Probiotics 101
Probiotics have become available in many foods and supplements these days and they promise a wide range of health benefits. We all know an antibiotic is a medicine to fight the bad bacteria in our bodies to make us well. If you think of the word antibiotic, anti means “against” and biotic means “living organism.”So the word probiotic, pro means “for or in favor of” the living organisms.
Enhancing Energy
Are you barely dragging yourself around? Maybe your lack of energy shows in just coming home at the end of the day and finding it hard to get off the sofa. It’s hard to cope with life when your energy is running low. Vitamins and supplements may be able to help give you back some of your sparkle by making sure your body gets the nutritional support it needs and ensuring that oxygen is carried efficiently throughout the bloodstream. Lynn Laboranti, our Wellness Expert, answered some questions about getting the bounce in your step back.
A Guide to the B Vitamins
There are so many B vitamins it can be easy to forget what each one is for. We have put together a friendly little guide to let you know what each B vitamin does for you and why they are essential to ensuring your health and energy level.
7 Tips for Healthy Traveling
The exciting experiences of travel--new environments, new foods, new time zones --are also what make it so taxing on the human body. Whether it’s a nagging cough, fatigue or an upset stomach, we’ve all been under the weather as a result of traveling.
10 Tips to Ring in a Healthy New Year
As you ring in the new year, think about the good you can do for your health. Be inspired by how the measures you take to improve your own well being will benefit those around you as well.
Suzy Cohen - America's Most Trusted Pharmacist
We wanted to take a minute to introduce all of our readers to Suzy Cohen, America’s most trusted pharmacist®, as she’s embarking on a media tour to talk to people about the importance of vitamin and supplements.
Nutritional Support for Blood Glucose Health
A healthy blood glucose level is vital to maintaining overall good health. Proper diet is just one of the important components of effective blood glucose management. Dietary supplements can be a beneficial way to help maintain blood glucose levels already within the normal range, or simply a way to help promote optimal nutritional status.
Guide to Drug and Supplement Interactions
Do you combine medications, either over-the-counter or prescription, with dietary supplements? Findings from a national survey (National Health Interview Survey) released in 2004 reveal that most people (55%) use alternative therapies in combination with conventional medicines in hopes of improving their health. There are various reasons why people choose supplements: to help fill nutrient gaps in their diets; as preventatives to chronic conditions associated with aging; or for therapeutic purposes such as joint health.
Healthy Fast Food Choices
One out of four Americans consume fast food every day. While fast food may be the most inexpensive way to eat out, it is often not the healthiest or the most nutritious option.
Healthy Recipes: Summer BBQ
Summer brings the perfect weather for outdoor events, especially everyone`s favorite delicious outdoor event - barbecues.
Holiday Eating Do's and Don'ts
With the change of season comes a change in our eating and exercise habits – more food and less exercise. Now that the holidays are fast approaching, it generally means more traveling, eating, and relaxing and less physical activity. By the time New Year’s rolls around, we arm ourselves with resolutions to take off those extra holiday pounds and get back on the treadmill. But with a little advanced planning, you can avoid the holiday bulge and save your New Year’s Resolutions for other goals.
Understanding Your Metabolism
Understanding your metabolism and what you can do to support your health is the first step to achieving the most healthful you. Nature Made’s own Registered Dietitian, Meghan Lyons, MS, explains what metabolism is, tips on how to gain energy and supplements that may help.
Maintaining Muscle
Lori Bowden, a champion triathlete and a Fitness and Exercise Expert, talked to the Wellness Advisor about how to maintain muscle mass. Muscle mass is very vulnerable when we are dieting, since the body tends to attack muscle reserves before fat reserves when we reduce calories. The one way to prevent this--and to increase your metabolism--is to maintain muscle mass through weight training exercise. Additionally, past age 35 the body tends to convert muscle to fat, and the only way to prevent it is to maintain those muscles!
Answering the Questions of Health Care Professionals
At Nature Made, we understand that many people turn to their primary care physician or other trusted health care professional (HCP) for advice about supplements. By communicating the latest science, clarifying supplement misperceptions and sharing the many ways dietary supplements can be of use in their practice, we bring new, exciting and valuable information to those you turn to for answers about your health.
New Year, New You
It’s very easy to make a New Years' Resolution but it can sometimes be a little more difficult to keep. Here are some helpful hints for making resolutions for sleep, exercise, and eating that are easy to stick with and will help you to be successful in 2011.
Smoker's Health
The Wellness Advisor sat down with Lynn Laboranti, our Wellness Expert, to find out how vitamins and supplements can help you if you do smoke, and help you to stop smoking if you are trying to quit.
Summer Road Trip: How to Pack a Healthy Cooler
Summer is here and it’s time for the All-American road trip. There is no better way to escape the daily grind than to hit the open road. Since most of us don’t have the luxury of long summer vacations, we rely on short road trips to refresh the mind, body and spirit. By immersing ourselves in different locations, we often discover new solutions to old problems and return home feeling refreshed and better equipped to deal with life’s everyday pressures.
