Bone & Joint Health

Consuming Soy Isoflavones for Hormone Balance, Cardiovascular Support and Healthy Bones

Soy is one of the more controversial foods in the modern culinary world. People read conflicting headlines every day that imply soy is either very good or very bad for us. However, there is no conflict about the benefits of soy isoflavones. These unique phytoestrogens from soy protein are increasingly being found in research to have a variety of positive health effects. Even if you are not a fan of soy in general, you may want to add isoflavones to your diet to get some of the health benefits of this kind of protein.

What Are Soy Isoflavones?

Why do people in Asia and other areas of the world have lower risk of heart disease and other serious illnesses? Many doctors and researchers believe that the answer is their high dietary intake of soy. Soy has a variety of health benefits, ranging from hormonal balance to preventing cancer to improving cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. According to new studies, these may be almost entirely due to the action of soy protein compounds such as isoflavones in the human body.

Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, a substance that mimics the effects of estrogen in the human body, found mainly in soybeans as well as other legumes. They have been linked to a variety of beneficial effects, including:

decreasing the rate of breast and endometrial cancers
improving bone density to help protect against osteoporosis
reducing risk of prostate cancer
helping to protect a healthy heart, with specific effects on cholesterol numbers and the risk of strokes and heart attack
positive effects on age-related cognitive decline
promoting good gastrointestinal health and optimal digestion
reducing the symptoms of menopause

New studies suggest that these health benefits may be even more pronounced than previously believed. Soy isoflavones appear to make a meaningful difference in disease risk, often drastically reducing rates of certain diseases for many of the conditions listed here. This may be a major reason for the much higher rates of chronic disease in Western countries where soy and soy products are not a major part of the diet.

Inflammation: A Public Health Threat?

How can such a small component of soy protein have such a huge effect on a person’s health? Researchers believe that this is due to the inflammation-modulating and antioxidant effects of isoflavones. Oxidation and inflammation are the root of many diseases, so a protein that attacks these root causes will have beneficial effects in a variety of conditions.

In recent studies, isoflavones have been found to promote healthy cellular inflammatory processes. Only a small dose of soy protein is needed to get this effect; in recent studies, replacing just 12 percent of protein with soy was enough to get measurable health effects. This will benefit not just inflammatory diseases such as IBS and Crohn’s disease, but a variety of health issues. Caused by over-activity in the immune system, inflammation is believed to be the root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease and autoimmune disorders. Treating inflammation may reduce the risk of developing a wide range of diseases.

Second, isoflavones have been found in laboratories to act as antioxidants. They bind to and remove the dangerous oxygen radicals that are produced in cells as a result of different metabolic processes. If left unchecked, these radicals damage DNA and cell proteins, contributing to aging, cancer and a variety of negative health conditions. The antioxidant role of isoflavones is likely responsible for many of their health benefits.

Protecting against inflammation and oxidation are key to maintaining whole body health. This may be why people in Japan, China and other areas of high soy consumption have lower rates of serious diseases that threaten so many people in the West.

Getting More Isoflavones in Your Diet

How much soy protein do you need in your daily diet to get these health benefits? Doctors recommend that people take 50 mg of soy protein a day to improve their cardiovascular risk, or 40 to 80 mg a day if taking it to treat menopause or other hormonal imbalances. Regardless of the amount your physician recommends, there are a variety of ways to add more isoflavones to your diet. Consider adding some of these tasty foods to your diet:

soy dairy products such as soy milk, soy yogurt and soy cheese
tofu
tempeh and other soy-based meat substitutes
soy nuts
edamame
miso, an ingredient in the popular miso soup
natto and other products made with fermented soy beans

In addition, there are many supplements including capsules and protein shakes on the market that contain therapeutic levels of isoflavones and other beneficial components found in soy proteins. It is incredibly easy to add more of these nutritious proteins to your diet if you are interested in reaping the positive health effects.

