Natural Health

Are you fatigued?
Do you feel worn out?
Do you lack enough energy to get through the day?
Is the wear and tear of modern life exhausting you?
Are you burning the candle at both ends?

You may not be alone. Doctors will tell you the most common complaint people have is FATIGUE. Even though all of people suffer from fatigue, it is not a normal condition.

What causes fatigue?

*It could be you are experiencing long hours of wakefulness and lacking sleep.

*It could be you have a large amount mental work and stress in your life.

*It could be because you are involved with excess amount of physical work.

Whatever the reason for your fatigue, a tired body and a tired mind does not function well. Perhaps you have experienced crankiness and irritability when you have felt fatigued. Perhaps you have spoken harshly to your spouse or kids after a long hard day? Have you ever acted impulsive and later regretted it, then noticed it was when you were worn out?

Fatigue can impair our judgment, impair our initiative, impair our creativity, impair our forethought and impair our reason.

How our body functions

The more work we do the more energy we use. The brain uses glucose for energy. The brain is very sensitive to the lack of glucose. Have you noticed when your kids are hungry they are irritability? And when you give them food, their attitude improves?

Even when a person is well rested, there is a normal fluctuation of energy that flow through our body everyday. For an example, the cortisol hormone is initially high at the beginning of the day and then in the afternoon the secretions are much lower.

7 Steps to Fight Fatigue

1. Get adequate sleep. Most people require 8 hours of sleep each night. Determine how much you need. Keep your bedroom cool, quiet and dark. Relax before retiring. Avoid eating a heavy meal before bedtime. Tonight’s sleep provides tomorrows energy.

2. Exercise 30 minutes a day. Morning or early afternoon is preferred. Avoid exercising right before bedtime.

3. Set aside regular time of recreation and diversion. Take time off to have some fun. We were not meant to keep working at an intense pace.

4. Eat a wholesome diet and drink plenty of water.

5. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine. You may feel more tired the first few days after eliminating these from your life.

6. Set healthful priorities. It is crucial to be in control of your emotions and actions for your own self respect and dignity.

7. Add natural supplements to your diet. For example, LimuPlus and Vitaone.

Is it worth feeling better? It’s up to you. You are the only one who can set priorities to fight fatigue. You can control your fatigue by conforming to the natural laws stated above.

When you conform to the natural laws, you will make better decisions in your life. When you are rested, you can accomplish much more. When you are energetic, you will be more efficient because you will be functioning at a higher level.

To your health,
Monique

Vitamark believes in liquid nutrition as evidenced by its phenomenal Limu Plus drink. We believe in tableted and encapsulated nutrition too—so we're often asked the question, "Are liquid vitamins absorbed better than tableted or encapsulated nutritionals?" I hope the following answer satisfies your query.
***

When considering the question, "Are liquid vitamins absorbed better than tableted or encapsulated nutritionals?" there are many points to consider. First, exactly how and where are nutrients absorbed? Unless they are taken sublingually or injected, they are absorbed in the small intestine. In the digestive process, a supplement whether in liquid or tablet form, must first go through the stomach where it is broken down before entering the small intestine for absorption. The tablets, especially those that meet the United States Pharmacopoeia standards requiring full disintegration within 30-45 minutes and the established guidelines for dissolution (Vitamark's products meet both guidelines), are in their most bioavailable form when they reach the small intestine.

Bioavailability is defined as the degree and rate at which a substance (as a drug) is absorbed into a living system or is made available at the site of physiological activity. Whether or not vitamins and minerals come in tablet, liquid, powder, or food form, they have different absorption rates—the form usually doesn't make much difference. Take Calcium for instance. The standard absorption rate is 25-35%. Knowing this doesn't it make sense to choose a tableted delivery system, which is capable of delivering an increased amount of active ingredients (almost 3 times as much as capsules and much more than a liquid or spray). Because tablets have been shown to be a very efficient delivery system, most pharnaceutical medications are in tablet form. Why would vitamin and mineral supplements be any different? Tableted delivery systems are also generally more stable than liquid systems.

