Can supplements boost academic performance?

Can supplements boost academic performance?

Academic performance is an area of child health where nutrition has a major role. A study of primary school children has confirmed that supplements of the Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and flax seed oils) could take them from bottom of the class to the top in just two school terms.

The results of The Durham Trial state that more than 40% of children could benefit from essential fatty acid (EFA) supplements. The study, which involved a dozen primary schools, concludes that children given these ‘brain food’ supplements register dramatic improvements in reading age and numeracy.

Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for normal brain development, but these EFAs are seriously lacking in modern diets and deficiencies are thought to be common.

Dr Madeleine Portwood, a psychologist with Durham education authority who led the research told the Sunday Times newspaper that: “We had nine-year olds go from a reading age of eight up to 13.”

The Food Standards Agency recommends salmon, trout and mackerel for people looking to increase their intake of fish oils. It warned recently, however, that some fish can contain high levels of toxic chemicals such as mercury and dioxin. Omega-3s can also be obtained from Flax Seed Oil, which children may find more palatable.

Viridian Nutrition has developed a pleasant-tasting 100% organic Omega-3 oil from pressed seeds, viridiKid Organic Omega-3 Oil is additive-free and naturally flavoured with organic vanilla and orange.

Exercise Your Brain

The human brain works best with suitable physical exercise, diet, sleep

Dependent upon what technology prevailed supreme at the moment, the human mind has been compared to a telegraph, a Television and a computer.

But it really is additionally a three-pound, flesh-and-blood human organ, and along with One hundred billion neurons, a very challenging one at that. Even though it contains only 2 percent of the body’s weight, it utilizes 20 % of its oxygen and a most of its blood sugar.

It makes sense that a biochemical factory that complicated will probably work best with correct care and nourishing, even in young and healthy university students.

The brain begins out with some built-in advantages. Not only is it encased in a sturdy skull, but a set of cells regarded as the blood-brain barrier keeps many bacteria and other dangerous chemicals out of the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord.

The brain additionally gets first call on a lot of vitamins and nutrients, says Simon Evans, a University of Michigan neuroscientist who authored the book “BrainFit for Life: A User’s Guide to Life-Long Brain Health and Fitness”.

Even so, college students however will need to pay particular attention to their own diets, exercises and sleep habits, most of which play important roles in basic brain wellness, Dr. Evans says.

In reality, taking care of your mind when you are in your late teens and early 20s will probably pay lifelong benefits, he and some other professionals say.

The human brain continues to form new internal connections throughout youth, adolescence and early adulthood, they say. While the peak demand for brain-boosting nutrition is from 4 to 8 years of age, the process continues into the college years, says Robert Clark, a brain researcher and chief of paediatric critical care medicine at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

“There is an idea out there that if you produce a lot of new neurons when you’re young, that once they are there, they are there for good,” adds Henriette Van Praag, a brain researcher with the National Institute on Aging.

Sleep is one commodity that university scholars often short-change, and that not only can impact their thinking ability, but their memory, their development and even their weight, Dr. Evans says.

Research has shown that sleep is when the actual day’s memories tend to be consolidated in the mind. It is additionally when the body secretes most of its growth hormone, which is why kids that don’t get enough sleep tend to be smaller than average, he says. Sleep is also a time when the entire body uses energy from body fat cells, which is one explanation of why too little sleep is linked with obesity, Dr. Evans says.

Exercise doesn’t just build muscles, burn off fat and increase heart and lung capacity. It additionally makes the brain smarter.

That’s one result of studies done by Dr. Van Praag and others on rodents which use treadmills and carry out learning tasks.

After training mice to press their noses against icons on a pc screen to obtain a sugar pellet, her team separated them into two communities — one that was inactive and the other which got plenty of treadmill exercises.

The mice that worked out were not just much better at pressing the right symbols and learning to negotiate a labyrinth, but were faster to adjust when researchers altered the image which gave the reward, she says.

