Tag: vitamins

Vitamins, Nutritional supplements and Intravenous Therapy

This morning I was browsing the paper and 2 articles about vitamins jumped out at me.

First, was an article advising about the importance of certain vitamins to include in our daily intake. Second, was a small article about a new trend, booking in for a quick intravenous vitamin boost in your lunch break.

This got me thinking about vitamins and nutritional supplements. Is it more beneficial to have a regular ‘intravenous treatment’ rather than take a supplement daily?

So some research is required.

A Supplement a Day by Peter Dingle PhD

This book delves into the science behind supplementation and the reasons we should supplement. I’ll share some relevant snippets.

“It is generally recognised that our bodies require some 40 essential nutrients. These include: 16 vitamins, 12 amino acids, 3 essential fatty acids and 20 or so minerals or trace elements.”

“Nutritional intake gained through whole foods is generally of greater benefit to health than that achieved through supplements. Supplements should not be seen as an alternative to whole foods.”

However, “many of our current foods are depleted as a result of the overuse and misuse of our soils.”

“The simplest concept to start with is that if the nutrients are not in the soil, they can’t be in the food.”

So, we need 16 different vitamins a day. Recent studies show that we require up to 1000mg a day of Vitamin C. This helps our skin, bones, our iron absorption and assists in preventing infections.

We need Zinc daily to help our immune system and assist with would healing.

A recently discovered vitamin called K2 is required to direct calcium to our bones, NOT our arteries.

Finally, we need Iodine for our Thyroid hormones to manage our metabolism.

Tablets or Intravenous?

I found a few studies online that cover this issue. A study was done in regards to Vitamin B12 and the results were similar for taking a daily supplement and a regular injection.

There is also information about studies of Vitamin C. Taking high, very frequent oral doses will achieve blood plasma concentrations approaching, but not equalling, intravenous infusion.

High doses in the range of 30,000 to 100,000 milligrams per day, and 1,000-2,000 milligrams per dose. At a frequency of 1,000-2,000 mg every ten minutes you are awake, obviously not achievable for most of us.

The benefit of an IV infusion is that it delivers 100% of the vitamin directly into your blood stream and can have an immediate impact on your health.

 

My personal opinion, after reading these different studies, is that by taking supplements daily we are maintaining our levels in a way that is easy for most of us. We are improving our overall ‘gut health’ as the supplements are broken down and metabolised in the gut.

The IV solution would be very beneficial if you were suffering from a deficiency and needed to boost your levels significantly.

 

I am not a big fan of needles, so I would need to be quite deficient in a vitamin to opt in for the IV solution.

 

Till the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper.

My Zucchini Bake or Slice recipe

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Today I’m going to share another recipe. Last night Scott and I got together with a group of friends and I brought along a Zucchini Bake, sliced to share. I received a number of requests to post the recipe today, so here we go.

This Zucchini bake can be made gluten free, it is a healthy meal option and is great for lunch boxes.

The recipe is easy to make and is one way to get children (or fussy adults) to eat vegetables. You can substitute or add different vegetables depending on your preferences. However, I think Zucchini should always be included for the bake to work.

Nutritionally, the Zucchini is one of the very low-calorie vegetables and its peel is an excellent source of dietary fibre. Zucchinis are an excellent source of potassium, and also contain moderate levels of the B-complex group of vitamins.

Ingredients

3 x medium sized zucchinis

2 x medium carrots

1/2 onion or 2 spring onions finely chopped

2 x rashers of bacon finely chopped

(alternatively, I have made this using chicken and also tuna)

1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

1 x tbsp mixed herbs

a little bit of chilli or peppers gives a nice bite

1 x garlic clove – crushed

1 x tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup flour (I use coconut flour)

5 x large eggs

extra grated cheese to sprinkle on the top

 

Method

First preheat your oven to 180c

I use a grater attachment on my food processor to quickly grate the zucchini and carrots. If I don’t have grated cheese, I put  a small piece of cheese in as well.

Put the grated ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add the bacon, onion, garlic, cheese, herbs and mix together.

Add the eggs, oil and flour and mix to combine. Transfer the mix into a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes.

At the 30 or 35 minute mark, sprinkle the extra grated cheese on the top of the slice and return it to the oven.

This bake works really well as a main meal. We cut it into 6 large pieces and serve it with a salad. It also is great as a slice to share , as it tastes equally good cold. Just let it cool a bit before cutting it into squares.

It’s really easy to swap out the meat ingredients or add extra ingredients. Mushrooms and cauliflower also work well. If I add cauliflower, I only put in 1 carrot. The trick is to get the right balance of vegetables and eggs, otherwise it won’t hold together. I have found this out by experience.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe and have fun putting your own spin on it.

 

Until the next post,

 

Live Clean n Prosper

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Boosting the Immune System

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about ‘Man Flu’ because Scott was suffering from a cold.

He generously shared it with me, despite my efforts to keep it at bay. However, even though we both became sick, we were feeling unwell for a very short time.

We did not take any of the usual cold and flu medications, as these suppress the symptoms and the body takes longer to heal itself. We did however have some ‘immune shots’ that Scott created, that we drank 3 times a day.

These ‘shots’ consisted of – Echiberry 10ml, Natural Mineral drink by Modere 10ml, Green Qi super green powder by Modere 1 tsp, ground Cinnamon ½ tsp & ground Ginger ½ tsp mixed with approximately 20ml water.

They did taste a bit unpleasant, but most ‘medicine’ does. Scott stated that these shots helped our immune system fight the virus. So, after only spending 2 days sick, I think they really did work. I decided to share with you why these ingredients help us when we are sick.

First the Echiberry, which I purchased from our local health food store.

This liquid combines Echinacea purpurea root extract, Elderberry, Olive leaf extract, NZ Blackcurrant and Manuka Honey.

*Clinical trials have shown Echinacea to be useful in both preventing as well as treating bacterial and viral infections including colds and flu.

*Elderberry is highly regarded by herbalists for the treatment of winter ailments, particularly where there is fever, aches and pains.

*Olive leaf extract has been shown to inhibit a number of bacteria and viruses. It is widely used as a tonic for the immune system.

*NZ Blackcurrants are one of the most potent antioxidant-containing berries in the world. Research has shown the anthocyanins (antioxidant compounds found in blackcurrants) can help reduce the effects of asthmatic lung inflammation.

*Manuka Honey is unique to New Zealand and has a powerful additional antiseptic property not found in other types of honey.

Next is the Natural Mineral drink by Modere

This drink contains Alpine moor mineral extract, which is abundant in plant derived phytonutrients and minerals. Among the benefits of phytonutrients are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Phytonutrients may also enhance immunity and intercellular communication.

Then the Green Qi super green powder by Modere

A green powder supplement contains all the vitamins and minerals of a multi vitamin. There is also added nutrients such as probiotics, prebiotics, detoxification nutrients and disease-protective antioxidants.

Followed by Cinnamon

Cinnamon is loaded with powerful antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory effects, which may help lower the risk of disease. Cinnamaldehyde, the main active component of cinnamon has antifungal and antibacterial properties, which may reduce infections.

Finally the Ginger

Ginger has a very long history of use in various forms of traditional/alternative medicine. It has been used to help digestion, reduce nausea and help fight the flu and common cold, to name a few. Gingerol is the main bioactive compound in ginger, responsible for much of its medicinal properties. It has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.

So, in conclusion, all of the ingredients in these ‘immune shots’ assist the immune system. By taking the mixture 3 times a day, we were ensuring that our immune systems were continually fuelled with what they needed to fight the infection.

The result being that we able to get well sooner.

Till the next post,

Live clean n prosper

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