Many other factors can affect the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. The function of the person taking the nutrient is dependent on the age of the person, the integrity of their digestive system(which is why the inclusion of digestive enzymes in VitaOne is so significant), the state of their health, time of day, gender, and whether or not the supplements were taken on a full or empty stomach. People whose nutrient needs are greater, such as growing children, pregnant or lactating women and those who are currently deficient may have significantly enhanced absorption rates for certain nutrients. These individual differences make some company’s recent claims of 98% absorption for everyone seem questionable. Even absorption of minerals from food sources can vary significantly. Iodine, molybdenum, and boron can be absorbed from a food source at over 90% while the average absorption rates of copper, zinc and selenium can range from 30-80% depending on the form. Doesn't it make sense that stating an average absorption rate is misleading?

Because the Vitamark tablets are formulated to the United States Pharmacoepia standards of disintegration and dissolution, we believe that the vitamins and minerals found in our supplements are properly absorbed into the body and are very beneficial.

By creating innovative formulations (the inclusion of enzymes, for example), we have been able to optimize nutrient bioavailability. Each batch of Vitamark tablets are tested against finished product specifications to ensure that they meet standards for weight, identity, thickness, hardness, disintegration, potency, purity and microbial counts.

Vitamark's vitamins and minerals, when combined with a healthy diet and, in the proper forms and amounts, will provide an extremely safe, bioavailable, efficient and effective product.

... from Jana Mitcham

This offer is so good. I just wanted to let you know about Vitamark 14-Day Health Challenge and how you can receive over $80 in FREE product!

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That's right, for the next 3 weeks you are eligible to participate in the 14-Day Health Challenge using our FREE products.



Here’s how it works:

* Drink 1 oz (half a shot glass) of Limu Plus® every morning and every night for 14 days.

* Take one packet of VitaOne® twice a day with two of your meals.

* Take a walk once a day for at least 15 minutes.

* Accept a call from me at least once a week to check on your progress.

*Send us a report on how you feel after this 14-Day Health Challenge. (We will include a simple form for you to fill out with your order.)

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Think of the excitement you will have when your health gets turbo-charged with two weeks of super nutrition. You will want to tell everyone how you feel. You will feel terrific after adding two packs of VitaOne® and two drinks of Limu Plus® a day to jump start your ultimate nutritional health program.

So hurry now, while this offer lasts. Use this $80+ gift today.

Plus, for a limited time we will even include a FREE Limu Plus® shot glass and a "Discover Limu Plus®" brochure and CD.

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This offer is open to New Affiliates who join August 5th to Sept 15th ending at midnight CST.
This offer is for US, Canada and Caribbean countries.

Need more information? Call Monica at 503.351.6859 anytime

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To your health,

Monica

The National Cancer Institute (NCI),as reported by Reuters, Dr. Margaret E. Wright of NCI’s Nutritional Epidemiology Branch points out three important vitamin E benefits:

1) It’s a potent antioxidant *
2) It supports immune function *
3) It's antiangiogenic, preventing tumor blood vessel growth*

According to Reuters:

. The NCI team studied information gathered from more than 29,000 men who participated in Finland’s Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) study.
. All were smokers between the ages of 50 and 69 at the beginning of the study.
. Each subject had to submit fasting blood samples to be analyzed for vitamin E content.
. Approximately 10 percent of the subjects used Vitamin E supplements daily.
. During the 19-year follow up period, more than 13,000 died (5,776 deaths indicated cancer, and 4,518 indicated heart disease)
. Men with the highest levels of vitamin E “had significantly lower risks of total and cause-specific mortality than did those in the lowest quintile” when compared to men with the lowest level.

In a 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association researchers reported on a study with more than 600 subjects, aged 65 or older who received either a daily supplement of 200 IU of vitamin E or a placebo for one year. The results: those taking the Vitamin E supplements had a 20 percent reduced risk of coming down with a common cold which indicates taking Vitamin E offers a preventative affect for upper respiratory tract infections.

