A Yogurt A Day Can Help Keep the Doctor Away

Yogurt is often a recommended as a health food by many practitioners of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. There are many types of yogurt Swiss-style /Stirred Yogurt, Balkan-style / Set-style Yogurt, Greek-style Yogurt, Low-fat, Fat –free, Kefir, Lassi to name but a few. It is also a source of best vitamins and supplements as yoghurt contains:

• Calcium
• Vitamin A, D, B2 and B12
• Potassium
• Magnesium

Yogurt is recommended as food and nutrition advice for several medical conditions as stated in the Apple A Day Rx evidenced- based medicine smartphone health app.

A complementary medicine research study from the US has been recently reported that women who regularly eat yoghurt are less likely to develop high blood pressure. The research study was presented at the recent American Heart Association's Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions.

The Boston research team concluded that women eating five or more portions of yoghurt had a 20% lower risk of high blood pressure. However, this result was not seen in the cohort of men involved in the study; it was further reported that this cohort did not consume much yoghurt. The researchers also stated that regular consumption of milk and cheese was beneficial in reducing risk. The study’s lead author Justin Buendia commented, "No one food is a magic bullet, but adding yogurt to an otherwise healthy diet seems to help reduce the long-term risk of high blood pressure in women"

Future research could help determine the most effective type of yogurt as in some Traditional medicine therapies high–fat yoghurt is contraindicated for some conditions while indicated for others. This is indicative that lifestyle advice and nutritional guidelines should be tailored to the individual.

However, many newspapers who have reported this story have omitted an important factor that the women in this study were also DASH compliant. DASH represents the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan which includes eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans, other low-fat dairy and whole grains. So while yogurt may contribute to lowering hypertension, there are other contributing factors that need to considered in the final evaluation of this study.

Too Much or Too Little Vitamin D Supplementation Can Be Bad for Health

Around 1 in 4 Australians are Vitamin D deficient. Therefore selecting best quality vitamin and supplements is essential, especially so as there many brands available from pharmacies, health food stores and supermarkets, but these are not always reliable supplements. So here are 4 golden rules in selecting the best Vitamin D supplement.

Rule 1
There is good clinical evidence indicating that both high and low levels of Vitamin D are associated with increased health risks. If you check out the smartphone health app Apple A Day RX you will see displayed a number of disease where low levels of Vitamin D are implicated. The most sensible advice is to get your Vitamin D levels checked via a blood test and then seek assistance from a healthcare practitioner in selecting the dosage of Vitamin D. Unless guided avoid taking more than 1,000 IU per day ( unless advised) and beware of symptoms of Vitamin D toxicity such as nausea and weakness.

Rule 2
Soft gels, powders, liquids and capsules are the best form of Vitamin D to take as they are easily absorbed into the system, whereas coated pills may not disintegrate in the stomach resulting in little or no absorption.

Rule 3
There are 2 different forms of Vitamin D:

• Vitamin D2 also known as Ergocalciferol
• Vitamin D3 also known as Choleciferol

Vitamin D2 is produced by fungi and plants, when they are exposed to the sun. Vitamin D2 is available in its synthetic form and though it helps the body absorb calcium and build strong bones, it is not as potent and potent and effective in humans than D3. Heaney et al published a complementary research study in 2010 which revealed that D3 is approximately 87% more potent in raising and maintaining Vitamin D levels in the body and produces 2 to 3-fold greater storage of vitamin D than the same concentration of Vitamin D2. Therefore, the Vitamin D3 is the preferred treatment option when correcting vitamin D deficiency.

Rule 4
Vitamin D3 is best taken after meals to enhance absorption.

Following these four basic rules will help you get the best out of your Vitamin D supplement. However, it is always best to seek the advice from a CAM practitioner as they will guide you to take the most effective and safe therapeutic dosage and advise on intake duration.

Natural treatments for Depression

 

There is a progressive increase in people suffering from depression and an accompanying growth of prescription drugs to treat the disorder. In the smartphone health app Apple A Day RX, S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) is indicated as a possible treatment for some forms of depression. It goes without saying, that there is still a requirement for the continued development of anti-depression drugs that are better tolerated and have minimal side effects. One promising candidate is S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe), which is a naturally occurring molecule.

SAMe is found throughout the human body, and in high concentrations in the liver, adrenal glands, and pineal gland. SAMe also appears to be uniformly distributed in the brain, where it acts as the major donor of methyl groups required in the synthesis of neuronal messengers and membranes.

A 2010 complementary medicine research paper published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, revealed that SAMe, at a dose of 800 mg/twice daily, can be an effective, well-tolerated, and safe adjunctive treatment strategy for SRI nonresponders with major depressive disorder.

Possible mechanisms of actions of SAMe include:

• influencing the turnover of dopamine and serotonin
• crossing the blood brain barrier making it efficacious
• increasing monoamine synthesis
• effecting brain neurotrophic activity, inflammatory cytokines, cell membrane fluidity, and bioenergetics

Further large scale clinical trials are required to determine it efficacy of SAMe in the treatment of major depressive disorders. The possibility arises that SAMe could be an important Integrative Medicine resource for treating depression, it can be strategically used along with Complementary and Alternative Medicine(CAM) therapies such as Acupuncture, CBT, Kinesiology, Homeopathy and Lifeline Technique to name but a few.