The Truth About Vitamin Supplements Helping to Cure Acne

by Louise Forrest


Although it has been generally established that the food you eat does not have a direct connection with your developing acne, let us see whether vitamin supplements have any part to play in curing acne.
Unfortunately, the picture is not very encouraging. So if you are an acne sufferer and thought that this was one more way in which you could treat your condition, you are likely to be disappointed.
Vitamin supplements and acne are not such a good idea. Before you jump to conclusions, it would be better not to view the issue of acne in black and white, because there are shades of gray as well. How come, you might say? Well, here is how it works.
You are aware that acne is caused by a hormonal imbalance in the system. Your body has a built in mechanism for regulating hormones. This mechanism can only function effectively you are taking in all the essential nutrients, which, naturally, include vitamins as well.
However, there is no magic solution so do not get the idea that if you have acne, popping a couple of pills will do the trick. If only it were so simple but it is not. For any vitamin to have a beneficial effect on your acne, it will have to be part of a much larger picture.
Vitamin B5 is a deadly choice for acne. There is a popular notion that supplements of Vitamin B5 are effective in curing acne. But do not make the mistake of falling for it, or you are likely to regret it for a long time. The fact is that it has been proven that Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid, taken in high doses, can be extremely damaging to your health. Vitamin B5 does not have any effect in improving the condition of an acne outbreak.
Worse still, you could find yourself saddled with unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, chronic fatigue and loss of energy. Do you really think it is worth sacrificing your health for the sake of beating an acne problem? You may argue that even if there is an excess of Vitamin B5, ultimately it will pass out of your system. That is perfectly true but while it is there, it's wreaking havoc. Do you think you would like to risk so much for acne?
Paying the price for treating acne. B Vitamins are supposed to work together in the correct proportions to maintain the health of your system. If this does not happen, they will not have the effect they are supposed to. So if you take in an excess of Vitamin B5 in the belief that it will cure your acne, all you will have is a new problem on your hands as your body struggles to cope.
In the meantime, the excess Vitamin B5 proceeds to deplete the reserves of other B vitamins in your system such as Vitamins B3, B6 and B12, all of which have their own functions to perform. So do not make this mistake on any account or you will live to regret it.
Safer treatment option for acne. You will be happy to know that the story does not quite end here. Because there is a much safer alternative to Vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid. You could try taking pantethine instead. This is also Vitamin B5, but a form of the vitamin that is much more easily absorbed into the body. Even if this seems to be the answer to your acne problem, remember that you should not take more than 1 to 11/2 grams per day.
Even if you are convinced that your acne problem has come about as a result of a deficiency of Vitamin B5, the small dose mentioned above will be more than enough to set you right. This is no time to be adventurous and try to take your acne problem on by yourself.
If nothing else, do check with a doctor that what you are doing is okay. You can hardly afford to turn yourself into a guinea pig, least of all for the sake of your acne!! There are safer ways to go about it, so take care!!
About the Author
Keep YOURSELF looking and feeling great with these great FREEBeauty Tips from http://www.NaturalElements.co.uk In just seconds you can access over 36 beauty topics that will keep you looking younger and more radiant.You can now get the very latest information on Acne Skin Care by subscribing with RSS

Thanks to Louise Forrest for this article.

Weight Loss Vitamin Info

by Roy Shepherd


Some people use vitamin supplements when trying to lose weight. Because some alimentation products are avoided when dieting the body may be deprived of certain vitamins that could help resist against different kinds of illnesses.
In order to provide the body the micronutrients needed, many people decide to use a weight loss vitamin supplement. Such dietary supplements contain not only vitamins and minerals but also other lesser known substances such as herbals, botanicals, amino acids, and enzymes. This is indeed a modern practice that can be helpful in when dieting but before using any supplements there are some things to consider.
Supplements
As the name suggests a supplement is only complementary to daily alimentation. In order to lose weight while preserving your health, a weight loss vitamin supplement must be used together with healthy food and physical exercises. Under no circumstances should these be used alone as they cannot completely replace the vitamins provided by a balanced diet.
Choices
Weight loss vitamin supplements can be found in different forms: tablets, capsules, powders and energy bars or drinks. Since there are a lot of products offered on the market, some people may find themselves in the troublesome situation of not knowing what to choose thus choosing inadequately.
The best way to know what type of weight loss vitamin supplement to choose is to consult your physician as there might be substances that can interfere with medication you are taking. Talk with the doctor before using them or with other health care providers such as a dietitian, nutritionist, nurse, or pharmacist. This is very important because there are risks when using dietary supplements.
Risks
Although such supplements can be useful to some people on a diet there are circumstances when these can damage the health. Weight loss vitamin supplements contain active ingredients that can have detrimental effects to your body.
Such negative effects may appear the moment people use a combination of supplements or when they are taken together with certain medications which could cause an adverse reaction to occur.
Undesirable effects can certainly happen if people are trying to replace some prescription medicines with supplements. Be sure to consult your physician before taking any supplements before, during or after surgery.
Therefore, the use of a weight loss vitamin supplement can be useful when dieting but only if taken on the advice of your physician.
About the Author
Roy Shepherd Press releases and Latest News of Weight Loss.

