As vitamins and supplements go, folic acid is a B vitamin that is known mainly for its ability to fight cardiovascular disease.  Folic acid is found naturally in green leafy vegetables and legumes, but if you don’t eat enough of these, it’s a good idea to take folic acid as a supplement.  If you don’t get enough folic acid in your diet, you may be unnecessarily risking the possibility of heart problems and other serious illnesses.  Studies have proven that the right amount of folic acid in your blood stream can go a long way towards fighting cardiovascular disease, specifically the blocked arteries caused by having high levels of homocysteine in your blood stream.

If you never heard of homocysteine, you are not alone.  This is a fairly newly discovered danger to the arteries in the head and neck, and is partially responsible for the blockage of these arteries.  Homocysteine is a type of amino acid in the blood, which becomes oxidized and releases an excess of the vicious free radical called superoxide.  Homocysteine is similar to cholesterol in the way that it begins to block blood vessels, which can trigger a heart attack or stroke.  This danger can affect some 30 to 40% of older adults in the United States.  

The good news is that deficiencies in folic acid are easy to fix.  Just taking a folic acid supplement of 400 to 1,000 micrograms a day can help save someone with low folic acid levels form a heart attack.  The right amount of folic acid can be found in an over-the-counter multivitamin.  Along with vitamins B12 and B6, you have the perfect formula to help prevent heart attacks.

Folic acid supplements can also help block and reverse cancer, even after premalignant cells are found.  This is because the levels of folic acid may not be uniform throughout the body.  So, targeted cells for cancer can actually be deficient in folic acid.  Studies on cervical cancer have shown that women with lower folic acid levels in the blood cells around the cervix were five times more likely to develop pre-cancerous cells in the cervix area.  By taking folic acid supplements and raising the level of folic acid in the entire body, the spread of cancer to healthy cells in unprotected areas of the body may be blocked.  

Folic acid supplements can also help preserve normal brain function as you grow older.  Regularly taken folic acid supplements can help prevent memory loss, depression, and dementia, which are much more common in older people who have low levels of folic acid.  For younger people, folic acid seems to improve memory, concentration, and emotional stability.  All of this can be accomplished with moderate doses of folic acid supplements.

Folic acid is available in foods like dried beans, spinach, collard greens, and citrus fruits.  However, your body only generally absorbs about fifty percent of the folic acid in food.  Foods rich in folic acid are still good for you, but if you want all of the benefits of folic acid, it is still wise to take a folic acid supplement.  This is especially true if you want the added benefits of preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, or other more serious illnesses.  

Remember the power of folic acid becomes even more powerful when combined with vitamin B12 and B6.  The recommended dose of all three is available in a standard multivitamin, available at pharmacy or grocery store.

Article Written By J. Foley

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There’s a freight train running through the middle of your head and you’re not listening to Bruce Springsteen … sounds like a hangover.

Symptoms of a hangover include a throbbing head, queasy stomach, dry mouth, sensitivity to light and sound, inability to concentrate and, often, a bit of existential angst thrown in for good measure. Before you run out and buy sauerkraut juice, persimmons or another home remedy, first discern fact from fiction.

First, fluids

Alcohol is a diuretic, which means that it increases urine production, thus decreasing the amount of water available to your body. Sip water or sports drinks, suck on ice cubes and eat food with high water content (i.e. watermelon) to replace the water you eliminated.

Sports drinks provide the added benefit of replacing electrolytes. Along with the electrolytes excreted by your kidneys when you drink too much, you eliminate B vitamins, too. Replenish them with a B-complex vitamin that contains vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin B12.

Do eat

In addition to dehydration, alcohol causes your blood sugar to dip. Stick with bland foods such as toast, crackers, broth or chicken soup (which replaces salt and potassium), but put at least a little something in your stomach.

Bananas replenish magnesium and potassium levels. Eggs contain cysteine, an amino acid that counteracts the effects of acetaldehyde (which is what ethanol is converted to in your body).

About caffeine

If a cup of coffee sounds good with breakfast, remember that caffeine is a diuretic, and you’re already dehydrated. But if you drink coffee regularly, the morning of a hangover is not the time to swear off it (or you’ll have a throbbing caffeine headache on top of your throbbing hangover headache).

