The Truth about Protein in Shake Mixes

source: http://proteinpowder.mercola.com/Miracle-Whey-Protein.html

Without high-quality protein, your body suffers -- you cannot create healthy heart and muscle tissue and many other vit

al body structures. Learn why whey is considered a complete protein.

Body builders, athletes and active people everywhere are drinking more protein shakes than ever... even when they don't taste all that great.

Dieters looking to lose those extra

pounds fast are replacing daily candy bars with protein bars... even when they taste more like sawdust than sweets.

People of all shapes and sizes and activity levels from teens to retirees are beginning to finally understand the value of protein in their daily diet.

So, what's all the buzz about?

Protein is an essential part of *every* cell in your entire body.

• Helps build and repair your body's tissues

• Assists in making enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals vital for optimal health

• Is the necessary building block of your bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood

• ... even your hair and nails are made mostly of protein!

Protein is a "macronutrient." Other macronutrients include fat and carbohydrates. Your body needs macronutrients to stay healthy. Compared to relatively small amount of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that your body requires, you need macronutrients (and lots of them) every day to stay well.

The main difference between protein, versus fats & carbs, is that your body cannot store protein. Regretfully, we know the same can't be said about fat!

So, what does this mean to you?

If you want to take advantage of protein's incredible health-enhancing benefits, you need a daily diet that is rich in them.

“Easy enough,” you say to yourself. “I'll just eat anything that has protein in it, right?”

Maybe not.

Getting the Right Protein is Critical

You need the right proteins delivered in the most effective way to guarantee peak benefits from head to foot.

Here are some great food sources of high-quality protein:

• Poultry: If you remove the skin, you'll benefit from a good protein source without saturated fat.

• Beef: Ideally grass-fed and organic, beef is an excellent source of protein.

• Eggs: From free-range organic chickens and consumed raw or lightly cooked.

• Beans and Legumes: Containing the most protein found in any vegetable, you can't go wrong with beans. In addition, they're a great source of fiber that'll help you feel full without overeating.

• Nuts: Eaten in moderation, nuts offer a lot of protein power in a very small package.

But one of the easiest and quickest ways I've found to make sure I'm getting the best supply of high-quality protein in my daily diet is to supplement with an all-natural whey protein powder.

Whey protein powder will refuel your body with critical amino acids, micro-nutrients and cofactors you need to maintain optimal health.

Why Supplement Your Diet with an All-Natural Whey Protein Powder?

Particularly as you age, your body gradually loses its ability to produce critical amino acids -- the essential proteins you need for energy production, immune actions and protein buildup in the muscle.

Therefore, the need to supplement with these amino acids increases as you get older and increases even more in times of high physical stress, like after a workout, or when recovering from injury or illness.

That's where whey protein comes in...

Whey protein contains all the essential amino acids*. Plus it boasts the highest protein quality rating among all proteins. Thus, it is a complete protein.

Whey protein is a by-product of the cheese manufacturing process. At one time it was discarded or used for animal feed, but researchers later realized whey protein has incredible benefits for humans.

High-quality whey protein can have dramatic effects. Benefits include:

• Supports your immune health*

• Boosts your energy*

• Supports your joint and muscle health*

• Supports your beneficial gut bacteria*

• Promotes your muscle strength, endurance and recovery*

• Protects all your tissues' cells via its antioxidant properties*

• Provides critical amino acids and proteins for overall optimal health*

• Supports your body's optimal metabolic rate and fat burning level*

You can quickly see why whey protein is so beneficial for anyone living an active lifestyle.

Personally, I enjoy drinking shakes from whey protein powder -- there's no better way to greet the day or finish a workout than with a tasty cold protein shake.

But, finding a protein powder that contains the right proteins, in the most effective blend, with the most nutritionally beneficial outcomes, AND actually tastes good can be a real challenge...

Truly High-Quality Whey Protein Powder is Hard to Find

In fact, it can be downright impossible.

Perhaps you've done what I've done, and tried just about every brand out there... and you also questioned the same sorts of things I did:

• What are all those random ingredients?

• How do I know it contains the best proteins I really need?

• Why does it contain so many artificial sweeteners?

• How can I determine where the protein powder came from (e.g., are the cows grain fed or grass fed, hormonally treated or organic, and so on)?

• What's the difference between heat and cold processing and how does it affect the protein powder?

• Should I choose protein isolates or a concentrate?

• ... and the questions go on and on!

What's the most challenging part of finding a quality whey protein powder? Most brands out there don't actually give you answers to any of these questions.

That's why it's important for you to know why...

Not All Whey Powders are Equal

In my research, I've learned a tremendous amount about the available whey protein powders on the market. I was shocked by what I discovered and I think you will be, too.

For starters, many commercially-available whey protein powders are significantly damaged and nutritionally deficient due to over-processing and because the original source of the whey is compromised.

That means before you've even opened the container, you're in trouble. And that's just not right. That's why I created a list that compares do's and don'ts when choosing a quality whey protein powder.

Do yourself a favor... Check out this list and make sure you're buying a whey protein powder that has all eight of these qualities needed to be a real winner...

The 8 Essentials to Look For in Your Whey Protein Powder

1. All-natural, grass fed cows' whey, NOT pesticide-treated, grain-fed cows' whey

   Compared to grain-fed cows, grass fed cows produce whey that:

• Is nutritionally superior to grain fed

• Contains an impressive amino acid and immuno-supportive nutrient profile

• Is rich in healthy fats--lipolic acid and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)




2. Hormone-free Cows, NOT hormonally-treated cows

   Many American dairy farmers inject the hormone rBGH in dairy cows to increase milk production. This hormone has been linked to serious disease and illness, including cancer. Choose whey made from hormone-free cows.

3. Cold processed, NOT heat processed

   Most whey is heat processed which:

• Makes the whey acidic and nutritionally deficient

• Damages the immuno-supportive micronutrients and amino acids

• Makes whey inadequate for consumption

Cold processed whey protects the nutrients in their natural state.