Thanks to Roy Shepherd for this article.

Is It Really Necessary To Ttake Vitamin Supplements

by Dr. Robert Buckley


For most people, taking a multivitamin supplement sounds like a good idea, when they remember or get around to it. It is not very high on most people's priority list, and that is unfortunate, because it is becoming more and more unhealthy.Now I know most readers are thinking how can not doing something like taking a vitamin supplement make your health situation worse? I eat a good diet, if I have not been taking vitamins supplements up until now and I've been doing OK, why do i you think I will be less healthy in the future?The simple answer is that the foods you eat are getting less and less nutritious. A study performed by the US department of agriculture, illustrated this perfectly. In that study 100 grams of spinach from a specific farm was processed to determine the exact amount of iron it contained. The study showed that in 1940 100 g of spinach yielded 158 mg of Iron. In 1965 100 g of spinach yielded only 27 mg of Iron, and in 1995 100 g of spinach yielded just 2.2 mg of Iron. This study clearly demonstrates the growing problem of mineral and vitamin depletion in the farming soil. Farmers have tried different measures to combat this with little success. Air pollution, chemicals, pesticides, over utilization, Steroids and growth hormones have radically reduced the fundamental nutrition in our fruits and vegetables. Here are a couple of alarming quotes from US Senate Document Number 264 "No man today can eat enough fruits and vegetables to supply his stomach with the mineral salts he requires for perfect health, because his stomach isn't big enough to hold them! And we are turning into big stomachs." "The alarming fact is that foods (fruits, vegetables and grains) now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contain enough of certain minerals are starving us ... no matter how much of them we eat."This is just one of the many reasons the modern diet is growing more and more deficient. There are many other reasons that contribute to the problem. With all of this in mind, vitamin supplementation is no longer a luxury we can continue to put off. It is now essential to supplement your diet to achieve optimal health and vitality.
About the Author
Learn about vitamin supplements and natural vitamin supplements.

Thanks to Dr. Robert Buckley for this article.

