Vitamin and Minerals Vitamins
Vitamins : They are essential to life, health and growth and concerned with the well-being of body metabolism. Vitamins are classified according to their solubility as Fat-soluble and water soluble vitamins and are normally absorbed in the intestine. Fat soluble vitamin includes A,D, E and K and Water soluble Vitamins include Vitamin B1, the B-complex , Vitamin C and P.
Minerals : There are various salts in the body which form the mineral content of most foods. Calcium, Sulphur, Iron, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorous and Iodine are the most essential minerals needed by the body.
VITAMIN C
Vitamin C should be the buffered alkaline form (mineral ascorbates) rather than the acidic form (ascorbic acid) and should be combined with bioflavonoids which prolong vitamin C's action in the blood circulation.
The powdered form of vitamin C is recommended to achieve optimal dosing. A tablespoon of vitamin C powder (about 10,000 mgs) can be added to juice. Good products are Twinlab's Super Ascorbate C powder and Alacer's powdered vitamin C.
MAGNESIUM
Magnesium promotes bone flexibility, helps prevent heart disease and also type 2 diabetes. Animal studies indicate that dietary magnesium provides protection against colorectal cancer.
Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, prepared a population-based study using information from the Swedish Mammography Cohort. Their team processed dietary and medical records of more than 61,000 women, aged 40 to 75, who were cancer-free at the outset of the study. Over a follow up period of nearly 15 years, about 800 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. Analysis of the data showed that women with the highest dietary intake of magnesium reduced their risk of colorectal cancer by 40 percent, compared to women who had the lowest magnesium intake. This association held true when data was broken down to reflect cases of colon cancer or rectal cancer.
Dietary magnesium is easily available in green leafy vegetables, avocados, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, but not in sufficient amounts, thanks to industrial farming practices that produce the food you eat. Research data confirms that about 80% of the adults in North America are magnesium deficient. This is largely due to the stresses on the body that deplete stores of magnesium.
Consider the common life style, and magnesium: Starch depletes magnesium, as does stress. This risk is increased by consuming alcohol or using diuretics, and wide range of prescription medicines.
MELATONIN
MELATONIN, a sleep-inducing hormone available at most health food stores, has been shown to help prevent lethal toxins from anthrax exposure.[Cell Biology Toxicology, Volume 16, 2000] It could be taken at bedtime in doses ranging from 5-20 mg. Melatonin boosts glutathione levels during sleep.
Of additional interest, one of the methods by which MUSTARD GAS works is its ability to bring about cell death by depleting cell levels of glutathione [eMedicine Journal, April 9, 2001] So GLUTATHIONE is also an antidote for mustard gas poisoning.
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