Probiotic Reduces Crying Time in Colicky Infants
No Evidence Stretching Prevents Running Injuries
Intermittent Fasting Promotes Weight Loss, Improves Lipids
Breakfast Like a King: Three-Meal Diet Improves Type 2 Diabetes
Eating Chili Peppers Tied to Reduced Risk of Death
High-dose Vitamin D Supplementation Appears to Be Safe
Vitamin D Needs Calcium to Help Lower Fracture Risk
Knee Injury in Youth Increases Osteoarthritis Risk
Regular Exercise Linked to Reduced Risk of Several Cancers
SSRIs Disrupt Sleep in the Elderly, May Contribute to Dementia
Phytoestrogens May Benefit Health but Also Prompt Concern
Unclear If Sports Raise Later Arthritis Risk
Sleep Duration Important in Weight Management
Micronutrient Deficiency Often Unnoticed in PPI Users
” PPIs have been associated with Clostridium difficile infection and with micronutrient deficiency. “Our hypothesis was that even though gastroenterologists know about micronutrient deficiency, they aren’t looking for it,” he explained. The researchers reviewed the electronic health records of 41 patients with Barrett’s esophagus who were on long-term PPI therapy to see if their levels of vitamin B₁₂, ferritin, or magnesium were ever tested”
Aerobic Exercise May Provide ‘Small’ Improvement in Vascular Cognitive Impairment
IBS: Gut Bacteria May Predict Who Benefits From FODMAP Diet
“Patients who did not respond to the low-FODMAP diet had more severe dysbiosis at baseline than responders. The traditional diet had no effect on overall bacterial composition, but in the FODMAP group, there was a significant reduction in potentially beneficial Bifidobacterium. This was more prominent in nonresponders than in responders.”
New Guideline Says Calcium Safe From CVD Standpoint
(Dr. Repetto’s comment – One should take calcium with magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin K. One should aim to get 1200 mg/day and half of that from food.)
If you have been following my blogs, you know that as a Doctor of Chiropractic and an Applied Kinesiologist I am interested in nutrition. In this blog, I am recommending that at least half of your calcium intake (daily intake – 900mg- 1200 mg) come from the food that you eat. Please see below for a listing of calcium in common foods.
There are reasons for this: one is that fresh unprocessed foods contain other minerals besides calcium like magnesium, potassium and boron that help form the collagen matrix lattice in your bones that the calcium attachs itself to.
These fresh foods like green leafy vegetables and yogurt contain Vitamin K; one of the functions of this vitamin is to keep calcium out of your joints and arteries. Other food like dairy products, eggs, fish contain Vitamin D which helps the calcium attach to the bone.
Please check out another blog Getting Enough Calcium Into Your Bones? Ten Facts You Need to Know!
In another blog, I talked about being careful about what kind of calcium is in your supplements as some calcium supplements can prevent absorption of calcium, weaken your bones and create other health problems.
Please check out A NYC Chiropractor/ Applied Kinesiologist Talks About How Your Multi and/or Calcium Supplement May Be Causing Problems https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/a-nyc-chiropractor-applied-kinesiologist-talks-about-multi-andor-calcium-supplement-may-be-causing-problems/
TYPE OF FOOD – 1 CUP = Mgs of CALCIUM
Black beans 270
Chickpeas 300
Lentils 50
Lima beans 55
Pinto beans 257
Kidney beans 70
Split peas 22
Alfalfa sprouts 28
Artichoke 51
Asparagus 21
Broccoli 138
Cabbage 64
Cauliflower 26
Chard, Swiss 106
Collards 220
Dandelion greens 147
Eggplant 22
Greens, beet 14
Kale 174
Mustard greens 284
Okra 147
Potato, sweet -baked 46
Spinach – cooked 167
Spinach- raw 51
Watercress – raw 53
Hijiki 1400
Almonds – raw 332
Cashews 53
Hazelnuts 282
Sesame seeds 165
Tofu 128
Beef -ground -lean 54
Chicken – breast 39
Chicken – thigh 41
Duck 37
Lamb – shoulder 35
Turkey -light meat 36
Turkey – dark meat 36
Egg -1 large-hard 27
Mackerel-canned 388
Salmon-fresh 358
Salmon- canned 431
Tuna – canned-water 32
Cheese – gruyere/swiss 287
Milk – low fat 297
Milk – skim 302
Milk – whole 291
Ricotta 509
Yogurt-low fat 415
© 2013-Dr. Vittoria Repetto
Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic practice; please go to http://www.drvittoriarepetto.com
And please check out the Patient Testimonials page at the web site.
