| The 236 subjects in this study were experiencing mild memory loss and cognitive declines, and supplementing with 1,500 milligrams of ALC resulted in significant improvements in tests measuring memory and constructional thinking.
This smart nutrient also improves mental function in healthy individuals. Italian researchers gave seventeen men and women between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-seven 1,500 milligrams of ALC daily. Study participants were tested for attention levels, hand-eye coordination, and reflexes before starting on the supplement, and then again after thirty days. |
| Several studies have shown that supplementing with zinc improves memory and recall in older patients with cognitive problems. In one study, ten patients with Alzheimer's disease were given 27 milligrams of zinc daily. Eight of the ten showed improved memory, communication, and understanding, and the improvements of one seventy-nine-year-old were described as "unbelievable."
Suggested Dosage: 30 milligrams of zinc daily. SUMMING IT UP
Although I've described the best studied of the vitamins and minerals that protect your brain, others are likely involved. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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 Studies have also shown that arthritis patients showed major clinical improvement when supplementing their diets with cod liver oil, which may also reduce the inflammatory process.28 gg| Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are unsaturated fats required in the diet. Omega-3 and omega-6 oils are the two principal types. One important omega-3 oil is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), found in flaxseed and canola oils, as well as pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and soybeans. Fish oils, such as salmon, cod, and mackerel, contain the other important omega-3 oils, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). |
Artemis P. Simopoulos, M.D., and Jo Robinson
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 Just as important, you will be supplementing your diet with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids while you limit your intake of omega-6 fatty acids, saturated fat, and trans-fatty acids. These changes are easier to make than you might expect. Simply using canola oil as your primary oil, for example, will satisfy most of these dietary requirements. You may be aware that canola oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, but it is also an unheralded source of omega-3 fatty acids as well. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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 Vitamin E also is a key player in immunity; just supplementing with this vitamin can boost dwindling immune responses.
Typical American diets are low in vitamins C and E, and possibly other antioxidants, such as beta carotene. In addition, diet alone might not be enough during times of stress. "In our studies on seniors using 60 IU, 200 IU, and 800 IUs of vitamin E, we found that the 200 IU daily dose was most effective in boosting immune function," says Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and immunology at Tufts University in Boston. |
Michael Castleman
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 And those with chronic medical conditions should consult their physicians before supplementing medical therapies with herbs.
How Herbs Are Sold
Medicinal herbs are available at health food stores, herb shops, supplement outlets, some pharmacies and supermarkets and through mailorder catalogs (see Resources). They're marketed in so many different forms that many people become confused. Here's what's available.
Bulk herbs. Typically found in jars or bins at health food stores, bulk herbs are the raw, dried plant material. They're available loose and are usually sold by the ounce. |
Larry Trivieri, Jr.
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| If your metabolic type requires more protein and/or fats, consider using more healthy oils on your salads or vegetables, eating more miso and tofu, and supplementing with free-form mixed amino acids.
• Don't be rigid about your diet—allow yourself some meat and dairy. Move toward a whole foods diet gradually. "Don't become so worried about your diet that it becomes a burden," says Dr. Berkson. "It is not what you eat once in a while that builds your optimal body, but what you eat most of the time."
• Achieve rhythm in your diet. As important as what you eat is how and when you eat, adds Dr. |
| Pancreatic enzymes function in the intestine and in the blood. By supplementing the body's own enzymes, pancreatic enzyme therapy, like plant enzyme therapy, promotes health by lessening the demands on the body for supplying enzymes to convert food to usable nutrients and energy. Pancreatic enzymes also play a fascinating role in the immune system, directly assisting the defense mechanisms,9 and this function has been shown to make a significant contribution to the therapeutic powers of these enzymes. |
| Over 60 health conditions can be helped by supplementing with essential fatty acids.29
Ionic minerals (in liquid form) are easily absorbed into the blood through the small intestine. Each ionic mineral (there can be up to 70 in a formula) has either a negative or positive charge and participates as a biochemical co-factor in cellular communication, nerve transmission, and the transport of nutrients. Ionic minerals protect the body from the effects of other, toxic minerals which may be absorbed or ingested. |
| These include reducing caloric intake; eating a diet rich in essential fatty acids; supplementing with vitamin C (4,000 mg or more), magnesium (400 mg), and chromium (200-400 meg) daily; reducing stress; and avoiding drugs that artificially inhibit cholesterol formation (required by the body to synthesize pregnenolone, from which DHEA is derived). Stopping smoking is recommended, since nicotine inhibits the enzymatic process necessary for producing DHEA. |
William Evans, Ph.D., and Irwin H. Rosenberg, M.D., with Jacqueline Thompson
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 At the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, we've shown that supplementing elderly people's diet with vitamin E, an antioxidant nutrient, for one month improves their immune responsiveness. In our experiments we've also found that vitamin E appears to play multiple roles in the bodies of the elderly. Given these findings, we suspect the requirement for vitamin E and/or other dietary antioxidants, such as vitamin C, may have to be reconsidered. What we need now is more conclusive evidence that they can counteract some of the age-related decline in the immune system. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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| Smokers should consulr rheir physicians before supplementing with beta carotene.
