Calcium-not just for bones

Osteoporosis, osteomalacia and strong healthy teeth, sure but do you know there are many more reasons that are body depends on calcium?
The contraction of muscles, release of neurotransmitters, regulation of heart beat and the clotting of the blood. (pg 149 Murray)
Calcium is a mineral that is abundant in our bodies. Mostly residing in our bones, the recommended daily allowance is 1,000mg for adults, higher for those deficient and those who are pregnant or nursing. For growing children it may be even higher.

We hear that we need to consume dairy, as it a prime source of calcium but then also hear that we should stay away from milk products because of the high growth hormone use in bovine... This is why we need to choose supplements.


As much as I believe "let food be your medicine and medicine be your food".. there are times when we can not stick to this rule because the foods that are available are less than healthy for us.

Foods that are high in calcium may not be as easily absorbed as you may think either, so lets take a look at some of the foods that have calcium and if they are easily absorbed. M. Murray N.D. has a list of foods that are high in calcium:

tofu, kale, spinach, turnip greens, and other green leafy vegetables, kelp and other seaweeds, cheddar cheese, and some nuts and seeds. Kelp being the highest out of all of them.

He also states that calcium from spinach is poorly absorbed yet calcium from kale is superior, even superior to milk. (turnip, collard, mustard are as beneficial as kale).


Just as with Vitamin D deficiency, (because Vitamin D helps with the absorption of Calcium) a deficiency in Calcium can lead to rickets, bone deformities and stunted growth and softening of the bones, high blood pressure, muscle cramping and spasms.

*magnesium should be taken with calcium- the magnesium-calcium relationship is important because it works together to increase the distribution of calcium across cell membranes while fighting to restrict calcium's access to myosin,a protein that helps muscles contract.

The Magnesium calsium ratio is usually a 1 to 2 ratio but consult with your nutritionalist or physicians as sometimes those numbers are different. Also, remember that it is always wise to consult your physician before supplementing because like other supplements, magnesium calcium may altar blood coagulation.
A special note to take your magnesium at a different time of the day than you take your calcium because the relationship seems to be antagonistic, so do not take in a mag-cal combo as it isn't as readily absorbed as taking each mineral seperately.

PRESCRIPTIONS THAT MAY REDUCE YOUR CALCIUM LEVELS;
Antacids
Antibiotics
Anti inflammatories
Diuretis
Ulcer medications
Diuretics
Aspirin

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is sometime referred to as a hormone or prehormone because it is something that our own bodies make. It is actually produced in our liver.
Some ask then:
"If we make our own Vitamin D in our bodies, why then should I take a supplement?"

Vitamin D indeed is made in our bodies but we need enough sun to transform that vitamin D into a usable source.

With the Skin Cancer scare of today, a lot of people avoid the sun or use sun screen and may not be getting enough sun to transform the vitamin D into a usable form.

With added toxins such as pesticides etc in our foods and environment... it has been a question if this too prevents us from processing and converting our body made vitamin D properly.

Certain prescription drugs that you take can deplete your vitamin D as well:
Antacids/ulcer medication
Anticonvulsants
anti inflammatories
Weight loss drugs


So what do we do?

We take supplements.

Today Vitamin D deficiency diseases such as rickets and osteomalacia are rare, but I fear that such diseases my reappear due to the Vitamin D deficiency issues we have today.
If you are affraid of being deficient then there is a blood test called Vitamin D, 25 hydroxy that can give a good reading on your deficiency.

What are the signs and symptons of Vitamin D deficiency?:
fatigue
muscle and joint ache and pains
lack of bone strength and density

Why else it may be important to test my Vit. D level?:

Vitamin D helps you absorb calcium (deficiency leads to osteoprosis)
Vitamin D has many anticancer properties (especially against breast and colon cancer)
Vitamin D may also have a relationship with estrogen and magnesium levels

Will just any ol' Vitamin D supplement work?
This is complicated for me to answer, a would suggest talking with your physician to FIRST see if you are deficient because TOO MUCH vitamin D can cause toxicity and can cause increased blood concentration of calcium and deposit calcium into internal organs. In Fact Kidney stones would be a result of too Vitamin D toxicity.

I would encourage anyone and everyone to be tested, your physician should have any problem with your request to a Vitamin D, 25 hydroxy test being requested by thier patient.