4. Acid-free processing, NOT Acid / Ion Exchange Processing
   

   Acid / Ion Exchange Processing is cheaper than acid-free processing, but it denatures the amino acid profiles by using acids and chemicals to separate the whey from the fats.

5. Whey protein concentrate, NOT protein isolates

   Protein isolates are proteins stripped away from their nutritional cofactors. There are three problems with that...

• All isolates are exposed to acid processing.

• Your body cannot assimilate proteins in isolated form.

• Due to over-processing, isolates are deficient in key amino acids and nutritional cofactors.

6. Sweetened naturally, NOT artificially, and low carb

   Most whey products are artificially sweetened making them useless if you have sugar sensitivities, or just don't want to put artificial sweeteners or flavors into your body.

   Your whey should be low glycemic, low carb and should not contain any artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohol, glycerin, fructose, sugar or gluten.

7. Maximum biological value, NOT compromised or damaged

   Most whey proteins provide some benefit. But, due to the ingredients, the source of the whey, the concentration of beneficial nutrients, or the type of processing, many whey products simply don't deliver what they promise.

   You want whey that's guaranteed to retain its maximum biological value -- one with all the key amino acids, cofactors and beneficial micronutrients present and intact rather than compromised or damaged, and not missing any amino acids or essential nutrients.

8. Easy to Digest, NOT Causing Digestive Stress

   Many whey products contain long-chain fatty acids which are hard to digest and require bile acids to absorb.

   You want a whey protein powder with medium chain triglycerides (MCT). These are easily absorbed, digested quickly, and utilized as energy without causing digestive stress.

   Ideally, you want a product in which the MCT come from the best source of all -- coconut oil.

YES...

I realize that's a lot to look for in a whey protein powder, but it's absolutely worth your time and health.

You can search your local health food store's shelves and you might find one or two products that have some of the things you want, but that's unlikely... especially finding one that doesn't contain any of the things you don't want with those you do.

But, I'm about to make it easy for you.

Six Good Reasons to Avoid the Flu Shot

by Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist


(NaturalNews) Every year it is recommended that people get a flu shot to avoid spending time feeling horrendously bad over the winter. Elderly people are especially warned that without a flu shot, their health could be in serious jeopardy. In recent years, this warning has been extended to children, and more recently even teenagers. Yet there is mounting evidence that flu shots do not guarantee a healthy winter, and in fact they cause far more harm than good.

Here are 6 reasons to avoid getting a flu shot.

1.There is absolutely no evidence that flu shots actually work. The flu shot is only able to protect against certain strains of the flu, so if you come into contact with a strain that you are not protected from, then you will still get the flu. This is in fact not uncommon. In 2004, The National Vaccine Information Center reported that the vaccine given that year did not contain the flu strain that caused the majority of flu outbreaks that year. A study published in the Lancet in August revealed that there was no correlation between the flu shot and reduced risk of pneumonia. Further, a large study of 260,000 children between 23 month and 6 discovered that the flu vaccine is no more effective that a placebo. This was reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

2.The flu vaccines, as well as all other vaccines contain mercury, which is a seriously health compromising heavy metal. Vaccines contain Thimerosal, which is made up of mercury. The amount of mercury contained in a multi-dose flu shot is 250 times higher in mercury than what is legally classified as hazardous waste. Side affects of mercury toxicity are vast and include depression, memory loss, attention deficit disorder, anger, oral cavity disorders, digestive disorder, anxiety, cardiovascular problems, respiratory issues, thyroid and other glandular imbalances, and low immune system to name a few.

3.The flu vaccines contain antibiotics such as neomycin, polymyxin B and gentamicin which are added to eliminate stray bacteria found in the mixture. Evidence shows that antibiotics wipe out beneficial bacteria that is needed for optimum health. Antibiotics ironically lower the immune system and cause Candida overgrowth.

4.Vaccines contain Polysorbate 80 as an emulsifier. This highly toxic agent can seriously lower the immune system and cause anaphylactic shock which can kill. According to the MSDS sheet at Science lab.com, section 11, polysorbate 80 may cause reproductive effects, cancer, and may be a mutagenic, (change the genetics), in animals. According to PubMed.Gov, neonatal rats that were injected with small doses of polysorbate 80 had serious damage to their reproductive organs, often resulting in infertility. Imagine that they are recommending this for young girls! It's no wonder that the infertility rate is skyrocketing each and every year.

5.There is growing evidence that flu shots cause Alzheimer's disease due to the aluminum and formaldehyde combined with mercury since they are even more toxic together than they are alone. Some research suggests that people who received the flu vaccine each year for 3 to 5 years had 10 times greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease than people who did not have any flu shots.

6.With so many potential side effects, it seems clear that the flu shot is potentially dangerous while not making a difference anyway. In addition, it is also completely unnecessary. Everything that we need to enjoy amazing health is right here on planet earth. Nothing man made is ever, ever needed in order to ward off illness and live vibrantly. Here are some powerful ways that you can ensure you don't get the flu this year without injecting yourself with the extremely toxic flu shot:

·Make sure that you get plenty of sunshine over the winter research continually indicates that the winter flu is often a result of vitamin D deficiency from lack of sun. If you live in a place without sunshine, take cod liver oil, find a place that offers sunshowers (natural tanning beds), and if it is sunny go outside as much as you possibly can no matter how cold it is. Raw, unpasteurized milk is another vitamin D abundant food.

·Exercise, exercise, exercise! When you get out and get your body moving, you are much less likely to get sick. Yoga, for example is a fabulous way to get fit, relieve stress and boost the immune system.

·Eat plenty of immune boosting foods such as garlic, vitamin C containing fruits and fresh green juices (broccoli, cabbage, cucumber and celery.) A diet rich in live foods is a sure way to stay healthy all year long.

·Cut out sugar. Sugar suppresses the immune system and causes disease. Today there are so many wonderful healthy alternatives such as agave nectar and xylitol that it is totally unnecessary to ever consume sugar.