When's the best time of day to take a supplement? The time of day is not as important as what you take them with. Most nutrients are best absorbed when taken with meals. Nutrients are best absorbed when taken in small doses throughout the day. For example, the body absorbs only about 100 milligrams of magnesium ar one time. Doses greater rhan rhis are likely ro be excrered. |
| For example, rhe B vitamins, including vitamin Bl5 vitamin B2, niacin, pantothenic acid, and biotin, work together to convert food components into energy. supplementing with only one is unlikely to improve overall mental and emotional health. Finally, if your diet is low in one nutrient, it probably is low in orhers. Foods provide a mixture of nutrients. A person who avoids meat is at risk for consuming inadequate amounts of iron, zinc, and rhe B vitamins. |
| Limited evidence also links low DHA levels in brain tissue to serious mental disorders, such as bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. supplementing diets with DHA or other omega-3 fatty acids (as an adjunct to regular therapy) improves symptoms in up to 64 percent of patients. In some cases the benefits are so dramatic, the researchers stopped the studies early so that all the patients could benefit from the supplements rather than continue with placebos.
The bottom line? More research is needed before specific recommendations can be made regarding the omega-3 fatty acids and brain function. |
Mark Bricklin
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 David Wray, and his colleagues, who found that about 14 percent of their patients with recurrent canker sores suffered from deficiencies of iron, folate, and/or vitamin B,2. supplementing with the lacking nutrient resulted in complete remission of the ulcers for more than half the patients and relief for nearly all.
The same article warns that people with mouth ulcers "should be careful not to damage sensitive oral tissues by too vigorous use of hard-bristled toothbrushes and should avoid hard, sharp foods. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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| While not exactly like estrogen, phytoestrogens act much like the female hormone, binding to the body's estrogen receptors and supplementing the effects of estrogen without the discomfort. According to Mark Messina, Ph.D., associate professor at Loma Linda University and an expert on soy, women need two to three daily servings of traditional soy foods, which provide 60 to 90 milligrams of phytoestrogens (1 serving = lli cup tofu or 1 cup soy milk). |
Michael Janson, M.D.
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 It has recently been reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that supplementing the diet with zinc during pregnancy (25 mg per day) has resulted in larger, healthier babies. This amount is commonly present in prenatal vitamins and other supplements.
Zinc has been used therapeutically in very high doses (up to 150 mg per day) for prostate enlargement, but such doses may not be necessary if you combine this treatment with essential fatty acids, herbs, and other nutrients. |
Gary Null, Ph.D.
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 Three months' worth of supplementing the diet of 40 rural Filipino betel chewers with sealed capsules of retinol (100 000 IU/week) and beta-carotene (300 000 IU/week) was associated with a threefold decrease in the mean proportion of cells with micronuclei inside the cheek pouch.
Male patients with metastastic unresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the lung who were treated with up to seven treatment courses of either 13-cis vitamin A acid or vitamin A palmitate over a period of sixty weeks experienced significant immune potentiating effects. |
Richard Lucas
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 Many of the roots and herbs they use in supplementing and flavoring the daily meals are the very same as those used by herbalists when preparing herb teas or herbal blends, and the same careful attention to balance is followed by both.
As a result of their age-old Yang-Yin theory, Chinese herbalists do not claim to cure anything. They simply work to support and assist Nature in her endeavor to heal the ailing organism. Since natural foods—e.g. |
Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman
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 But not only the elderly need to be concerned about a magnesium deficiency; also, diabetics, people on low-calorie diets, alcoholics, people with fat malabsorption problems, those who perform strenuous exercise and those who are taking prescribed heart medications need to be aware of their magnesium intakes and make sure that they are supplementing if they are deficient.