Foods that contain Vitamin E are eggs, liver, nuts and seeds, spinach, broccoli, peaches, wheat germ and vegetable oils, to mention a few.

Of course you can take it in supplement form,too. With the soils so devoid of vitamins and minerals these days, supplementation only makes sense.

Comibining Vit E with Selenium in a product makes sense

Both Vit E and Selenium are closely associated with stimulation of the parts of the immune system that deal with immunoglobulin production.

There is a limited FDA cancer claim that is allowed for Selenium which states: Selenium may reduce the risk of certain cancers. Some scientific evidence suggests that consumption of selenium may reduce the risk of certain forms of cancer. However, FDA has determined that this evidence is limited and not conclusive.

Previous dietary studies that have demonstrated that selenium has potential cancer-fighting abilities that that claim can be made and that scientists at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium conducted a study to see the effect that selenium would have on bladder cancer.

* The study group consisted of 178 people who had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and 360 healthy people


* They analyzed blood samples to find that those who had more than 96 micrograms per liter (mcg/L) of selenium, had a reduced risk of bladder cancer of 70 percent. By comparison, the people who had less than 82.4 mcg/L did not experience the same results

* The risk was cut by more than half among those whose selenium levels were between 82.4 and 96 mcg/L

The team reported in the September 2006 issue of the International Journal of Urology, that bladder cancer risk was lowered 14 percent for every 10 mcg/L increase of selenium.

The U.S. RDA for selenium is 55 mcg for women and 70 mcg for men. You can get both Vit E and Selenium in the Children's Chewable, Primalux, Vita One, Vita-Che, Vit E with Selenium and CellRich.

Selenium is found in most fruits and vegetables, but only when they're grown in soils rich in selenium. In the U.S., selenium is found in high concentrations in the soil of only six states: Utah, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Bread, fish and meat also deliver some amounts of selenium, but the best source seems to be the Brazil nut which supplies more than 800 mcg of selenium per ounce.

Bibliographical References:

International Journal of Urology, Vol.13, No. 9, Sept 2006, Blackwell-synergy.com "Selenium is Inversely Associated with Bladder Cancer Risk: A Report from the Belgian Case-Control Study on Bladder Cancer"

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 95, No. 22, Nov 17,2004, jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org,"Selenium and Colorectal Adenoma: Results of a Pooled Analysis"

Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 142, No. 1, Jan 4, 2005, annals.org, “Meta-Analysis: High-Dosage Vitamin E Supplementation May Increase All-Cause Mortality”

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 84, No. 5, Nov 2006, ajcn.org, “Higher Baseline Serum Concentrations of Vitamin E are Associated with Lower Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study”

Reuters Health, 11/22/06, reutershealth.com, “Vitamin E Levels Linked to Mortality Risk”

Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 292, No. 7, 8/18/04, jama.ama-assn.org, “Vitamin E and Respiratory Tract Infections in Elderly Nursing Home Residents"


* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

It has been reported that supplements of folic acid may prevent age-related hearing loss in older men and women. This is according to a new double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial from the Netherlands.

The study published in Jan 2nd, 2007 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, states supplements of folic acid may prevent age-related hearing loss in older men and women. In a Netherlands trial, the study followed 728 men and women between the ages of 50 and 70 who were to receive either a folic acid supplement (800 micrograms per day—the level found in an anti-aging formula, Vita-Che) or placebo for three years.

According to Jane Durga, lead author, and her colleagues from Wageningen University and Wageningen Centre for Food Sciences, and University Hospital Maastricht, said that in the low frequency regions the folic acid-supplemented group exhibited lower age-related hearing loss.

Durga holds high hopes for the use of folic acid in countries currently not fortifying their diets with folic acid. Durga said, "Considering that the folate status of older adults is generally low in countries without folic acid fortification programs, our findings suggest a possible way to diminish the public health burden of hearing loss in those countries.”