Inflammation and oxidative stress appear to be the root causes of many of the most deadly and feared diseases faced by mankind. However, there are ways to naturally and safely prevent these conditions. Taking an isoflavone supplement may be a very important part of maintaining whole body health for a lifetime.

New Study Says Eating Yogurt Builds Healthy Bones

May 17 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

New research on yogurt for bone health suggests that probiotic foods and other products may offer more benefits for building strong bones than calcium alone.

Probiotics have been the subject of much modern scientific research. Studies indicate that they can help to maintain a healthy GI tract and contributing to better digestive, immune and even brain function. However, this is not the only way that yogurt and other fermented probiotic foods may support good health. New research suggests that probiotics also can be important in building strong bones and preventing diseases of low bone density such as osteoporosis.

Bone Strength and Whole Body Health

Our bones are crucial to the health and good function of our entire bodies. They provide a scaffolding for the rest of our tissues and are the basis of movement such as walking. Our bone marrow is the site where all blood cells are made. Bones also are integral in regulating the balance of calcium and phosphate within the body, which in turn is important to the function of our heart and muscle cells. Diseases of low bone density such as osteoporosis are often deadly due to fractures, organ damage and infection.

Low bone density is unfortunately common, especially among women and elderly people. It also costs the economy a huge amount of money, as expensive DEXA scans must be utilized routinely in screening and then expensive drugs with side effects used to reverse bone damage. What if there is an easier and cheaper way to build stronger bones? New research on eating yogurt for bone health suggests that probiotics may be the answer.

Should You Be Eating Yogurt for Bone Health?

Many people eat yogurt and other probiotic foods for GI tract benefits. However, new research suggests that this delicious food may also be good for the bones. Researchers looked at the bone density of older adults who had different lifestyle factors. Unsurprisingly, exercising, maintaining a healthy BMI and taking plenty of calcium and vitamin D were all linked to higher bone density. However, yogurt consumption was also linked to stronger bones. In fact, elderly people who ate yogurt on a daily or regular basis had three to four percent stronger bones in bone scans. Women had a 39 percent lower rate of osteoporosis while men had more than 50 percent less osteoporosis. Yogurt appears to have a huge effect on bone health and density.

This is not the first study to find this connection between probiotics and bone health. Previous studies have found that probiotics increase bone density in mice and other animals. The link is believed to be related to the process of inflammation. An imbalance of bacteria in the gut can lead to inflammation, which in turn causes the release of inflammatory molecules such as cytokines. These molecules in turn inhibit the formation of strong bones.

Men appear to benefit disproportionately from the influence of probiotics. Male mice given a probiotic supplement saw an almost immediate increase in bone density, while the changes in female mice were more subtle. Osteoporosis and other diseases of low bone density are more common in women, so it is especially important for women to do everything possible, including supplementing with probiotics of some type, to build and maintain healthy bones.

Building Stronger Bones for a Lifetime

While there are several medications available to treat elderly people with low bone density, doctors increasingly recommend that people instead work to build healthy and strong bone throughout their lifetimes. This is best done with natural lifestyle changes such as exercise, diet and supplements. Research suggests that the following healthy measures all can contribute to good bone density:

consuming a probiotic supplement or priobiotic foods like yogurt for bone health
increasing vitamin D intake through taking a supplement or spending more time in the sun
eating calcium-rich foods
taking in plenty of magnesium and B vitamins, all of which support strong and healthy bones
eating plenty of leafy greens, which contain high amounts of the nutrients needed to build bone health
adding foods with soy isoflavones to your diet; these have been found to contribute to healthy hormonal levels and thus to stronger bones
performing weight bearing exercise, which has been repeatedly shown in research to contribute to healthy bone development

It is also important to get screening for weak bones as recommended by your doctor. This is usually done with a DEXA scan, a test that measures your bone density using technology similar to x-rays and then compares it to that of a person who is young and healthy with optimal bone strength. Mild to moderate bone loss is called osteopenia, while severe loss is known as osteoporosis. People with these diseases may need to take medications to prevent further bone loss and complications such as fractures and intense bone pain.

