forward as we are just standing there because we slouch a lot and things and so I would suggest, to start people up with basic posture. Stand on your two feet have them about hip-width apart, and you want to not lock your knees, it’s a big mistake.
Kevin: OK, and then.
Danny: Stand on your legs so stand on your two feet, feel the balance on your two legs. So one leg isn’t holding more weight than the other and then you want to balance it so that you don’t feel the front of your feet more than you heel. So you balance that way. And then you also want to balance inside to outside on your feet. So you are not a pronater caving in on the inside and you are not bowlegged when you weight is all on the outside.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: You want to really create balance from the bottoms of your feet in all three directions, side to side, inside to outside and front to back. Once your legs are aligned, then you want to straighten up your upper spine, you know, where you are not hunched over, just want to kind of straighten up a little bit to where you are not pulling your shoulders back, it’s like how the marines do it that’s really not correct. You know, you just want to straighten your spine a little. Then I just have people lift up, put their hand up under their collar bone and kind of lift up their collar bone. Well this helps you breathe easier and helps you align your spine better. And then the other thing they do like in the yoga class is just, links on the back of your neck pretend like you are trying to really make the back of your neck longer and this will naturally drop your chin in a comfortable way. Then once you get your legs kind of aligned, and your upper body aligned, what you want to do is look down and see if you can see your shoe laces and if you can’t see your shoe laces, then your hips are too far forward or you need to quit drinking beer.
Kevin: [laughs]
Danny: And so what you want to do is if you can’t see your shoes laces, put your two fingers on your upper hip bones, they are not really your hip bones, they are your aliac crest, your pointers, put your two fingers on that and just move your pelvis to the rear so that you can see your shoe laces.
Kevin: Got you.
Danny: And if you do that and look into this side view, the rear view mirror at the same time you will be able to see that actually you are standing in a straight line, even if thought it might feel like you are y bent over at the waist a little bit. You are actually straight. And when you get into this where your feet are balanced and your posture is perfectly straight, you don’t feel any work going on in your body at all. Its like, it’s hard to explain, I don’t feel any muscles. When I was doing this three weeks of standing there, I could stand there and just about fallen asleep.
Kevin: Wow.
Danny: Yeah, you just don’t feel your body. It doesn’t ache, your back doesn’t hurt, your knees don’t hurt, you find this balance point where you don’t feel a thing.
Dave Stringham asked:
Does Liposuction Have Any Health Benefits?
One of the benefits of this plastic surgery procedure, not commonly discussed by most internists or family practitioners, is that by reducing your total body fat, this procedure can help lower your cholesterol, reduce your insulin requirements, and reduce your risk of heart disease. Also, by removing fatty bulges from the abdomen, arms and thighs, liposuction enables large people to be able to exercise more easily and to become more mobile.
One of the greatest joys for me as a plastic surgeon is to see my patients become thrilled with their new size, look and increased self-esteem. They are then motivated to maintain a healthier lifestyle of good eating habits, and exercise. They are determined that, after the time, effort and cost of surgery, they would never go back to where they were!
Does the Fat Removed Through Liposuction Come Back?
What Will Happen If I Gain Weight After Surgery?
We develop all of our fat cells by the time we reach puberty. When fat cells increase in a part of your body, you gain weight there. Although the total number of fat cells remains stable in most people, in cases of extreme obesity the body can actually increase the number of fat cells in order to be able to store increased fat. Therefore, the common belief that patients who undergo liposuction will become “fat” in other parts of their body is to some extent true.
Fat cells that are removed from a body area do not return. Rather, fat cells in the remaining parts of the body, not treated, will fill up with fat, thus causing one area to become disproportionately larger! Therefore, patients who have undergone liposuction need to avoid gaining significant amounts of weight — thirty or more pounds.
Does Liposuction Remove Cellulite?
Cellulite refers to the fatty deposits that form uneven, wrinkled, dimply skin found on the thighs, hips and buttocks of women. Cellulite is not caused by being overweight. In fact, even when fat is lost from other areas, cellulite remains and will actually be the last fat to disappear, because it occurs only when damaged fatty tissue accumulates. This connective tissue is made up of fibers, and acts as an anchor between the muscles and the skin. It also forms the chambers that hold the fat cells. Cellulite develops when connective tissues beneath the skin that shape the fat contract and harden, thus resulting in areas where the skin is held down while other sections bulge out, resulting in lumpy “cottage-cheese” appearance. These irregular bulging dimples are called cellulite. No cream, lotion, laser treatment, Endermologie machine, or massage treatment has shown to indefinitely remove cellulite. Liposuction can not remove cellulite either. On the contrary, in areas with poor skin elasticity, excessive removal of superficial fat can potentially worsen the appearance of cellulite.
Does surgery Remove Stretch Marks?
No. In fact, the stretch marks can possibly become more noticeable after surgery. Stretch marks are caused by excessive stretching, breakdown, and separation of the deep layer of skin, which is indicative of poor skin elasticity. Therefore, areas that have many stretch marks will not have the smoothest and tightest look.
Does Liposuction Have Any Health Benefits?
One of the benefits of this plastic surgery procedure, not commonly discussed by most internists or family practitioners, is that by reducing your total body fat, this procedure can help lower your cholesterol, reduce your insulin requirements, and reduce your risk of heart disease. Also, by removing fatty bulges from the abdomen, arms and thighs, liposuction enables large people to be able to exercise more easily and to become more mobile.
One of the greatest joys for me as a plastic surgeon is to see my patients become thrilled with their new size, look and increased self-esteem. They are then motivated to maintain a healthier lifestyle of good eating habits, and exercise. They are determined that, after the time, effort and cost of surgery, they would never go back to where they were!
Does the Fat Removed Through Liposuction Come Back?
What Will Happen If I Gain Weight After Surgery?
We develop all of our fat cells by the time we reach puberty. When fat cells increase in a part of your body, you gain weight there. Although the total number of fat cells remains stable in most people, in cases of extreme obesity the body can actually increase the number of fat cells in order to be able to store increased fat. Therefore, the common belief that patients who undergo liposuction will become “fat” in other parts of their body is to some extent true.
Fat cells that are removed from a body area do not return. Rather, fat cells in the remaining parts of the body, not treated, will fill up with fat, thus causing one area to become disproportionately larger! Therefore, patients who have undergone liposuction need to avoid gaining significant amounts of weight — thirty or more pounds.
Does Liposuction Remove Cellulite?
Cellulite refers to the fatty deposits that form uneven, wrinkled, dimply skin found on the thighs, hips and buttocks of women. Cellulite is not caused by being overweight. In fact, even when fat is lost from other areas, cellulite remains and will actually be the last fat to disappear, because it occurs only when damaged fatty tissue accumulates. This connective tissue is made up of fibers, and acts as an anchor between the muscles and the skin. It also forms the chambers that hold the fat cells. Cellulite develops when connective tissues beneath the skin that shape the fat contract and harden, thus resulting in areas where the skin is held down while other sections bulge out, resulting in lumpy “cottage-cheese” appearance. These irregular bulging dimples are called cellulite. No cream, lotion, laser treatment, Endermologie machine, or massage treatment has shown to indefinitely remove cellulite. Liposuction can not remove cellulite either. On the contrary, in areas with poor skin elasticity, excessive removal of superficial fat can potentially worsen the appearance of cellulite.
Does surgery Remove Stretch Marks?
No. In fact, the stretch marks can possibly become more noticeable after surgery. Stretch marks are caused by excessive stretching, breakdown, and separation of the deep layer of skin, which is indicative of poor skin elasticity. Therefore, areas that have many stretch marks will not have the smoothest and tightest look.