Digestive Enzymes, Your Health and Nutrition

As of now, a lot of Americans eat food that are loaded with, preservatives, processed, hormones, artificial ingredients, chemical additives low fiber foods and animal fats, A lot of Americans are slowly killing themselves with their diets. Add to this, a lot of us don't exercise, drink alcohol and smoke tobacco.

What a lifestyle we are having! It has already been recognized that a major part of illnesses and disorders begin at the colon or the stomach. This can be proven with what we eat.

Then another fact is, right now there are at least one in 3 of the world's population who are fat and almost 1 in 10 is obese. Right now, there are over 20 million children, under the age five who are fat.

To make matter worse being fat and obesity can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, chronic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis, chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases like stroke and heart disease and cancers like endometrial, breast and colon.

To make matter much worse, obesity can also lead to premature death and substantial disability. Being fat is not funny, it is something serious. We are slowly killing ourselves.

Being unhealthy also makes us uglier. Skin disorders such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and other types of dermatitis may not kill us but it can definitely embarrass us, and that could lead to death too.

Eczema can make our skin dry, itchy and hot. In its severe case, it can make the skin raw, broken and bleeding. And it can affect any part of the body from the cheeks, forehead, forearms, legs, scalp, ankles, knees and neck. On the other hand, psoriasis which is another chronic inflammatory skin disorder can affect any area of the body and is most commonly found at the scalp, elbows, hands, knees, feet and genitals. While rosacea, another chronic skin disease causes redness and swelling and if not treated will result to pimples, visible blood vessels, bumps and a swollen nose. Believe me, a lot young of people have felt rejection because they have skin problems. And rejection is legitimate reason for suicide.

We as American's really need to turn things around. We need to stop killing ourselves. We need to start exercising. We need to start taking in digestive enzyme supplements. Digestive enzymes are one sure ting to make us healthy. It can make help digest those junk food we eat, it can help us prevent being overweight and it can also make our skin healthy. Digestive enzymes can also prevent other illnesses like stroke, diabetes, constipation, heartburn, cancer pain, allergies, bloating, ulcers and lack of energy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_S_Fitzgerald

Why Do You Need Antioxidants in Your Diet?

Antioxidants prevent oxidation, which means they either prevent electrons from being removed from one molecule and passed to another, or they prevent a molecule of oxygen from being added to some other molecule or atom. A simple example involves the oxidation of an atom of carbon when it is oxidized to carbon dioxide. Biologically speaking, antioxidants also help prevent hydrogen ions from being removed from organic compounds.

When a substance like wood (cellulose) is burning, it is being oxidized. The carbon atoms of the cellulose are being oxidized to carbon dioxide and the oxygen is being reduced to water, while the energy of its chemical bonds is being converted to heat and light.

In everyday speech we speak of "burning carbs" to gain energy during an exercise workout. In this case, the sugars we have eaten are being "burned" slowly as they also are converted to water, carbon dioxide and heat. But take note! No light is produced when we burn carbs; no light is produced when we oxidize all kinds of molecules in our bodies. The oxidation is controlled so that energy is released slowly to be used to power our bodies and its processes.

The first thing to learn here is that oxidation in our bodies is not always bad and not always good. Sometimes there are benefits, and at other times there are disadvantages or outright losses.

The benefits are pretty obvious. When we need more energy, we "burn some carbs." We oxidize some sugars to get that energy we need on a short-term basis. We oxidize other kinds of complex carbohydrates, like glycogen, to help our bodies grow and repair themselves.

However, some kinds of molecules in our bodies are constantly at risk of being oxidized. When this happens, they are damaged or destroyed in the process. Then we age a little bit if these other kinds of molecules are part of structures like skin, or blood vessels, or knee joints, or brain tissue, and so on. It is oxidation of this kind that we would like to prevent or slow down to prevent aging.

Unique forms of oxygen and hydrogen, called free radicals, are primary culprits of the aging process. By eating foods that have strong antioxidant activity, we help our bodies fight the toxic effects of these free radicals.

There are three strong antioxidants that are the warriors we depend upon to fight the bad aspects of oxidation. One of them we produce in our bodies; we do not, and cannot get it from the food we eat. Its name is glutathione, a small molecule composed of three amino acids, but don't worry; we aren't going there. Let it suffice to say that if we can't make glutathione ourselves, we are skunked. The other two antioxidant warriors are vitamins C and E. These we must get from the foods we eat.