Building bone strength will pay off over your lifetime, in fewer fractures and less of the complications of low bone density often seen in old age. Adding yogurt or other probiotic foods to your diet as well as taking a bone-building supplement are all effective and delicious ways to help maintain good whole body health throughout your entire life.

Sunscreen and Vitamin D Deficiency Linked, Says New Study

May 12 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

If you are like many modern people, you spend much of your life avoiding the sun. We all have heard about the links between ultraviolet light exposure and skin cancer. As a result, even sun worshipers now take precautions to protect their skin from these harmful rays. We wear sunscreen on a daily basis and cover ourselves with hats and long sleeved shirts. However, this avoidance of sunlight may be leading to epidemic levels of vitamin D deficiency.

The Importance of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins, needed for a variety of crucial cell processes. Without it, our immune systems cannot function properly and our teeth become weak. Our nerve and muscle function suffers as well. Most importantly, it is essential in absorbing calcium and maintaining strong bones. Without enough vitamin D, children can develop rickets, a condition in which their bones become so soft that they bend and become malformed. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to weak muscles, as well as osteomalacia and osteoporosis, conditions in which bones become brittle and weak, easily prone to fractures.

Vitamin D is indeed necessary for good health, but it is available in only a small number of foods. This vitamin can be also synthesized in our own skin cells using ultraviolet rays from direct skin exposure. Historically most people got their vitamin D this way. However, in a modern world where an increasing number of people work to reduce ultraviolet light exposure, an equally increasing number are deficient in this important vitamin.

Sunscreen and Vitamin D Deficiency

The recommended daily allowance of vitamin D set by the government is 600 IU for children and adults, with adults age 70 and over needing 800 IU. However, this goal may be too low. New research estimates that modern people who do not receive a great deal of direct unprotected sunlight may need as much as 10 times this amount. The daily allowances were based on a population that gets much more sun exposure than we currently receive. Modern sunscreen use is estimated to reduce vitamin D production in the skin by as much as 99 percent, leaving many people deficient in this key nutrient.

Sunscreen is not the only culprit in our collective vitamin D deficiency. Several diseases that are common in the modern world also can make it difficult for the body to absorb vitamin D from the diet. These include digestive diseases along with chronic kidney disease and even the common type 2 diabetes. These together may be responsible for as many as one million cases of vitamin D deficiency worldwide every year.

In addition, people with certain diets are at risk of a vitamin D deficiency because they do not take in enough vitamin D-rich foods. These at-risk diets include vegan diets as well as diets lacking dairy products, which are fortified with this vitamin.

Could You Be Deficient?

Are you one of the many people who are not getting enough vitamin D? A blood test is the only definitive way to diagnose this, but there are a few signs and symptoms that you can watch for as well. These include:

bone pain
muscle weakness
fatigue
increased infections, especially respiratory infections such as colds and pneumonia
depression
low metabolism
foggy thinking

If you or a loved one have these symptoms, it may be time for a visit to the doctor. You can also find ways to increase your vitamin D intake to see if this relieves your symptoms.

Getting More of the Sunshine Vitamin

The obvious way to get more vitamin D is to get more unprotected sun exposure. However, there are downsides to this as well, including sunburns, accelerated aging and increased rates of skin cancer. If you are not willing to give up your sunscreen, there are several ways that you can get enough of this important nutrient. First, consider getting a vitamin D lamp. These emit wavelengths of light that cause your skin to produce vitamin D, but in controlled amounts that are less likely to cause damage.

Second, add more vitamin D-rich foods to your diet. These include fortified products such as milk, other dairy products, orange juice and soy milk. There are also foods that are naturally high in vitamin D such as beef liver, egg yolks and fatty fish like salmon and tuna. Last, many people take a vitamin D supplement to get the vitamin D that they need without spending time in the sun or changing their diet.

The links between sunscreen and vitamin D deficiency are concerning when we consider how many people are taking steps to protect themselves from the sun. However, there are many ways to get enough of this nutrient in your diet and maintain good health for a lifetime. Whether you decide to spend more time in the sunshine, add vitamin D-rich foods to your plate or simply take a daily vitamin, you can ensure that you get all of the positive health benefits of this important vitamin.

