Stress & Relaxation

Magnesium Benefits for Men Not Limited to Heart Health

Modern food tends to be over-processed and depleted of many of the nutrients we need for optimal health. Not too long ago, people focused on both getting enough calories and sufficient amounts of important vitamins; dietary deficiencies were mainly seen in people who were underfed or people living in extreme circumstances. Although people in the West now get plenty of calories, we suffer from a lack of vitamins and minerals. Magnesium is one important mineral with a growing number of deficiencies in the developed world. This could have immense effects on male health due to the many magnesium benefits for men.

A Trace Mineral With Huge Effects

Many reading this may wonder: “What exactly does magnesium do for your body that is so important?” It might be better to ask what magnesium doesn’t do. Magnesium is an integral part of hundreds of enzymatic reactions in the human body that control everything from our metabolism to our sleep cycles. It also is important for dealing with stress in a healthy way. Stress raises blood pressure and otherwise places additional demands on our body; most of these new demands involve magnesium in some way.

Without optimal levels of magnesium, people may suffer from a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic headaches. Even tiny magnesium deficiencies can cause a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression and muscle aches. Insomnia also has been linked to low magnesium levels. While these are problems that may affect all people, the problems that come with a low magnesium level appear to be especially severe for men.

Magnesium Benefits for Men

There are several ways that taking in plenty of magnesium may especially benefit men. First, magnesium appears to significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack. These diseases tend to disproportionately affect men. Prevention is key, and in this case getting enough magnesium is important as that prevention.

Second, high plasma levels of magnesium may actually prevent prostate cancer. Men with a high calcium-to-magnesium ratio were found to have higher rates of this dreaded disease. Calcium and magnesium levels tend to be inverse due to the way these minerals interact with each other, so taking a calcium supplement without taking a magnesium one may actually be depleting your body of the nutrients it needs to thrive.

Why Are Americans So Magnesium Deficient?

There is no reliable way to test for magnesium levels because so much of our stores are stored in our cells at any given time rather than carried in our bloodstream. However, many researchers estimate that the majority of Americans are deficient in this mineral—as many as 70 to 80 percent. It is easy to see why when you examine the American diet and lifestyle. Most magnesium in the human diet traditionally came from eating plant foods such as greens, nuts and beans that had grown in magnesium-rich soil. Now, people rarely eat these things in significant amounts. In addition, modern soil is almost always depleted of this mineral. The result is that many men could be eating a lot of foods that are considered magnesium-rich while still deficient in this mineral… and suffering the health effects.

In addition, we now have more activities that deplete magnesium levels. Magnesium is a part of stress reactions, so we deplete this nutrient when we struggle with anxiety, depression or just plain worry. This leaves less of this mineral for dealing with cell processes and otherwise promoting good cardiovascular health. In addition, modern people tend to eat large amounts of processed foods, which have had the high magnesium parts such as the rinds and husks removed. The Western diet is structured so that most people will have an insufficiency of this mineral.

Natural Ways to Get More Magnesium

There are several ways to ensure that you are getting enough magnesium in your diet. Consider choosing magnesium-rich foods such as:

spinach, chard, and other leafy greens
almonds, cashews, and other unprocessed nuts
amaranth
mackerel, salmon, and other oily fish
seeds such as pumpkin or sesame seeds

However, because modern food is increasingly depleted of magnesium, consider also taking a supplement. The National Institutes of Health recommend that men take at least 400 mg a day. However, many doctors who are experts on magnesium deficiency say that three milligrams per pound of body weight should be the minimum. This means that men who need more magnesium in their diet will need to work hard to get enough of this trace mineral.

Good health is a modern obsession. Most people are actively looking for ways to enjoy better health and to live a longer, happier life. Getting enough nutrients is an important part of good health. Although the modern depleted diet makes it difficult to get enough of the vitamins and minerals that we need, there are many supplements on the market that can boost your intake.

The Healing Effect of Probiotics for Anxiety, Stress and Mood

Mar 13 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Recent research on the gut-brain axis suggests that taking probiotics for anxiety and other mood concerns may be an effective choice.

