5 Important Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
One of the essential nutrients for your body optimal health is vitamin B-12. It is part of what is called the “B complex” of vitamins and since it contains cobalt, it is also known as cobalamin. Vitamin B-12 is important for the maintenance of the nervous system, the formation of red blood cells, and growth and development in children. It is especially important in cells that are dividing rapidly such as in the bone marrow where red blood cells are formed.
Some of the signs and symptoms you would want to look out for if you suspect you might be deficient in vitamin B-12 would include:
Nervousness or Moodiness- All of the B-Complex vitamins are important to your body’s nervous system in one way or another. If you are experiencing a deficiency of Vitamin B-12, you may notice symptoms such as moodiness, nervousness, or even depression.
Elevated Levels of Homocysteine in your blood- There is a lot of evidence that elevated levels of homocysteine is associated with elevated levels of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin B-12 along with other B vitamins, have been shown to reduce the levels of homocysteine in your blood. Your physician can test for these levels with a blood test during an office visit.
Numbness and Tingling In The Fingers and Toes- Because of vitamin B-12’s importance in the nervous system, a prolonged deficiency could ultimately cause feelings of numbness or tingling in your extremities. Because this can also be a sign of neuropathy due to many different causes such as diabetes, it is important that you immediately notify your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms.
Anemia- Since vitamin B-12 is such an important part of the development of red blood cells, you may have anemia, which can be easily identified by a blood test preformed at your doctors office. Symptoms of anemia include, sluggishness, lack of energy, fatigue.
Constipation and Loss of Appetite- Many vitamin deficiencies have been linked to gastrointestinal complaints. If you are constipated be sure to discuss this with your doctor.
It is always important to try and identify why your body may be deficient in vitamin B-12 or any other critical nutrient.
Are you getting enough of vitamin B-12 from your diet? Foods that are high in Vitamin B-12 include fish, dairy products, eggs and organ meats such as liver. A diet rich in vitamin B-12 important for you to obtain and maintain optimal health.
Are you taking any prescription or over the counter drug that has been shown to either reduce your levels, or increase your bodies demand for vitamin B-12 such as Prevacid, Prilosec, Zantac, Metformin, or even other over the counter Antacids? If you are taking any of these medications and experiencing some of the mentioned side effects, they could be due to the vitamin deficiency and easily corrected with a good supplement. These medications can cause deficiencies if other essential nutrients as well.
If you want to learn more about why your body needs vitamin B-12:
http://www.essential-nutrients.net/vitamin_B12.htm
If you would like to learn more about other medications that have the potential to put you at risk of other vitamin and mineral deficiencies please visit:
http://www.essential-nutrients.net/
If you would like to see the full line of NutraMD products please visit: http://www.essential-nutrients.net/store/PPF/Category_ID/11/products.asp
Protein and Endurance Sports
Endurance Sports are like music concerts. They start at a low key, setting a steady rhythm and culminate into a crescendo that enthralls the spectator and the athlete. And not unlike an orchestra, endurance demands a flawless performance from every organ, testing the limits of their resilience. As each system, conducted by the human will, endures a pace bordering on fatigue, the athlete begins to hear music from the heart. What’s often neglected, and considered unnecessary, in endurance sports is a high-protein diet that can expand the aerobic capacity and power the performance.
To sustain effort and delay fatigue, the body needs an adequate supply of oxygen and fuel without accumulating waste products, acids or heat. Greater the intensity of the workout, greater is the efficiency required. The capacity of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the fuel stores in the muscle, the hepatic and renal support systems must all expand exponentially to perform in endurance sports. If any of these prerequisites are not met, the internal milieu becomes uncomfortable. Metabolism slows down, to allow excretion of wastes, acids and heat, as fatigue sets in. The aerobic stress of endurance sports provides the necessary stimulus for growth and development. The body is ready to build. All that is needed are the building blocks-the Proteins.
