http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com The term osteoporosis refers to the unfortunately very common condition by which bones become de-mineralised and reduced in strength. Also sometimes known as "brittle bones", it is particularly common in the elderly population and a well established cont... http://www.articlealley.com/article_511944_23.html 07th April 2008 Most people are now familiar with the idea that vitamin C may help protect against and mitigate the symptoms of the common cold, although this theory is by no means universally accepted by orthodox medical opinion. But there's now evidence that supplemen... http://www.articlealley.com/article_511179_23.html 07th April 2008 Vanadium is a curious trace element and somewhat difficult to write about. It is a little known trace mineral which seems to be required by the body in relatively tiny amounts, and it is not even clear that it is absolutely necessary at all. But there i... http://www.articlealley.com/article_501246_23.html 01st April 2008 The trace mineral iodine is well known for its crucial role in enabling the body's manufacture of vital thyroid hormones, but it is also important for the health of the immune system and for optimal brain function. It is widely believed by many authoriti... http://www.articlealley.com/article_500979_23.html 31st March 2008 In common with choline, inositol is often regarded as a member of the B-complex of vitamins, although this is not strictly accurate. Both choline and inositol, however, work in similar fashion to the B vitamins. Inositol is vital for the health of cell... http://www.articlealley.com/article_494146_23.html 25th March 2008 Potassium is one of the most important minerals for human health, playing an essential role in maintaining the correct electro-chemical balance in cells and the proper functioning of cell membranes. This role makes potassium vital for muscle contraction ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_493150_23.html 25th March 2008 Iron is probably the best known of all the essential minerals found in the human body; and this is not surprising since it is vital for the formation of hundreds of the proteins and enzymes on which health depends. But iron deficiency is nevertheless one... http://www.articlealley.com/article_484947_23.html 03rd March 2008 The human body contains more copper than any other mineral, except iron and zinc, and has been known to be essential for both human and animal health since the earliest days of Western medicine. Yet even now the full range of copper's many functions is b... http://www.articlealley.com/article_484119_23.html 03rd March 2008 Para-aminobenzoic acid, or PABA, is a relatively little known, but nevertheless important nutrient; commonly, though not strictly accurately, classified as one of the B-complex vitamins. The confusion is perhaps understandable because PABA plays an impor... http://www.articlealley.com/article_479330_23.html 22nd February 2008 Although dietary zinc has been known since the 1960s to play an important role in human health, it was not until as recently as 1990 that its role as an important ant-oxidant was identified. Perhaps not surprisingly, early attention focussed on zinc's ro... http://www.articlealley.com/article_478488_23.html 21st February 2008 The role of myrrh in the traditional Christmas story is well known, but the many benefits of this powerful herbal compound perhaps less so. Yet myrrh is far from being just an expensive gift of Kings in a long ago time. It has been used for several thou... http://www.articlealley.com/article_473076_23.html 12th February 2008 Cat's claw, known as una de gato in Spanish, is a herb derived from a vine-type plant which grows widely in the countries of Central and South America, and is particularly common in the Amazon rainforests and Peru. So vast and botanically rich are the wi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_472400_23.html 11th February 2008 There's now good evidence that it's not just in fruits and vegetables that health promoting anti-oxidant flavonoids are to be found. These powerful compounds have also been identified in tea, particularly green tea, red wine, beer and even chocolate. So... http://www.articlealley.com/article_466283_23.html 02nd February 2008 Flavonoids are highly beneficial anti-oxidant compounds found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, red wine and even beer, and it's now well established that a plentiful intake of anti-oxidants through foods, drinks and supplements is vital for ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_466012_23.html 01st February 2008 Whilst increasing attention is now rightly being paid to the health benefits of white and green teas, the virtues of the much more familiar, and still much more common, black tea, should not be neglected. All three are products of the camellia sinensis p... http://www.articlealley.com/article_462630_23.html 26th January 2008 In human beings, coenzyme Q10 is the most common occurring form of coenzyme Q, needed by and found in every cell in the body. Perhaps its primary function is to ensure the production of adequate energy within the cell mitochondria, but coenzyme Q10 is a... http://www.articlealley.com/article_462223_23.html 25th January 2008 Nutritional science is becoming increasingly interested in the potential of certain micro-nutrients, which appear to be of particular significance in the