When the researchers analysed the mice brains later, they discovered that the populations which worked out had developed brand-new neurons within a crucial area of the hippocampus, a brain region engaged in memory and learning, and that the number of new neurons correlated perfectly with how well the mice executed the tests.

While she is wary about extrapolating her results to humans, Dr. Van Praag says that the exercise-induced brain development in mice seems to be connected to substances that flow into the brain in the bloodstream, specifically one called insulin-like growth factor.

On the dietary front, college students’ bodies are fairly good at supplying energy to the brain. “Anybody who can take an Extra Value Meal at McDonald’s and convert it into something useful has a pretty sophisticated digestive system,” says Dr. Clark.

That does not mean a balanced diet is pointless, though, the experts say.

Like the remainder of the body, the brain benefits when a person’s eating habits offers a correct proportion of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Americans tend to eat too much Omega-6, which is common in vegetable oils and can shrink blood vessels and cause inflammation, Dr. Evans says, while Omega-3, found most famously in fish oil, is anti-inflammatory.

Dr. Clark has discovered in his personal investigation that when the brain is deprived of nutrition, it starts to consume itself to survive, a process recognized as autophagy.

The identical thing happens in the course of starvation in the remainder of the body, he says, but the effects are not as serious. If you’re sick and don’t eat, you will lose muscle mass, he says, “but after a couple of weeks you’ll be returning to your previous self. But if that occurs to the brain it can be kind of catastrophic, and can kill off neurons.

That sort of brain stress doesn’t happen easily with college students, he remarks, but it is possible, in particular with students that drink too much.

“It used to be thought that alcoholic beverages will kill brain cells because of its chemical nature, Dr. Clark states, “but it’s likely it has much more to do with swapping alcohol for other nutrition.

“To maximize your educational potential, he adds, “you want to possess a balanced diet. In general, it is pretty tough to be malnourished in America, but if you include an additional stress — you’re anorexic or most of your calories are arising by alcohol or you get sick — that’s when the brain is very susceptible to nutritional errors.

Exercise, eating habits and sleep are not simply about preserving neurons — they also increase the wellness of the remainder of the human brain, the cells known as white matter.

They get that title from the fatty myelin sheaths that safeguard neurons linking one brain area to another. Just like the insulation on an electric cable, myelin can hasten up brain transmissions a hundredfold, says R. Douglas Fields, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health and author of a new book, “The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries About the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science.”

White matter in the brain doesn’t just help link together brain regions, he says. Emerging research shows it additionally helps the brain fight off infections, regulates the chemical substances that the neurons use to function and can also stimulate the development of brand new neurons and blood vessels within the brain.

One study showing the significance of white matter was the evaluation of autopsy slices from Albert Einstein’s brain, he says. Much to the scientists’ surprise, the famous physicist did not have any more gray matter neurons than other people, but his brain did have a much denser network of white matter.

There is one other thing to keep in mind, says Michigan’s Dr. Evans. Whether it’s gray matter or white matter, all those cells are active all the time.

“The brain is an electrochemical organ, he says, “and it’s always on. Even when you’re sleeping it’s re-charging hormones which have been depleted during the day. The brain is at constant, almost full tilt.”

Daily Dose of Nuts Reduces Cancer Risk

Daily Dose of Nuts Reduces Cancer Risk

December 10, 2009

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A diet that incorporates a daily dose of pistachios may help reduce the risk of lung and other cancers.

“It is known that vitamin E provides a degree of protection against certain forms of cancer,” Ladia M. Hernandez, M.S., R.D., L.D., senior research dietitian in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, was quoted as saying. Higher intakes of gamma-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E, may reduce the risk of lung cancer.

“Pistachios are a good source of gamma-tocopherol,” said Hernandez. “Eating them increases intake of gamma-tocopherol so pistachios may help to decrease lung cancer risk.”

Pistachios are known to be heart-healthy. They have a cholesterol-lowering effect and provide the antioxidants typically found in food products of plant origin. Hernandez and colleagues conducted a six-week, controlled clinical trial to determine whether the consumption of pistachios would increase serum levels of gamma-tocopherol.

