Vitamins and Their Role in Our Lives

Vitamins and Their Role in Our Lives
 by: Charlene J. Nuble

Vitamins, like minerals, are an essential part of the function and health of the body system. While many vitamins serve individual purposes, the more common way for vitamins to function properly is as cofactors to or in partnership with other vitamins, minerals, nutrients and other substances in the body such as enzymes. Some of the most important processes in the body are the result of Vitamins partnering with each other to achieve certain affects, processes or functions.
Two of the most essential and most powerful vitamin partnerships are the group of eight vitamins that make up the nutritional powerhouse that is collectively known as the Vitamin B complex and the group of three vitamins that are known as the antioxidant vitamins. In addition to these, there are varieties of other combinations of vitamins that serve essential purposes within the body thus preserving health and enhancing function.
The vitamins that make up the Vitamin B complex include Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid or simply Folate), Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) and Biotin (Vitamin H).
The degree to which the Vitamin B complex affects bodily function and health, as well as the function and health of the mind in terms of cognitive processes and emotional balance and stability is nothing but amazing. The Vitamin B complex is at work in and is essential to every major system of the body and is a part of almost every important function and process.
The group of vitamins that is known as the antioxidant group is made up of Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin A. Each of these vitamins are powerful agents on their own, serving individual essential purposes in the body. But they are their most powerful and useful when they combine their strengths thus serving as antioxidants. They function to rid the body of the cell and tissue damaging free radicals that have been associated with a variety of degenerative processes and diseases including the effects of the basic aging process and the declining abilities of the mind. Some studies have suggested connections between free radicals and such infirmities as heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Free radicals are destabilized molecules, created when a weakened molecule splits and leaves the free radical without one of the electrons it needs. Weakened molecules can result from the body's natural metabolic processes as well as from environmental contaminants such as pollution. The free radicals attack other molecules in the effort to take the electron that it is missing. This damages the attacked molecule, making it a free radical too. When enough free radicals emerge in a cell, it can cause cellular damage, which, as more free radicals continue to be produces, can cause tissue damage. Antioxidants bring these free radicals under control by giving them the electron that they need, bringing to an end their aggressive behavior against other molecules. Because of this, antioxidants are sometimes even coined as the Fountain of Youth of the New Age.
Nutritional supplements can ensure that your body has enough of the nutrients it needs to support these important partnerships. Attention to nutrition is one of the most important things you can do for the overall health of mind and body.
--
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR'S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

About The Author

Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/.

This article was posted on August 12, 2005

Yerba Diet

Mobic
Our price: $0.35
Mobic (Meloxicam) treats rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and juvenile arthritis.

More info

The Benefits of Iodine

The Benefits of Iodine
 by: Charlene J. Nuble

Initially discovered as a new element in 1811 by Barnard Courtois, knowledge of this substance has come to include the host of benefits it brings to the body as an essential nutrient. For many years, getting enough iodine in the diet naturally was difficult in many geographic regions and remains so for an unfortunately high percentage of the world's population in the developing nations. With the introduction of iodized salt, meeting the daily iodine requirement became nearly effortless and inexpensive in the industrialized nations. In these nations, iodine deficiency is now rare. As developing nations are able to make the shift to iodized salt, their rates of iodine deficiency and the diseases associated with it have also begun to decrease.
One of the main ways that iodine affects the body and health is through its interactions with the thyroid gland. Approximately 80% of the iodine found in the body is located in the thyroid. With the help of iodine, the thyroid is able to produce its hormones: thyroxine and triodothyronine. These hormones play a major part in regulating processes relating to growth and development of the body and influence the maturation of the reproductive system.
Because of its influence on the thyroid's activities, iodine therefore plays a great role in the basic metabolism processes and levels in the body. It helps in overseeing that the body efficiently burns calories thus preventing excess calories from being stored as excess fats. It has a role in maintaining the energy level of the body and in helping the skin, teeth, nails and hair to he strong and healthy. Iodine also plays a big role in destroying toxins in the body and also helps the system in utilizing both the mineral calcium and silicone.
A deficiency in iodine can negatively affect the health and functioning of the body and mind in many ways some of which are more serious than others. The symptoms of iodine deficiency that affect the mind range from feelings of frustration and anxiety to depression to mental retardation stemming from an IQ point decrease of up to 15 points to the severe mental retardation relating to such diseases as cretinism which includes serious physical malformations. According to the World Health Organization, iodine deficiency is among the leading causes of mental retardation worldwide. Physical symptoms of iodine deficiency can include dry, scaly skin, fatigue, constipation, unusual weight gain, impaired thyroid operation, goiters, decreased fertility, increased rate of stillbirth, and growth abnormalities ranging in severity.
It is truly shameful that people suffer such horrific affects from a deficiency that could be resolved with mere pennies per person. Iodized salt is so inexpensive and if could be spread throughout the poverty centers of the developing nations, the needless suffering of millions could be alleviated. Infants need to have 40 micrograms to 50 micrograms per day if iodine, children from 1 to 3 years of age need 70 micrograms daily, ages 4 to 6 require 90 micrograms per day, ages 7 to 10 need 120 micrograms daily, and children aver 11 should have 150 micrograms per day. In turn, pregnant women need more iodine intake than the normal adult. A whooping 175 micrograms of iodine daily is needed daily for these women and breastfeeding women should have 200 micrograms daily. A mere quarter of a teaspoon of iodized salt contains 95 micrograms of iodine. So for a healthy mind and body, be sure to consume the required daily dose of iodine.
--
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR'S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