Good sources of Vitamin C are the fresh fruits of many kinds of plants, and some of their green parts as well. The following presents the best of these foods in descending order from those having fruits/leaves/vegetables with the highest concentration of Vitamin C per gram of plant tissue, down to those with the lowest concentration:

• Rose (rose hips); More than 2000 mg/100 grams plant tissue.
• Black Currant, Red Pepper, Parsley, Red Guava; 100-200 mg/100 grams.
• Kiwi Fruit, Broccoli, Loganberry, Red Currant, Brussels Sprouts, Lychee, Elderberry, Persimmon, Papaya, Strawberry; 60-99 mg/100 grams tissue.
• Orange, Lemon, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Garlic, Grapefruit, Raspberry, Tangerine, Mandarin Orange, Spinach, Cabbage, Lime; 30-50 mg/100 grams of plant tissue.
• Mango, Blackberry, Potato, Honeydew Melon; 20-28 mg/100 grams.
• Cranberry, Tomato, Blueberry, Pineapple, Grape, Açai berry, Apricot, Plum, Watermelon, Banana, Pomegranate, Carrot, Avocado, Crabapple, Cherry, Peach, Apple, Asparagus, Pear, Lettuce, Cucumber, Eggplant, Fig; Bilberry, Horned Melon, Medlar, less than 20 mg/100 grams plant tissue.

Good sources of Vitamin E, otherwise known as Alpha Tocopherol, include the following in no special order:

• Avocado.
• Nuts of woody plants such as almonds and hazelnuts.
• Red palm oil.
• Spinach and other green leafy vegetables.
• Vegetable oils such as canola, corn, sunflower, soybean, cottonseed, and olive oil.
• Wheat germ.
• Whole grains and whole grain food products.
• Milk.
• Asparagus.

The most important lesson of this article is that it is wise to add foods that are rich in antioxidants to your diet. Put fresh fruits on your cereal in the morning, and drink a glass of fresh fruit juice as a pep-up at anytime during the day. Juices that are shaken or stirred constantly may not be as healthy due to the destruction of vitamin C. If you do not yet include fresh fruits in your diet, all such additions will help improve your health, fitness, and longevity.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Wallace

What Are Acai Berry Side Effects?

When you consume coffee you can become nervous, when you eat peppers you may notice that you tend to sweat more. The thing that you have to consider when you eat a food is if the positives of the food outweigh the negatives. The same is true with the acai berry. When you begin considering consuming the acai berry products, you may find yourself asking, “What are the acai berry side effects?”

The one side effect that is known to come from consuming the acai berry may actually be considered a positive thing for many people. The main known side effect of this berry is actually a decrease in your appetite. This may not be a bad thing when you consider that you are consuming a lot of vitamins and nutrients, as well as omegas, antioxidants, fiber, and protein from the acai itself. This means that you can do just fine with less of an appetite because your body is getting a lot of nutrients from the berry that will require you to not need to provide yourself with as much food to get these same nutrients. This is one reason why the acai is so good at helping people with weight loss.

One thing about this acai berry side effect is that you would have to consume a lot of the berries to actually notice the decrease in your appetite. However, like stated above; when you are consuming this much of the acai your body doesn’t have the need for so much food. For someone that is hoping to gain weight, they can also benefit from the acai and still achieve weight gain. The acai has a lot of nutrients that will help your body to build muscle easier, since muscle weighs more than fat this is one way in which this berry will help you to gain weight.

If you don’t want to experience an increase in your energy levels or decrease your appetite then you will want to find that amount of this great product that you can consume without it causing you a decreased appetite. When you are thinking about taking any supplement it is important that you do go over all of the positives and negatives to make sure that the good points outweigh the bad points. When you are considering something as healthy as the acai, you are looking at much more positives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelsey_Carson

Acai Berry Nutritional Facts

Good things in this world are always famous. People talk about them, and word spreads fast. But the funny thing is that there is an exception to this as there is to everything. One of those exceptions is the Acai Berry, which is considered to be nature's miracle fruit by many. The pity is that it's only grown in a small part of the world, and its post harvest life is very short which have drastically resulted in the unavailability of this berry in a lot of parts of the world. Still, wherever this berry is available, its fame has grown as fire in a forest. Outside the Amazon in Northern Brazil, where this berry is native to, this berry is available in forms of fruit pulps, smoothies, juices and at health stores as various powder supplements. Due to its miraculous powers, more and more companies are coming up with patents in order to increase its harvest rate and shelf life so that its consumption can be increased and it can be utilized by people belonging to different parts of the world.