·Deal with emotional stress. Anger and stress suppress the immune system. Yoga, meditation, counselling, natural therapies and plant medicines can transform stress and help you live with abundant health in mind and body.

·Get plenty of sleep. A lack of sleep suppresses the immune system, but is a reality for millions of people. Find ways to make life less hectic so that you have more time to catch those zzzzs.

Motivation and Willpower

source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/increase-willpower/

Dear Mark,

I’ve been following the blog for a couple of months now and have been trying to get into a regular exercise routine like you describe. Unfortunately, I get some fitness momentum going and then lose my willpower once I hit stressful or busy times. I feel like it’s a game of two steps forward, one step back (at least). What do you say to someone who’s trying to hit a fitness stride but keeps backsliding? Do you have advice on how to boost willpower? Thanks!

Your question is a timely one. Much was made over a recent study (PDF) that demonstrated willpower as a limited resource. The crux was this: we have a finite amount of willpower in a day (so to speak), and when it’s used up, that’s it. In a given day we might defend against donut cravings at the office all morning, force ourselves to keep our head off the desk in an afternoon slump, resist the opportunity to chew out the neighbor for letting his dog poop on our lawn yet again, and make ourselves go out into the rain to set out recycling and put the kids’ bikes in the garage. Finally, we push ourselves to stay up late in order to finish a company project. Surely, we can be proud of our resolve, our diligence, our commitment to family, work and neighborhood accord. Nonetheless, we’ve left ourselves with neither the time nor remaining willpower to pick up the weight set. Too many tasks, too little energy and too much frustration have zapped our self-discipline, and the balance is zero when we go to direct some toward the day’s workout. The research says this: as much as we’d wish otherwise, we don’t have separate willpower accounts for different areas of life.

The researchers examined the concept of willpower distribution by subjecting some participants to tricky and tedious cognitive exercises and then asking all subjects to dip their hands in ice water for as long as they could. Those whose willpower had been tested before with the cognitive activities weren’t able to hold their hands in the water as long as those who hadn’t been previously taxed.

Moreover, other research suggests even the string of mundane daily decisions (e.g. what to have for dinner, what gift to buy for your cousin’s wedding, etc.) can challenge us enough to weaken our overall resolve by fatiguing our brain. As a result, our motivation and self-organization abilities suffer. (Hmmm…maybe this explains why I find shopping so exhausting….) Self-control not only appears to be a precious commodity; it can be sabotaged by extraneous mental clutter in our lives. Score another point for Grok and the simple existence, I guess.

Nonetheless, researchers say, willpower is like a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger it gets. The key is to direct it well and not expect instant results. Slow and steady will give you best results in this kind of training.

First off, I’d say don’t get discouraged and scrap the whole project. Transitions are usually rough to some degree. Stick with your overall fitness endeavor, but adjust the goal for a while. There’s nothing wrong with taking lifestyle changes in small steps. Some days you might not be able to do everything, but most days you should be able to do something. The key is to make time for yourself and simply keep the date. I’m not used to quoting Woody Allen, but he was on the money when he said “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Don’t focus on the “work” of the workout ahead. Just summon the will to put your shoes on and walk outside. Skip the gym if you want and just head out the door for a walk. Then see what happens. It might be more productive and/or fun than you expect.

Second, do an inventory of the logistical and personal demands you field on a given day. As the research demonstrates, if you’re spread too thin or distracted too much, you’re setting yourself up for flimsy self-control. I call it the chronically overloaded condition. Far too many people’s lives fit the description, and far too few see it as a central problem for their overall health. Cut out the “noise” of life and overload of duties as much as possible. Avoid the break room altogether if you know temptations reside there. Learn to live with the neighbor’s “issues,” or place them on his sidewalk if you prefer. (I’m remaining neutral on this one.) Enlist the kids to put their own bikes away and put the recycling out while they’re at it. In short, reduce the need to use willpower in other areas of life wherever possible. Are there circumstances that zap more of your energy and will than others? Maybe some self-assessing and creative brainstorming are called for.

At the heart of life’s chaos and infinite demands, I suggest embracing the notion of “paying yourself first.” You’ve likely heard it as a financial concept, but I think it applies to self-care as well. Maybe figure out a way to pay yourself – i.e. workout – early in the day when your willpower stores haven’t been ravaged by the day’s stresses and responsibilities. Aside from devoting your willpower to exercise itself, work on building your self-regulatory power as a whole. Eating Primally will offer a consistent flow of energy and help you avoid the crash and burn of carb dependency. Sleep, not surprisingly, has been shown to directly impact self-control. Likewise, “positive emotions” can boost our self-regulatory resources. “Motivational factors” like “laughter” and “powerful memories” can enhance willpower, as can keeping your eye on the ball. In other words, keep your fitness goal in sight and mind with some kind of visual reminder or daily progress log.

Finally, I suppose one lesson might be to not always fight the willpower shortage. When you have the motivation, work hard and go the full distance. However, when willpower wanes and you can’t muster up the energy to exercise, maybe it’s a sign that you legitimately need a break. Rest days are an important part of just about any exercise program and there’s nothing wrong with skipping the odd workout. As long as these days don’t become frequent occurrences, they won’t be enough to derail your overall physical progress. In fact, they might help you stay on course and reinvigorate your commitment as well as your physical energy. If you feel your workout plan actually fits your life, you’re probably more likely to stick with it. Use the occasional rest day to take it easy and truly recharge.

Primal readers, what say you? Do you depend on willpower to exercise? Why or why not? If so, have you been able to boost your willpower or even overcome it to some degree? Do you depend on it less now than you did early on? If willpower comes and goes (as I suspect it does for most of us), what helps to fill the gaps for you?

Common Questions About Nutritional Supplements

The Health Ranger Answers Common Questions About Nutritional Supplements (transcript)

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) The following is a transcript of a broadcast of The Health Ranger Show. You can find the downloadable audio of this program here: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Po...

