PharmaPassport Health Tips Blog

August 23, 2010

Bad Foods for Your Bones

Filed under: broken bone,healthy diet,healthy food,healthy living,immune system,osteoporosis,osteroarthritis — Tags: bones, caffeine, calcium, caltrate, coffee, healthy, immune system, vitamin A, vitamin D — Amanda @ 9:38 pm

Bones have an important role in our bodies. They help control muscle movement and make us into the vertebrates that we are. Keep your bones healthy by drinking plenty of milk and by exercising on a regular basis. You can also try to stay away from these substances that are damaging to your bones.

Salt - For every 2,300 mg of salt you eat, you will lose 40 mg of calcium. This is a big deal considering that the average American has around 5,000 mg of salt every day (double the recommended daily intake) due to processed food and fast food.

Soda - Soda is a complete bone killer. The carbonation in soda comes from phosphoric acid. These acids will cause twice as much calcium to leave your body through urination, meaning your calcium levels will be compromised as a result of your need for a sugary fix. Not to mention there is no nutritional value in soft drinks!

Coffee - The caffeine in coffee is known to suck the calcium out of bones. For every small/medium sized cup of coffee you consume, you lose 6 milligrams of calcium. It’s not a lot, but can do some damage if you tend to drink large amounts of coffee without making up for it with fortified drinks like milk and juice. Try to limit your coffee intake to control your calcium levels.

Alcohol - Alcohol prevents your body from absorbing bone building minerals that you eat. Chronic drinking prevents bone-building cells from re-building damaged and eroding bones. Alcohol makes your bones weaker and slower at healing after a break or fracture.

Carrots? - Apparently too much vitamin A can actually affect your health. Vitamin A is essential for good vision and a healthy immune system, but the average diet is already naturally high in vitamin A. If you add multivitamins to your diet then you are actually getting way more than the recommended daily dose of 5,000 IUs. Too much vitamin A has been linked to bone loss and an increase in the risk of hip fracture. Experts believe that excessive vitamin A can trigger an increase in osteoclasts (cells that break down bone). In addition they also believe that vitamin A can interfere with vitamin D, a vitamin that is important to preserving bone.

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August 12, 2010

7 Health Benefits of Blueberries

Filed under: anti-aging,being healthy,belly fat,cholesterol — Tags: aging, anti-aging, belly fat, cancer, cholesterol, copper, heart disease, iron, lose weight, vision, vitamin A, vitamin b, vitamin c, zinc — Amanda @ 4:35 pm

Blueberries are ripe and local during the summer months, the perfect reason to eat them as snacks or in pies. You may not know, however, that blueberries are also exceptional for the health in numerous ways

Anti-Oxidant Rich - Blueberries have the highest ant-oxidant capacity of all other fresh fruit. Blueberries contain large amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper, selenium, zinc, and iron. All of these components boost the immune system and prevent infections.

Help Slim Belly Fat – New studies suggest that blueberries can help reduce belly fat as well as risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. A blueberry rich diet in a study on rats resulted in lower cholesterol, less abdominal fat, and lower triglycerides in the subjects. There was also an improvement in glucose and insulin control.

Anti-Aging – Blueberries have components that neutralize the free radicals in your body that can cause aging. Being full of anti-oxidants these sweet berries are your best defense against wrinkles.

Healthy Heart – Blueberries have the amazing ability to improve cardiac muscles, and reduce bad cholesterol. Blueberries are often used as a supplement to cure heart disease.

20/20 Vision – According to clinical studies, blueberry extract high in anthocyanosides has been found to slow down vision loss. Blueberries can prevent and slow down all age-related eye problems due to their high anti-oxidant levels. Other components in blueberries like flavanoids, vitamin A, zinc, phosphorus, and selenium are beneficial and essential for good eye health.

Increased Mood – Blueberries increase the production of the feel-good hormone dopamine. This hormone is a natural neurotransmitter that moderates mood, brain function, and motor skills. Those who are low in dopamine levels tend to have brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

Cancer – Blueberries can be beneficial to cancer patients because they contain compounds such as Pterostilbene, Ellagic Acid, Anthocyanin (anti-oxidant), copper, and Vitamin C that work together to help prevent and even cure cancer.

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June 21, 2010

5 Reasons Why You Should Take Multivitamins

Filed under: health-tips — Tags: arthritis, calcium, cancer, folic acid, high cholesterol, menopause, pregnancy, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin c, vitamin e, vitamins — Amanda @ 6:02 pm

The food quality on the market today is not like it used to be and the human body needs a specific amount of vitamins to function properly. Since we get most of our vitamins from the food we eat, sometimes a multivitamin is needed to compensate for the vitamin deficiency’s in our diets. If you aren’t convinced that multivitamins are a necessity, here are some other reasons why you should take them.