Want to be in the know on holistic information and postings? Follow me at
https://www.facebook.com/wvillagechiropracticappliedkinesiologynkt/
Or join me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DrVRepetto
Lately we have heard of a medical research study in the Oct 2011 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine talking about use of supplements and death rate among more than 38,000 older women enrolled in the Iowa Women’s Health Study. The study reported the possibility of a slightly increased risk of death among women who took multivitamins and other supplements, including vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper. The researchers also found a reduced risk of cancer and death associated with taking calcium supplements.
First, this study was based on the recall of the women who took part. They were asked in three separate years, 1986, 1997 and 2004, to fill out a 16-page questionnaire on their supplement use and the frequency with which they ate 127 different food items. In these kinds of studies, there’s no way to verify the accuracy of participants’ recall. These types of study are observational in nature, it doesn’t tell us anything about cause and effect. Indeed, the most the researchers could say in their conclusion was that taking certain supplements “may be associated” with an increased death rate.
The strongest association seen was between iron supplements and mortality rates. This doesn’t surprise me as a daughter of someone who had iron overload. I have for years only recommended iron for menstruating women and a low dosage at that. Iron is one of the few minerals we cannot eliminate (except through blood loss or blood donation), and accumulations in the body can rise to toxic levels. Iron is an oxidizing agent that can increase the risk of cancer, diabetes, liver problems, arthritis and heart disease. Please see http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hematology_and_oncology/iron_overload/primary_hemochromatosis.html and http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/hematology_and_oncology/iron_overload/secondary_iron_overload.html Men and post menopausal women should not take iron in their supplements unless they have had blood tests showing they are iron deficient.
And I have questions about the rest of the study’s findings. We don’t know the dosages or quality of the supplements the women took which can have different absorption rates and bioavailability in the body. Vitamins/minerals like Vitamin B6 or zinc for example can be helpful taken at the right dosages but very harmful if you take too much. And bioavailabity can be affected for example by the source of the supplement and fillers in the supplement.
What do we know? We know that between 14 to 17 percent of the women were smokers; seven to 13 percent of the women were on hormone replacement therapy and between 35 and 38 percent had high blood pressure. So generalizing about this group is questionable since the women were not completely healthy to begin with.
So in my opinion the study was flawed and pointed to something any nutritionally knowledgeable doctor (unfortunately MD’s get very little training in nutrition) should know which is too much iron will make you sick and in time kill you.
So please talk to a doctor who has had nutritional training (that includes chiropractors, naturopaths and osteopaths or an MD who has taken additional studies in nutrition) about taking a good quality vitamin/mineral supplement that would be right for you.
© 2012-Dr. Vittoria Repetto
Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic practice; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com.
And please check out the Patient Testimonials at the “Our Practice” page at the web site
© 2010-Dr. Vittoria Repetto
Excellent article on how common medications deplete vital nutrients essential to your health, and explains how this happens.
Covers: Anti-hypertensives, Beta blockers, Cholesterol – lowering drugs, Acid blockers, Antacids, Histamine-2 receptor antagonists & Proton-pump inhibitors, Oral hypoglycemics, Psychotrophic medications, Hormone replacement therapy and Antibiotics.
Click here: Hyla Cass, M.D.: Is Your Medication Robbing You of Nutrients Part 2: Getting Specific
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hyla-cass-md/is-your-medication-robbin_1_b_691711.html
A while back, a fellow member of an e-mail list serve that I belong to, asked the following:
“What do you take for calcium if you are not getting enough from diet. I used to take Tums, but now I heard that they don’t do anything. Any suggestions?”
I said there are 10 facts you need to know in order to make sure that you are getting the calcium that you need.
The first fact that you need to know is that that you need an acidic ph in your stomach to help absorb the calcium. Our bodies supply this naturally w/ our own stomach acid. If you have a healthy digestive system that has not been abused w/ antacids, you are ok. But as we get older some people’s stomachs secrete less acid; to safeguard against this, some companies add Betaine HCl – a digestive enzyme and Vitamin C to their calcium supplements insure the proper Ph.
So what is Tums? It’s an antacid which uses a very cheap form of calcium called Calcium Carbonate that has an antacid effect all it’s own and therefore is mal-absorbed and you don’t get any calcium into your system. Remember, it’s not what you eat/take…It’s what you absorb!