What is the biggest myth about nutritional supplements? You've often wondered about that haven't you? There is a lot of hype about supplements out there. There's also a lot of effort to discredit certain supplements like vitamin E. We will talk about vitamin E in a future show. This natural vitamin can be found in nuts and seeds. Unfortunately, the conventional medical industry is trying to discredit it scaring people into not taking vitamin E.

The fact is the tests that they are running are using a synthetic form of vitamin E – not the natural form that exists in nature. That is why they are getting bad results. We will talk about that in more detail later.

In my opinion the biggest myth about nutritional supplements is in thinking that you can still live a lousy lifestyle – a poor health lifestyle smoking and avoiding exercise and eating junk foods, fried foods, and many animal products and so on, and yet you can somehow counteract that with a few nutritional supplements per day. This is the biggest myth in my opinion.

People think they can go out and eat fast food all day long. They can abuse their bodies and then if they take one multi-vitamin a day somehow it is going to counteract all that. That is just nonsense, folks. That is the biggest myth – nutritional supplements do not make up for all the other behavior. If you are smoking cigarettes, for example, the single best thing that you can do for your health is to quit smoking – not take vitamins.

Now, of course, if you smoke and you take vitamins the vitamins are going to offer some protection, but not nearly as much as if you were to just stop smoking. If you were to do both – that is if you were to stop smoking and start taking the right nutritional supplements – then you would have really good health happening at that point. You would have a lot of protection for the organs and the cells and tissues in your body. That is what you want to do.

I have seen people who think well I am going to go out and eat all this junk food. I'm going to avoid exercise and avoid sunlight so they are not getting the vitamin D and then they are taking pharmaceuticals. They are getting all the negative side effects of those pharmaceuticals – the anti-depressants, the statin drugs, the cholesterol drugs, the blood pressure drugs and so on, and then they think "Oh, well I will drink some green tea today and I will take a cheap multi-vitamin that I bought at Costco or Wal-Mart."

They think that is going to counteract all that. It just does not work that way, folks. A vitamin does not excuse you from the responsibility of acting with integrity with your own health. If you want to be healthy, you have to engage in regular exercise. You have to eat right – that means you should make food the foundation of your health.

I mean unprocessed food. Healthy, fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and nutritional supplements – that is the way you are going to get the maximum health benefits and actually prevent disease. That is the number one biggest myth about nutritional supplements in my opinion.

Not all supplements are created equal

All right, let's go onto the next question. People ask me this one all the time. Where is the best place to buy nutritional supplements? That is a good question. People see vitamins on sale at Walgreens or pharmacies or Wal-Mart or other retail outlets and they wonder what is really in these supplements.

Well, the answer is really quite simple. If you are buying vitamins at retail, and you are not buying them at a health food store or a health food section in a grocery store for example, most of what you are buying is probably garbage.

It is probably useless garbage, and I say that as an advocate of nutrition. I take many vitamins every single day. I eat many superfoods every day. I would not dare touch those products sold at Wal-Mart or Walgreens or Costco or Sam's Club – any of those. I would not touch those. You know why? Because I read the ingredients on them. In my opinion, they are garbage – just garbage.

I will give you an example. I was at Costco one time. I saw a big bottle of fish oil supplements, and we all know that fish oils can enhance health. They help prevent heart disease. They are rich in Omega-3 oils and a very healthy supplement if it is a quality supplement, but I looked at this particular product and I read the ingredients.

It said this "each capsule contained only 4 mg. of actual fish oil extract and the rest of the capsule was filled with soybean oil and one bottle I saw was actually made with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which means it contains trans fatty acids that actually damage your heart health.

Here was a supplement being sold as a benefit for cardiovascular health that said it contained fish oil, but if you look inside what it really contained was trans fatty acids, which are poison for the heart. It is just crazy to think that people are going in there and buying those pills, taking them home, eating them, and thinking that they are helping their heart when in reality they are poisoning themselves in my opinion.

I saw that at Costco. I think they have since changed the formula because of all the bad publicity about trans fatty acids and hydrogenated oils but just the fact that they used to carry that is a good clue that tells you that you probably should not buy your vitamins at Costco. You probably should not get vitamins from a general store.

Good quality comes from good sources

Now, if you go into a health food store that is a completely different picture. There you are going to find the quality vitamins, the quality supplements, and the ones that I would openly recommend. You are going to find many companies there making good quality supplements. New Chapter is one company that does a good job but you know where the best values are for vitamins? They are actually found online.

That is because the online companies can sell direct to consumers, and they don't have to have the huge markups of the retail establishments because health food stores, of course, have to mark-up their products to stay in business. That is perfectly acceptable and I really do support local health food stores. I hope you go there and support them as well because we need those. Sometimes, when you want a great deal on the right supplement, the best place to go is online.

Buying them directly from those companies, I know many of these companies. I have interviewed over a hundred so some that I recommend are www.WellnessResources.com – that is a good one. Jon Barron has a company called www.BaselineNutritionals.com.

There are superfoods available at a company called www.GoodCauseWellness.com. There is a great company making drinkable vitamins. You just mix their powder with water and it is high quality stuff – very high end. They are called Ola Loa, and you can find them at www.DrinkYourVitamins.com.

By the way, I haven't been paid to promote any of these companies. You know I don't do that. I do not take money from these companies. I do not earn any money on the sales of these products.

I am just recommending them because I know them. I know that they are good quality supplements. These are the same things that I take myself, and these are what I recommend. In many cases the best place to get your supplements is online.

By the way, you can see many of my reviews of which supplements I recommend right here on www.NaturalNews.com. We have recommendations from time to time. None of them are paid recommendations.

It is all just honest independent unbiased information about what I think is best for supporting your health, for preventing disease and so on. Where is the best place to buy supplements? The answer is that some places sell garbage and I would not recommend it even to an animal. Other places sell very high-end supplements. You have to be able to tell the difference.

