USANA Essential Tips

Vitamin C- a water-soluble, antioxidant vitamin that is vital to the production of collagen, a protein that gives structure to bones, cartilage, muscle, and blood vessels. It is important for keeping body tissues, such as gums and muscles in good shape and it helps in quick healing of wounds, it helps protecting the fat-soluble vitamins A and E as well as fatty acids from oxidation.

Vitamin D- a fat-soluble vitamin that regulates the formation of bone and the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the intestine helping to control the movement of calcium between bone and blood, and vice versa. It is this vitamin you need for strong bones and teeth and it helps your body absorb the amount of calcium it needs. It is found in fish liver oil, egg yolks, milk and other dairy products fortified with vitamin D. It is also produced in our body in the presence of ultra violet light and sunlight.

Vitamin E – a fat-soluble vitamin, this is essential for the inhibition of oxidation in body tissues, formation of red blood cells, and this vitamin also prevents breakdown of body tissues maintaining the body tissues and protects the lungs from becoming damaged by polluted air. This vitamin can be found in whole grains such as wheat and oat, wheat germ, leafy green vegetables, sardines, egg yolks, nuts, bread, cereals and seeds. The deficiency of this vitamin can cause many diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The human body needs a certain amount of vitamins and minerals everyday to function properly and remain healthy and a well balanced diet can supply your body with the vitamins it needs. Although problems and disorders can arise if your diet doesn’t supply your body with the vitamins it needs, the symptoms of vitamin deficiency will normally present themselves when the lack of vitamins is at an advanced level.

Not getting enough of vitamins A, B1, and B2 for example, will always feel tired, along with a loss of appetite. Other symptoms include mental and emotional stress, chapped lips, and other annoying or painful habits and the most common causes of deficiency include a poor diet, alcoholism, stress, a lack of vitamins, or medicine that interferes with your ingestion of vitamins.

Always feeling tired or feeling a lack of energy, you are probably short on the vitamins. If you visit your doctor and tell him the problem, he will probably recommend vitamins and supplements that will give you want you need, you should never overdo it and try to catch up on what you’ve been missing – as this will do you more harm than good.

Anytime you aren’t able to eat the right food, you should always turn to vitamin supplements to give your body what it needs, they are one of the best investments you can make, as everyone needs vitamins in their body. It is more than worth it when you think about, for what you spend in vitamins and supplements, you’ll be keeping your body healthy – and preventing a deficiency in vitamins.

Most people do not like to take any kind of medicines on a daily basis, they do not care that the medications will help them or not, they just do not like to take even an aspirin for a headache. Why would these people want to take vitamins? Taking vitamins well help you in the long run, getsome of the vitamins you need in the foods you eat. Some people need more then others, that is why you can buy one vitamin and it covers all the vitamins you need in one pill, you do not have to take a hand full of pills.

Vitamins will help boost your energy also, if you lack sufficient vitamins, you will start to have problems including dry skin, your skin may feel rough. Vitamin deficiency can cause many complications, you may see thick corneal about the eyes and you may experience joint pain also.

Vitamins are a great source of nutrients and energy, yet you want the FDA approved supplements and you can also choose foods, such as crab meats, watermelon, fish oils, and so forth to get the vitamins you need. Veggies and fruits provide us a great source of natural vitamins, if you have skin and scalp problems, you may want to consider Biotin a great for restoring hair, treating scalp conditions, or enhancing skin. Before you start taking any kind of a daily vitamin you should talk to your doctor first. Some of the things that you are seeing may not have the right vitamin in your diet.

Vitamin supplements are divided into two groups: synthetic and natural. Synthetic vitamins are those vitamins that produced in laboratories from isolated chemicals and mirror their counterparts found in nature. Natural vitamins are derived from food sources, there may be no difference, but synthetic vitamins contain only the isolated vitamin while natural supplements may contain other synergistic nutrients not yet discovered.

Synthetic and natural vitamins perform the same, but two noted exceptions are vitamins D and E, their synthetic forms are different than their natural counterparts. Health care professionals recommend only the natural forms of these two vitamins, where natural vitamin D is identified as Vitamin D-3 and Natural Vitamin E is identified as d-alpha (not dl-alpha) tocopherol.

