Know About Vitamin B12

Dear Readers,

               Its very nice to see few emails about the article & question which readers are sending regarding the old topics in the blog, Thanks for all the readers. In the present post i am writing about Vitamin B12.
After read this article you will get to know the following topics about vitamin B12

What is Vitamin B12?
What is the importance of Vitamin B12?
What is the minimum recommended intake?
What are the sources of Vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 is a member of the vitamin B complex. It contains cobalt, and so is also known as cobalamin is unique. It differs from other vitamins, even from others of the B complex, in many ways. It has a chemical structure much more complex than that of any other vitamin. It's the only vitamin to contain an inorganic element (the mineral cobalt) as an integral part of its makeup. And only microorganisms and bacteria can make vitamin B12 -- plants and animals can't.

An abnormally low level of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a factor in many disorders. The absorption of dietary vitamin B12 occurs in the small intestine and requires a secretion from the stomach known as intrinsic factor. If intrinsic factor is deficient, absorption of vitamin B12 is severely diminished. Vitamin B12 deficiency impairs the body’s ability to make blood, accelerates blood cell destruction, and damages the nervous system. The result is pernicious anemia (PA). In the classical definition, PA refers only to B12 deficiency anemia caused by a lack of intrinsic factor. True PA is probably an autoimmune disease. The immune system destroys cells in the stomach that secrete intrinsic factor. Many people with PA have both chronic inflammation of the stomach lining, called atrophic gastritis, and antibodies that fight their intrinsic factor-secreting cells.

The term pernicious anemia is sometimes used colloquially to refer to any anemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 deficiency can be due to malabsorption of dietary B12 despite normal levels of intrinsic factor. For example, celiac disease and Crohn’s disease may cause B12 malabsorption, which can lead to anemia. Less common causes of B12 deficiency include gastrointestinal surgery, pancreatic disease, intestinal parasites, and certain drugs. Pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, and advanced stages of cancer may increase the body’s requirement for B12, sometimes leading to a deficiency state.

Low stomach acid, known as hypochlorhydria, interferes with the absorption of B12 from food but not from supplements. Aging is associated with a decrease in the normal secretion of stomach acid. As a result, some older people with normal levels of intrinsic factor and with no clear cause for malabsorption will become vitamin B12-deficient unless they take at least a few micrograms per day of vitamin B12 from supplements.

Daily Vitamins with good amount of Vitamin B12 please click here

Caution: PA is a serious medical condition. When fatigue, often the first symptom of PA, is present, a qualified healthcare practitioner should be consulted. Symptoms of PA can be caused by other conditions, none of which would respond to vitamin B12 supplementation. Moreover, if true vitamin B12 deficiency exists, the cause—lack of intrinsic factor, general malabsorption conditions, lack of stomach acidity, or dietary deficiency—must also be properly diagnosed by examination and blood tests before the appropriate treatment can be determined.

So Its very important to take Vitamins B12 in the form of food and supplement so avoid all these problems.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of severe vitamin B12 deficiency (regardless of the cause) may include burning of the tongue, fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, intermittent constipation and diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, menstrual symptoms, psychological symptoms, and nervous system problems, such as numbness and tingling in the feet and hands. Most symptoms can occur before the deficiency is severe enough to cause anemia. Healthcare professionals have a series of laboratory tests that can determine B12 deficiency at earlier stages that are not accompanied by anemia.

Recommended Daily intake of Vitamin B12 is 6mcg, this is Water soluble; excess is excreted by the body. Vitamin B12 is Essential for normal growth and for production of red blood cells; helps maintain a healthy nervous system. 

Sources of Vitamin B12  : (Animal foods only) Preferred: lean meats, chicken, fish, skim or low-fat dairy products. Use Sparingly: eggs, liver, fatty meats.

½ pint of milk (300ml ) contains 1.2 mcg.

A slice of vegetarian cheddar cheese (40g) contains 0.5 mcg.

A boiled egg contains 0.7 mcg.

One half chicken breast provides some 0.3mcg per serving

3oz of beef, 2.4 mcg

one slice of liver 47.9mcg

3oz of molluscs 84.1 mcg.

Fermentation in the manufacture of yoghurt destroys much of the B12 present. Boiling milk can also destroy much of the B12.
 
I hope dear reader you learned few important acepects of vitamin B12 today, feel free to post your comments and suggestions in the comments section, and please share this article with your friends and loved once this my help them. You are comments and suggestions will help me to improve the article. 
 