Keep reading and I will teach you how to look for some of the key ingredients. In fact, we are going to cover that in the next segment coming up here. We are also going to answer the question, "What are the best nutritional products for kids?"

It is tough to get kids to have a lot of great nutrition sometimes, is it not? They don't want to eat the things that you want them to eat. I know how that works but before we get to that, I want to give you a tip here on how to check a vitamin supplement for the right ingredients and there is a trick – there is a secret that I will share with you right now.

How to determine quality of supplements

If you have a piece of paper be ready to write this down. Every multi-vitamin on the market contains a vitamin called "B-12." You have heard of B-12, right? It is a very important vitamin.

Well, there are several different forms of B-12 and the form of B-12 that appears on the vitamin label tells you a lot about whether that company is using quality ingredients or cheap ingredients. If you pick up any vitamin bottle anywhere – in retail, at a health food store or anywhere just look at their form of vitamin B-12.

Here is the form you don't want to see. It is called cyanocobalamin. The way to remember this is that it begins with cyano, which is like cyanide. Cyanide is a poison, right?

This cyanocobalamin is a cyanide molecule joined with cobalamin. This becomes a form of B-12 that is used by all the cheap vitamin companies out there. This is the cheap form. You don't want this in your body – not in my opinion.

Look for it, if you see cyanocobalamin as the B-12 then you know that is not really a high-grade nutritional supplement. It is probably a cheap supplement. They probably have cheap forms of all the other ingredients too.

I would not personally recommend it. I would not take it. However, there are other forms. The two forms you want to look for are methylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin.

Now these two forms – methyl and hydroxo – are far more expensive because they are more advanced forms of this vitamin B-12. They are more readily available to your body. Your body can use them without having to donate energy to the chemical reaction that is necessary to free them from their current chemical bonds.

I don't want to get too technical but the bottom line is that these forms of cobalamin or vitamin B-12 actually donate energy to your cells instead of stealing energy from your cells. Have you ever taken a cheap vitamin supplement and then you felt tired afterwards? That's because many of the forms of the B-vitamins actually steal energy from your body in order to be processed by your body. You don't want that, and you certainly don't want cyanide molecules in your body.

You want the B-12 that is called pre-methylated or methylated. That is where you get the methylcobalamin or the hydroxocobalamin. Those are the things to look for. Again, you can go to any store – a health food store, a grocery store – any place that you might buy vitamins.

You can pick up that bottle, look for the vitamin B-12 on the label, and find out what form of B-12 it really is. If it is cyano, you don't want it. Leave it on the shelf. If it is hydroxo or methyl then you do want it. That means it is a very high quality nutritional supplement.

Now, of course, this does not tell you everything about the supplement. This is just one aspect of it, but it is a good clue. It tells you whether the manufacturer of that supplement is actually putting money into it because the methylated form of B-12 costs, I think $5,000 or $7,000 a kilogram more than the cyano form of B-12.

I mean some of these costs $12,000 a kilo just for the raw material. That is very, very expensive. Twelve thousand a kilo – that is a lot of money. You have to look for the quality ingredients and they are going to cost money but if you are spending your money on vitamins then, of course, you do want those quality ingredients.

How to turn your kid into a nutritional powerhouse

All right, now let's move onto the question of what are the best nutritional products for kids as this is always a challenge. I hear it all the time. People say, "Well, Mike, the stuff you recommend – my kid won't eat it or they won't drink it. What can I get my kids to eat or drink that is actually good for them?"

Well, fortunately there are some wonderful products on the market now just for kids. One out there I will recommend called "Amazing Grass" – funny name but it is based on a mineral-rich grass complex with chocolate flavoring.

It is available as a powder and it is a superfood powder with lots of vitamins and minerals in it. You can find that at www.AmazingGrass.com. Again, I am not paid to recommend these companies. These are just companies that I know about because I have done the research.

Another product that I really recommend is called "X-Balance." It is just the letter "X" with the word "balance" after it and it is made by a company called "SGN Nutrition" and you can find it on a website called www.EmeraldBalance.com. I actually did an interview with the president of that company – the founder – a woman named Jan Lovejoy. She will be on my radio show later. Our exclusive live interview will be running on The Health Ranger Show.

Her product is one that I have actually used for a long time but it is delicious. It is a great formula for kids. It's like chocolate milk. It's a powder in a canister and you just mix it in with whatever milk you are drinking.

It is called "X-Balance," and it is delicious. I actually gave some to a neighbor where I live who had some children, and they loved it. It was just the perfect product.

There is another company out there called www.SimplyHealthyKids.com. They make a brand new product. You are going to be the first to hear about this. No one has ever reported on this yet because I just tasted the samples about five days ago.

They are not even on the market yet. In fact, when you go to their website, you might not find these yet but they are chocolate treats for kids that are rich in Omega-3 oils. Now how rare is that?

You see Omega-3 oils are very difficult to get kids to eat because many times they are in the form of fish oils and kids don't want to drink cod liver oil. They aren't going to buy that – especially not today's kids. They want something that tastes good. They want something that to them seems like candy.

Health food your kids will beg for

Well, this company, www.SimplyHealthKids.com, has created this candy. It is like a chocolate morsel but it is rich in Omega-3's because it has Chia seeds inside. It has this healthy chocolate, this cacao powder and then it has Chia seeds and it is sweetened with Agave nectar. It is low glycemic. It is great for kids. I am, in fact, going to be recommending that product down the road with a feature article and all that.

Actually, I am giving that company an award – a www.NaturalNews.com award for the best kids' superfood product. It is that good. Check it out. I hope that they have it in stock by now. I cannot guarantee it. It is not my company and it is somewhat early but you can check them out at www.SimplyHealthyKids.com and see if they have that ready or not.

Overall, the big news about this question in particular is what can I give my kids that is good for them? There are many, many products on the market now that really taste delicious. You don't have to settle for the junk out there.