Muscle Injuries in Athletes Could Be Caused by Low Vitamin D

Mar 23 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Many people take vitamin D to encourage strong, healthy bones. New research on vitamin D and muscle function suggests that it may be a major contributor to building and maintaining healthy muscles as well.

Vitamin D is an important cofactor in metabolism, bone building and more. However, many people in northern latitudes suffer from a deficiency of this important nutrient. While vitamin D is present in a variety of foods, sunlight is needed to convert this to an active form of the vitamin.

What are some of the consequences of low vitamin D? Fatigue and sleepiness have both been linked to vitamin D deficiency. In addition, decreasing bone strength is more common in people who are low on this vitamin. According to new research on vitamin D and muscle injury, it may also be crucial in promoting muscle strength, healing and resilience as well.

Vitamin D and Muscle Strength

Vitamin D has long been suspected to play a role in building healthy muscle. Several studies have found a link between vitamin D and higher muscle mass. However, correlation is not always causation. In other words, researchers had no way of determining whether vitamin D helps to build muscle or if a third factor were at play. Vitamin D plays a role in a variety of biochemical reactions. It is also crucial in building strong bones and teeth. It reduces depression and keeps energy levels high. Because it is such a “multi-purpose” nutrient, it is difficult to tell when a deficiency is directly causing a physical problem. However, new research definitively points to low vitamin D as a direct cause of increased muscle injury.

Low Vitamin D in College Athletes

We tend to think of athletes as people who get plenty of time in the sunshine. However, over half of all college athletes have low vitamin D. A new study suggests that these athletes, who are otherwise in prime health, are more at risk of muscle injury as a result. Researchers looked at the rates of muscle injuries such as sprains and hernias in a population of college athletes. They also measured vitamin D levels in the blood of these young people. The resulting pattern was clear: Athletes with low vitamin D were more likely to experience an injury and especially more likely to have an injury that reduced their ability to play their chosen sport.

What does this mean for people who are not high-performance athletes? You may be having trouble building muscle mass or suffering more soreness than usual because of not getting enough of this important vitamin. Even in people who had no other health effects, the lack of vitamin D manifested itself in a higher rate of muscle injuries. Taking vitamin D may be as important to building strong muscles as eating enough protein.

Active and Inactive Vitamin D

This is not the only study to link vitamin D levels and muscle function. However, not all kinds of vitamin D are equal in their effects on human health. Vitamin D exists in several forms in the human body. Inactive and active vitamin D are two of these forms. Vitamin D that is ingested from foods must be activated in a complex system involving sunlight on bare skin, but also the kidneys and the liver. However, active vitamin D3 can be taken in supplements, thus bypassing this convoluted activation system.

People who have high levels of lean muscle mass have been found to have higher blood levels of active vitamin D. Active vitamin D is also linked to greater muscle strength. On the other hand, high levels of inactive vitamin D seem to be linked to higher levels of body fat. Many people who think they are getting enough vitamin D in their diet may need a supplement to increase levels of the active form.

Getting More Vitamin D in Your Diet

Vitamin D is only present in a small number of foods, and many of these are foods that most people do not routinely eat in large amounts. These include fatty fish oils and eggs. In addition, activating this dietary vitamin D requires an extensive process and ample exposure to sunlight. In an age of sunscreen, many people are deficient in active vitamin D, even if they actually enjoy cod liver oil. To ensure that there is always enough of the active form, an increasing number of people are taking a supplement with active vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Doctors once recommended doing this to increase energy and bone strength, but we now know that a great deal more is at risk.

Getting enough vitamins and nutrients is crucial to leading a long and healthy life, but research on vitamin D and muscle suggests that it is much more important than previously thought. If you are trying to gain more muscle but struggling, low levels of active vitamin D may be partially responsible. Consider taking a comprehensive supplement that contains vitamin D today to maintain the energy and strength that you need to enjoy optimal health.

