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By the time you make it to the end of this page, you should have a good idea about the best nutritional supplement to include as part of your overall optimal health plan.
Even though almost everyone wants to experience maximum health and well being, it isn't so easy in the stress-filled, fast-paced lives we lead to maintain consistent healthy habits.
An excellent way to buy extra health insurance, so to speak, is to include high quality nutritional supplements in your diet. When you have a busy life it's easy to take a dietary supplement everyday, plus it helps "make up" for less than ideal diet and exercise habits.
Since you're reading this, you're probably a health conscious person, and maybe you already take a multi-vitamin. This can be a good start, if the manufacturer uses high quality ingredients, the right type of nutrients, and up to date manufacturing methods.
Are Nutritional Supplements Really Necessary?
It's now accepted among many well respected doctors, scientists and researchers that many chronic and life-threatening diseases are caused by nutritional deficiencies. Of course there is still ongoing research and debate about why this is the case. What are the reasons for these nutritional deficiencies?
There's plenty of evidence that higher stress levels today can be putting unusual demands on our bodies, and therefore they require higher levels of nutrition to stay in healthy balance.
Also, it's known that the foods we eat today aren't as nutritious as they once were. Modern farming practices are often blamed for the low vitamin and mineral content of foods that we think are heathy like spinach, tomatoes, corn and potatoes. Many studies show that the nutrient content of the soil is lower than it was 30, 40, or 50 years ago.
Although it used to be believed that healthy eating habits were all that you needed in order to avoid disease and sickness and to maintain vibrant health, today there is much research based evidence that using nutritional supplements appropriately may help you reach a higher level of health and well being than relying on food alone.
Nutritional Protection Against Degenerative Diseases
Healthy eating habits are still more important than nutritional supplements, as is reducing stress, exercise and adequate rest. Striving to maintain a balance between these elements will always be the foundation of optimal health. That being said, it's now known that specific nutrients in the right dosage can lower your risk of developing common age-related diseases.
The primary source of nutrition are the carbohydrates, protein and fats in food, which also provides natural chemicals like vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Other nutrients like antioxidants help protect the tissues and cells from harmful environmental toxins. Also there are phytochemicals, or plant based nutrients that play an important role in supporting health.
It has been said that nobody dies of old age, but of diseases and illnesses that are common in our advanced years. Although modern medicine can "work miracles" in some cases, it is at a loss to address the main illnesses that plague us which are heart disease, cancer, memory loss, arthritis and immune weakness. There is now ample evidence that specific nutrients can reduce our risk from these common afflictions.
Heart Disease
The number-one cause of serious illness and death in our society is heart disease. Antioxidant vitamins are known to help protect the heart from damage caused by buildup of oxidized forms of cholesterol in the arteries and blood vessels. Vitamins E, Folate, B6 and B12 are some of the most helpful in the slowing and prevention of heart disease.
Cancer
The second largest cause of death in our society is cancer. Like heart disease, prevention is the most important strategy in the avoidance of this dreaded disease. Although there's much that's not understood about cancer, research does show that antioxidant nutrients have a significant protective effect against cancer. vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene and the mineral selenium have been shown in research to be essential in cancer prevention.
Memory Loss
Good nutrition is an important part of maintaining healthy mental function. Vitamin E, the herb ginkgo biloba, acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) are some nutrients that can help to protect your mental functions.
Arthritis
Joint pain and inflammation can lower your quality of life and make you feel older than you are. Arthritis is a condition that can benefit greatly from nutritional approaches. Vitamins A, C, D and E play a protective role in joint heath, and the B vitamin niacinamide can help to reduce inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids are a healthy and necessary type of fat found in cold water fish as well as in flax and borage oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are helpful for overall health and especially for joint and heart health.
Immune Weakness
Healthy immunity is both necessary for, and an indication of our vitality and overall health. Both research studies and basic observation show that aging is associated with immune system changes which makes people more susceptible to various infections and diseases like cancer. To maintain our youthfulness and live longer, maintenance of a healthy immune system is vital.
Several decades of solid research evidence shows that nutrition plays an important role in maintaining a strong immune system that can protect your health as you age.
A healthy diet, stress reduction strategies and quality dietary supplements are some of the ways to ensure a strong immune system that will help you to "tip the scales", so to speak, in the direction of a longer and higher quality life.
What To Look For in a Multi-Vitamin
A typical daily multi vitamin may include some B vitamins and antioxidants, but it's very unlikely that most supplements would contain powerful antioxidants like flavonoids, alpha lipoic acid, turmeric, glutathione, resveratrol, carnosine, TMG and SAM-e.
An enteric coating is desirable because it ensures that nutrients are released in the small intestine where they can be most effective. Because of the added cost, an enteric coating is rarely included.
The importance of carnosine, resveratrol, TMG and SAM-e are not heavily advertised, because they are expensive ingredients. A pharmaceutical company is about to release their own line of resveratrol supplements, although they are calling them prescription drugs.
Those of us who pay attention to research concerning unique nutritional supplements have been taking resveratrol for years and will continue to do so, without paying the price that the pharmaceutical company will charge.
For example, numerous studies have shown the health benefits of vitamin E in the prevention of free radical damage, the improvement of circulation, for tissue repair, to reduce inflammation and reduce the risk of cancer. But, when researchers try to duplicate these results, using the synthetic form of vitamin E, it cannot be done. In fact, synthetic vitamin E may actually be bad for your health, because it is derived from potentially toxic petroleum byproducts.
The bottom line is that most supplement companies do not use the correct form of a nutrient (natural) and they do not use the correct delivery system, which, in most cases, is a tablet with an enteric coating.
Here's where things get good. Through years of research and being a health-buff, I have found one nutritional supplement that offers everything discussed here so far.
To get all of the nutrients mentioned above, as well as all of the nutrients listed below, such as:
- Vitamin D
- Minerals, including selenium, calcium, magnesium, potassium and zinc
- Trace elements, including iodine and molybdenum
- Enzymes, including amylase and lipase
- Other amino acids, including ATP, arginine, lysine, proline and taurine
- Carotenoids (vegetable forms of the A-vitamins)
- Specialty Nutrients - Alpha Lipoic Acid, Resveratrol
- Herbal extracts like green tea and ginkgo biloba
You could take a handful of different pills and spend hundreds of dollars or more per month. Or, you can do what I do now and take Xtend-Life’s Total Balance Supplement.
If you take the recommended dosage, the cost is $48.25 per month and you get 76 different bio-active ingredients, every day. There is no better value for the money that I have found and I've been taking and researching supplements for 20 years religiously.
Over the years, I have thrown away bottle after bottle or simply pushed it to the back of the shelf. Not only were they ineffective, some of them, like B-vitamins without an enteric coating, actually made me feel sick until I stopped.
I say stop wasting money…get healthier…and possibly extend your life span. The benefits of each of the 76 different supplements are explained in great detail at the Xtendlife website. Visit their site and learn more. With no exaggeration, it could be the best thing that you ever do for your health.
Wishing You Good Health!
The Editors i-health-info.com and i-health-info.net
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