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Welcome to "The Burman Health Journals"
Here at Burman‘s we continue to provide not only the best quality products and services but also health information to help you make better shopping decisions. "The Burman Health Journals" are a collection of articles and information from reliable and up to date resources. Hope you find this information useful to your daily health concerns... Enjoy!
Beautiful bones
Osteoporosis, or porous bone disease, causes brittle bones that fracture easily, and heal only slowly. The hip, spine, and wrist are especially vulnerable. Women are four times as likely as men to develop osteoporosis, and post-menopausal women are at greatest risk. Several strategies to avoid osteoporosis include stopping smoking, doing weight-bearing exercise, walking, and taking dietary supplements including the B-complex vitamins, vitamin D, multivitamins, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous.
In studies, B vitamins reduced blood levels of homocysteine, a risk factor for bone fractures. Homocysteine is an amino acid that the body releases as it digests protein. New research confirmed that high levels of homocysteine were a risk factor for both heart disease and bone fractures in the elderly. A study from Holland reported that those with high homocysteine levels had twice the risk for bone fracture as did those with lower homocysteine levels. Bone health researchers suggest taking a multivitamin with extra vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid.
The American College of Rheumatology and the National Academy of Sciences recently recommended that adults get between 1,000 mg and 1,300 mg of calcium per day to lower the risk for osteoporosis. Researchers also recommend taking vitamin D, which aids in absorbing calcium. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D is 600 IU per day.
The National Institutes of Health states that low magnesium levels can impair the ability of the body to use calcium. A study of older adults in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that those with higher magnesium intake had greater bone mineral density (stronger bones) than did those with lower magnesium intake.
Research presented at the National Osteoporosis Foundation Symposium indicated that extra amounts of calcium and phosphorus were needed to slow bone loss, and that these two nutrients were associated with healthy skeletal development throughout life. The RDA for phosphorus is 700 mg per day.
Reference: The New England Journal of Medicine; 2004, Vol. 350, 2033-41.
The protective prickly pear
The North American prickly pear, or cactus fruit, (Opuntia ficus indica, or OFI) is known as “the bridge of life” because it provides nourishment for desert animals during times of drought. OFI has traditionally been used to treat inflammatory conditions of the eyes, intestines, joints, muscles, and urinary tract. Inflammation is a protective reaction of the body to injury or disease that is signified by heat, pain, redness, and swelling.
The U.S. government recently funded a study in an effort to reduce the economic and health con-sequences of alcohol poisoning, commonly called hangover. Subjects who took 1,600 IU of OFI extract five hours before consuming alcohol had reduced hangover symptoms, such as dry mouth and nausea, compared to the placebo group. According to researchers, the symptoms of hangover are due to inflammation, which OFI curtails. Re-searchers also found that levels of C-reactive protein—a marker for inflammation—were 40% higher in the placebo group than in the OFI group. C-reactive protein is produced by the liver only during acute inflammation.
The anti-hangover effect of OFI was discovered accidentally by scuba divers who were testing the fruit for its effect on fatigue and physical stress associated with diving. The “hangover-helper” idea, according to the story, came from divers who, feeling energized instead of fatigued after diving, decided to celebrate by imbibing heavily. To their surprise the following morning, the divers felt great and quickly spread the news of OFI’s hangover-prevention effect, leading scientists to conduct formal investigations.
Reference: Archives of Internal Medicine; 2004, Vol. 164, 1334-40.
Are you getting enough magnesium?
In 2004, the Washington, DC-based Gallup Organization conducted a telephone survey entitled Magnesium Intake and Supplement Usage. Gallup determined that, of the more than 1,000 Americans aged 18 and over who took the survey, four out of five were not getting enough magnesium. The survey also found that only about one in three vitamin users consumed the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for magnesium of 310 mg to 420 mg per day.
Research indicates that magnesium helps maintain normal heart rhythms and is necessary for absorbing calcium and potassium, metabolizing carbohydrates, synthesizing protein, and proper muscle function. Magnesium is especially important for athletes, as physical activity depletes magnesium reserves.
According to a recent study in the American Journal of Cardiology, coronary artery disease (CAD) patients who took magnesium had increased tolerance for exercise and reduced exercise-induced chest pain. In this six-month double-blind study, 187 men and women with CAD took 365 mg of magnesium per day, in two divided doses, or a placebo.
At the end of the study, the magnesium group reported a 14% improvement in exercise endurance, while the placebo group reported no improvement. For exercise-induced chest pain, 21% of the placebo group experienced the symptom, while only 8% in the magnesium group reported suffering.
In a related coronary heart disease (CHD) study, the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA followed 39,000 male health professionals over a 12-year period. After controlling for CHD risk factors and dietary factors, reseachers found that men with the highest magnesium intake had an 18% decrease in heart attacks compared to men with the lowest magnesium intake. Of the men who had the highest magnesium intake, the median amount was 457 mg of magnesium per day.
Reference: Nutrition; 2004, Vol. 20, 632-44.
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