Anxiety and stress are ubiquitous in the modern world. While many people rely on coping mechanisms that allow them to deal effectively with this stress, the core problem remains. Stress in daily life is so common and so severe in contemporary life that many people bow and even break under the strain. However, what if the modern diet is at least partly to blame for this increase in stress and the accompanying mood changes? New research on probiotics for anxiety suggests that your “gut instincts” may indeed be important: Many of our resources for handling stress may reside deep inside your gastrointestinal tract.

Your Gut-Brain Axis

We may not think of our GI tracts and brains as being related, but research suggests that the connections are more common and deeper than we ever could have previously imagined. The bacteria in our guts help to metabolize not just precursors for important GI hormones, but the hormones themselves. In fact, there are more receptors for important neurohormones such as serotonin in our gut than anywhere else in the body.

If you have noticed that your mood changes according to your diet, you are not alone. What you eat appears to have a huge effect on the microbiome in your intestines. Our diets can feed healthy bacteria and at the same time subdue bacteria that have more pathological effects. If we do not eat a diet rich in probiotics and the prebiotic foods that feed healthy GI flora, we may notice the effects on our mood far before we notice them in other areas.

The Healing Potential of Probiotics for Anxiety, Stress and More

With millions of Americans struggling with mental health disorders, new research on probiotics for anxiety and other mental health disorders can have far-reaching effects on public health. Recent findings suggest that the bacteria lactobacillus may be part of the key to managing many mental disorders. When people ingest probiotics, which are generally rich in lactobacillus and other beneficial bacterial species, they see a decrease in anxiety and their perception of stress.

This link between probiotics and anxiety relief is even stronger when the effects of prebiotics are taken into account. Prebiotics are special kinds of indigestible carbohydrates that are designed to support a healthy GI tract. While humans cannot digest and absorb these sugars, they serve as food for lactobacillus and other healthy GI fauna. Taking a prebiotic supplement can be effective in managing anxiety because it helps the healthy serotonin-producing bacterial populations to thrive.

More Bacteria, Less Stress

Zebrafish are often used in studies regarding human health because they have similar hormones and exhibit similar behavior in response to these hormones. Recent research on these fish suggests that probiotics may be especially important for increasing positive hormones such as serotonin while reducing negative biochemicals that cause stress. In fact, zebrafish that were given probiotics in a recent study began to show not just a healthier hormonal balance, but less stress-related behaviors. Like humans, fish act differently, and in predictable ways, when they are under stress. Fish who are given supplements to encourage healthy gut fauna show fewer behaviors related to stress, suggesting that taking probiotics and prebiotics for anxiety and stress may indeed be effective for humans as well.

How can gut bacteria affect both fish and humans so profoundly? Like humans, fish have many receptors for neurochemicals such as serotonin in their GI tract. Scientists are not sure why these receptors are more prominent in our intestines than in our brains, but the effect remains clear. People who have gut flora producing serotonin and its precursors are less likely to feel anxious or depressed. This is why taking probiotics for anxiety, stress and other mood disorders may have a meaningful impact.

The Links Between Gut and Brain

Have you ever felt nauseated or had a stomachache from stress? If so, you are not alone. Many people have intuitively noticed the link between their gut and their brain even before scientific research supported this connection. A healthy gut leads to less physical symptoms of stress and anxiety; a stomachache often is a symptom that something in our emotional lives has gone awry. If your stress often comes with a stomach ache or other GI symptoms, it may be time to try probiotics for anxiety. Our “gut instinct” that GI health affects the brain and mental health may be more accurate than we previously realized.

Mental health is not entirely in your head. According to research, it may be just as much in your stomach, small intestine and other components of your GI tract. Eating the right foods and taking measures to support healthy gastrointestinal flora may be the best thing you can do to support mental health. If you struggle with anxiety, it is not all in your head. Your gastrointestinal tract likely plays just as large of a role in how you are feeling on any given day. Consider taking a probiotic supplement to help soothe anxiety and help your brain to function at its very best.