Synthetic supplements may also contain coal tars, artificial coloring, preservatives, sugars, and starch and other harmful additives, be aware that a supplement may be labeled “natural” and still have these harmful additives so we must read labels carefully.

Vitamins found in nature do not exist in free form, they are protein-bonded, nutritional studies have revealed that protein-bonded vitamins, such as found in whole food supplements, are best absorbed, utilized and retained in body tissues better than vitamins that are not protein-bonded. Vitamins and minerals found in food are bonded to proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and bioflavonoids. Chemically derived vitamins are not protein-bonded. Excesses of isolated vitamins can cause the same symptoms as the deficiency of vitamins or minerals, that is the reason why it is really important to have the correct balance of vitamins .

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration established the RDAs to give guidance for the avoidance of the symptoms of deficiency diseases, the RDA of 60 mg. for vitamin C is the daily amount needed to avoid the symptoms of diseases like beriberi or scurvy and that is not the amount of vitamin C needed for optimal bodily function. Health professionals routinely recommend a minimum daily intake of 1,000 mg. of vitamin C and 3,000 – 5,000 mg. daily can be very common.

RDA for vitamin B-1 is 1.5 mg.; amounts of 50 – 100 mg. daily are recommended by health professionals and the RDA for vitamin B-6 is 2 mg.; amounts of 50 – 100 mg daily are recommended. The RDA for vitamin B-12 is 6 mcg.; amounts of 200 – 400 mcg. daily are recommended.

Before using any supplements, you should consult with your doctor or health care professional.

Here is a partial list of nutrient amounts you can use as a guide: Vitamin A (5,000 to 10,000 I.U.), Vitamin B-1 (50 – 100 mg.), Vitamin B-2 (15 – 50 mg.), Vitamin B-3 (15 – 50 mg.), Vitamin B-5 (50 – 100 mg.), Vitamin B-6 (50 – 100 mg.), Vitamin B-12 (200 – 400 mcg.), Biotin (400 – 800 mcg.), Choline (50 – 200 mg.), Folic Acid (400 – 800 mcg.), Inositol (50 – 200 mg.), PABA (10 50 mg.), Vitamin C (1,000 – 3,000 mg.), Vitamin D-3 (400 I.U.), Vitamin E (200 – 400 I.U.), Vitamin K (100 – 500 mcg.).

Can vitamins help to fight Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)? More than a million people in the United States have RA, develops between the ages of 25 and 50, a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints that affects an estimated 1.3 million Americans.

Disease occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the thin membrane that lines the joints resulting to joint damage, ongoing pain, inflammation, loss function and disability. The joints most commonly affected by RA are those of the hands, feet, wrists, knees, elbows, and ankles, where the primary site of the attack is in the thin layer of tissue that is around the joints.

Studies have shown that Americans with RA have vitamins deficiencies, most common vitamin deficiencies in RA is folic acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin E, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, and Selenium. Food is the preferred source for getting the vitamins and minerals, vitamin supplements will work in getting the vitamins and minerals that you don’t receive from food.

Research has made a case that Vitamin D helps protect older women against RA, studies has also linked deficiencies of Vitamin D to other disorders such as certain cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. Studies indicate that about one in three people are Vitamin D deficient especially during the winter months. The easiest way to make sure you are getting the proper amount of Vitamin D is through Vitamin Supplements, now to get the benefits of all vitamins, it would your best option to take a multi-vitamin.

Majority of Americans suffer from at least one vitamin deficiency. It’s easy to pass off that fatigue as not getting enough sleep, or attribute the brittle hair to stress, however, and it helps to know what you’re looking for so you can live a fuller life.

The SAD (Standard American Diet), one of the more varied diets on the planet have access to so many different foods that it should be easy to get all or most of the vitamins we need, so many foods are processed that they’ve lost the majority of their nutrients where some of the most important vitamins are replaced. That is why you’ll find cereals and milk that are fortified with things like iron, Vitamin A and Vitamin D. Many don’t realize is that there are far more vitamins and minerals that are required in order for our bodies to function properly.

