Food and Nutrient
Deficiency of Vitamin B12 | Prevention and Treatment
Duration
With proper treatment, symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency begin to improve within days. In vegans and other people with vitamin B12 deficiency due to diet, oral supplements of vitamin B12 and a diet designed to increase consumption of vitamin B12 should cure this condition. People with pernicious anemia or people who can not absorb vitamin B12 from their intestines will need injections of vitamin B12 every three months or indefinitely.
Prevention
To prevent vitamin B12 deficiency, vegans should consume adequate amounts of vitamin B12 supplements to compensate for the deficiency in your diet.
For people who can not absorb vitamin B12, the condition can be prevented. However, once diagnosed, regular injections of vitamin B12 prevent recurrence of symptoms. Read the rest of this entry »
Deficiency of Vitamin B12 | Symptoms and Diagnosis
Symptoms
Symptoms tend to develop slowly and may not be recognized immediately. The most common symptoms include:
- weakness or fatigue
- dizziness and vertigo
- palpitations and rapid heartbeat
- shortness of breath
- sore throat and red fleshy
- nausea or poor appetite
- weight loss
- diarrhea
- yellowing of the skin and eyes
If low levels of vitamin B12 and remain for a long time, the condition can lead to irreparable damage of nerve cells, which can cause the following symptoms: Read the rest of this entry »
Deficiency of Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is needed to produce normal amounts of healthy red blood cells in the bone marrow. Vitamin B12 is present only in foods of animal origin (meat and dairy products) or yeast extracts (such as yeast). Is defined as a deficiency of vitamin B12 to B12 low levels stored in the body, which can cause anemia, a lower than normal number of red blood cells.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can develop for the following reasons:
Lack of intrinsic factor, also called pernicious anemia, intrinsic factor is a protein secreted by cells lining the stomach. Intrinsic factor attaches to vitamin B12 and moves to the intestines where it is absorbed. The absence of intrinsic factor is the most common cause of pernicious anemia. The absence of intrinsic factor is often associated with a condition called atrophic gastritis, a thinning of the stomach lining. Atrophic gastritis is more common in older African American or northern Europe. In these people, pernicious anemia comes about 60 years. In children, lower levels of intrinsic factor may be a hereditary condition. Read the rest of this entry »
Foods that benefit the brain
Eating smart way to feel better
We know that the food we eat affect our bodies, but could further influence the functioning of our brain. Thus, mood, motivation and mental performance depend largely on the diet.
The brain is extremely active from the metabolic viewpoint, hungry and, at the same time delicate. And, according to research, is becoming increasingly clear that the right foods (or natural neurochemicals they contain) can improve mental skills, improve concentration and motor and sensory skills, maintaining a motivated person greatly increase the memory, speed reaction times, ease stress and perhaps even prevent brain aging.
There is growing evidence that a diet rich in fatty foods and low in fruits and vegetables is not only bad for the heart and is associated with certain types of cancer, but can also cause depression and aggression. Read the rest of this entry »
Benefits of Broccoli
Broccoli may help prevent stomach cancer
According to an article in ScienceDaily, a small pilot study of 50 people, conducted in Japan suggests that eating about 70g of broccoli sprouts daily for two months may confer some protection against a proliferating stomach bacteria that causes gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer.
The study indicates that a dose of broccoli sprouts daily reduces more than 40% the level of HpSA, a highly specific indicator of the presence of components of H. pylori expelled in the stool of infected persons. No changes in the level of HpSA in subjects who took control alfalfa sprouts. The HpSA levels returned to pretreatment levels eight weeks after that people would stop making broccoli sprouts, suggesting that although reducing the colonization of H. pylori, not eradicate the bacteria. Read the rest of this entry »
Food to Fight Dementia
In recent years have come to light some interesting clues on the subject, including the idea that it might be beneficial to reduce the intake of calories. It seems that reducing our caloric intake third, mainly by reducing portion sizes, you can improve performance in memory tests.
This could be because weight loss lowers insulin levels, which possibly leads to less inflammation in the brain insulin, which is what causes the damage and memory loss. This does not mean you have to start a diet like crazy, because even a high body mass index leads to a worse performance on tests of memory, orientation, attention and calculation, as does a low body index. Ideally, a middle, and our body weight is within a healthy body mass index.
A mainly Mediterranean-style diet may help protect against dementia. This means basing meals and snacks in a lot of vegetables and fruits, legumes and whole grains, plus some oily fish and other seafood. These diets include small amounts of red meat (a couple of small meals a week) and dairy products like butter and cream, along with moderate amounts of alcohol (often red wine) and unsaturated fats like olive oil. Read the rest of this entry »
Effects of Omega-3 on Children’s Academic Performance
A new Swedish study suggests that children who eat more fish get better grades.
Certain fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are related to coronary health benefits and is known to help complete the development of premature babies girl, but said the effect was the same in the case of babies premature child. The new evidence supports the idea that these simple acids may actually contribute to enhance children’s brain afterwards in his life, when they reach adolescence and are thinking about college.
Almost 5,000 participants, all of 15 years, ate fish more than once a week for a period of three years. At age 15, children completed detailed questionnaires about their lives and their eating habits and, later, at 18, performed a standard intelligence test. After analyzing all the data, results, published in the journal Acta Pediatric, suggest that omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish like salmon, albacore tuna and mackerel improve scores on tests in later years of his life. Read the rest of this entry »
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Nuts’ Benefits to The Elderly
A new animal model study, funded by the ARS (Agricultural Research Service) U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates that the addition of a moderate amount of walnuts to a healthy diet and may help elderly improve their performance on tasks requiring motor and behavioral skills.
Walnuts contain polyphenols and other antioxidants and essential fatty acids.
The study, conducted by researchers at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, has been published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
With aging, the brain undergoes many changes that can lead to alterations or damage to neuronal functioning. These disorders can be attributed in part to alterations in “synaptic plasticity” or ability of the connections between neurons to change in function and strength, and also to an increase in oxidative damage to neuronal tissue. In rodents aged, these injuries are seen in their poor performance on tests of balance, coordination and memory “space”. Read the rest of this entry »
Foods that help the brain
There is no denying that our body ages us chronologically, but the latest research indicates that we can increase the chances of maintaining a healthy brain to an age well into incorporating these foods into our daily diet:
Blueberries: In animal studies, researchers have found that blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the effects of aging-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. Studies also suggest that a diet rich in blueberries significantly increases learning capacity and motor skills of aging rats and may be compared to other mentally much younger rats.
Wild Salmon: Salmon is rich in essential fatty acids omega-3 fatty acids, which contain anti-inflammatory substances and are essential for brain function are also found in other fatty fish and some specially modified products. Read the rest of this entry »
Recommendations to Strengthen Defenses
Recommendations to strengthen our defenses:
- Eat a varied diet based on fresh and rich in vitamins and minerals.
- Resorting to the baths of alternating temperature (cold, hot) that stimulate blood and lymph circulation and strengthens the body.
- Use, if necessary, herbs that help boost immunity (echinacea, thyme, rose hips, garlic, black currant leaves, buckthorn, etc.)..
- Sleep enough hours to support the proper functioning of our immune system.
- Perform regular physical activity of moderate intensity (brisk walking, swimming, biking, etc.).. Read the rest of this entry »
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