New Findings Show Vitamin D Benefits Muscle Strength and Protects Against Respiratory Illness

Feb 28 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

New research suggests that vitamin D benefits our health in more ways than previously believed, helping to sustain muscle strength and even protect against common ailments.

Many people in the Northern hemisphere are deficient in vitamin D during the cold weather months. This is known to contribute to fatigue, depression, weak bones and a variety of other unpleasant effects. However, not getting enough of this vitamin may impact your health in other, more serious ways. New research on vitamin D benefits suggests that it may be an important factor in muscle strength, gastrointestinal health and protection from respiratory illnesses.

Vitamin D’s Role in Health

Vitamin D is essential for our health in a variety of ways. It acts as a cofactor for a variety of biochemical reactions, so a deficiency can leave you fatigued and depressed. However, this is just the beginning of the effects of vitamin D deficiency. Because vitamin D is essential to bone growth and development, a deficiency often manifests in weak bones. Children who do not get enough vitamin D may develop rickets, which is a bone disorder in which bones become so soft and weak that they bow under weight. In adults, osteoporosis and bone pain are common manifestations of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to an increased risk for metabolic syndrome and other health conditions.

Despite its importance, many people suffer from a deficiency of this nutrient. Vitamin D is not found in many foods and is processed in a complicated multi-step fashion involving the liver and kidneys. Our skin can make this vitamin when exposed to certain wavelengths of sunlight, but many people wear sunscreen and thus miss out. Foods such as cod liver oil, egg yolks and fortified milk contain vitamin D, but these are not eaten by many adults in significant amounts. The result is that many people are suffering from a vitamin D deficiency that may have severe health effects.

Vitamin D Benefits for Muscle

Vitamin D benefits bones and teeth, but a recent study suggests that it may benefit muscle strength as well. Women were tested for muscle mass, muscle strength and inactive vitamin D levels. Women with high levels of vitamin D had more lean muscle mass and more strength than women who had normal or low levels.

Should people that are looking to increase strength or muscle mass take more vitamin D? Researchers say the jury is still out. Dr. Zaki Hassan-Smith, one of the lead researchers in this study, points out, “By looking at multiple forms in the same study, we can say that it is a more complex relationship that previously thought.” However, there does indeed appear to be a relationship between vitamin D and muscle, although the exact mechanism is not known.

New Potential Treatment for Gastrointestinal Illness?

Vitamin D benefits also may extend to the digestive tract according to modern research. Low vitamin D levels have been linked in the past to gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These painful conditions affect millions of people. Not only do they cause unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain, but they also can leave people malnourished. In some cases, flares of these diseases can be life-threatening.

Because gastrointestinal diseases can make it difficult for people to absorb vitamins from their diet, there was a “chicken and egg” problem with the link between low vitamin D and flares of these illnesses. However, researchers may have solved the riddle in a recent study. They followed people with ulcerative colitis, regularly testing vitamin D levels while tracking symptoms and flares. It appears that low vitamin D levels make people with ulcerative colitis more likely to suffer painful and potentially deadly flares of their diseases. Getting enough vitamin D appears to be especially important for people who have ulcerative colitis and other related diseases.

Breathe Easier With a Simple Vitamin

One of the most significant causes of death worldwide is acute respiratory illness. Even healthy people may fall critically ill from these infections, leaving them temporarily or permanently disabled and even threatening their lives. New research suggests that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for respiratory illnesses. Scientists believe that the reason for this is vitamin D’s critical role in the immune system. When people have low levels of vitamin D, their immune system is not as likely to fight off infections that can turn to bronchitis and other serious illnesses.

This information may be used to save many lives. With 2.65 million people dying from acute respiratory illness every year, identifying and eliminating this risk factor can have huge effects on public health. In this case, a simple vitamin supplement may save lives even among people in the developed world with access to a balanced diet.