While the ideal solution would be to eat the perfect combination of foods, that is to get the right amount of vitamins. It isn’t very practical in today’s hectic world, most people simply don’t have the time to meticulously plan and source their meals for maximum vitamin absorption. Eating right is definitely a step in the right direction and you will probably need to use supplements, as well.

Vitamin supplements can be purchased individually or in multi-vitamins, multi is a good choice. For those who are receiving what they need in their diet and are only deficient in one or two things, individual supplements can be the way to go allowing you to tailor the mix to fit your individual needs.

RDA’s (Recommended Daily Allowance) are used to set standards in many programs, but many nutritional scientists consider them to be out of sync with the needs of many Americans. RDA takes the stand of the mythical “average” that was created from a lot of scientific and mathematical “averages”. It is computed from a group of people somewhere on the planet, averages have become grossly oversimplified, where fixed but arbitrary set points have been established for a variety of factors.

Many consumers today take vitamins and minerals in amounts that far exceed the recommended doses to prevent chronic illnesses, like heart disease, and they rarely have reliable sources for direction. The fact is food alone cannot supply some nutrients in amounts sufficient to prevent disease, vitamin E at levels considerably higher than the current RDA has been linked by a number of researchers with the prevention of heart disease and improved immune function. Calcium-fortified orange juice, Vitamin-enhanced waters, Fortified cereals and energy bars, new products are showing up on supermarket shelves touting added vitamins and minerals.

If you already take a multi-vitamin and mineral tablet, add a calcium or vitamin E supplement. Eat a few fortified food products along with a fairly healthy diet and you are now out of balance with too many vitamins and minerals. Americans tend to think that more is better, or that if it’s natural, it can’t harm you. That is particularly true when it comes to vitamins and minerals, but that’s not always the case, people habitually overdoing it with vitamins and minerals and suffer the consequences.

Three types are the natural vitamins, crystalline vitamins, and synthetic vitamins.

Natural Vitamins- those vitamins that can readily be found in natural foods processed into a commercial food supplement, the vitamin must have all of its components intact, including its enzymes, co-enzymes, minerals, mineral activators, and co-vitamin helpers.

Crystalline Vitamins- those vitamins that are extracted from natural food sources but were already treated with various high-powered chemicals, solvents, heat and distillations to separate the specific vitamin from all other synergistic components attached to it, these vitamins have a very simple structure compared to the complex structure of natural vitamins.

Synthetic Vitamins- those vitamins that were chemically formed in laboratories by scientists, they are not derived from any natural source, the structure of these vitamins would usually resemble that of their crystalline counterparts.

Natural Vitamin Supplements-our body needs 13 vitamins for proper bodily functions. These vitamins are composed of the vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins, the B vitamins, on the other hand, are composed of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate.

All these vitamins are available in drug stores in various concentrations, all of these 13 vitamins can also be found on natural food sources. A person having a variety of foods in his diet must already be taking minute amounts of these vitamins every day, and as have previously been said, only a minute amount of all these vitamins are needed by the body to function properly.

Vitamins are the complex organic substance essential in small quantities to the metabolism or nutrition in most animals which are found in minute quantities in food, and in some cases are produced by the body, and are also produced synthetically. The human body totally needs them to work properly, so that we can grow and develop just like we should, plus it is important to know that their deficiency results in many serious disorders.

Vitamins are divided into two major groups:

1. The ‘fat-soluble vitamins’ – designated as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K, and the ‘water-soluble vitamins’ which include vitamin C. Members are from the group of molecules referred to as the vitamin B complex, each of them has its own special role in the development of human body.

2. Vitamin A- a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a really big part in eyesight and helps us to see in dim light and also at night. It is also involved in the formation and maintenance of healthy skin, hair, and mucous membranes, it is necessary for proper bone growth, tooth development, reproduction and for the development of epithelial cells. That line any opening to the body like  nose, throat, lungs, mouth, stomach, intestines and urinary tract. Vitamin A can be found in eggs, milk, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, fish oil, liver of pork, lamb, chicken, turkey or beef, butter, broccoli, apricots, nectarines, cantaloupe, and orange or yellow vegetables or fruits. The deficiency of vitamin A causes two major disorders like, night blindness and drying of skin.