Saturday, January 24, 2009

Chrohn's Disease and Vitamins

Crohn’s Disease is and IBD—Inflammatory Bowel Disease—that mainly affects the small intestine. It causes both chronic pain and diarrhea and is similar to ulcerative colitis, which causes ulcers in the intestinal lining. Crohn’s Disease affects both men and women and can show up in children of in later adulthood. No one is quite sure what causes Crohn’s Disease, but there are a variety of treatment options.

One of the main symptoms of Crohn’s Disease is vitamin D deficiency, because it is not absorbed regularly into the body due to the active inflammation in the intestines. Vitamin D is necessary to help regulate the amount of calcium in the body. You normally get vitamin D through the foods that you eat and the sun, which causes you to absorb vitamin D through the skin. However, for Crohn’s Disease patients, vitamin D supplement may need to be taken.

If you don’t get enough vitamin D in your system, osteomalacia is the result. Osteomalacia is a condition in which your bones are weaker than they should be. In children, this can cause rickets and in all age groups, osteomalacia means that you can very easily fracture your bones. If you add vitamin D supplements to your diet and spend more time in the sun, you should be able to get the levels of vitamin D your body needs to prevent this from happening.

Vitamin D supplements are usually not classified as drugs and can therefore be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy or health food supply store. However, just because they are not technically drugs doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use precaution when taking these supplements. First, ask a doctor if it is safe for you to take vitamin D supplements. Because of your Crohn’s Disease, you are probably taking other daily medications. Sometimes, a supplement can interact to cause side effects or decrease the potency. You should also ask your doctor how much you should be taking every day. Too much vitamin D leads to overdose or vitamin poisoning, which can lead to problems with your kidneys and liver. It is best to only take the recommended amount.

Crohn’s Disease may a difficult medical condition with which to live, but little things like vitamin D supplements can make life easier. Talk to your doctor today to learn how to make vitamin D supplements a part of your daily life routine to help battle Crohn’s Disease.

Body Building Vitamin Supplements

There are so many benefits to getting a proper amount of nutrition that there is no way to list them all. For people who are working on building their muscles, there are certain things about vitamins and supplements that you should be aware of.

First of all, the best way to get your best nutrition is through eating the right diet. There are certain aspects of the vitamins and minerals that go along with food that just can’t be found in the supplements. It is always best to eat as well as you can. However, if for some reason you aren’t able to get all of the needed vitamins and minerals, it is better to have them via vitamin supplements than to have none at all.

For bodybuilders, it is important to remember that you are doing great work on your body, and this work is causing you to become stronger. However, as you increase in your ability to lift things and as you increase in the strength of your muscles, you are going to need more vitamins and minerals, as well as more energy, in order to use these enhanced muscles.

You should not start bodybuilding before you have talked to a doctor or a nutritionist about what you should do to make sure that your body can maintain the muscles that it has. If you are not able to consume enough of the foods that have the right vitamins, you are going to need to take supplements. This is because it is extremely important that you have enough of the right things if you are going to be bodybuilding. If you are building your muscles and not feeding your body properly, there is not going to be anything left over to keep you healthy as well as strong. Vitamins help to build you immune system, make hormones, and much more.

Many times it is a good idea to go on a general multivitamin if you are going to be working out and working hard on your body. This is a good idea because as you work out you are burning energy that your body would otherwise use to protect itself. Your immune system might be very compromised as you work out, so you should try to do whatever you can to make sure that you are getting the correct vitamins and minerals that your immune system needs to function correctly. Do not be afraid to talk to your doctor about what you can do to make sure you are putting the right things into your body at all times.

Vitamin D Supplements

Vitamin D supplements can help to replenish the amount of vitamin D, which is a group of fat soluble vitamins, in your body if you aren’t getting enough during a normal day. The two major forms of vitamin D are D2 and D3. Some of these are produced when you are exposed to sunlight, which means that sunlight might be an important part of your vitamin D health.

The importance that Vitamin D supplements would play in your life relates to the way that several of your organs function. Vitamin D in general helps to regulate the calcium and the phosphorus levels in your blood. This happens because the Vitamin D actually promotes the way that the calcium and phosphorus are absorbed from the food into your intestines. It also helps the calcium be reabsorbed in your kidneys.

Another important factor that Vitamin D supplements would play in your body is that the Vitamin D is going to promote your bone formation, and the mineralization of the skeletal system. It also plays a big role in promoting the immune system and a big role in anti-tumor activity.

There are many forms of Vitamin D that can be found in the D supplements. The fact remains that the most important D vitamins that your body needs are D2 and D3. D2 is produced from fungus and from plant sources, and is not produced by the body. D3 is produced from animal sources, and it can be made in your skin when the right particles in your skin react with the ultraviolet light that comes from the sun.