“Because epidemiologic studies suggest gamma-tocopherol is protective against prostate cancer, pistachio intake may help,” she said. “Other food sources that are a rich source of gamma-tocopherol include nuts such as peanuts, pecans, walnuts, soybean and corn oils.”

The study, conducted at Texas Woman’s University — Houston Center, included 36 healthy participants who were randomized into either a control group or the intervention group, which ate a pistachio diet. After an initial baseline period, the intervention group was given about 2 ounces of pistachios per day. The control group continued with their normal diet.

Hernandez and colleagues found a significant increase in energy-adjusted dietary intake of gamma-tocopherol at weeks three and four in those on the pistachio diet. For those on the pistachio diet, cholesterol-adjusted serum gamma-tocopherol was significantly higher at the end of the intervention period.

“Pistachios are one of those ‘good-for-you’ nuts, and 2 ounces per day could be incorporated into dietary strategies designed to reduce the risk of lung cancer without significant changes in body mass index,” said Hernandez.

SOURCE: Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Houston, TX, December 6-9, 2009

Reference: http://ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=23047

What Are the Symptoms of Low Vitamin D

What are the symptoms of low vitamin D

This article is long and technical but in essence if you value your health then you probably need to be taking food rich in Vitamin D or a supplement with high levels of Vitamin D. For a list of foods with Vitamin D please register for our updates. WE will be publishing a list of Vitamin D rich foods and a list of the best supplements in the next few days.

A clinical observation published in April 2000 in the Archives of Internal Medicine caught my attention. Dr. Anu Prabhala and his colleagues reported on the treatment of five patients confined to wheelchairs with severe weakness and fatigue. Blood tests revealed that all suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency. The patients received 50,000 IU vitamin D per week and all became mobile within six weeks.

Dr. Prabhala’s research sparked my interest and led to a search for current information on vitamin D, how it works, how much we really need and how we get it. The following is a small part of the important information that I found.

Any discussion of vitamin D must begin with the discoveries of the Canadian-born dentist Weston A. Price. In his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price noted that the diet of isolated, so-called “primitive” peoples contained “at least ten times” the amount of “fat-soluble vitamins” as the standard American diet of his day. Dr. Price determined that it was the presence of plentiful amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A and D in the diet, along with calcium, phosphorus and other minerals, that conferred such high immunity to tooth decay and resistance to disease in non-industrialized population groups. Continue Reading…

Do we have a killer on the loose in Ukraine?

Much of the talk in the last few months has been about a swine flu vaccines and the after effects and side effects. An area that has been ignored is the long feared possible mutation of H1N1 with another virus leading to a nightmare scenario. Just this week I’ve become aware of a potential problem in the Ukraine.

The hitherto mild symptoms associated with H1N1 may have been replaced by what appears to be a mutated virus that actually seems to be killing many people. The virus is still under examination here in the UK and I’m hopeful that the results will be made public later this week.

The sad thing is that none of the treatments currently being purchased by governments at a cost of billions of dollars are either appropriate or effective. TamiFlu and other post infection treatments are seemingly ineffective and because this may be mutated virus it is highly likely that the vaccine that has been purchased will be completely ineffective.

There are however some very simple things that we can do to improve the performance of our immune system:

• increase vitamin D. intake to something in the regional 5000
• increase the amount of biologically active sugars we are consuming
• Add foods that are named to support the immune system i.e. garlic, only leaf extract, echinacea,

Prevention must be our first port of call but when this virus hits we need to have a well regulated immune system.

http://ukraineplague.blogspot.com

Olive Oil

In the 1930s comic strip “Popeye,” Olive Oil was portrayed as a skinny weakling, a perpetual damsel in distress who couldn’t survive without her Popeye coming to the rescue. But in the health world, olive oil is no nutritional weakling.

Besides being one of the best sources to go to for a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat – a key nutrient for lowering cholesterol levels – olive oil is something of a medical marvel. It’s always been known as a healthy oil, but only recently have we come to know just what it is specifically about olive oil that makes it so darn healthy.