Melatonin for Anxiety: Promising New Applications for a Familiar Sleep Supplement

Mar 01 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Many people all over the world take melatonin to help them sleep. However, new research suggests that some may benefit from taking melatonin for anxiety as well.

Around one in five adults suffer from anxiety. While certain types of therapy and medications such as SSRIs can help, many people struggle to manage their symptoms. The loss of daily function and lack of sleep can severely interfere with the lives of people who suffer from this concern. As a result, many people are on a search for safe, natural remedies that will help manage their anxiety and the often-associated occasional difficulty sleeping once and for all. Several new studies suggest that taking melatonin for anxiety may be the answer many have been looking for.

Deciphering the Underlying Causes of Anxiety

Scientists and doctors do not understand why some people suffer from anxiety on a daily basis while others do not. However, there is a lot that we do know about this condition thanks to a great deal of research. PET scans show that the root cause appears to be an imbalance of certain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and epinephrine. The autonomic nervous system, which controls instincts such as “fight-or-flight” behavior, also appears to play a role. People with anxiety appear to have a smaller temporal lobe volume, reduced numbers of serotonin receptors and increased blood flow in areas of the brain that mediate emotions such as fear. While people once thought that anxiety was a personal weakness, we now know that it can have very real physical causes.

The result is that people with anxiety suffer from excessive panic and fear compared to other people in similar situations. They also have a wide range of physical symptoms such as sweating, tremors, rapid heart beat, dilated pupils and insomnia. The constant presence of anxiety in one’s life can make it difficult to function normally both at work and with loved ones. Doctors currently treat anxiety with therapy as well as a range of pharmaceuticals that quiet physical symptoms and increase serotonin levels. Sedating medications are also a popular treatment as they quiet a mind and body that are on edge.

Melatonin for Anxiety: A Natural Treatment with Potential

Melatonin may be a potential treatment for helping to soothe anxiety, especially anxiety that comes with occasional difficulty falling asleep and other sleep concerns. Melatonin has long been noted to decrease anxious behaviors in research animals, even as far back as 1984. Researchers noted that animals who had higher levels of melatonin showed less of the hallmark behaviors of anxiety while also performing better on tests, making fewer errors. They also slept better at night. Part of this was believed to be due to melatonin’s slightly sedating effect as well as the fact that these lab animals were getting better sleep. After all, sedatives of various kinds are already used successfully in treating anxiety. In addition, melatonin is a hormone that helps us to fall asleep at night and stay asleep, so it is no surprise that we will generally be better rested while taking a melatonin supplement.

However, more recent research suggests that melatonin may have a calming effect on people with anxiety even outside of its sleep benefits. People who take melatonin before and after surgery—times when physiological and psychological stress run high—have less anxiety and also fewer instances of postoperative delirium. This is significant because many anesthetics, such as Propofol, reduce plasma melatonin levels. This may actually be contributing to high levels of anxiety in patients undergoing surgical procedures. This is more significant when you consider that Ramelteon, a drug that increases melatonin, has already been shown to be effective in treating anxiety associated with insomnia.

More Sleep and Less Stress

Anxiety is one of the most common mental afflictions in the world, while occasional difficulty falling asleep also affects millions of people. Could these disorders be somehow linked? Scientists are still studying the connections between difficulty sleeping and anxiety, but the remedies for these two disorders remain very similar. Whether you are suffering from anxiety, occasional difficulty sleeping, or both, cognitive behavioral therapy, lifestyle modifications and increasing melatonin are promising treatments. Whether you increase melatonin levels by taking a melatonin supplement or taking a drug such as Ramelteon, you may find that you are less anxious and more able to handle the stresses of daily life without unpleasant physical symptoms.

Melatonin may help anxiety simply by sedating sufferers, increasing sleep or even by a mechanism that is not yet known. The research is clear that taking melatonin for anxiety appears to help treat many of the symptoms. It is important to talk to your physician before adding any medication or supplement to your regimen, especially if you are already being treated for anxiety or insomnia with pharmaceuticals. However, the evidence behind melatonin indicates that it may have a very beneficial effect for people with a variety of health concerns.