Given an adequate and appropriate supply of proteins, the body remains in a state of positive nitrogen balance. Sufficient protein consumption, along with a high-energy diet also influences the carbohydrate and fat metabolism. In the well-fed state, with sufficient physical activity, dietary proteins stimulate the simultaneous release of the growth hormone and insulin. The combined hormonal influence redirects dietary carbohydrate and fat to the aerobic muscle fibers where they are stored as fuels for exhausting workouts. The consequent increase in muscle stores of glycogen and lipid allows sustained activity for a longer time. With enough proteins, the lean body mass, stamina and performance increase throughout the training program.
Proteins and amino acids also directly supply between 1 to 6 % of the energy needs during a workout. The proportion of energy derived from proteins increases with the intensity of the exercise. Given their role in bodybuilding, proteins are too important to be used as fuel and attempts should be made to minimize this percentage. Studies by Bowtell and Tarnopolsky, report that a high-energy (carbohydrate) diet, when combined with an ample protein intake and hydration, has a protein sparing effect under aerobic conditions. However, when the protein intake is inadequate, the high-energy diet fails to protect proteins from being used up as fuel. Therefore, endurance athletes need to ensure high levels of protein intake not only to supply amino acids for growth, but also to make sure that the amino acids don’t get burnt up as fuel.
Endurance athletes need proteins but do they need protein supplements? The answer, till recently, was negative for recreational and modest athletes. Protein supplements were advised only for professional athletes and for sportspersons with a diet deficient in proteins. However, these recommendations, based on a parameter called ‘nitrogen balance’, have often been questioned. Young and Bier propose that there exists a subtle state of protein deficiency, called the ‘accommodative’ state, where an inadequate protein intake is masked by the breakdown of body proteins. Measurements based on nitrogen balance do not take the accommodative state into account and are therefore are not accurate enough to calculate protein requirements. Mark Tarnopolsky, in a recent review on Protein Requirements in Endurance Athletes, also raises similar questions.
Epidemiological studies, by McKenzie and others, also suggest that the dietary protein intake of up to 20% of athletes may be below levels recommended for sedentary individuals. Then there is always the ambiguous quality and absorbability of a dietary protein. Just eating proteins in diet does not ensure that they will provide all the essential amino acids in adequate quantities. Given the vital role that proteins play in the metabolic and physiological response to aerobic stresses of endurance sports, and the uncertainties regarding dietary protein intake, a protein supplement like Profect
Are Vitamin Supplements Beneficial To Your Overall Health
Many people are trying to improve their health. In fact, whenever you turn on the TV there seems to be another story about how unhealthy everyone is right now. Naturally, if you are trying to make yourself a bit healthier, then you have to go about it the right way. Of course there are a lot of companies that will sell you vitamins, supplements and minerals that they say will improve your health but you need to make sure that they are really useful or you will be wasting your money.
One of the main things that people buy when they are trying to improve their health is a supplement, but the question is, are vitamin supplements beneficial and are they best way to become healthier?
Asking yourself, are vitamin supplements beneficial, is not really the best question. If you are looking to make yourself healthier then you should be looking at everything and not just trying to take a few supplements to make yourself healthy. Diet is a good place to start and is an area of our health and fitness regiment that most people can make real improvements to heir body, weight and health with. In today’s fast paced economy many consumers eat too much fat and sugar and too many refined products. Of course it would not be good to just not eat any of your favorite foods, instead it is more beneficial for you if you start to make small improvements and gradually build it up.
If you try to eat a good amount of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables with some good lean protein and some good fats like olive oil, then it could be a good start. If you really want to know how to improve your diet then you should talk to a qualified nutritionist. The best way to eat better can be different for different people so it is a good idea to find out what is the best diet modification for you.
Of course you may wonder and want to know are vitamin supplements beneficial to your diet as well. A good dietician will be able to tell you the answer to the question such as, are vitamin supplements beneficial to you and they should also be able to tell you which ones you need. Different people have different dietary requirements and it is best to get some advice form a health professional. Exercise is also important to your health and engaging or performing regular exercise is very beneficial to most people.
However, just as with starting a new diet you should ask your doctor to give you a health check before you start so that they can tell you what amount of exercise you should be doing. Getting healthy can be great fun but you should find out first, what is the best way for you to start.
Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of VitaminSupplementsGuide.com. He provides more information on anti-aging supplements, dietary supplements, antioxidants and answers the question what’s a good multivitamin that you can research in your pajamas on his website.