If the test comes back deficient than there should be follow up tests like Vitamin D 1,25. However some people with High Vitamin D 25 hydroxy are extremely low in Vitamin D 1,25. For instance this may be a conversion problem related to how well your liver and kidneys convert Vitamin D. Since it is complicated it is important to discuss this with your physician so that you fully understand.

You can also get Vitamin D from egg yolks, butter and dark green leafy vegetables, If you are like me.. I don't believe that I eat enough of those and since I do have a vitamin D deficiency (just found out yesterday) then I will supplement.

There are many forms of Vitamin D and knowing which ones and why you may need them may be tricky and confusing.
Vitamin D2
Vitamin D3
25 OH D2
25 OH D3
1,25-(OH)2D3
1,25-(OH)2D2

Some of these are more potent than others, get with your doctors.. do research, be proactive in your health, it is your body and your business and it is empowering when you are knowledgable on how to care for you body and understand what the doctor is actually saying.

WHAT ABOUT VITAMIN C?

Do we need to take vitamin C as a supplement? What if I eat a lot of fruits?
As we know Vitamin c is essential for human nutrition.. The question is can we ingest enough fruits and vegetables with vitamin C to avoid having to take it as a supplement too.

Prescription drugs that deplete your vitamin C levels:
Anti inflammatories
Hormone replacement therapy
Loop diuretics
Asprin
Female Hormones


We most defiantly get Vitamin C from our fruits and veggies such as Broccoli,Peppers,Berries and citrus (to name just a few)However are the fruits and veggies that we are consuming of high enough quality that they contain enough vitamin C?

It isn't just about buying fresh organic fruits and veggies, it is also about eating them in a timely manner. For instance when visiting a salad bar or eating pre cut veggies or fruits.. how much vitamin C is left in them before consumption? Not as much as you may think, sometimes 1/2 the amount of vitamin C is lost in just the first few hours after cutting into them.

Learning this, I have decided to supplement my vitamin C. This poses a few more questions:
How do I know that I am deficient?
What benefits can I expect from taking Vit C
What type do I buy?
How much do I take?
Are there other vitamins that I can take that will help me absorb better?

I went to a few websites to answer some of these questions they are listed below:
USDA
MEDLINE PLUS
PUBMED on intake
PUBMED on deficiency and scurvy
I also referred to M.T. Murray N.D.'s book "Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements.

Vitamin C deficiency signs including but not limited to:
bleeding gums
poor wound healing
extensive bruising
susceptibility to infection, hysteria, and depression
all of these symptoms related to scurvy.
Benefits of Taking Vitamin C:
Immune function by enhancing WBC function and increasing interferon levels.
Antioxidant (superior antioxidant)
What type of vitamin C do I choose?
there are so many to choose from! corn or sago palm? absorbic acid or buffered?
I recommend talking to your doctor to choose the correct type for you but in brief I can say that I read in Dr.Murry's book that if you are sensitive to corn than use a vitamin C from Sago Palm, if you have stomach issues then try buffered rather than absorbic acid and when it comes to the new hype on ester C types... don't waste your money as there is no scientific proof that ester C actually works better.

There is many reasons to use Vitamin C, Here is a shorter list of only a small percentage of the ailments in which vitamin C and help:
ASTHMA
AUTO IMMUNE DISEASES
ECZEMA
FATIGUE
HERPES ZOSTER AND SIMPLEX
INFERTILITY
MENOPAUSE
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
CANDIDIASIS

Are there any safety concerns or dosing information that need to be noted?
A healthy person shouldn't need more than 2-9 grams per day, a higher dose for for times of stress or illness.
Vitamin C is very safe to use however if you are over dosing than diarrhea or gas may occur.
caution to those who have recurrent kidney stones, kidney disease or gout-may consider staying under 10 grams. As I have mentioned time and time again, always discuss adding or subtracting any supplements or medicines with your physician.
In Dr Murrys book he states that using vitamin c in comination with beta carrotenem,Vitamin E and glutathione is recommended.
Also Stated:
Vitamin C increases absorbtion of Iron
Decreases absorbtion of copper
and interferes with blood tests for vitamin B12... i did google this and found a few other sources, how scientific they are I do not know but Vit C and Vitamin B12 issues certainly isn't unheard of.

several weeks on my new supplement

I have been on my supplement from New Chapter for several weeks now and I am impressed with my energy level and mood. My hair is still falling out though, I believe that I need to have my hormone levels tested for that.

I decided to continue with Chapter until finished and then move on to Rightfoods after that.

later this week I will go over some other great finds and share with you about 5htp and other supplements.

Wonderful Supplement Information!