Vitamin D benefits our bodies in a variety of ways and is essential for good health. People who suspect that they may not be getting enough vitamin D should talk to their doctor about whether a supplement is right for them and how much of this supplement they need to achieve optimal health. Your bones, muscles, digestion and even respiratory health depend on having high levels of this critically important vitamin.

Natural Options Chondroitin and Glucosamine Outperform Modern Meds

Jan 09 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Minor joint discomfort is a common concern that affects millions of Americans. A new study suggests that the natural supplements chondroitin and glucosamine outperform even the best modern treatments.

Unfortunately, minor pain is a common problem, affecting around 100 million people in the United States alone. Joint discomfort is one of the most common causes of this pain epidemic. Not only can sub-optimal joint health cause people an immeasurable amount of daily discomfort, but it can also cause destructive changes to joints over time that leave people immobilized and unable to care for themselves. Modern medicine has a few first-line treatments for minor joint discomfort that often work for many. However, some people continue to struggle to find an effective remedy. New research suggests that chondroitin and glucosamine supplements may be the answer.

The Nationwide Pain Dilemma

While opiates and opioids can treat acute/short-lived pain successfully, addressing lingering discomfort is one of the greatest challenges to modern medicine. Taking these medications over a long period of time can cause addiction or overdose as well as a host of other unpleasant side effects. These medications also fail to address the long-term degenerative changes in joints that gradually worsen pain and reduce mobility over years. Because most pain medications are a short-term answer to a long-term problem, finding safer and more effective options for minor joint discomfort is a major priority in pharmaceutical research.

Celecoxib, a non-opiate anti-inflammatory pain medication, is the current preferred treatment for joint conditions such as osteoarthritis. Celecoxib reduces pain from inflammation of joints while slowing the joint destruction that can occur over time. However, even this first-line treatment does not always affect pain or slow joint damage. This medication is only effective in some patients, and even then it merely serves as a “Band-Aid” rather than helping to promote ongoing joint health. In addition, it can have serious side effects such as permanent liver damage. As a result, many people seek a natural option that can help soothe minor joint discomfort.

Chondroitin and Glucosamine: Natural Options for Minor Joint Discomfort?

Because modern medicine has few current answers, a great deal of research has gone into finding newer and safer options for joint discomfort. Studies that have been done suggest almost unanimously that the natural remedies chondroitin and glucosamine appear to be superior in many ways to the current pharmacological options. The combination of these two supplements has been shown in studies to reduce minor joint discomfort in people with osteoarthritis better than celecoxib or placebo. Even better, they wield these benefits without as much risk of liver damage and other life-threatening side effects.

In addition, these supplements also appear to make a measurable difference in protecting against joint damage and degeneration. A recent study looked at people who take chondroitin sulfate versus those who take celecoxib using modern MRI technology. The group taking chondroitin had fewer joint changes at the end of the two-year trial. They had less thinning of the cartilage that lines and protects joints as well as fewer flare-ups in the synovial tissues of the knee, which protect and maintain the joint space. Because these flare-ups and joint degeneration are painful, these people also tend to experience less pain, swelling and other symptoms.

Natural Remedies for Minor Joint Discomfort

Chondroitin and glucosamine are not new miracle drugs, but rather natural components of the cartilage that makes up much of your joints. The glucosamine taken as a supplement is usually isolated from the shells of shellfish, while chondroitin is taken from natural animal cartilage. It appears that taking a supplement containing these fundamental building blocks of human cartilage can help to maintain the cartilage in our joints, thus easing minor joint discomfort and slowing the degenerative changes that define certain joint conditions. It is important to talk to your physician before taking these or any other supplements. In addition, people who are allergic to shellfish may need to take a special form of glucosamine that is not taken from seafood components.

Modern medicine and pharmacology have brought many exciting advances in health care. People now have options for diseases that disabled or killed us just a century ago. In some cases, these medications also improve the quality of life immensely. However, natural remedies remain the best option for many people. If you suffer from minor joint discomfort, taking natural supplements containing chondroitin and glucosamine may be effective, while also protecting against long-term damage—with fewer side effects than their pharmaceutical counterparts.