Health and Vitality Naturals

Nutrients Intake Are we getting enough nutrients for health maintenance, protection, promotion and wellness during the life-course? The answer is NO. Here are a couple of facts that could be of use to support this argument. Revisiting the expert joint report of WHO/FAO released by WHO(2002), on diet, nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases, the consultations articulated a new platform or dispensation, not just of dietary and nutritional targets, but also of concepts of the human organism's subtle  and complex relationship to its environment in relation to  chronic diseases, taking into account: i) Looking at diet within the context of the macroeconomic implications of public health recommendations on agriculture, and the global supply and demand for foodstuffs, both fresh and processed. ii) Role of diet in defining the expression of genetic susceptibility to NCDs, ​iii) The need for responsible and creative partnerships with both traditional and non-traditiona...

Humans lost their natural inert  ability to  take charge of their health through civilization, industrial revolution and modernity.  Most of the illnesses associated with these changes in human way of living  are described as lifestyle diseases. Typically they are not manifested in wild animals living in their natural habitat. It is therefore reasonable to consider  w hat humans can learn, with regards to self-care or self-healing, from wild a nimals  living in their natural habitat, in the fight against chronic diseases and other ailments in general. For more insights, visit the following links: https://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/154523594/what-animals-can-teach-humans-about-healing  and https://www.natural-wonder-pets.com/do-wild-animals-heal-themselves.html.   Happy reading!

Your source of  advice or information on how to take charge of your health matters. In most cases, such kind of advice or information is biased in favor of protecting and /or conserving special (personal, professional, group, institutional, national etc.) interests,  which could be (financial, prestige, power,authority, etc. ). I present to you a perfect and excellent example of  a personal health advice, concise handout prepared by Dr. Timothy Barron (a medical surgeon), who has people’s personal health at heart,  advocating for patients/health seekers to take charge of their health. It can be accessed at: http://www.hughchatham.org/assets/forms/Healthy%20lifestyle%20handout_HCM17525_online.pdf   Happy reading!

One of the crucial enablers towards taking charge of your health is identifying appropriate enlightening/educating, user-trusted, user-acceptable and personal health empowering information. Some of these enablers have already been highlighted in previous posts on this blog, especially those under the following titles: “Taking charge of your health and the challenges of reliable information and knowledge acquisition”, “Helping ourselves to take charge of our own health - The enablers” and “Pill-popping Mindset - The Top Barrier to Taking Charge of Your Health that Requires Overcoming”. The idea of identifying appropriate information to help with taking charge of your health might appear scary, but it it is not that complex. It can be approached in a very simplistic manner without the need for any special training or qualifications. The approach can be applied to information  from various sources such as the internet, newspaper, radio or television advertisements, and even your hea...

Tomatoes are a known food source for humans, containing a variety of secondary metabolites including phenolic compounds, phytoalexins, protease inhibitors, and glycoalkaloids. These metabolites protect against adverse effects of hosts of predators including fungi, bacteria, viruses, and insects. Glycoalkaloids in tomatoes are reported to be involved in host-plant resistance, on the one hand, and to have a variety of pharmacological and nutritional properties in animals and humans. One most commonly and widely documented tomato nutrient ingredient belonging to the carotenoids is lycopene, known to have antioxidant properties.The less talked about tomato nutrient ingredient of remarkable health benefits belonging to the glycoalkaloids is tomatine. Brief characteristics features and health benefits of the two nutrient ingredients are presented below. Health Benefits and Main Features of  Lycopene & Tomatine in Green and Ripe Tomatoes Nutrient Lycopene Tomatine Green T...

Your kitchen may be the starting point. Certain raw foods have been found to contain substances that suppress the function of the thyroid gland by interfering with the uptake of iodine, an essential nutrient in growth, cognitive function, and hormonal balance. A lack of functional iodine is known to result in cognitive deficiencies (e.g., Cretinism). The decrease in iodine uptake causes the thyroid gland to enlarge, forming a goiter. Foods that have been identified as goitrogenic include spinach, cassava, sweet potatoes , peanuts, soybeans, strawberries,, peaches, pears, and vegetables in the Brassica genus, which include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola, cauliflower, mustard greens, radishes, and rapeseed. Goiter has also been attributed to the consumption of large quantities of uncooked kale or cabbage. High temperatures ( i.e. , cooking) inactivate the goitrogenic substances, collectively termed glucosinolates.  Some of these foods require more attention than others...

With current advances in nutritional science, humans are increasingly getting enlightened as to what makes optimum nutrition for optimum health. However, with widespread proliferation of nutrition and health information from various health information centres and media platforms, the challenge is getting appropriate information optimum nutrition for optimum health. The most accessible from mandated food and health related institutions within individual countries, in the form of food/nutrition guides, food plates of food pyramids.. The reality on the ground however is that not many people actually follow the  food guides/pyramids due to various reasons, including: availability of the recommended food, affordability, personal food choices, inclination to traditional foods, etc. Further more, there is no guaranty that by following the food guides, one is assured of optimum nutrients intake as some nutrition and health experts are of the view that estimate conversions of nutrient conte...