This weeks lecture from Dr H. was very informative and I am excited to share it with my readers.
The lecture was on dosing supplements. How and when most importantly, because if you are like me... I didn't know that it mattered much and If I had an inkling that it did, I didn't know who to get my information from about it.

First off he reminded me of a site to go to for trusted information, PUBMED.gov, I used this when writing papers for Herbalism and it is scientific based and researched. This is a site that all doctors that I know use.

There are 5 supplements that we should FIRST consider
1) A good multivitamin with B complex Something that is ATP producing.

2)GREENS.. like chlorella, spirilina or chloraphyll
3)Fish oils
4)Anti Oxidants Vitamins C, E, and foods with A
5)Probiotics

My suggestion is to seek professional advice, this blog is informational only and not a tool for others to use as a guide to self healing.

If you seek detoxification then dosing 7 days a week for 4 weeks is sufficient
If you are working on a specific condition than 2x daily for 6 days on 1 day off
If it is a therapeutic dose in which you want than 2 weeks on and 1 week off
and finally if you are trying to maintain than 1x a day for 3-4 days a week.

How do you know if you are over dosing? If you feel nauseous or have loose stools than it may mean that you are overdosing, cut back at that time.

How do you know if you are under dosing? Always start at recommended dose and THEN after a week if you do not feel any better, turn it up a bit.

Always dose with food unless otherwise stated or if for glandular issues or digestion enzymes for inflammation.

Another gem was if you regularly exercise than dose about 30 minutes after. This is when your body is really open to healing.

So, it has been 5 days since I started on New Chapters women's once daily and I actually feel a difference. I feel as though I am not lagging as much, meaning that I have a bit more energy... I feel more emotionally strong and am feeling as though I am on the right track. I must also add that I am doing the chloraphyll,Vitex and other herbal supplements.

I am excited to start applying these rules over the next couple of weeks and to share this information with you.

I will keep at the suggested dose with the New Chapter and my usual suggested dose with the herbal supplements and chloraphyll.

The SOURCE to the information I have shared with you is from a lecture with Dr. Henele from California. I do not have text to share with you.

Disclaimer: The natural therapies mentioned in this blog is just information from myself and others, and may not have basis in scientific fact. This blog should not replace a visit to your physician.

Week ll continued...

I have been taking the supplement NEW CHAPTER woman's one Daily for 3 days now. (No noticeable difference as of yet)

I have taken it on an empty stomach and a full stomach and either way has been fine. As I said in my last post it can be taken anytime of day on a full or empty stomach.

This product is ORGANIC, PROBIOTIC, AND WHOLE. Along with this multivitamin I am waiting for a multi vitamin from RIGHTFOODS to come in the mail so that I can start taking that instead of this one. After reading the ingredients to both, and from a trusted source telling me, I have concluded the RIGHT FOODS has a superior product for me in particular.

In addition to the multivitamin I have decided to continue to take some of the herbs that I have on hand. Some of which I have not used in about 4 months due to a limited diet that I was on. Since I had stopped taking them my hair has begun to fall out, my moods have been low and my skin has been less than desirable. I am not sure if I can attribute this to a natural hormonal change being that I am over 40 this is quite possible, or if it was a combination of my age and the controversial diet that I was on. Either way, below is a list of my other supplements that I am adding back to my diet.

Liquid Chloraphyl*

Vitex Extract
Avena Sativa
Mushroom Blend
Eleuthro
Panex
Glycirriza
Hawthorne
Rhodiola

I am not good at taking daily pills so I have this blend in a tincture form and add it to my water. about 60-80ml's in my water 3x a day. The Chloraphyl I add a tbs to my water once daily.

I also am taking 2 tbs of Barleans Lemon fish oil a day.

When buying your tinctures, read the suggested serving size and realize that it is based on a 160 lb person. If you are like me, I do not weigh 160lbs and so I have to adjust accordingly. I am not sure if it is like this for all supplements but I personally use that as a rule of thumb and because I weigh more than 160lbs I add more to my daily dose when I can. It is easy with the tinctures because they are liquid form.

All the information on the herbs that I write about are from what I have learned in my Herbalism program. The resources that I use are the same books that we used as text books and a few that I added.

Medical Herbal by hoffman
The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra
300 Herbs by Matthew Alfs
in addition
books by Charles Kane and james Dukes Green Pharmacy's.

Week ll

We are required to start taking and start blogging about supplements. We are told to take and blog about 1-3 different supplements of our choice.