New Research Expands Our Knowledge About the Benefits of Prebiotics

Feb 24 by Ewcopywriting Leave a Comment

Could the benefits of prebiotics extend far beyond gut health? New research suggests that these supplements may have more beneficial effects on our health than previously known.

If you’re like millions of Americans, you’ve probably already taken your daily probiotic. The benefits of these tiny capsules of bacteria have been known for years. Recently, many people have begun taking prebiotics as well. These supplements may have an immense impact on your health. While almost all people can reap the benefits of prebiotics, people with certain disorders may see even more positive effects.

What Are Prebiotics?

Probiotics are the friendly bacteria that colonize healthy digestive tracts and help our bowels work smoothly. However, these bacteria do not live independently in a “bubble.” Like all living creatures, they need food to live. This food is present in natural, more plant-based diets but may not be present in adequate quantities in the typical Western diet.

This is the reason that many people take a prebiotic supplement in addition to a probiotic capsule. Prebiotics consist of the indigestible carbohydrates that feed the bacteria that make up a healthy gut microbiome. Rather than being absorbed, prebiotics remain in the gastrointestinal tract so they can feed the bacteria that we all need to achieve optimal health. Many traditional foods such as beans and legumes are full of these indigestible carbohydrates. However, modern people often need additional amounts of prebiotics in order to maintain healthy gut fauna.

The Benefits of Prebiotics for Health

Because our diets tend to be deficient in the nutrients needed to feed the “good” bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract, using prebiotics (along with probiotics) is helpful in maintaining gut microbiome balance. Without adequate food of the right kinds, probiotic bacteria cannot survive in the numbers that are required to maintain a healthy GI tract. The resulting lack of healthy bacteria can lead to a variety of health problems, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In addition, new research on the importance of a healthy gut microbiome to whole-body health suggests that disrupting the colony of beneficial flora in our guts may contribute to a variety of other diseases.

Exactly how can gut health be crucial to whole-body health? Your gastrointestinal tract is important in a variety of ways. It is the place where nutrients are converted to usable forms and absorbed, so many people without a healthy microbiome may suffer from nutrient deficiencies. In addition, your gut is where many serotonin receptors and other important biochemical receptors are located. These receptors in turn help to govern the hormonal balance of the rest of your body, in effect setting the tone for the rest of your health.

Prebiotics and Autoimmune Disease

One area where prebiotics show real benefits is in the realm of autoimmune disease. Probiotics and the prebiotics that feed them are already known to have positive effects on this class of diseases, which comprise one of the most common and debilitating causes of disability in the Western world. Recent studies have shown that there is a link between a dysfunctional GI tract and atopic dermatitis as well as other autoimmune skin conditions.

People with atopic dermatitis may especially see the benefits of prebiotics and probiotics. A recent meta-analysis found that people who take prebiotics in addition to probiotics are less likely to suffer from atopic dermatitis and are also more likely to have mild cases of the disease when it does occur. Those who suffer from the pain, itching and rash of this disorder may benefit from sorting out their gastrointestinal tracts. This is huge for people who wish to cure their atopic dermatitis once and for all, as the disorder is often resistant to established medical treatments.

Can Prebiotics Help With Stress?

Probiotics have been shown to help reduce stress; however the benefits of prebiotics may extend to the very common problem of stress as well. Stress is almost ubiquitous in the United States, but it can also have extremely negative health effects. A recent study found that people who take both prebiotics and probiotics see their GI tracts and their sleep patterns bounce back quickly after stressful times. Researchers gave one set of rats prebiotics and then let another eat their usual diets. They then put these rats through biological stress. The rats that took the prebiotic supplements saw fewer physical effects of stress and also recovered more quickly.

Could prebiotics help modern people to deal with stress without having negative effects? While this is but one small study, it appears to suggest that we may all benefit from taking a prebiotic supplement in addition to our live culture bacteria, or better yet a supplement that provides both prebiotics and probiotics in the same formula.

While the jury is still out on the benefits of prebiotics, they appear to have a variety of beneficial health effects without any known side effects. If you are looking for ways to support whole body health, taking a prebiotic supplement may be as healthy of a choice as eating good foods and getting enough exercise.