Both kinds of Vitamin D are important in most mammals in order to create a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body. If you feel that you aren’t getting enough Vitamin D in your diet, a good thing to do would be to consult your doctor or a nutritionist and see what kind of vitamin supplements might help you in the long run. Remember that like with any kind of Vitamin, getting the right amounts of Vitamin D can be tricky and is very important. You don’t want too much, and you certainly don’t want too little. It might be hard for you to get just the right amount of Vitamin D, but this is where supplements can come in handy because they can help to regulate the amount of D that your body is getting each day. As long as you are sure to do this correctly, you are going to benefit from it.

Vitamin C

Make sure that you pay attention to the labels on your foods. They will often tell you how much vitamin C you are getting. The best way to get vitamin C is to each a balanced diet. Vitamin C is sometimes also called ascorbic acid. If you are worried that you are not getting enough vitamin C naturally in your food, you should take a daily vitamin C supplement to help you maintain the correct levels of vitamin C in your body.

Vitamin C is one of the most popular talked about vitamin. The best foods to eat that produce Vitamin C are:
  • green peppers
  • citrus fruits
  • strawberries
  • green vegetables
  • fish
  • potatoes
  • broccoli
  • milk
  • tomatoes
Vitamin C is one of 13 vitamins that out body needs. Some of these vitamins are fat-soluble, which means that our body can store them for later use. However, vitamin C is one of vitamins in the body that is not fat-soluble. Therefore, the body cannot store it and it must be consumed every day. How much vitamin C you should have in your body depends on your age, gender, weight, lifestyle, and whether you are pregnant or not.

What does vitamin C do? Basically , vitamin C is an antioxidant, which means that it battles the forces in our body that can cause organ, tissue, and cell damage. Therefore, vitamin C protects the body and may specifically be linked to reducing the signs of aging. If you do not have enough vitamin C in your body, you will develop scurvy. Scurvy is very uncommon in the United States, but can cause anemia, gum disease, skin hemorrhages, and weakness.

When you begin taking vitamin C supplements, make sure that you follow your doctor’s recommendations. If you take to much vitamin C, you can overdose, just as you would with a typical drug. This is rare, because vitamin C is water soluble and high amounts will leave the body at a normal rate, but when it does happen, it can cause kidney stones and interfere with vitamin B12 absorption, causing anemia. Diarrhea is also a side effect. Therefore, it is best to listen to you doctor’s recommendation.

In most cases, you will automatically get enough vitamin C in your foods, especially if you are eating a healthy diet. If you are not and your doctor tells you to begin taking vitamin C supplements, look carefully at the labels of different brands before you buy anything. Because vitamin supplements are classified as foods and not drugs, they are not regulated by the government and each brand’s potency will vary slightly from the next.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Supplements

There are always lists of vitamins that you should take that your body requires to survive. Vitamin B12 has a purpose in your life and is a part of the vitamin B complex. This vitamin affects your metabolism. It also helps form red blood cells which are responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body. Finally, Vitamin B12 helps maintain the nervous system which is responsible for sending messages back and forth from the brain to the various body parts. This is the part of our body that lets us know when things are hot, cold, painful, itchy, etc.

Some vitamins are fat-soluble and others are water-soluble. Fat soluble vitamins are vitamins like vitamin E and vitamin K. Fat soluble vitamins can be stored in the body and in some cases created by the body. Deficiency in fat soluble vitamins is very rare.

Water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B12 can be stored in the body but in most cases it can not be used properly. It is important that you get vitamin B12 into your body daily. If you don't have vitamin B12 your body will not function properly. B12 vitamin supplements can help so deficiency is not a problem. However, vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. While is can be stored, in some cases, it cannot be used properly.

Of course, eating foods that contain B12 is the best way to get vitamin B12 into your body. If you eat a healthy, balanced diet, you should not have to worry about not have to worry about have lower or higher than normal levels of vitamin B12 in the body. However, if you have special dietary needs or medical conditions, vitamin supplements may be needed. The types of foods that contain high levels of vitamin B12 are:
  • eggs
  • poultry
  • beef
  • pork
  • shellfish
  • diary products (milk)
Because vitamin B12 is one of the few vitamins that can be stored in the body, extreme deficiency is very rare. However, if you body cannot use vitamin B12 properly or absorb it from foods in the intestinal tract, you may need vitamin supplements to help your body.

Vegans are individuals who are at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency because of the fact that they do not eat the foods that are high in vitamin B12. Because B12 is found in meats, vegans should take vitamin supplements.

Vitamin B12 deficiencies cause conditions known as pernicious anemia. Symptoms include numbness and tingling in your arms and legs, weakness, low of balance, and other neurological symptoms. If you are worried about developing pernicious anemia, you should talk to your doctor about beginning to take vitamin B12 supplements today.