There are many junk vitamins, children's vitamins that are made with artificial coloring chemicals derived from petrochemicals. Are you kidding me? You want to feed your kids petrochemicals made from oil? Give me a break. That is what the artificial colors are made from, by the way.

You don't have to settle for that anymore. There are great products on the market. Go to a health food store and ask them. What is great for kids? What do kids like?

There are food bars. There are these chocolate morsels. There are superfoods for kids that are outstanding – they exist now. All you have to do is go out and ask for them and then try them and see what your kids will drink.

The kind of information that I love to share with you and in this article we have been talking about myths about nutritional supplements. We have been talking about what supplements to buy, which ones to avoid and what supplements are best for children.

Almost all disease is preventable

Someone asked me, "Why are some of these supplement companies using these cheap ingredients these days?" Well, the answer is – and you will not believe this – the drug companies are getting into the vitamin business. Yes, they are because the drug companies see that people are turning to nutrition to prevent disease.

They know that if people get enough good nutrition then they don't need pharmaceuticals because they don't develop cancer. They don't develop heart disease. They don't develop diabetes. Those diseases are not genetic, friends. They are not.

Medicine tries to scare people into thinking that they can't do anything to control their own health or their own diseases. That is just a scare tactic. That is an enslavement tactic, you might say, but it is not true.

Out of all the cancers, perhaps only 2% have any real genetic component. The other 98% of all the cancers that afflict people are completely preventable and in nearly all cases – in my opinion – curable. That is right – curable. We could eliminate 98% of the cancer in this country and in this world right now if we turned to nutrition.

Why Big Pharma wants to make your vitamins

Well, the drug companies have figured this out too and they realize that as more people take vitamins – good quality vitamins and as more people eat superfoods and get sunlight and vitamin D and fish oils and all these things that their revenues are going to fall because fewer people will need pharmaceuticals – fewer people will be sick. These companies – they are not stupid. They want to make money one way or another so they are getting into the vitamin business, but they are not doing it in an ethical way, by the way.

They are getting into the vitamin business and they are creating cheap, low-grade vitamins that in my opinion do almost nothing to help keep people healthy. Now there are the conspiracy theorists out there who say this is on purpose that the drug companies are actually trying to keep people sick.

Frankly, that is not hard to believe. It really isn't if you understand how evil those corporations are and the complete lack of ethics that they operate under. It is not hard to believe that they would actually go out of their way and do something to poison the population or keep people sick.
That is not the position I am taking right here right now. We will leave that for another time. I am just saying matter of fact that those supplements – those vitamins made by pharmaceutical companies are low-grade supplements that really have virtually no health benefits.

High-quality supplements exist for those who seek them

If you want health benefits, you have to get supplements made by high quality companies, and they exist. You are going to hear about many of them right here on Natural News. In fact, we are going to be interviewing many of them. I have already mentioned half a dozen in this article that I trust.

These are companies that I use and recommend to my family and friends. Companies like www.WellnessResources.com, www.BaselineNutritionals.com, www.DrinkYourVitamins.com, and www.AmazingGrass.com, and there are many, many companies out there that you can trust. They actually have good quality supplements.

It is always funny when I hear people saying bad things about the supplement industry. I always think well they don't have the whole picture. Yes, there are frauds, hoaxes in this industry but at the same time there are real answers, and there are cures for cancer in this industry that exist right now. There are cures for heart disease and we will talk about them in detail in a moment.

Active people need natural salt

Let's move onto the next question here, which is what kind of nutritional support is best for people who work out.

Do you go to the gym? Do you walk? Do you cycle or jog? If you do anything like that you have special nutritional needs. We could actually dedicate a whole article to this but I will try to give you the answer here. Most people who exercise are malnourished period because they don't understand the need to replenish their body with the things that are lost through exercise.

The number one thing that people lose through exercise – and this is going to shock you because I know it goes against everything that you have heard out there in the mainstream media – but most people who exercise and try to eat healthy actually have a salt deficiency. Now hear me out on this. When I say a salt deficiency, I mean a natural, unprocessed salt deficiency. Yes, people are getting too much processed salt. That is just sodium. That is in all the processed foods. They get too much of that. I agree!

People are not getting enough full spectrum salt – the unprocessed salt that is enriched naturally with as many as 92 different elements – different minerals and trace minerals. You will find those in products like Celtic sea salt or there is a company called "Royal Himalayan Crystal Salt."

There are many unprocessed salts out there and that is what you are lacking when you are exercising. Do you know why? Because you are sweating out your salts – when you sweat it is salty, right? Have you ever sweated and it ran into your lips and you tasted it and it is salty? Right, because you are losing salt. Well, your body does not need Gatorade. You don't need cheap processed foods and beverages to replenish that salt. What you need is salt – unprocessed salt like Celtic sea salt. That is what your body really needs.

That is why a lot of athletes after they exercise they start craving salty junk foods. They start craving chips or pizza because cheese is really, salty. They start craving something that is salty. That is their body telling them that they need more salt.

After you exercise, you can actually replenish your body by simply putting some salt in some water and drinking slightly salted water preferably with some superfood powder in it. Some greens powder or a www.DrinkYourVitamins.com type of powder or some of these others that we will be talking about.

Then you are going to replenish the salts that you need and you are going to end those cravings for junk food. Athletes need to be especially aware – and not just athletes. I mean anybody who works out, even if you are just walking up and down the stairs, and you are working up a sweat. Then you need some extra salt.

Now you might say "Wait a minute, wait a minute. My doctor said I have too much salt. I need to cut down salt in my diet." Well, if that is true you are eating too much processed food.

If you are getting too much salt in your diet then you are making the wrong choices on your food in the first place because the natural foods, the produce that you know you are supposed to be eating – the fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, superfoods, natural beverages and so on – they don't have very much salt.

In fact, in my diet I actually have to add salt to my diet because if I don't I get into a state of salt deficiency very quickly because I am not eating processed junk foods. I would not even touch canned soup, which is very high in sodium.

