Vitamin E- Your Fountain of Youth?

Photo by: John Liu


Got some cracks in your armor? Maybe you need more Vitamin E.  These powerful antioxidants are great healing warriors.  

From Your skin, to your blood vessels and every cell in between, they will repair those 'cracks' and boost your bodies health.

What are they?

Vitamin E are antioxidants that protect against damage to cells. There are really 8 kinds of Vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols)

What do they do?

Damaged LDL cells accumulate in blood vessels.

Vitamin E prevents blood from clotting unnecessarily, lowering the risk of stroke or heart attack

It helps skin retain moisture and is often added to sunscreens because it protects the skin against UVB damage.

Builds immune function. (Many women are often deficient in vitamin e. Female problems cause a deficiency of vitamin e and may affect your immune system.)

Anti-Aging

Because Vitamin E repairs and protects your cells, it is awesome at helping your skin, although it goes much deeper than that. Some of us age better than others and don't kid yourself your diet and exercise habits are directly related to it.  (Genetics play a role too.)

Go get it:

- Leafy Vegetables
-Nuts
-Seeds- especially Sunflower Seeds
-Fatty Fish- especially Shrimp & Sardines
-Oils
-Oily Plants- Avocados, Olives, 
-Chili Peppers
-Eggs

Toxicity:

None, "Eat all you want, we'll make more."
You can have 1,000mg a day, that's a lot. (Your daily min req is 14mg)

sources:

Vitamin E from Puritan's Pride

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=111 Plus a great chart of the nutrition content of high Vit E foods!

A great dosing post for many diseases- http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-e/dosing/hrb-20060476

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-e/dosing/hrb-20060476

Your Heart

Photo: Ano Lobb

Today, A quick and easy reference to fight heart disease!

Add Good Fats

Almonds

Avocado

Bison

Chia Seed

Fish

Flax Seed Meal

Olive Oil

Remove Bad Fats

- Fried Foods

-Transfats & Fractioned Fats

-CAFO Red Meat

- (easy to remember: Solid & highly processed)

Exercise

Get moving! 

One of my favorite racing groups 3W Races- says "Do what you can, when you can, where you are."

I love it! Pick something you love and do it 3-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes.

(if you only have 10 minutes, then do 10!)

-Strengthens your heart (it's just like any muscle- use it to strengthen it!)

-Lowers your blood pressure

-Helps reduce stress (A big heart disease factor!)

-"Regular exercise also helps to keep arteries and other blood vessels flexible" 1.

-Keeps the blood vessels open.

Protect Your Cells

keeps cell membranes flexible...

Green Leafy vegetables

Pumpkin Seeds

Salmon

Walnuts

Increase cardiovascular function

Red Wine

Dark Chocolate- dilates your arteries.

Fiber!

Clean those arteries out!

Oats- protect against damage to LDL. (Damaged LDL sticks to artery walls)

Parsnips

Quinoa

Whole Grains

Eat the rainbow...

here's where you fight!

Carotenoids-Like Red Peppers, Tomatoes & Carrots

Foods high in Vitamin C- lowers body inflammation

Antioxidants- Beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E

Smelly foods! -garlic, contains allicin which fights hardening arteries

A good start for today.

Make baby steps to incorporate these things into your daily life and check back tomorrow to learn about more Fightin Foods!

sources:

1.http://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/exercise

Vitamin C

Photo: Jon Bunting

Yo ho, yo ho,
               a pirates life for me!

This vitamin is the famous cure of scurvy.

It help our health much more than that!

Vitamin C, eat up me hearties, yo ho!

What's it do?

It lowers inflammation in your body.

It prevents and lessens symptoms from the common cold.

It lowers allergy symptoms.

Vitamin C might help the heart and blood vessels. It is used for hardening of the arteries, preventing clots in veins and arteries.

It repairs and boosts your immune system. 
        Can help prevent diseases and reduce many symptoms.

It's thought to help depression.

It may be anti-aging by counter effecting cortisol.

Vitamin C in sunscreens may help block the sun.
"When applied topically, vitamin C also helps protect your skin against the damaging effects of UV rays." 1.

Where to get it?

It's best to get Vitamin C from your foods, but it's hard to get high amounts that way.  So many people add supplements.

Papaya
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Strawberries
Pineapple
Oranges
Kiwifruit
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower

Getting more:

Vitamin C boosts your body’s ability to absorb more iron.

The longer fruit been cut the lower the vitamin C content.

Hungry for more?

sources: 

Vitamin C from Puritan's Pride

1.http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/diet-aging/5-anti-aging-vitamins.htm#page=2

-http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1001-vitamin%20c%20(ascorbic%20acid).aspx?activeingredientid=1001&activeingredientname=vitamin%20c%20(ascorbic%20acid)

-http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/vitamin-c-increase-iron-absorption-4865.htmlhttp://healthyeating.sfgate.com/vitamin-c-increase-iron-absorption-4865.html

-No More Allergies by: Dr. Gary Null (This is a great example of read with attention.  Some of Dr. Nulls ideas seem far fetched but there is invaluable information and research in the book.  So read, skim, note and re-read.  Then compare it to other sources.)

-http://fightinfoods.blogspot.com/p/sources-addictions.html