1. Our bodies need to use more nutrients than normal to detoxify and eliminate substances from environmental pollution in the air, water, and food. The antioxidants including vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E are likely to decrease at a more rapid rate due to this pollution.

2. The busy schedules of our lives are contributing to our lack of vitamins. Our wavering eating habits, lazy chewing, eating on the run, and stress are causing poor digestion. This makes it hard for our bodies to take in all of the nutrients from our food.

3. Certain health conditions can increase your need for vitamins. During pregnancy, a woman’s body requires more folic acid and during menopause, they are more susceptible to calcium deficiencies. In addition, the use of pharmaceutical drugs can increase the body’s vulnerability to vitamin deficiencies since most medications reduce essential nutrients in the body.

4. The food industry isn’t helping our vitamin deficiencies. Modern agricultural techniques are leaving the soil deficient of minerals causing the food grown there to share the same deficiencies. After the foods have been harvested, they are often stored for long periods of time and transported great distances. This depletes the food of important vitamins. The processing, preserving, and cooking involved with our food doesn’t help either. This also contributes to nutrient depletion and makes it difficult for us to be nutritiously satisfied from foods alone.

5. Vitamins and minerals will improve your overall health. Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Folic Acid, Beta Carotene, and Vitamin B6 have all been proven to help in the treatment of high cholesterol, arthritis, birth defects, and even cancer

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May 31, 2010

4 Serious Dangers of Sunscreen

Filed under: health-tips — Tags: cancer, melanoma, skin cancer, sunscreen, uv rays, UVA, UVB, vitamin A — Amanda @ 8:38 pm

For many years we’ve believed that sunscreen is a safe and effective way to prevent skin cancer from UVA and UVB rays. After all, that’s how it’s been marketed for decades. However recent studies found that there are a number of health risks associated to sunscreen use. Whether or not the dangers are worth giving up your sunscreen routine is up to you.

1. Increased risk of Cancer

Researchers have found an increased risk of melanoma in sunscreen users. Scientists argue that people who use sunscreen stay out in the sun longer and absorb more radiation, or that free radicals that are released as the sunscreen breaks down in sunlight may be part of it. One possible reason for this is that poor sunscreens with bad UVA protection agents have been at the top of the consumer market for 30 years due to their lower prices. All public health industries still believe you should still use sunscreen, but they also think shade, clothing, and time of day should be important things to remember.

2. A higher SPF doesn’t mean longer protection

People who use sunscreen with a high SPF think they are completely immune to sun damage, but that is not the case. Scientists say that there is no evidence that using a sunscreen with an SPF of 85 allows people to remain in the sun longer than they would when using a sunscreen with a lower SPF. In 2007 the FDA published regulations that would prevent companies from labeling sunscreen with an SPF higher than 50. The FDA believed that higher values are misleading – that high SPF products may make people stay in the sun too long and increase their risk of skin cancer. In addition, a sun block with SPF 60 only blocks 1 – 1.5% more of UV rays than an SPF 30.

3. Sunscreen doesn’t necessarily prevent skin cancer

The FDAs draft of sunscreen safety regulations in 2007 said “the FDA is not aware of data demonstrating that sunscreen use alone helps prevent skin cancer”. The International Agency for Research on Cancer agrees. They recommended using hats and shade as primary barriers. Sunscreen should not be the only form of protection against skin cancer. In fact, in the US, the FDA’s 32 year effort to set enforceable guidelines for consumer protection has stalled. There has been an abundance of problems in existing products including false claims about sun block protection and inadequate UVA protection. Hopefully these problems with existing products will be fixed when the FDA’s rules take effect. However, there will still be loopholes in sunscreen quality as the FDA does take toxicity into effect when testing products for safety.

4. The vitamin A added to sunscreen may speed cancer production

Recent information from the FDA shows that a type of vitamin A may speed up the development of skin tumors and lesions when applied to the skin under UV rays. This type of vitamin A is commonly added to sunscreens and is present in 41% of all sunscreen products. The industry adds this particular form of vitamin A to its sunscreens because it is an anti-oxidant that prevents aging. The vitamin A is approved for indoor use, but after a study, there is a possibility that it results in cancerous tumors when applied to the skin that is exposed to sunlight.

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