Just drink in moderation (like you should have last night!) so that you won’t further dehydrate your already-depleted body. If your stomach is so queasy that your usual cup of joe won’t go down, try caffeine gum instead. If you’re not already a coffee drinker, now is not the time to start.

Turn to nature

Hangover morning is a good time to give herbal remedies a try. Milk thistle extract helps to protect the liver and flush out toxins. Ginger relieves nausea. And feverfew extract can substitute for aspirin.

Your hurtin’ body

If you can maintain your balance, light exercise will bring more oxygen to your blood and eliminate alcohol through your sweat. But if you’re more intent on pain relief, remember that aspirin and ibuprofen can irritate your stomach and even promote gastrointestinal bleeding.

And acetaminophen taxes your kidneys and liver, which are already in overdrive. (If you’re planning to drink again anytime soon, stay away from acetaminophen, as it can cause liver damage.)

Day-after blues

Some of the most disconcerting aspects of a hangover are the mood disturbances that can accompany the physical symptoms. Remember that alcohol is a depressant. Along with the other unpleasant symptoms, this, too, shall pass.

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here is no question that people who eat more than eight ounces of fish per week live longer and healthier lives than those who don’t.  Study after study shows that fish eaters are more likely to avoid illnesses like heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and psoriasis much more than people who only eat one serving of fish per week or less.  It has been noted that the Japanese, who hold the world’s record for longevity, eat three times more fish than people in many other countries.

So what about those of us who don’t get enough fish in our diets?  The prognosis isn’t great.  Non-fish eaters run a thirty percent higher risk of contracting serious illnesses like heart disease and cancer.    This is not good news for people who don’t like fish or want to eat it.  However, you don’t have to like to eat fish to enjoy its benefits.  As far as vitamins and supplements go, people who take regular doses of fish oil capsules get similar benefits to those people who eat fish 3 times a week.  

Most of the benefits derived from fish oil supplements are from their high content of omega 3 fatty acids.  Omega 3 fatty acids discourage the formation of hormone-like agents called prostaglandins.  Prostaglandins are the perpetrators that destroy arteries and joints and also encourage cancer.  One of the ways that fish oil supplements get rid of prostaglandins is by replacing the harmful omega 6 fatty acids that are probably already in your system.  

Omega 6 fatty acids come from vegetable oils like corn oil that are in fried foods.  If you eat a lot of corn oil or other vegetable oils, fish oil supplements are needed to get rid of the free radicals and prostaglandins these vegetable oils are creating in your body.  Please note that olive oil is different because it contains omega 3 fatty acids and is a healthy compliment to fish oil capsules.  Taking olive oil and Vitamin E along with fish oil supplements is a healthy way to get rid of the Omega 6 fatty acids if you over-consume vegetable oils like corn oil.

The benefits of taking fish oil supplements are significant.  Taking fish oil supplements on a regular basis can reduce the risk of heart attacks significantly.  Fish oil supplements keep the arteries from aging and also keep them less clogged.  Fish oil supplements can also ward off Type II diabetes, theoretically by helping prevent glucose intolerance.  One study shows that people who consumed more fish oil supplements had half the risk of experiencing a stroke, due to thinner blood and fewer blood clots.  Daily doses of fish oil supplements have also been proven to decrease the risk of colon cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer by suppressing abnormal cell growth significantly.

Having more fish oil in your system will provide more health benefits in the long run.  However, if you don’t like eating fish, fish oil supplements are a satisfactory substitute.  Researchers seem to agree that it’s best to take about 1,000 milligrams of fish oil supplements per day if you want to help prevent illnesses like heart disease or high cholesterol.  If you want to take any more fish oil than this, you will need to get a doctor’s advice.

Of the many vitamins and supplements available, fish oil supplements seem to correct the health problems of people who do not like to eat fresh fish or do not have it readily available.  Fish oil supplements are a convenient way to get all of the value of the Omega 3 fatty acids without having to go through the trouble of buying and preparing fresh fish.

Article Written By J. Foley

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