Folate is found in foods such as green leafy vegetables, chickpeas and lentils. We have recognized through an overwhelming body of evidence that folate deficiency in early pregnancy (unfortunately not all pregnant women took advantage of dietary folate) is linked to an increased risk of neural tube defects (NTD) – most commonly spina bifida and anencephaly – in infants. This is what led to the mandatory fortification programs that we are now learning may be helping in areas other than NTD.

At the start of the Netherlands study, the average threshold for hearing in the low frequency range (0.5 to 2 kHz) was 11.7 decibels (dB), and 34.2 dB in the high frequency range (4 to 8 kHz).

At the end of the study, the thresholds had increased for both folic acid and placebo groups, meaning a louder noise was required before the participants heard the noise. However, the increase was lower in the supplemented group in the low frequency range (1.0 versus 1.7 dB increase for folic acid versus placebo groups, respectively).

Researchers suggested that the hearing loss may be linked to homocysteine levels, which could be reduced by folic acid supplementation.

Durga, focused on older men and women with average plasma total homocysteine concentrations of 13 micromoles per liter or more and vitamin B12 levels of at least 200 picomoles per liter.

Normal homocysteine levels are defined as between five and 15 micromoles per liter of blood. This placed the study participants at the upper end of the ‘normal’ bracket.

What is homocysteine? It’s a metabolite (meaning a product of metabolism that is generally required for normal growth, development and reproduction). Like I was saying it’s a metabolite of the essential amino acid methionine.

It’s good to have low levels of homocysteine in the body, high levels are suspected of causing heart diseases like angina, stroke and deep vein thrombosis, in addition to over 100 other medical conditions.

The results were stated by the researchers: “Folic acid supplementation slowed the decline in hearing of the speech frequencies associated with aging in a population from a country without folic acid fortification of food. The effect requires confirmation, especially in populations from countries with folic acid fortification programs.”

Robert Dobie from the University of California, Davis said that if such a benefit could be applied generally then a five-decibel decrease in age-related hearing loss might be observed over a 20-year period. This would lead to a subsequent significant reduction in the need for hearing aids.

Certainly bonds well for the continuation of mandatory fortification and makes a good case for supplementation—especially for seniors.

Can older people taking folic acid supplementation had improved memory and ability to process information, as well as a slower rate of age-related cognitive decline?

Jane Durga, the lead author, wrote in the Jan. 20, 2007 issue of the Lancet: “In 818 older adults, daily oral folic acid supplementation for three years beneficially affected global cognitive function, and specifically memory, and information processing: functions that are sensitive to aging.”

While we know that cognitive performance declines naturally with age, the results of Folic Acid and Carotid Intima-media Thickness (FACIT) trial suggests that this could be slowed by folic acid supplementation.

The same study randomly assigned the subjects between the ages of 50 and 70 to receive either a folic acid supplement (800 micrograms per day) or a placebo for three years. And, all of the other parameters applied too (upper “normal” ranges of homocysteine and B12 levels of at least 200 Picomoles per liter.)

They used a battery of tests to assess cognitive function, including the word learning test, concept shifting test, stroop color-word test, verbal fluency test, and the letter digit substitution test. The mini-mental state examination to screen for possible dementia; but it was not used for the study outcome.

The researchers reported: “Three-year folic acid supplementation confers an individual the performance of someone 4.7 years younger for memory, 1.7 years younger for sensory motor speed, 2.1 years younger for information processing speed, and 1.5 years younger for global cognitive function.”

They also report that delayed recall for the folic acid supplemented group was similar to a performance of someone 6.9 years younger.

The researchers summed it up this way: "We have shown that 3-year folic acid supplementation improves performance on tests that measure information processing speed and memory, domains that are known to decline with age. [Our study was conducted] in older adults with raised total homocysteine concentrations.”

The researchers wanted to be sure that the public knew they recognized that “the effect of folic acid supplementation might be greater than would be expected in populations with lower plasma total homocysteine concentrations – eg. in countries such as the USA, with mandated fortification of flour with folic acid.”

They made it clear that all of the participants had sufficient levels of Vitamin B12 because Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a form of anemia in elderly people, which can cause dementia.