Vitamin K: The Anti-Aging Vitamin

by Alien


Most of us may have some vague sense of having heard about something called vitamin K. But it's unlikely that we have any idea of what vitamin K is or what it does. For those knowledgeable about health issues you may recall that vitamin K helps blood coagulate. In fact, the vitamin got its name from the Danish researchers who discovered it. The "K" stands for "koagulation," the Danish version of "coagulation."
Well, times have changed. Vitamin K is here with a vengeance. Recent research has shown it to be a powerful antioxidant, stronger than vitamin E or coenzyme Q10. It has been shown to help prevent degenerative diseases like osteoporosis and heart disease.
Let's take a closer look at this newfound powerhouse.
The good news about vitamin K is that is does a lot more than previously thought. It is a potent anti-aging vitamin with many important applications throughout the body. Vitamin K accumulates in the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and in the blood. It has broader health applications than scientists ever imagined. While it was long thought that we all had sufficient amounts of vitamin K in our bodies, recent research indicates that many of us suffer from vitamin K deficiencies.
Vitamin K and Anti-aging
Anti-aging research has found that as we age we suffer from increased inflammation that can cause everything from heart disease to mobility impairments. It seems that during the aging process the body increases certain hormones and decreases others. One of those that is increased is called Interleukin-6 (IL-6). This biochemical messenger increases inflammation throughout the body and has been implicated in arthritis, diseases of the blood vessels, heart disease and Alzheimer's.
Scientists have found that vitamin K reduces Il-6 and may have a major role to play in reducing many of the degenerative diseases that plague the Western world.
Arteriosclerosis
Hardening of the arteries is caused by calcification. When calcium enters the arteries lesions are formed that lead to their progressive degeneration. This process is associated with heart disease. Scientists in Japan indicated that when vitamin K was introduced it significantly reduced the amount of calcium in the aortas of rats that had been fed a diet designed to harden their arteries. Damage to the heart valves was reduced by vitamin K.
Osteoporosis
The other side of calcification of the arteries is the leaching of calcium from the bones. This is known as decalcification. Amazingly, vitamin K has been found to regulate the flow of calcium in and out of the bones and arteries. It keeps calcium out of the arteries and in the bones!
The importance of this cannot be underestimated. Osteoporosis is a major problem in our society. In a recent study of nurses that included 10 years of information from over 72,000 participants, the researchers concluded that those nurses that ingested the most vitamin K were a third less likely to suffer from hip fractures. Vitamin K had a stronger effect than synthetic estrogen. In another study it was found that vitamin K reduces calcium loss by one-third.
These finding are not only important because of their application to osteoporosis itself but also to the other problems associated with the disease. It has been found that osteoporosis is a good indicator of overall mortality. Osteoporosis reflects serious systemic problems. Surprisingly, people suffering from low bone density die mostly from heart attack, cancer and stroke. Low bone density is related to severe diseases of the blood vessels (calcification). Vitamin K counteracts calcification and reduces your chances of dying from blood vessel related diseases.
Vitamin K and Stroke
High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke. The cause of blood pressure rising has traditionally been linked to high salt intake. However, now it has been found that calcium has a major role to play in this disease. Studies performed by Dr. David McCarron have indicated that calcium intake is more likely to cause pressure problems than salt intake. According to Terri Mitchell of Life Extension Magazine, "One standard deviation from the norm of bone density equals a three times increased risk of having a stroke compared to 1.7 times increased risk of blood pressure." Vitamin K, as we have seen, regulates the calcium in our bones and arteries. Ample amounts of vitamin K could cause a decrease in susceptibility to stroke and other blood vessel related problems.
Blood Sugar
One of the organs where vitamin K is stored is the pancreas. In a study performed in Japan, researchers found that rats deficient in vitamin K had problems with the clearance of glucose in the pancreas that eventually caused too much insulin to be released into the blood stream. Some scientists are speculating that ample amounts of vitamin K could be used in the treatment of human diabetes. This would be a tremendous help to millions of us that suffer from this chronic, degenerative disease.
Alzheimer's Disease
People suffering from Alzheimer's disease have a high level of the apolipoprotein E (apoE4) in their brains. These same people have low levels of vitamin K. Dr. Martin Kohlmeier feels there is a connection. Dr. Kohlmeier believes there is a connection between the lack of vitamin K, apoE4 and the ability to regulate calcium in the brain. He believes that people with apoE4 get rid of vitamin K too swiftly. This leaves too little vitamin K for proper functioning of brain proteins that causes problems in regulating calcium properly and may lead to some of the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease. Just as vitamin K regulates the calcium in our bones and arteries, it also regulates it in our brains. A quarter of the population has the apo4 protein and the corresponding lack of vitamin K. It's important then that future research show how vitamin K is needed for brain function and disease prevention.
Depletion of Vitamin K
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin. But unlike the other fat-soluble vitamins it is not stored in the body. In fact, recent research has found that vitamin K deficiency is much more common than previously believed. According to Terri Mitchell of Life Extension Magazine this problem is due "to inadequate diet, lack of co-factors, drugs and environmental stress that place unusual demands on vitamin K reserves." Antibiotics destroy intestinal flora which are the source of vitamin K in the body. Cholesterol lowering drugs, Olestra and anything that interferes with fat utilization reduces vitamin K. Mineral oil laxatives interfere as well. Low fat diets can also be detrimental to vitamin K as are very high protein diets that do not include greens.
Vitamin K in Foods
High concentrations of Vitamin K are found in green leafy vegetables. Spinach is especially important. But it is now known that also eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables can supply the body with the vitamin k it needs to function. Fermented foods, including some cheeses contain vitamin K. Hydrogenated oils contained in foods like margarine may stop the proper utilization of the vitamin.
Supplementing with Vitamin K
Since vitamin K is not stored in the body, it is nontoxic. Supplementation dosage will vary due to your health needs, age, diet, and the use of prescription drugs. Consult with your nutritionist or health care provider for the dose good for you.
Warning
People taking blood thinners such as Warfarin or Heparin should not take vitamin K.
Summary
Vitamin K is a very exciting new tool in creating robust and natural health. Its role in the regulation of calcium in our arteries, bones and brain offers great possibilities for increased longevity and quality of life for millions of people. Vitamin K is still being researched. In the next decade it may become one of the most important elements in our quest to live long and productive lives.
About the Author
Alien writes for home remedies . He also writes for vitamins and for vitamins supplements.

Thanks to Alien for this article.