Thanks in advance,
 
--
Venkat
 

Why we need more antioxidants

Dear Friends,

                    Hope you are getting some thing out of this blog, we would like to take your feed backs about this blog to improve the quality of the articles.  In current article i am writing about oxidation process and why we need more antioxidants in current environment.

Lets look into the following video to know what is oxidation process and how it can cause problem in our body. 

To protect from oxidation process we need to take lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, recent study says that adults need to take at lest 10 servings for fruits and vegetables along with other antioxidants.  Few people might say that we don't need these many servings for fruits and vegetables because our parent/grand parents not used to take this much, but the truth is that those days, there is very less air pollution is there compared to today. 

Few people say that 10 services of fruits and vegetables means not possible to take, there are so many ways to take them, you can take as fresh fruit juice which is prepared at home not the one which you buy as juice. One more option you can supplement them using tablets ( which are rich in pytonutrients ) make sure that these are organic, some example for this is Concentrated fruits and vegetables supplements. 

Kids need at least 5 to 7 servings of fruits every day. so if you have kids try to give them at lest 5 to 7 services of fruits and vegetables which can help them to reduce free radical attack on there growing body. For kids Concentrated fruits and vegetables please click here.

If you observe the food pyramid, that also show the importance of fruits and vegetables.So make sure that you add fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. Please don't replace your food because you are taking extra fruits, these must be addition to what ever you are taking currently, don't worry about your weight, if you take more fruits it will help to maintain the optimal health with good weight.

Personally i am increasing fruits intake to my family, Its your choice what you can do. Coming to the topic. if these free radical start attacking your DNA cells that problem will not stay with you it will be passed to the generation, so make sure that you take balanced diet and help next generations.  You can avoid most of the genetic problem by recognize them at initial stage and taking good diet (for optimal health) if you have any. For optimal nutrition what exactly your body required as per your DNA you can find out using Nutrition genetic test ( for more details about this send email to nutrition.sr.consultant@gmail.com with subject DNA test ).

I hope the video explained you most of the information to you about oxidation and Antioxidants to you. If you are looking for any specific information please post comments, so that i can try to give more information to you.

Types of Fats

Dear Readers,
 

Hope you enjoyed the previous article Know About Cholesterol, As i promised about different types of fats, i am writing in this post about different types of fats. In this article few points might be very technical please bare with me, the reason i am trying to explain in details about all these is so that reader who are looking for complete expiation about this topic.
 

Fats can actually be broken down into different forms.  Few of them are below.
 

•    Saturated Fats
•    Unsaturated Fats
•    Trans Fatty Acids
•    Omega-3 Fatty Acids
•    Omega-6 Fatty Acids
 

Saturated Fats: Are fats derived primarily from animal sources such as beef and similar products.  These fats are hard at room temperature, such as the fat ring, or bark, on the outer edge of a nice T-bone or New York strip steak.  Saturated fats are the type you generally would like to avoid.  Saturated fats should be limited to less than or equal to less than 10% of total calories per day.
 

Unsaturated Fats: Can be further divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.  Polyunsaturated can be further divided into omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.  Generally, unsaturated fats come from plant sources such as canola oil, olive, and similar products.  It is recommended that you replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fats whenever possible as these are thought to be generally helpful from a health standpoint.
 

Trans Fatty Acids: Is used in the production of many foods such as peanut butter and oils used for cooking french-fries and donuts.  Essentially, a trans fatty acid is an unsaturated fat turned into a saturated fat.
 

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Are found in fish oils and are thought to be very beneficial to cardiovascular health.  Omega-3 fatty acids reduce the tendency of blood to clot, and help the heart maintain a steady rhythm.  They also reduce the bodies inflammatory response which is thought to reduce the likelihood of atherosclerotic plaque breaking off and clogging an artery.
 

Omega-6 Fatty Acids: These are similar to omega-3 fatty acids, but and are essential for providing linolenic acid.  Generally, omega-3 fatty acids are preferred over omega-6 fatty acids.
Know lets see which are good and which are not good for your health? Most of us know that Trans Fatty Acids are not good for our health at all. The total amount of fat you eat, whether high or low, isn't really linked with disease. What really matters is the type of fat you eat.

The "bad" fats—saturated and trans fats—increase the risk for certain diseases. The "good" fats—monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats—lower disease risk. The key to a healthy diet is to substitute good fats for bad fats—and to avoid trans fats.