For starters, olive oil – particularly extra virgin olive oil – is very high in antioxidants, one in particular called DHPEA-EDA. When researchers exposed red blood cells under oxidative stress to this and other antioxidants, they found that the DHPEA-EDA provided the best “stress-alleviation,” if you will, fighting off the free radicals to a greater extent than the three other antioxidant compounds used in the study.

Writing in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, the researchers say their findings give nutritionists the first glimpse of what makes olive oil so medically marvelous. But a new study linking extra virgin olive oil to Alzheimer’s disease prevention suggests there’s even more to olive oil than meets the eye.

It’s called oleocanthal, and it’s a natural compound found in rich supply in extra virgin olive oil. Some say oleocanthal is what gives olive oil its “peppery bite,” but the only bite researchers were recently concerned with was whether it could take a bite out of Alzheimer’s disease.

The answer? You bet it can!

Writing in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, researchers said the oleocanthal in olive oil binds to toxic proteins that clog the synapses on the hippocampus, which is the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease onset. The hippocampus is the section of the brain that’s most adversely affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, this study was not clinical, but researchers believe that future studies investigating olive oil’s ties to Alzheimer’s prevention will include humans. In the meantime, if history is any guide, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if yet another study comes out pointing to yet another aspect of olive oil that makes it so medically marvelous.

It is generally recommended that people consume about two tablespoons worth of olive oil for maximum health benefit. And to reap the benefits of as many antioxidants as possible, purchase extra virgin olive oil, being sure to store it in an area that’s not well lit. A study published in New Scientist found that extra virgin olive oils lost at least 30 percent of their antioxidant content after one year of storage in a well-lit area.

Respiratory Infections

Question: I work in a school and regularly pick up respiratory infections through the winter, what can I do to avoid this?

The answer is three-fold – firstly wash your hands a lot, next boost your immune system with vitamin C and Echinacea tincture, then add an extra layer of protection with a barrier throat spray.

Hand washing throughout the day has been shown to significantly reduce the spread of infections. Throughout the day you accumulate germs on your hands from a variety of sources, such as direct contact with people, contaminated surfaces and foods. If you don’t wash your hands frequently enough, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. And you can spread these germs to others by touching them or by touching surfaces that they also touch, such as doorknobs.

Infectious diseases commonly spread through hand-to-hand contact include the common cold, flu and several gastrointestinal disorders, such as infectious diarrhoea. While most people will get over a cold, the flu is much more serious. Some people with the flu, particularly older adults and people with chronic medical problems, can develop pneumonia. The combination of the flu and pneumonia is a serious condition which can lead to death in the elderly. Continue Reading…

Biomarker 5 – Aerobic Capacity

Aerobic capacity is your body’s ability to process oxygen within a given time. That is:

1. to rapidly breathe amounts of air into the lungs for aeration of the blood;

2. to deliver large volumes of blood forcefully via the pumping action of the heart; and

3. to transport effectively oxygen to all parts of your body through the bloodstream.

To do these things efficiently, you need healthy lungs, a powerful heart, and a good vascular network. In short, the focus here is on your:

• heart

• lungs

• circulatory mechanisms

So how do you look after your heart:

Following a few simple rules can significantly decrease your chances of developing heart disease.

DIET

1. Limit intake of trans fats and hydrogenated oils found in margarine, fast food, fried food, Avoid Processed Foods

2. Limit refined sugar intake from cakes, cookies, candy, etc for a healthy sugar alternative try trehalose

3. Use extra virgin olive oil and garlic in cooking – they can lower cholesterol – so can a diet rich in plant stanols

4. Add Omega 3 Fatty Acids to your diet – the best source is Fish Oil – but make sure it is pure

EXERCISE

Developing a gentle but consistent exercise program will also lower your risk of heart disease.

