Timing Tops Supplement Usage

The last time I was with my doctor, we were talking about the supplements and vitamins we take. He advised that you should not just pop pills but understand how to get all the benefits you can from them, and prevent any side effects. This led to the topic of when the best time to take them was.

The first thing we agreed on was to read and follow the directions that are printed on the package or bottle. There are recommendations on whether they are best in the morning, afternoon or evening based on the individual supplement.

I checked my directions and verified the following:
Fish Oil (Omega-3) Take 2 to 3 times per day with meals
Vitamin B Take 1 per day with a meal
Vitamin C Take 1 per day with a meal
Vitamin E Take 1 per day

If you are in doubt as to the directions for a supplement, the recommendation is during or right after a meal, unless there are other directions. Remember to hydrate, (drink plenty of fluids) as well.

Another tip about vitamins that I got was to give them a chance to work. Take them consistently to get the most benefit to your health. Normally it takes 2 to 3months before you feel the full positive effects of adding nutritional supplements.

Finally he said when I come in for my exams to keep him filled in on what I am taking. If I forget he asks me if I am still taking them.

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B Is For Banana

A is for Apple, but B is for Banana. Banana is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and might even be called a super-food.

Many of us have been trying to get more fruit into our diet lately, and some information about the banana and the effects on the body makes for fascinating reading. Even though we eat more fruit than in the past, we might still rely on supplementation to keep us in peak health.

In athletics, coaches advise eating bananas about a half hour before a game for an extra boost of energy. The research says that two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90 minute workout. Bananas contain three natural sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber.

Keeping fit is only part of why we need them in our daily diets. Bananas can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions.

This tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, so it’s perfect for high blood pressure. The US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. Research in The New England Journal of Medicine, stated eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%.

One survey undertaken by MIND on people suffering from depression indicated that many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, which helps you to relax, improves your mood and therefore you feel happier. Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Bananas have vitamin B6, which assists in regulating blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood and help calm the nervous system. They can also assist people in quitting smoking. The B6, B12, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in a banana, helps the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

If you are Anemic bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood because they are high in iron.

Have you heard the expression "going bananas" It comes from the effect they have on our brain. Students at a school in England were helped through their exams by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power by making them more alert. Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates the body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Because bananas have a natural antacid effect, try one if you suffer from heartburn. It neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach. Due to the fiber content including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without having to use laxative.

A quick way to cure a hangover is with a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

If you are pregnant, snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness. In addition many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Are you into natural alternatives? People say you can remove warts by taping a piece of banana skin on them with the yellow side out. Also people claim that rubbing mosquito bites with the inside of a banana skin reduces swelling and irritation.

Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found stress and pressure at work leads to binging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Researchers found the most obese hospital patients were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. Their conclusion was that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, control blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

A Is For Apple

When our teachers have children learn the alphabet they say A stands for Apple. And Grandma always said An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Two good things to learn, they taste good and they are good for us too. Here is why.

Apples are an alkaline food. They are also an eliminative food, and contain pectin, which has the ability to take up excess water in the Intestines and make a soft bulk that acts as a mild, nonirritating stimulant. A polite way of saying it helps natural bowel movement.

Apples do not contain a lot of iron, but they do help your body absorb the iron in other foods, like eggs and liver. What they do have is a good amount of calcium, which aids the system in absorbing the calcium in other foods.

Apples also have twice as much vitamin A as an orange. This vitamin helps fight off colds and other infections and promotes growth. It also keeps the eyes in good condition, and prevents night blindness.

Apples contain an ample supply of vitamins. They have more vitamin G than almost any other fruit. Sometimes called the "appetite vitamin," it promotes digestion and growth. They are rich in vitamin C, which is a key to keeping bones and teeth sound. Vitamin B is found in apples, which helps to maintain nerve health.

Apples are good for low blood pressure and hardening of the arteries because they are powerful blood purifiers. They also benefit the lymphatic system.

Apple Juice is good for everyone. It can be used in a cleansing arid reducing diet, but speeds up bowel action, and can produce gas if bowels are not moving well. Apple juice or concentrate with water heals bowel irritation when given as an enema.

Raw apples can also be used for homemade apple juice. If you save the peels they can be steeped to make a tea, which is excellent for the kidneys. It’s especially good with a little honey.

All this brings me to a recipe I found for apple crisp. I found in Wikipedia that the earliest reference to apple crisp in print occurs in 1924, with a recipe in the Everybody's Cook Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Home Cookery, Isabel Ely Lord [Harcout Brace and Company: New York] 1924 (p. 239).

This recipe is a lower calorie version adapted from “Sweeten Your Life the Xylitol Way” recipe book

6 cups thinly sliced apples
1 cup Quick-Cooking Rolled Oats
¼ cup spelt or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup Xylitol
1/4 tsp. maple flavoring
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup Raw Pecans

Place apple slices in a buttered 9” square baking pan. Combine rolled oats, flour, cinnamon, xylitol, maple flavoring and pecans. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly, and spoon over apples.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until apples can be easily pierced with a knife and topping is golden brown.

Note: Don’t let the topping darken or they will have a bitter taste.

Makes 12 servings.

Per serving:
Calories: 150, Fat: 8g, Carbohydrate: 24.5g, Fiber: 3.3g

Enjoy!

Keep Your Healthy Habits for the New Year

These days our economy is forcing us to be more frugal than in the past years. With costs like health care and prescriptions rising, along with everything else, it’s good to know that you can still supplement your health without going broke. SupplementsToGo is still providing quality products at prices that allow you to maintain your healthy lifestyle and supplement regimen.



After working so hard to make the right nutrition choices you want to keep the gains you made last year. Getting essential vitamins and minerals is important for a healthy diet. For many of us, our food choices do not always provide enough of the nutrients our bodies need, so adding dietary supplements into the daily routine has become a more popular way to get the nutrients our bodies need.

With so many choices it’s hard to know where to start sometimes. We hear everything from fiber, Vitamin C, the B Vitamins, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium, multivitamins, and the list goes on depending on the particular needs.

In order to begin the year with healthy habits, here is a short list of popular supplements that others are getting online in order to benefit their healthy lifestyle resolutions. For strong healthy bones Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc and/or a Vitamin D supplement. Your immune system gets added support from Vitamin C.

One of my main supplements is Fish Oil which is well known for its ability to help the heart and cardiovascular system, and the B Complex vitamins play an important role in giving us more energy. Lutein is important for clear, healthy vision. These nutrients play different, but essential roles in your well-being.

Keep in mind that even though our country’s financial system is a little out of whack right now, don’t let your healthy lifestyle suffer also. STG can help make your life easier, and a whole lot healthier. Add lots of these essential nutrients to your daily regimen, and enjoy the endless benefits of good health at cheap prices you can live with.