The second fact that you need to know is that the two best-absorbed Calcium’s are Calcium Citrate and Microcrystallline Hydroxyapatite Concentrate (MCHC). MCHC is a complete bone food; it contains proteins (to produce collagen – the mesh that the calcium/minerals attaches it to form the bone) and other ingredients that comprise the organic portion of the bone, as well as calcium and other minerals.
Calcium citrate produces a higher peak calcium level in the blood. This is an interesting finding because the carbonate supplements actually contain more calcium per pill than those with the citrate.
I personally use a supplement that contains both MCHC and Calcium Citrate.
Your calcium supplement and/or your multi-vitamin/mineral should contain Vitamin K and boron as well as a complete mineral profile as these help your bones absorb calcium.
The third fact that you need to know is how to read the label of calcium supplements; most labels will list:
Calcium Citrate(1 tablet)………………….250 mg
But what you want to see listed is the Elemental Calcium; that is how much calcium you are getting; the rest of it is the citrate part of compound.
Calcium (Elemental)………………………100mg.
The four fact is that you need to take magnesium along w/ the calcium; magnesium helps activates the parathyroid hormone and Vitamin D that helps us to absorb the calcium into our digestive systems as well as working as a counterbalance to calcium in nerve stimulation/relaxation and prevent us from getting constipated from taking too much calcium. The present accepted ratio of calcium to magnesium is 2 to 1:( Ca 200/Mg 100).
The fifth fact is that you need Vitamin D in order to absorb the calcium. The current RDA is 200-400IU though with all the current research on Vitamin D and its effect on our immune system, some are suggesting that the new RDA be 800-1000IU. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and can build up to toxic levels (above 10,000IU a day ) so be careful if you are taking cod liver oil or something similar. Always read labels carefully. Also try taking in sunshine for 20 minutes a day minus the sun block so that your body can make its own Vitamin D.
The sixth fact is that you should be taking your calcium supplement in the evening hours as that is when your Para-thyroid gland is most active. It increases gastrointestinal calcium absorption by activating Vitamin D and promotes calcium uptake by the kidneys
.
The seventh fact is that you should be taking calcium yrs before you enter menopause. Contrary to common misconception, bone is a living substance; one of the most active tissues in the body. It is constantly being dissolved and rebuilt in a process called remodeling and like any other living tissue, needs nourishment to stay strong and healthy. So in my opinion, a woman should take 400mg to 600 mg before she is 40 yrs. old (pregnant women need a lot more), take 600-1000 mg after 40. I recommend that you do not take more than 600mg in supplement form but try to get the majority of your calcium from foods like beans, leafy greens, almonds and some quality dairy products if you are not lactose-intolerant
The eighth fact is that some companies use fillers and binders that make it impossible for the calcium tablet to break down in your digestive system and be absorbed.
There is a simple test you can do at home: put 1/4 of a cup of vinegar in a jar (similar acidic ph as our stomachs), drop the Calcium supplement into jar, close and shake well for 15 min and then leave it on counter for 3 hrs…if it is not dissolved by then…then you are not absorbing it. You can do this to all your vitamins/minerals. I personally use and recommend a brand of vitamin/mineral that is highly absorbable…and I am of the opinion that you get what you pay for. Remember, it’s not what you eat/take…It’s what you absorb!
The ninth fact is that use of weight bearing exercise such as wt. training, swimming or using a cross-country machine accelerates the deposition of minerals into the bones.
The tenth fact is that there have been studies that show that overuse of animal proteins (western diet vs. eastern diet) and overuse of carbonated drinks (sodas/seltzer) accelerates the loss of minerals from our bones. There are also studies that show that the calcium in milk/ dairy products is not as well absorbed as the milk companies would have you believe. So I would suggest that you increase your intake of veggie protein (soy, nuts, beans and legumes , leafy greens and cruciferous veggies) and eat a moderate amount of animal protein and forget the sodas
© 2010-Dr. Vittoria Repetto / revised -2013
Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic practice; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com
Want to be in the know on holistic information and postings? Follow me at
https://www.facebook.com/wvillagechiropracticappliedkinesiologynkt/
Not only is the calcium carbonate in Tums reducing the absorption of Calcium because you need acid in order to absorb Calcuim but the lack of acid also affects your absorption of Vitamin B12 and Zinc.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Getting-Enough-Calcium-Into-Your-Bones?-Ten-Facts-You-Need-to-Know!&id=851711
And low gastric acid is thought to predispose your stomach H. Pylori and H. pylori colonization increses gastric ph ( from acidic to non-acidic or basic)
And the proton pump inhibtor and H2 blockers that they give for GERD cause the same effect
More on Health
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Dr. Vittoria Repetto's Blog: 