Acai has a very unique, but yet vibrant taste. It tastes like a blend of berries and chocolate. This berry comes in an attractive color of royal purple. The nutritional value of this berry is just splendid. I mean it is considered a miracle fruit as of now, and even now all of the nutritional values of this berry are not known. Research is being done in this regard, and amazing facts are coming up every now and then.

Acai berry is rich in antioxidants, about 10-30 times more then the red wine. These antioxidants help a lot in lowering down the bad blood cholesterol and getting up the good blood cholesterol. This in turn helps the cardiovascular system in a good flow of blood. Apart from that, Acai berry also has a good balance of the good fatty acids and Omega's in order to even help the body about cholesterol and improve the heart condition. The Acai berry is also rich in amino acids. These are the building blocks of proteins, one of the most important compounds required by the body. Proteins are required for building up muscles and helping them carrying out their function properly. Acai berry is also rich in dietary fiber, which ensures good digestion and also low cholesterol.

Acai berry is also rich in carbohydrates, the fuel of the body. This ensures proper and steady supply of energy during strenuous exercises or sports. So a person feels overall healthy, nourished and well balanced when it comes to growth and nourishment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelsey_Carson

Acai Berry Miracle Fruit

Acai Berries - Some Important And Relevant Facts

The Acai berry is gaining popularity throughout the world as the 'miracle fruit'. While many don't know yet about it, there are still places where it is considered as a good diet supplement because of the amount of nutritional values that this small fruit beholds. The name Acai is characteristic to the Acai Palm trees on which this berry is grown on. It's rich in much kind of nutrients, which gives it the characteristic to be called as nature's miracle fruit. While it covers most of your energy supplies for the day, it also provides you with tools to fight your cholesterol problem, while helping your muscles grow and your digestive system work better. These all around goodness is to be explained later.

This berry is grown naturally in the Amazon parts of Northern Brazil, on Palm trees in the rainforests. These palm trees grow up to a height of 25 meters and these berries are mostly found in clusters on top of the tree. The funny part is, that if you look the trees from down, you will find yourself looking at a cluster of bluebottles, but they actually would be Acai berries!

Acai berries have a very low post harvest life. After being harvested, the nutritional properties in their juices are only sustained to a maximum time period of 24 hours. So they have to be sent to processing plants as soon as they are picked from the trees so they can be processed into pulp, juices or however way desired. They are also transported overnight to the nearest markets for daily consumption as fruits.

What's noticeable is that each of those palm trees can give a yield of about 20 kilograms of fruit annually. These berries are a good source of foreign exchange for Brazil because the wine produced from these berries count as the number two export of Brazil after wood. This also entitles to many thousands of jobs in Brazil because of the increasing global demand of the Acai Berry. Thus, Acai berry has a very noticeable positive impact on the economy of Brazil.

Now I would like to go onto the nutritional facts of acai berries This berry is rich in antioxidants, which contribute to the better cholesterol levels of the blood. This greatly helps out the cardiovascular system in blood circulation. It also has sufficient amounts of dietary fiber, which helps out the digestive system. The better muscular activity is also ensured by the amount of vegetable proteins it has. Then the package becomes complete with the amount of extra minerals, vitamins and natural calcium. So overall, it is very efficient for your overall health and well being.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelsey_Carson

Diet and Health - Pure Noni Juice

Since sickness, obesity, and disease are on the rise more people in the United States are paying closer attention to their diet and health. As a result many people have turned to Eastern diet health practices, such as drinking pure Noni juice to improve their vitality.

Although Noni juice was only commercialized in the West in 1995 people in the East have been using the Noni plant for centuries. And if people have been successful in using this plant for its diet and health benefits for hundreds of years don't you think it could help you too?

The Health Benefits of Noni Juice

Prior to organic Noni juice being available in the west, other uses for the juice were quite well-known. For centuries, the Noni plant was used in Japan, China, Samoa, and Tahiti for medical uses such as:

* Fever
* Eye problems
* Skin problems
* Stomach pain
* Constipation
* Throat problems
* Gum problems
* Respiratory problems

One of the main health benefits of Noni juice is that it helps your body regenerate cells, which is helpful in fighting cancer, arthritis, diabetes, high cholesterol, and virtually any other medical condition or disease. The leaves of the Noni plant can also be mashed or grounded and applied to a broken bone or a cut as a pain killer.

Where Does The Noni Juice I Buy Come From?

Most of the Noni that is sold in the U.S. comes by way of Polynesia and then is manufactured into juice here in the United States.

By Brue Baker