1. Try to exercise 3-4 times per week, for at least a half hour at a time.

2. Keep your routine going, and start off slow.

3. Always stretch before and after training.

4. Keep yourself hydrated and rest between sets.

DEVELOP A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

1. Stop smoking and avoid second hand smoke – both are major causes of heart disease.

2. Limit your intake of alcohol – excessive alcohol can deplete your body’s supply of vitamins and other nutrients.

3. Try to reduce stress and anxiety – they can lead to high blood pressure and other health conditions.

4. Keep your weight within recommended limits – obesity is a leading cause of heart disease.

FOUR BIOMARKERS

1. This may be contentious but it’s based on sound science. Cholesterol is an over emphasised biomarker and the evidence that artificially lower it with drugs is not supported in my opinion. You can lower cholesterol naturally but remember, only 20% of your cholesterol comes from what you eat, the other 80% is manufactured by your liver.

2. If your triglyceride (fat) levels are too high, lower your carbohydrate and refined sugar (sucrose actually) intake. Also, fish oil, Vitamin C, are safe natural ways to lower triglyceride levels.

3. If your homocysteine levels are high, you can easily normalize the situation by including B Vitamins in your diet:

1. Folic Acid – also known as Vitamin B9, folic acid can help the body produce the enzymes necessary to remove homocysteine from the blood.

2. Vitamin B6 – along with folic acid and Vitamin B12, helps reduce homocysteine levels.

3. Vitamin B12 – works with folic acid and Vitamin B6 to assist in homocysteine removal.

4. If your C Reactive Protein levels are high, this indicates inflammation in the body. A change of lifestyle is helpful here and Fish oil, ginger and MSM will help decrease inflammation naturally. Also a supplement containing peptide chains that reduce the level of Angio Tensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) are helpful.

HELPING THE LUNGS

1. Stop smoking

2. use your lungs – breath deeply – this simple tip is often overlooked

3. reduce the time spent in areas with airborne contamination – cities, smoky atmospheres

CIRCULATION

The 3 best things you can do to aid circulation are:

1. to drink more water

2. reduce your body fat content

3. exercise

Biomarker 1 – Benefits of good muscle and bone

A strong, toned musculature makes all sorts of wonderful contributions to your overall well-being. A high ratio of muscle to fat on the body:

• causes the metabolism to rise, meaning you can more easily burn body fat and alter your body composition even further in favour of beneficial muscle tissue.
• increases your aerobic capacity-and the health of your whole cardiovascular system-because you have more working muscles -consuming oxygen.
• triggers muscle to use more insulin, thus greatly reducing the chances you’ll ever develop diabetes.
• helps maintain higher levels of the beneficial HDL-cholesterol in your blood.

So how do you get better bones and muscles.

1. Simple exercise – walking is free but invaluable – you don’t need to join a gym and we can all do it
   • cyclic loading of bones is a key antidote to osteoporosis
   • eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables (note not cooked) for calcium
2. Simple strength training with small weights – can of beans is a good place to start
   • sit in a chair watching television and just do simple arm raises – holing the bean can and doing it slowly
   • again sitting – raise the leg horizontal and hold for a count of 5 and gently lower – repeat 10 times
   • remember it is not the size of the weights that’s important but the number of times you repeat it

Vaccines – HPV – Brain Injury – Cervarix

As you know we’ve been following 2 vaccine related threads for some weeks. One of them is the swine flu H1N1 vaccine which has yet to be tested fully and the more pressing one is the HPV Vaccine to allegedly protects against cervical cancer. We’ve seen one tragic death, not caused by the vaccine, but which probably triggered a crisis that exposed another problem (cancer in this case) and now we’ve seen what appears to be a case where Cervarix caused such severe swelling of the brain that a girl ended up in hospital with what looks like a severe brain injury.

As the cervical cancer vaccine continues to maim or kill even more teenage girls across the UK, 18-year-old Stacey Jones is the latest victim to suffer severe harm. Previously in a state of apparent health, Stacey began to suffer severe seizures and brain inflammation within days after receiving the Cervarix vaccine injection. The swelling of her brain was so severe that it cause permanent brain damage, and today Stacey Jones is an “empty shell” of a girl. Continue Reading…