Although it is still important to limit the amount of cholesterol you eat, especially if you have diabetes, dietary cholesterol isn't nearly the villain it's been portrayed to be. Cholesterol in the bloodstream is what's most important. And the biggest influence on blood cholesterol level is the mix of fats in your diet—not the amount of cholesterol you eat from food. Omega 3 comes under good fats, so it recommended to use (in the form of Oily fish or supplement format) on daily basis to make sure your fat intake is balanced.

Related Articles:
About Omega 3
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
About Cholesterol 

For detailed guide about fats and cholesterol send me request at ease email me at nutrition.sr.consultant@gmail.com

Feel free to post your comments and recommendation about articles in comments section, so that we can improve the quality of the articles.

 

Know About Cholesterol

Dear Friends,

              Nice to see the response through emails for the article posted in this blog, I really thanks all the readers of this blog. In the present article i would like to share some information about the Cholesterol Health and some details about that.

            Cholesterol is a soft, waxy, fatty substance that's made in your liver. If also comes from some foods. Despite cholesterol's bad reputation, if does have an important role in keeping your healthy. Cholesterol is stored in your cells and in your blood. It helps make hormones, vitamin D and bile acids, which help your body digest food. When you have too much cholesterol, it can build up in your blood vessels and be harmful. High Cholesterol doesn't have any symptoms, so you won't know you have it until you get tested.

                There are different types of cholesterol's are there, let's look into the details. Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in blood, so our body moves them to and from cells in carriers, called lipoproteins. There are two types of cholesterol:

                 High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is the good cholesterol. It helps your body by carrying cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver. Our liver gets rid of the cholesterol. High HDL reduces your risk of heart disease.

                Low-density lipoprotein or LDL, is the bad cholesterol. If we have too much LDL, it can build up on your artery walls and harden to form plaque. As plaque builds, it narrows and may clog our arteries. If we have high LDL, our risk of heart disease is greater.  

                Triglycerides are another type of fat. They are made in your body and come from food. Any Calories you eat and don't use are turned into triglycerides and stored in fat cells. High triglycerides cab increase your risk of heart disease.

Arteries are a type of blood vessels. If we have healthy arteries, they are flexible, strong and smooth on the inside. This allows blood to flow freely through them, from your heart to other parts of your body.  If we have high blood pressure or other risk factors, such as smoking, our arteries may become damaged. This is called arteriosclerosis. Fatty substances, like cholesterol build up on the inner lining of your arteries. Buildup usually happens where the artery has already been damaged. When this buildup hardens, it's called plaque. this is called atherosclerosis. Plaque buildup narrows your arteries and restricts blood flow to your heart and brain. If plaque cracks or ruptures, a blood clot can form. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Some Important information about Cholesterol :

               Get your cholesterol test done, In the report you can see some terms like HDL, LDL and Total cholesterol, Make sure that these levels are as per the following tables :

Type of Cholesterol	HDL Cholesterol	LDL Cholesterol	Triglycerides
Optimal levels	60 mg/dL and over	less than 100mg/dL	less than 150mg/dL
Acceptable Levels	40 - 59 mg/dL	100 - 129 mg/dL	150 - 199mg/dL (high)
Risky levels	40 mg/dL and lower	130 mg/dL and over	200 mg/dL and over (high)

This is simple table you can check with your doctor about exact detailed table to reduce the risk.

Healthy Eating Habits :

Making changes to your diet may help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. Talk to your doctor/Nutrition specialist before you begin a new diet plan.

                Limit your total fat intake to no more than 25 to 35 % of your total calories a day. This includes saturated fat, which should be less than 7 % of your total calories and trans fat which should be less than 1% ( its good to completely avoid the trans fat if you can). Saturated fat raises cholesterol, It's found in foods from animals, including meat, poultry, butter, milk and other dairy products. It's also found in some plant, including cocoa butter and tropical oils, such as coconut and palm oils, even in your cooking oils, such as corn oil, peanut oil etc. Trans fat increases total cholesterol and LDL and decrease HDL.

                 Limit your daily cholesterol intake to no more than 300mg a day. If your LDL cholesterol is high, aim for less than 200mg ( daily cholesterol means bad fats ). Eat less sugar and fewer carbohydrates to lower your triglycerides.

                 Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids to help lower your triglycerides. Cold  water fish such as salmon, mackerel and herring usually have high amount of omega-3 fatty acids.

To buy omega-3 supplements click here

Eat 25-30 grams of fiber a day. High fiber foods include: oatmeal, beans, oat bran, rice bran, peas, barley, strawberries and apples, try to eat raw so that you will be max amount of fiber.

Limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day. Some people may need less than 1,500mg a day your doctor can tell you what's best for you as per your medical reports.

Coming soon Different types of fats.

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