About The Author

Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/.

This article was posted on August 12, 2005

StretchNil

Hyzaar
Our price: $1
Hyzaar (Losartan/Hydrochlorothiazide) is used for treating high blood pressure.

More info

Minerals for a Normal Life

Minerals for a Normal Life
 by: Charlene J. Nuble

Minerals are essential nutrients that serve the body in many ways. So important in the function of the human body that insufficient supply, or even over supply, of these can lead to numerous health problems and complications not to mention a disrupted life. Minerals have good effects to the body individually but for them to give out the best results they must therefore work in partners and even in groups. Most minerals complement each other thus serving as cofactor to each other in the body's most essential processes.
One of the numerous beneficiaries of minerals teamwork is the skeletal system, as do teeth and nails. Calcium and phosphorus, the two minerals that are present in the highest amounts in the body, are the key mineral players for the hard surfaces of bones, teeth and nails with the mineral magnesium serving to help the body metabolize the calcium and the phosphorus. The mineral manganese serves a purpose in this process as well and the mineral zinc is also essential because it is needed in metabolizing the phosphorus. This group of minerals also combine and work together to protect the health of the nerves and to enhance the ability of the nerves to communicate with each other and the other body parts as well as ensures the ability of the muscles in the body to contract smoothly and regularly, contributing to, among other things, a regular and steady heartbeat.
The mineral iron, on the other hand, is responsible for the production of hemoglobin (or red blood cells) in the blood which is where the oxygen is stored as blood circulates the body. Oxygen is very vital for it is needed by the cells, not only to function properly, but also to live. But without the mineral copper, the human body would be unable to absorb and use the iron. A deficiency in the mineral copper results in an anemia that is very much similar to that caused by a deficiency of the mineral iron.
Minerals also serve as cofactors in a variety of chemical combinations in the body that are essential processes of everything from food digestion to oxygenation of the body's cells. The entire functioning of the body is built upon chemical and electrical reactions. These depend primarily upon the nutrition we consume and once broken down to its basic elements, the chemicals needed to complete the various interactions. The balance of the complex system is delicate but must be maintained to ensure health and peak performance of the human body system.
Nowadays, food and water alone cannot give the much needed daily mineral supply of the human body. It is therefore also important to take up nutritional supplements for the effective and safe means of ensuring that each day the body achieves the standard recommended daily intake levels of the minerals it needs to be able to properly perform the essential operations of the body. Because the balance of nutrients in the body is so important, not only for a normal health but also for a normal, healthy lifestyle, it is also a great idea to engage in a consultation with a licensed nutritionist who will be able to assist you in devising a mineral supplement plan that is best suited to your individual dietary needs and concerns.
--
Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR'S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

About The Author

Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/.

This article was posted on August 12, 2005

Kamagra

AyurSlim
Our price: $39.88
AyurSlim is a herbal weight loss formula.

More info