MCVitamins News

Your Nutritional Education Site

1. Magnesium - the Missing Link to Good Health
2. Onion & Garlic are Anti-Cancer Foods by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
3. Why "Low Fat" Diets are Incorrect and Dangerous to Your Health
4. Improving your Diabetic condition with Exercise

Magnesium - the Missing Link to Good Health

Found this article regarding Magnesium. There is much to be said about the need for minerals and the fact that they work together. With so much attention on the need for Calcium, many people take it by itself. This article talks about the need for Magnesium with Calcium. It says:

"An estimated 80 percent of Americans are deficient in magnesium. The health consequences of deficiency can be quite significant, and can be aggravated by many, if not most, drug treatments

Magnesium performs a wide array of biological functions, including activating muscles and nerves and creating energy in your body by attaching adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Magnesium is very important for heart health. Excessive amounts of calcium without the counterbalance of magnesium can lead to a heart attacks, strokes, and sudden death

An ideal ratio between calcium and magnesium is thought to be 1:1. The recommended daily dose is around 700 milligrams of each

Anytime you're taking any of the following: magnesium, calcium, vitamin D3, or vitamin K2, you need to take all the others into consideration as well, as these nutrients work synergistically with one another

For the complete article: Magnesium

You can also read the McVitamins article on Magneisum along with our recommendations here Magnesium

Onion & Garlic are Anti-Cancer Foods by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

Building up the immunity is a wise thing to do and it can be achieved using the food that you eat. It is interesting to not that onion and garlic are also anti-fungal foods, so you are doubly protected.

Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, said "Let food be your medicine, let medicine be your Food"  He also states "Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food."

For the ful article go to Onions and Garlic

Why "Low Fat" Diets are Incorrect and Dangerous to Your Health

Many individuals when first diagnosed with diabetes are directed by their physician onto a "low fat" diet and warned about the dangers of eating foods that contain fat or cholesterol.

The overwhelming evidence now shows that this is totally opposite of what they should be doing. Low fat diets result in the diabetic condition getting worse along with declining health levels. Below is what Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. states regarding cholesterol and fat in the diet:

"The medical profession and the media has so frightened the public about cholesterol and fat that people firmly believe they must be avoided at all costs. For many people today, eggs, butter and red meat represent the fear of cholesterol, and meats, nuts and oils represent the fear of fat. But this fear of cholesterol and fat is not grounded in scientific fact. On the contrary, cholesterol and fat are essential to life."

"Cholesterol and fat are used by the body as building materials for constant replenishment and are supposed to come from dietary sources. Eating cholesterol and fat do not cause heart disease and accelerated death. In fact, you must eat them to avoid heart disease."

"Cholesterol is a type of fat that has many functions in the body. Cholesterol is an important structure in cell membranes [cell membrane: the thin layer of tissue that forms the outer surface of the cell and regulates the passage of materials in and out of the cell], keeping the cell membrane permeable [permeable: allowing liquids to pass through] so that material can pass easily through the cell. The inside of the cell is also filled with various cholesterol-containing membranes that must be maintained so that the cell can function well."

"When your body is comprised of cells that are cholesterol depleted, and thereby less efficient, all the biochemical processes of your metabolism are affected, which means your metabolism cannot function as it should."

"When you deprive your body of cholesterol, an essential building material, membrane structure is altered. When membrane structure is altered, cell growth is disrupted. As a result, there is a potential increase in cancer because cancer arises from abnormal cell division."

"In addition, cholesterol is important to maintain normal functioning of various hormone systems and the immune system. Cholesterol is also the structural material from which many important hormones are made."

"Cholesterol is essential for brain function and the stabilization of neurotransmitters [neurotransmitters: a substance that transmits impulses between nerve cells]. Mood problems such as depression, agitation and irritability can occur when your body does not get sufficient cholesterol."

"Cholesterol also forms insulation around the nerves to keep electrical impulses moving. Without this insulation there is an increase in the potential for diseases of the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis."

"Cholesterol can be obtained directly from cholesterol-laden foods, such as butter, meat, eggs and shellfish. You should eat these foods and other types of fats every day."

excerpted from The Schwarzbein Principle
by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, M.D.

Not only is it possible that the "low fat" diet will damage your body, studies have shown that it will occur, as can be seen in the following excerpt:

"Low-fat high-carbohydrate diets eaten by patients with diabetes [non-insulin dependant] have been shown to lead to higher day-long plasma glucose [higher blood sugar levels], insulin, triglycerides, and very low density lipoproteins [bad cholesterol], among other negative effects. In general, study has demonstrated that multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease are worsened for diabetics who consume the low-fat high-carbohydrate diet so often recommended to reduce these risks."

excerpted from Diabetes Care, January 1995 Issue
by Dr. Y. D. Chen

Again, if you have not yet done so, you can turn your diabetic condition around and improve your overall health by getting onto a high protein/low carbohydrate diet, taking the correct nutritional supplements, and putting a little exercise into your life!

For recipes and suggestions on a low carb diet for diabetics - go to Diabetes-Support

Improving your Diabetic condition with Exercise

I'm posting this article because I recently talked to a friend of mine who had a high blood sugar problem. He had gained a lot of weight and started an excercise program. He was excited by the fact that just the excercise improved his blood glucose readings significantly. So here is the artticle:

"The type 2 diabetic condition is brought about by a diet that is too high in carbohydrates and a lack of nutrients, which results in the insulin the body naturally produces becoming less and less effective in keeping blood sugar levels under control and in a normal range.

While change in diet and proper nutritional supplementation have a dramatic effect in bringing blood sugar levels down without the need for drugs or insulin, exercise can greatly contribute to the overall control of the diabetic condition, as can be seen in the following excerpt:

"While many people may begin exercising out of a sense of responsibility - the way children eat vegetables they don't like - the main reason they keep exercising is that it feels good."

"Overall, people who exercise regularly are better equipped to carry on day-to-day activities as they age."

"One of the great benefits is that many people find that when they exercise, they have less desire to overeat."

"Even though your fat won't 'melt away,' exercise, particularly if you're a Type II diabetic, is still of value in a weight-reduction program because muscle building reduces insulin resistance."

"As you increase your muscle mass, your insulin needs will be reduced - and having less insulin present in your bloodstream will reduce the amount of fat you pack away."

"As a result, your own insulin production gradually becomes more effective at lowering blood sugar."

excerpted from Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution
by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein"

For more information about Diabetes, including diet and exercise go to Diabetes

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Sidebar: 

A Simple Fix for Heartburn

"Heartburn" (sometimes called acid indigestion or acid reflux) is a burning sensation, usually centered in the middle of the chest near or above the breastbone (the bone in the center of the chest). If you find you are experiencing heartburn, there may be a remedy that is as simple as changing what foods you eat together at the same meal.

Many people experience the discomfort of heartburn after eating a meal where animal protein and carbs are eaten together.

Protein is digested by stomach acid, carbohydrates begin digestion with the saliva in the mouth, which is alkaline [Definition: the opposite of acid], and continues the digestive process in the intestines, which are also alkaline.

When you combine alkaline and acid in your stomach, they neutralize each other. This slows the digestion, the food sits in your stomach decomposing and gives off gas that pushes back up your esophagus [Definition: the tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach] and creates a burning sensation.

So, if you are experiencing this type of pain, try not mixing protein and carbs. Avoid eating bread, potatoes, rice, etc., with meat. Eat salad and non-starchy vegetables with meat, or salad and non-starchy vegetables with carbs.

Try eating food this way for a while and see if it helps reduce or get rid of these painful symptoms.

To get other helpful information like this, you can use this link:

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