I don't go to McDonald's and order French fries. You have to think about the big picture here. What does your diet consist of right now, and if it is too salty then you need to cut those processed foods out of your diet. You need to start doing exercise and supplementing with quality unprocessed salt. That is the way to find balance with your body and athletes need to know that more than anybody else does.

Nutrition helps your body cope with stress

Well, here is the other thing that you need to know if you are exercising. The fact that you are pushing weights or doing cardio or whatever you are doing for exercise, it means that you are putting extra stress on your body.

Now that stress becomes a chemical or biological stress. It means that you have greater nutritional needs than someone who does not exercise. I have seen many cases where people exercise a lot but they don't supplement with the right nutrition and their body begins to break down and it rapidly age. Have you ever seen that?

Have you ever seen somebody in the gym who looks a lot older than they should because they over-exercise and they under-supplement? Think about this. If you exercise your body, you need to supplement your chemistry. Exercise and supplements need to go hand-in-hand because you have these extra stresses placed on your biochemistry so you need to supplement with superfoods, B-vitamins, minerals and trace minerals. You need more calcium and magnesium than someone who does not exercise.

You need more food than someone who does not exercise but you can't just give yourself raw calories. You have to have food with the nutrition present. This is my number one advice to anyone who is exercising out there that you need to be on superfoods.

Just every morning blend up a superfood breakfast, use some of the superfood products that I recommend as I mention on this website – Emerald Balance is one of them. I recommend Jay Robb's protein powders. He has the best tasting natural whey protein and egg protein on the market.

By the way, I am interviewing Jay Robb on The Health Ranger Show later on so you will hear that in a future episode. There are many great products on the market. You just have to go out there and get them and make them part of your habit because your exercise does not end when you leave the gym. That is just the beginning of your body's adaptive response. Does that make sense?

You can't respond. You can't build more muscle. You can't build a stronger immune system unless you have the raw materials that your body needs. You get that through superfood supplementation. You get that through quality vitamins, not junk vitamins. Not through the junk that you find out there in retail full of binders and excipients that you cannot even digest – I am not talking about that.

I am talking about the quality supplements that I recommend. The ones that I review, the ones you will hear about on this show. That is what you need. Hey, look I am 38 years old and I exercise sometimes two or three hours a day. I am in great shape.

Doing what healthy people do

When I was 30, I was in lousy shape. I was overweight. I was borderline diabetic. I was depressed. I was in chronic pain. I ate at McDonald's and I did not take vitamins.

Life sucked eight years ago for me. I turned that around using the same information I am sharing with you right here on this show. This is what works, folks! You know what they say, if you want to be healthy do what the healthy people do. It makes sense. If you want to be unhealthy, go do what all the unhealthy doctors do.

Many doctors out there are not very healthy. There are many people working at pharmacies who are not very healthy. There are many patients standing in line at the pharmacy that are not very healthy. If you want to have health like those people, go do what they do.

Do you know what they do? They take many pharmaceuticals. They avoid exercise. They eat like garbage. They don't take care of their bodies. If you want those results, go do what they do. It is a very easy recipe.

If you want outstanding results, if you want to have a mind and body that works for you, if you want to feel great, energetic, and optimistic about your future then do what the healthy people do, and I guarantee you the healthy people are all eating superfoods. They are taking high quality nutritional supplements, they are choosing their food very carefully, they are exercising, they are getting sunshine, and they are drinking clean water. They are not drinking tap water – no way.

Do what the healthy people do if you want to get the results that the healthy people are getting. It only makes sense. By the way, there is no judgment in any of this. I don't care if you are in the worst shape of your life. There is no judgment on you whatsoever.

I used to be in that position. I used to be right there – overweight, depressed, hopeless, following a terrible diet. It does not matter where you are now because you can always get to the next higher step tomorrow.

Taking health one step at a time

You can always improve your life one thing at a time. Even if you are the sickest you have ever been, even if you are on 12 different meds you can find a new level of health in your life by turning to nutrition and superfoods and exercise and sunshine and even things like positive thinking or prayer – all of these things can work in your favor. You can turn your life around. People do it all the time.

It is just a process. You put one foot in front of the other. You make a new decision each day that you get up. You say today I am no longer going to drink sodas or today I am no longer going to have artificial sweeteners in my diet or I am going to give up eating red meat and steak and beef and hamburgers because I know how terrible those are for my health. You could say anything like that – along those lines.

You could say today I am going to start drinking superfoods for breakfast every day or today I am going to start doing the nutritional supplementation that I know is good for me. Today I am going to make a change for the better and when you do that friends, you take control of your health journey from that point forward.

Instead of leaving your health results up to someone else outside of you who does not have your best interests at heart like a doctor or a corporation or an insurance company or a drug company. Instead of leaving your fate to these organizations, you take control of your fate. You make that journey your journey, and you control the outcome. That is what this show is all about – it is showing you how to control your outcome, putting you back in the driver's seat, putting you back in control so that you can create the health results that you want.

You don't have to live in fear

Do you want to be free from chronic pain for the rest of your life? There is a way to do that. Do you want to reduce your cancer risk to near zero because the industry has you afraid that you are going to be diagnosed with breast cancer or prostate cancer someday? Do you want to be rid of that fear for the rest of your life? There is a way to do that. I can show you how to do that. I can show you how to eliminate – virtually eliminate all risk of cancer. Do you want to be free of diabetes? Do you want to have a healthy body weight? Do you want to look good and feel good? You could do all that. It is all within your grasp. It just comes down to your decision of what you wish to do. I am happy to share this kind of information with you. That is the potential that we have – just through nutrition. Nutrition is amazing. It is Mother Nature's medicine. This is the medicine that God and Mother Nature intended for us to consume. These are the medicines that we are naturally compatible with. We lived for thousands and thousands of years around these plants. Our ancestors lived around these plants and these medicines and that is why they are compatible with our bodies. This whole system of western medicine – conventional pharmaceutical medicine – has not been around very long. It will not be around very long because it is a disaster. It is killing people. Do you realize that conventional medicine has killed more people in this country than terrorists by a huge factor? Conventional medicine is killing 100,000 Americans a year. That is over twice as many Americans that died in the entire Vietnam War – twice as many every year right here in this country killed by pharmaceuticals. Those are pharmaceuticals that are approved by the FDA, but we can save that many lives through nutrition. Nutrition can turn that around and that is why I do what I do right here on Natural News. That is why I am glad to have you as a listener. I really hope you enjoyed the information we covered here today.