SUPERFoods linked to Anti-Aging Benefits
Super fruits and vegetables provide a host of polyphenols, or antioxidant compounds, that work to fight off free radicals and offer protection to our body cells. Free radicals are highly reactive, unstable molecules that attack our healthy cells. They arise from normal metabolism and our body cells encounter free radicals every second of each day. Certain factors increase the production of free radicals in our body even more. Some examples are: smoking, stress, exposure to UV rays, pollution, etc.
Colors that Make Up Your Diet, Part 2: Red
Pack more nutrition into your diet by eating a wide variety of colors in your diet. Red foods such as fresh red peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, pomegranates, cherries, raspberries and radishes that fill the farmer's markets, not only are colorful, but are packed with nutrients essential for your good health.
Colors that Make Up Your Diet, Part 3: Yellow/Orange
You have probably heard of beta-carotene. It’s a carotenoid and the nutrient responsible for the yellow and orange colors in foods. Beta-carotene is the reason we grew up hearing that carrots were good for our eyes, converting to vitamin A in the body.
Top 5 Supplements for Great Health
The right program of vitamin supplements can deliver a natural recipe for fulfilling a healthy diet and boosting overall health. With so many supplements to choose from, here is a list of the top five supplements to create a powerful core regimen for great health in the new year.
Answer the Call to Exercise!
Ring, ring, ring. “Hello?” you say. An energetic voice on the other end replies, “Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!” With rising rates of obesity sweeping across the nation and an increasing number of trips to the doctor due to weight-related concerns, Americans are receiving this call to action more often than ever before.
Heart Health Supplements
Being proactive with your heart health can certainly help when you’re striving to maintaining your overall health. Let Nature Made’s broad line of nutritional supplements help you with your heart health effort. Here’s a list of the key supplements for your heart.
Sterols and Stanols: An Effective Way
to Manage Cholesterol
Sterols and stanols are plant-based compounds that have been clinically shown to effectively, naturally and safely lower cholesterol levels and promote heart health. Nature Made CholestOff is a safe and effective supplement for improving cholesterol levels and supporting heart health.
Survey: What Americans think about Heart Health
Nature Made and WomenHeart conducted a survey about what Americans think about heart health. Unfortunately, there was a bit of difference between what people knew they should do and what they actually do to take care of their hearts. Here are the results and tips from Board Certified Nutritionist Dr. Melina Jampolis on how you can back up your words with action if you’re struggling with the same issue.
Which Nature Made Fish Oil is Right for You
With so many fish oil products on the market, the process of determining a formula to purchase can seem a bit mystifying. Nature Made alone offers a handful of different fish oil formulas that may have you asking, “which product is right for me?”
A Long and Happy Life
What makes for a long and happy life? Some things which are spiritual, some things which are material, and some things which are physical. While not everything that happens to us in life is under our direct control, chronological age is not a stop sign for an active life.
Back to School: Keep Your Kids' Healthy
As parents, we know this time comes with a lot of preparation, including getting school gear, school supplies, etc.; however, it is also time to take measures to ensure the health of your kids’ immune system.
Commonly Asked Questions About Vitamins
If you have unanswered questions about vitamins and supplements, you are not alone. Over 50% of Americans take supplements, yet many aren’t sure which ones to take, how much to take or even when to take them. To clear up the confusion, the Wellness Advisor has put together answers to your most commonly asked questions about vitamins and supplements.
Good Health and Vitamin D
Vitamin D has emerged as the “star supplement” because of its many nutritional benefits for both men and women. Vitamin D plays a key role in the proper absorption of calcium for strong bones and teeth and has been shown to support colon, breast, prostate, ovarian, heart and colorectal health. This important vitamin also enhances immune system strength in adults. Unfortunately, too many Americans are not getting enough of this “star supplement.”
Wellness Tips
For Optimal Health: Carroll Reider, M.S., R.D. suggests everyone add vibrant hues to the dinner plate like steamed carrots, peppers, and red cabbage. “Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables will help maximize nutrient intake and many provide essential antioxidants,” Reider said. “It’s even better to take a multivitamin with your dinner to better absorb the nutrients and ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you need.”
Men's Health: Being Aware
Many men have a hard time keeping appointments with a doctor and have an inclination to not seek medical help until it is absolutely necessary. With an eye towards prevention, the Wellness Advisor took an overview of the health issues men should be aware of.
Food and Mood
Can what you eat affect your mood? There is no doubt that food can have an effect on our emotions. Food can make us feel good, guilty, and even disappointed. And, the saying “you are what you eat” does hold some truth. Some people may feel more energized on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, while others feel lethargic and tired, and some may need to limit carbs and beef up their protein intake. How often you eat and how much can also affect how you feel. Basically, your dietary habits can affect how your brain functions and, in turn, determine your mood.
Multivitamin Overview
How to make the right choice for your age and gender from a bewildering array of multi-vitamin supplements.
Video length: 3m:23s.