battle against ageing. These so-called anti-ageing micro-nutrients include lipoic acid, and the amin... http://www.articlealley.com/article_456558_23.html 21st January 2008 Amongst the general public today, vitamin C is probably the most popular of all nutritional supplements, perhaps principally because it is widely believed to be effective as a cure for the common cold. But there is much more to the nutrient than this, as... http://www.articlealley.com/article_256072_23.html 21st January 2008 Green tea became well known in China during the period of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) and was quickly prized as a promoter of health and vitality. There's good evidence, however, that its many benefits had already been known to the elite for thousand... http://www.articlealley.com/article_247264_23.html 14th November 2007 Tryptophan is one of the �essential� amino acids; �essential� in this context meaning that it cannot be produced by the body, and must therefore be obtained from dietary sources. The best dietary sources of tryptophan are the animal proteins know... http://www.articlealley.com/article_244753_23.html 12th November 2007 Magnesium is one of the most important minerals for human health and is required throughout the body; but by far the largest quantities are found in the bones and muscles.Almost all the body’s enzymes are dependent to some degree on adequat... http://www.articlealley.com/article_238422_23.html 06th November 2007 You�ve probably heard that around two�thirds of your bodyweight is comprised of fluid, principally water. But did you know that half of the remaining third (ie about 17% of your total body mass) is made of protein. And this is not just your muscles,... http://www.articlealley.com/article_240262_23.html 06th November 2007 Vitamin A is probably best known for its role in eye health and promoting good vision and the legend that eating carrots is helpful for night vision, in particular, is based on the high levels of betacarotene that they contain. It is indeed true that reti... http://www.articlealley.com/article_231376_23.html 21st October 2007 Lipoic acid, also known as alpha-lipoic acid or thioctic acid, is a vitamin like compound produced naturally by the body in very limited quantities, but which may also be obtained from various dietary sources.The lipoic acid produced in the bo... http://www.articlealley.com/article_226531_23.html 12th October 2007 It's well known that adequate calcium is essential for the maintenance of strong, healthy, bones and teeth, and indeed this is where around 99% of the approximately 1.2 kg stored in the average adult human body is to be found. But this is not in fact thi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_226340_23.html 11th October 2007 Vitamin D's importance in maintaining strong, healthy bones through its interaction with the essential mineral, calcium, is well known. But the vitamin is also vital for the health of the nervous and immune systems, in regulating insulin levels and blood... http://www.articlealley.com/article_223006_23.html 05th October 2007 The somewhat misleadingly named folic acid is in fact one of the most important of the water soluble B complex of vitamins. In the form of folates it is found naturally in the body as well as in various common foods. As folic acid it has been extensivel... http://www.articlealley.com/article_218651_23.html 25th September 2007 Inadequate intake of dietary folates and folic acid has been strongly associated with the elevated levels of blood homocysteine which have been identified as a key risk factor for both cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. But folates and foli... http://www.articlealley.com/article_218745_23.html 25th September 2007 Vitamin A is one of nature’s most valuable anti-oxidants, and is also vital for preventing and fighting infection. Well known animal sources are foods such as egg yolks, milk and liver, along with the traditionally reviled fish liver oils.P... http://www.articlealley.com/article_211412_23.html 10th September 2007 Vitamin B12, occasionally also known as cobalamin, is one of the most important and most intensively studied of the B complex vitamins. This group of vitamins is known as the B complex because of their biochemical similarity and because of their close in... http://www.articlealley.com/article_208533_23.html 29th August 2007 The entire complex of B vitamins is essential for health, and they're known as the B complex for the very good reason that they interact closely together in the performance of all their vital functions. All the vitamins of the complex are usually found t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_208227_23.html 28th August 2007 The preparations of ginkgo biloba commonly sold as herbal supplements are derived from the leaves of the ginkgo trees, which are probably the longest living in the world Individual trees are believed to live for up to 1,000 years and are found most common... http://www.articlealley.com/article_204687_23.html 22nd August 2007 L-carnitine is a compound derived from lysine, one of the eight essential amino acids required by the body. Although it is often described as a vitamin, L-carnitine is better thought of as a micronutrient which can be manufactured within the body. Dieta... http://www.articlealley.com/article_201182_23.html 14th August 2007 "Carotenoids" is the term which describes the large range of more than 