Durga asked and answered the question most of us want to know: “Will folic acid supplementation lead to a reduced incidence of dementia?”

Durga answered this way: “Although folic acid improved performance on tests of memory, including delayed recall, additional research is needed to determine whether folic acid supplementation can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease.”

There was an editorial comment from Martha Morris and Christine Tangney from Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, who said, in an accompanying editorial, the FACIT trial was “well-designed and unique in its approach of targeting individuals who might benefit from folate supplementation.”

They also agreed with others that the trial warrants further investigation.

These two new areas of hope(age-related hearing loss and mental decline) certainly do make folic acid an important target nutrient especially when coupled with the information of it potential impact on heart disease and stroke as presented in the 2002 British Medical Journal.

A study from the Wolfson Institute for Preventive Medicine in London found that folic acid can help offset heart disease and stroke by reducing levels of homocysteine (a known risk factor since the 1970’s) in the body.

High homocysteine levels can be caused by various factors, including shifting hormone levels (like menopause), genetics and vitamin B deficiencies. Taking extra folic acid -- along with vitamin B6 and B12 has been shown to bring levels back to normal.

According to the study published in the British Medical Journal in 2002 it was estimated that even a very small decrease (3 micromoles per liter) in homocysteine levels can reduce your risk of coronary heart disease by 16 percent and cut your stroke risk by 24 percent.

Pretty impressive statistics. These statistics seem to be born out by the following results based on what one can call a “Reality Check”, because it deals with known statistics of countries using folic acid fortification as opposed to those not using it. Perhaps these facts will be the determining factor in your realization that folic acid is necessary for your general well-being.

When was mandatory fortification introduced in the U.S. and Canada?

Mandatory fortification of certain foods with folic acid was introduced in the US and Canada in 1998.

The reason this was implemented was to reduce birth defects; and, that the program has been successful in cutting the number of children born with neural tube defects by over 25 per cent.

Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compared stroke mortality rates in the United States and Canada for 1990 to 1997 ( the period before fortification), and 1998 to 2002( the period after fortification), with stroke mortality rates in England and Wales.

The study based stroke mortality rates on statistics from the national centers for health statistics in the respective countries. And, that the reported rate of decline in the number of deaths from stroke in the U.S. between 1990 and 1997 was .3% as compared to 2.9% after introduction of the mandatory fortification program.

In Canada, the fall in stroke mortality was even more dramatic, with the average decrease being 1% between 1990 and 1997, and 5.4 per cent between 1998 and 2002.

What types of trends were observed in countries not receiving fortification?

The researchers reported that in England and Wales, the death rate due to stroke was actually greater for 1999 to 2002(this was the period in which deaths trended down in the U.S. and Canada presumably due to folic acid fortification) than for 1990 to 1997.

The lead author, Quahne Yang, wrote in the journal, Circulation (Vol. 113, pp. 1335-1343):“The epidemiological analysis presented here certainly does not establish causality, but the trends we observed are consistent with the hypothesis that folic acid fortification is contributing to a reduction in stroke deaths.”

As you might suppose, the review of the compiled complete medical records from the United States participants revealed that the levels of homocysteine decreased and folate levels in the blood increased for all age groups and races studied after the introduction of fortification. This gives support for the hypothesis that folic acid may reduce stroke mortality.

Yang went on to say, “If folic acid fortification is responsible for even a fraction of the accelerated improvement we observed, this public health benefit is an important bonus to the reduction in neural tube defect rates previously demonstrated.”

The value of folic acid in the prevention of birth defects is well known, making the taking of folic acid supplementation vital to young women and possibly even men of child bearing age. Perhaps the information presented will impress upon you the potential health benefits of taking folic acid as you age.

So, whether you’re young enough to take Children’s Chewable Vitamins or Vita One or your young at heart enough for our anti-aging formula, Vita-Che, or you are a woman with special needs that call for VitaWoman you’ll get folic acid at optimum, supportive levels.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.