I chose to go with a product called "Women over 40", which is made by a company called "Rightfoods".

I heard about this company recently from a teacher (William) that I had in the beginning of my program. He is a N.D., Before he was an N.D. he was a personal trainer and I have complete faith in is recomendation of this product line.

"Rightfoods"is easier to find by visiting thier website. I haven't seen this product in Sprouts but I haven't tried whole foods or any other market either.
"Rightfoods" are a WHOLE FOOD supplement that are grown organically on an organic farm and are compressed into tablets. William says "VERY GOOD STUFF!"

I will blog about what time of day I take my supplements, if I need to take them with or without food, what I hope to achieve or experience and what is the theraputic dose.

I must say that the "women over 40" uses herbs that I have just started taking in tincture form again too. so I will ask my teacher Dr. Henele if I should stop with the tinctures.

Below is the nutrional information of "women over 40"

Tonight I went into Sprouts Farmers Market and bought New Chapter multi vit. for women to compare...
I have trusted NEW CHAPTER brand and compared it to my new found company and find that RIGHTFOODS brand is much higher in a lot of the ingredients, also has a lot more ingredients, Both are organicly grown whole foods, both make similar vitamins, both use herbs, yet Rightfoods is consideribly less expensive. the only concern that I had was a an ingredients that was significantly lower in Righfoods than New Chapter, that ingredient was copper, 550mcg lower in copper.

I need to find out how much copper that I need to take, if I am deficient and if I need to supplement my supplement.

I decided to start taking ny New Chapter womans one daily until the other product comes in the mail.
It says I can take it any time of day, once daily, on an empty or full stomach. That makes it easy.
I hope to experience more energy, better mood, and for my hair to stop falling out which it has been doing for the last 3 weeks. CONSIDERIBLE amounts at a time.
Day one of my trial was 7/2/2010.

My thoughts on supplements pre and post supplement education

I started school almost two years ago to become a holistic practitioner and am smack in the middle of my nutrition class. This blog is a project that each of our classmates are required to do.
I am both excited and anxious to get on with my learning and be able to apply it not only to my family and my self but with my clients.
Supplements are a hard topic for me. Not knowing what to believe about them, what products are best to use and which ones are really needed.
I have stated before that I don't take supplements because I do not know if our bodies can even get from them that we need or if after consumption they just go through us and we ultimately are just flushing them down the toilet.
When I referred to supplements, I referred to the tablets or capsules that you see lining the shelves of every supermarket and drug store.
Name brand or generic, which do we choose, which need to be taken with food or on an empty stomach, which ones only work when taken with other vitamins or supplements.

There is a plethora of bottles, strategically marketed and attractively labeled to appeal to those of us desiring to live the healthiest way possible.
All these bottles of supplements which are very expensive and for me very overwhelming to look at,left me in a blur.
Therefore I walked past those isles, gave them not another thought, except for a little bit of loathing because I figured it was just way too commercialized and that we the consumers where being taken advantage of by the hype that the media and the companies that are trying to capitalize on using our ignorance as their profit.

With all that being said, I gave it another look and realized that I in fact DO take supplements, believe in them and daily ingest them. Just in a different form. I supplement my diet with herbs. Tinctures mostly. I supplement for everything and I AM a believer of a less commercialized supplements.This picture is of about 2/3rds of my supplements that I keep on hand (not daily use).

However with the growing popularity of natural healing, we again have to be educated and careful of which product to buy and consume. There are a lot of companies who harvest unethically and cause plants to go into extinction. There are a lot of rules when harvesting plant materials, companies will capitalize on for instance Golden seal which is a plant that is endangered. How do you know the difference of what company is "good" or "bad"? you have to do a little research and some of the research is quite easy if you look in the right places. I suggest getting involved with or at least reading up on UNITED PLANT SAVERS (UPS) that is one group of several that I know of that are VERY passionate about the earth and her healing plants. UPS's mission statement "Our Mission:
United Plant Savers' mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come."


I am proudly a member and encourage you to be too.
I would suggest using reputable companies that follow these standards and or also grow their own herbs, ethically harvest, use only organic herbs, and allow you to come and see their process, willing to expose themselves to the eyes of those that inquire says a whole lot to me.
some of these companies are GAIA, HERBAL VITALITY, HERB PHARM, I am sure there are more.. another companies product that I use is ECLECTIC INSTITUTE, however I have never been there or talked to them but I have heard wonderful things from several different people who believe in the same values as I.