Animal studies suggest that the lower the levels of magnesium, the more rapidly the animal ages and the sooner it is likely to die. |
| Studies show that men with genitourinary problems tend to be zinc deficient and should be supplementing or eating foods rich in the mineral. In fact, a healthy prostate gland normally contains about 10 times more zinc than any other organ in the body! The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry reported that zinc prevents the hormonal action that causes prostate enlargement. Furthermore, it has an antibacterial factor that kills organisms causing urinary infections, and, aside from being critical to testosterone synthesis and sperm formation, zinc is essential to healthy prostate functioning. |
| Whitaker's patients, a 75-year-old woman named Elaine, had been supplementing with hGH for four months. She stated that she became much stronger, and was able to lift things that she previously depended on her husband to lift. The chronic back pain she used to have in the evenings was completely gone, and her overall energy level had increased substantially. She also reported that she was having sex with her husband more frequently, and enjoying it more now at 75 than she ever had.
Dr. |
| Many anti-aging experts are themselves supplementing with 100-200 meg a day.
MAGNESIUM: THE CALCIUM-LOVER'S FRIEND
"Animals starved of magnesium are nearly perfect specimens of accelerated aging," say French researchers, and the symptoms of a magnesium deficiency do indeed read like a catalog of the woes of old age: clogged arteries, irregular heartbeat, vulnerability to heart attack, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, resistance to insulin and the concomitant threat of diabetes. |
| As you learned in previous chapters, your chances for avoiding cancer also greatly improve by supplementing your diet with antioxidants and DNA-repairing nutrients such as those discussed in Chapter 9.
Diabetes, especially adult-onset diabetes, is also coming under control thanks to improved methods of early detection and endocrine stabilization and repair. Artificial pancreas and islet cell implants have already cured dozens of people with severe insulin-dependent diabetes. In fact, new glucose control medications should soon eliminate this disease as a major overall risk factor. |
| If you start supplementing your diet with a B-complex vitamin, a 1 cc injection from your physician may be your best bet, since it's concentrated enough to show fast, effective results. B-complex vitamins can also be purchased in capsule or tablet form from most health food stores, in doses as low as 50 mg to as high as 500 mg per vitamin.
THINK YOUNG, LIVE LONG
All the techniques described in this chapter have one thing in common: each requires a commitment to a full and happy life, taking time for pleasure in the day as well as using hours for achievement and obligation. |
Mark Bricklin
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| Folate, another B vitamin, is severely lacking in colitis patients and must be replaced by increasing dietary intake or by supplementing with folic acid. It seems that sulfasalazine, the most widely used drug for colitis, is responsible for folate malabsorption (New England Journal of Medicine, December 17, 1981).
One therapy that has given relief to many is Lactobacillus acidophilus, taken in either capsule or liquid form. Also, eating several small, frequent meals spread over the course of the day seems to be better than burdening the digestive system with three large meals. |
| In any event, several highly respected researchers have repeatedly shown that when laboratory animals are injected with cancer cells, supplementing their diet with a little extra selenium substantially lowers the subsequent tumor rate.
It's possible that selenium may have a special role in protecting against breast cancer. Gerhard N. Schrauzer, Ph.D., of the University of California at San Diego, discovered that as levels of selenium in the blood rise, breast cancer rates fall. Analyzing data from 17 countries, Dr. |
Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D.
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| Unless people are advised by their physicians to take DHEA, supplementing with this hormone is a buyer-beware decision," says Huber Warner Ph.D., acting associate director of the Biology of Aging Program at the National Institute of Aging in Bethesda. You can naturally boost DHEA levels by meditating.
Flax: Flaxseed is a rich source of the omega-3 fatty acids, which are low in people suffering from depression. No optimal dose has been established. To get the full benefits of flaxseed, choose the seeds or meal rather than the oil. |
Leo Galland
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 The activity of a group of lymphocytes known as "natural killer cells" is enhanced by a low-fat diet and diminished by a high-fat diet.70 supplementing a low-fat diet with omega-three essential fatty acids (EFAs) supports normal immune function by two additional mechanisms: (1) omega-three EFAs increase the activity of phagocytes (the white blood cells that consume and destroy bacteria); (2) EFAs inhibit excessive reactivity of the immune system in response to infection.71 This is crucial, because much of the damage associated with infection is caused by the immune system itself. |
Dr. Julian Whitaker
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| Crook, III, supplementing with PS took twelve years off these patients' ages, in terms of mental function. In other words, they performed as well on cognitive function tests as people twelve years younger!
In addition to this remarkable study, other clinical trials have shown that supplemental PS improves several components of cognitive function, including concentration, attention span, and memorization skills in individuals with minor memory impairment. |
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