600 phytochemical pigments from which many plants derive their characteristic red, orange or yellow colourings. Those most commonly found in modern Western diets are alpha-carotene, b... http://www.articlealley.com/article_200841_23.html 13th August 2007 "Carotenoids" is the term which describes the large range of more than 600 pigments which give many plants their characteristic red, orange or yellow colouring. Amongst those most commonly found in modern Western diets are alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_198703_23.html 07th August 2007 Vitamin A is one of nature's most valuable anti-oxidants, and is also vital for preventing and fighting infection. Well known animal sources are foods such as egg yolks, milk and liver, along with the traditionally reviled fish liver oils. Plant sourc... http://www.articlealley.com/article_195809_23.html 01st August 2007 Plants, like animals, require anti-oxidants to protect themselves from free radical damage to their cells, and the protective substances they have evolved are known as phytochemicals. So one of the major reasons for the common advice for everyone to ea... http://www.articlealley.com/article_194941_23.html 31st July 2007 Selenium is one of those micro-nutrients which although required by the body in only tiny quantities are nevertheless vitally important for the health and well-being of the human organism. There's now compelling evidence of selenium's significance as a... http://www.articlealley.com/article_191880_23.html 25th July 2007 Zinc is one of the many trace minerals required by the body, but the fact that it's required in relatively small amounts should not be allowed to obscure its significance. It's required by the body for the production of more than 200 essential enzymes, on... http://www.articlealley.com/article_186097_23.html 13th July 2007 It's now several centuries since fresh fruit and vegetables were discovered to be effective in preventing and curing scurvy, and such acute nutritional deficiency diseases are thankfully now extremely rare in affluent Western societies. But freedom from ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_182727_23.html 03rd July 2007 Many benefits of vitamin C have been identified since the consumption of citrus fruit was first recognised as the immediately effective cure and preventative for the scurvy which so dreadfully afflicted the long distance sailors of a few centuries ago. ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_180810_23.html 01st July 2007 Since its discovery in 1922 Vitamin E has become generally regarded as one of the body's most powerful, versatile and useful anti-oxidants. And as such its importance should not be underestimated, because anti-oxidants are the principal defense against t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_180284_23.html 01st July 2007 It would be a great pity if recent media scare stories highlighting the supposed risks of vitamin E supplementation prevented people, particularly the elderly, from ensuring that their diets include adequate supplies of this vital nutrient. These stori... http://www.articlealley.com/article_179842_23.html 01st July 2007 Coenzyme Q10 is found within every cell in the body for the very good reason that it's absolutely essential for the production of energy within the cell mitochondria. But the value of coenzyme Q10 goes far beyond its role in the production of energy, vit... http://www.articlealley.com/article_177553_23.html 26th June 2007 Fail to ensure that your diet is adequate in anti-oxidants and you're asking for your body to be attacked by free radicals. And the potential severity of this attack should not be underestimated, because free radicals are strongly implicated in the aging... http://www.articlealley.com/article_176828_23.html 21st June 2007 Anti-oxidant enzymes are the body's first line of defense in the battle against the premature aging effects of free radicals. Free radicals are a normal and natural by-product of the energy producing biochemical reactions in the mitochondria of each and e... http://www.articlealley.com/article_176349_23.html 19th June 2007 It's perhaps one of the sadder ironies of our time that the astonishing affluence we enjoy in inessential luxuries should be accompanied by increasing poverty in the most basic necessity of all ? the very food we eat. The one thing in which our modern ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_172226_23.html 10th June 2007 It was observed centuries ago that sailors deprived of fresh fruit and vegetables on long voyages became ill with scurvy. Now of course, not many of us today have to live on salt-preserved meat and dry, weevil infested biscuits, and no doubt our modern W... http://www.articlealley.com/article_171738_23.html 08th June 2007 The news today is all about the extraordinary growth of the Chinese economy, but is there a danger that in importing Western affluence the Chinese may also import our levels of the characteristic diseases of affluence – obesity, diabetes, heart attack, ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_161505_23.html 21st May 2007 If you've been working long and hard in the gym but find that it's weeks or months since you saw any appreciable gains in strength or muscularity, you may well get used to hearing that these sticking points are entirely normal and that there's no alternat... http://www.articlealley.com/article_156812_23.html 08th May 2007