The Importance of Vitamin D

Posted by: Sandy Grant
http://labrada.com/blog/latest-supplement-news/the-importance-of-vitamin-d/

There are many essential vitamins and minerals that your body needs to properly function and to keep your entire body healthy. In this blog I am going to touch on some important facts about vitamin D and calcium (as vitamin D & calcium go hand-n-hand).

Spring is here and summer is approaching and we are all happy that the weather will be changing for the better! We will be spending more time outside and soaking up some vitamin D from the sun. Some Regions in the Country, like the Northwest, for most of the year is cloudy and raining. They experience a little less of the natural vitamin D from the lack of sun exposure which had been known to cause seasonal affective disorder (SAD). By keeping your vitamin D levels up during the fall and winter months it has been known to help boost your mood.

Everyone’s body is different and it’s important to learn how your body functions when it comes to being active. When you are active your body may require more vitamins and minerals than the average person. You are putting your body through an activity that uses up required vitamins & minerals that provide the body’s natural energy. It’s important to replenish your body post workout with the essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids to provide the proper recovery. (I will touch on Amino Acids in a later blog)

Just as your parents or grandparents used to say, “Keep your Bones Strong & Healthy, drink milk and take your vitamins”. Well…they are right. Osteoporosis is more common than you may think. Bone mass (bone density) decreases after age 35 years, and decreases more rapidly in women after menopause. By age 65, men catch up to women and lose bone mass at the same rate. By incorporating weight-bearing exercises and taking calcium WITH vitamin D, it will do your body good! Along with taking vitamin D and calcium you can help boost your joints by taking LABRADA ElastiJoint® .

ElastiJoint® is a powerful joint-support supplement designed to help maintain healthy joint function, elasticity, and flexibility. And pain-free joints help you support bigger muscles!

What is vitamin D?

Vitamin D is an essentail vitamin that helps your body absorb the minerals calcium and phosphorus from the food you eat. Vitamin D is available in tablets and capsules. It’s also standard in multivitamins an some natuaral food sources.

Get plenty of vitamin D

Vitamin D increases levels of serotonin in the brain. Researchers, though, are unsure how much vitamin D is ideal. There are individual differences based on where you live, the time of year, your skin type, and your level of sun exposure. Researchers from the University of Toronto noticed that people who were suffering from depression, particularly those with seasonal affective disorder, tended to improve as their levels of vitamin D in the body increased over the normal course of a year. Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, and other maladies. These studies show that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of disease, although they do not definitively prove that lack of vitamin D causes disease — or that vitamin D supplements would lower risk.

How much vitamin D do I need?

There are many recommendations on how much vitamin D to take. Some researchers say the current recommendations are not enough.

The recommendation is to try to get about 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day from food if possible. That’s not enough, Boston University vitamin D expert Michael Holick, MD, PhD, tells WebMD. Holick recommends a dose of 1,000 IU a day of vitamin D for both infants and adults — unless they’re getting plenty of safe sun exposure. The Vitamin D Council recommends that healthy adults take 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily — more if they get little or no sun exposure. The Institute of Medicine has set an adequate intake for vitamin D. Getting this amount of vitamin D from diet, with or without supplements, should be enough to keep your bones healthy.

If you find that you are not getting enough natural vitamin D you may want to consider taking a supplement. Consult your doctor on how much vitamin D you should be getting.

Vitamin D and Calcium

The two go hand in hand: if you don’t get enough D, it won’t matter how much calcium you get, because your bones can’t absorb it properly. But if you don’t get enough calcium, there’s nothing for the vitamin D to help your bones absorb.

The most important nutrients for fighting osteoporosis are calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is a key building block for your bones, while vitamin D is the “key” that unlocks the door to your bones and allows them to absorb calcium.

The National Academy of Sciences has developed recommendations for how much calcium and vitamin D you need at every age:

• Teenagers should get 1,300 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day.
• Adults up to age 50 should get 1,000 mg per day.
• Those over 50 should get 1,200 mg a day.

Vitamin D Food Sources

The best source of natural vitamin D is sunlight. Just 10 to 15 minutes of safe exposure without sunscreen a couple of times a week usually gives you enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is also naturally found in butter, eggs, and fish liver oils. Vitamin D is often added to fortified foods, too, such as milk and cereal.

You can get additional vitamin D and calcium in your daily diet by adding LABRADA Lean Body® On the Go! Shakes. One serving of Lean Body® On the Go! shake provides 25% of the daily value of calcium and 20% of the daily value of vitamin D. Plus, they taste great!

Vitamin D Warnings

Side effects. At normal doses, vitamin D seems to have few side effects.

Interactions. Vitamin D can interact with many medicines, such as drugs for high blood pressure and heart problems. If you take daily medicine, ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to take vitamin D supplements.

Risks. Signs of a vitamin D overdose include nausea, vomiting, weakness, constipation, and weight loss. High doses of vitamin D can also lead to disorientation and kidney and heart problems.

Vitamin D Resources & References

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/NS_patient-vitamind

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/nutrition-osteoporosis-eat-boost-bone-health

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/news/20080519/supplement-your-knowledge-of-vitamin-d?page=2

http://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamins-supplements-8/supplement-guide-vitamin-d

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/diet-recovery

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/guide/osteoporosis-facts-at-a-glance

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/osteoporosis-in-men