Posts filed under ‘Vitamins’

A Lack Of Vitamins

Everyone knows that the human body needs a certain amount of vitamins and minerals everyday to function properly and remain healthy. A well balanced diet can supply your body with the vitamins it needs, although problems and disorders can arise if your diet doesn’t supply your body with the vitamins it needs. The symptoms of vitamin deficiency will normally present themselves when the lack of vitamins is at an advanced level.

Those who don’t get enough of vitamins A, B1, and B2 for example, will always feel tired, along with a loss of appetite. Other symptoms include mental and emotional stress, chapped lips, and other annoying or painful habits. (more…)

May 27, 2010 at 5:07 PM Leave a comment

Vitamin C skin care – The challenge

Vitamin C is often regarded as a wrinkle fighter or an anti-aging agent. The main objective of ‘Vitamin C skin care’, in scientific terms, is to increase the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein that is found in skin).  The additional benefit of ‘Vitamin C skin care’ is related to its capability of countering free radicals which cause damage to the skin.

Vitamin C skin care, however, faces a major challenge today. This is related to the oxidation tendency of Vitamin C skin care products. On coming in contact with any oxidising agent (e.g. air), the Vitamin C in the Vitamin C skin care products,  gets oxidised; thus making the Vitamin C skin care product useless (in fact counter-effective). The oxidised Vitamin C imparts a yellowish-brown colour to the Vitamin C skin care product. This is something that you need to check before buying a Vitamin C skin care product. Even after you buy a Vitamin C skin care product, you need to store it properly and keep checking that it’s still good to use (i.e. it hasn’t attained a yellowish-brown texture).

The manufacturers of Vitamin C skin care products have tried to deal with this (oxidation) problem in multiple ways (and research on Vitamin C skin care products is on the top of their list). One such method of retaining effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products for a long term is to keep a high concentration (say 10%) of Vitamin C. However, this makes the Vitamin C skin care products even more expensive. The Vitamin C skin care products are already pretty inexpensive and making them even more expensive will throw the product manufacturers out of business. The other way is to use Vitamin C derivatives (like ascorbyl palmitate and magnesium ascorbyl phosphate). These are not only more stable but also inexpensive.  Even though the derivatives based products are not as effective as the Vitamin C skin care products, their stability against oxidation is a very desirable feature that makes them very attractive.  Moreover, these are known to be less irritating too.

Talking of effectiveness of Vitamin C skin care products, it’s important to mention that not everyone responds to Vitamin C treatments. So it’s not a magic potion in any way.  If you don’t see a noticeable difference in your skin, it might be because of your skin not responding to Vitamin C treatment (and the Vitamin C skin care products might not be at fault, at all).

As more research goes on, one can only keep our fingers crossed and wait for a complete solution to the challenges faced by ‘Vitamin C skin care’ today.

April 8, 2010 at 8:33 PM Leave a comment

Healthy Hair Vitamins

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There a number of different specific hair vitamins and minerals that can play a major role in helping a person have a healthy head of hair. If a person does not have sufficient hair vitamins then the deficiencies can lead to thinning hair or even total baldness in the most severe cases. The fact is that the state of a person’s hair reflects the overall condition of their body. Extra hair vitamins are likely to be needed if a person is generally unwell or is undernourished as their hair will show damage too and may even stop growing.
Some of the most important hair vitamins that a person needs to have healthy hair include B6, biotin, inositol and folic acid. The best way to ensure that a person receives enough of these essential hair vitamins are for them to be taken as vitamin supplements. It is not just hair vitamins that are necessary for healthy hair though as there are a number of minerals that are essential, including magnesium, sulphur, silica and zinc.

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The most essential hair vitamin is vitamin a but the best form of this is to include in the diet is beta-carotene. This is because the hair vitamin A can be toxic if consumed in large quantities but beta-carotene has no such problems and is converted by the body into vitamin A that can be used to promote healthy hair. Of course, vitamin A is not just a hair vitamin, it is also needed for a number of other functions including normal growth of bones, skin, nails and the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres.
Protein is another essential hair vitamin. This is because hair itself is essentially protein. The amount of this hair vitamin that a person consumes in their diet can affect the hair directly. If a lot of protein is included in a person’s diet then this hair vitamin will lead to improved hair growth and a far fuller head of hair. However, a person who has a diet that is lacking in this hair vitamin will suffer from thinning hair and slow hair growth.
Of course, it is not just hair vitamins and minerals that are needed to ensure that a person has healthy, strong hair. There are a number of researchers who have found that there are direct links between the overall health of a person and the condition of their hair. If a person is under a lot of stress or suffers from a lack of sleep then their hair is also likely to suffer and it is likely that their diet will not provide enough hair vitamins to counter these effects. Hair vitamin and mineral supplements can be the solution to weak and damaged hair.
Nobody wants to lose hair then, it’s easy do and is definitely worth it! Take care of the one you have and make them strong.

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February 2, 2010 at 4:52 PM 1 comment

Vitamin C, Vital for your healthy body

Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins for your body.  It prevents a lot of diseases, and increases your body’s immune system.  You can take this vitamin with or without any food, as it can be found in supplement form or in many different juices.  Along with being found in supplement and vitamin form, you can find vitamin C in broccoli, peppers, oranges, lemon juice, mustard greens, cauliflower, papaya, and parsley.
Research in the past has shown that there really aren’t any advantages to taking excessive amounts of this vitamin.  Even though you shouldn’t take excessive amounts of vitamin C, you shouldn’t have a deficiency in the vitamin either.  The most common signs of a deficiency in vitamin C include swollen gums, an unexplained weakness, and nosebleeds.  Deficiency is common these days, with the most common reasons being alcoholism and a poor diet.
Tendons and ligaments throughout your body need vitamin C in order to remain healthy and strong.  Depending on your current health situation, it may be in your best interest to take vitamin C supplements along with vitamin E.  Together, the combination of the two will work side by side, and enhance their overall impact on your body and your health.
Vitamin C is well known as an antioxidant, protecting your skin from the harmful damage of UV rays.  If you skin suffers from radiation damage, vitamin C can actually help your skin to recover and reverse some of the harmful effects.  If you include vitamin C in your diet and take it every day, you’ll notice that your skin will benefit.  If you use vitamin E and C together, you’ll notice that scars and other harmful defects on your skin will start to heal as well.
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You can find vitamin C in many fruits and vegetables, although oranges will give you the most amounts.  Orange juice is a great way to get your daily dose ofvitamin C , as all you need to do is drink a few glasses of it a day.  Even if you drink a glass of orange juice in the morning with your breakfast then eat a few oranges during the day, you’ll get more than enough vitamin C.
If you want to get more vitamin C in your diet, you can use vitamin supplements.  When you look for supplements at the store, you should read the labels and see how much vitamin C is in the supplement, and how it works.  You should avoid time released supplements of vitamin C, as they haven’t been proven to work as well yet.  As long as you monitor your intake of vitamin C and use it on a daily basis, you’ll find that your health and immune system will be better than ever.
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January 27, 2010 at 7:48 PM Leave a comment


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