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Well, another year is upon us, and what better way to ring in the second decade of the 21^st century than to make a firm commitment to live healthier, happier and wiser (once the confetti has settled and the bubbly champagne has fizzed out, that is).

Next on the agenda: take a bath.  A recent study by the Washington State University National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute lists five reasons why hydrotherapy is essential for mind, body and spirit.

Get Down…

Get your blood pressure down, that is.  The WSU study concluded that soaking in water of any temperature is helpful for reducing blood pressure, although test participants who soaked in hot water demonstrated the lowest blood pressure of all.

Get Pumped…

Heart disease patients and diabetics should consider hydrotherapy for cardiovascular health and circulation.  Water immersion gets your blood pumping and your heart thumping to a steady beat.

Now Twist…

Athletes, listen up: soaking your muscles after a workout is more than just a treat to reward work well done – your body needs it in order to repair and soothe torn muscles.

Loosen up…

Ever notice that wonderful light, anti-gravity feeling you get when you’re sitting in a body of water?  Well, your joints notice it, too.  Floating in a tub of water relieves the joints and increases flexibility.

And Just Chill

Studies have proven that taking a hot bath lowers stress by balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Today’s health food stores stock a wide variety of goods to meet the needs of every diet known to mankind- low fat, low sugar, processed-free, nondairy, low carb, high protein…but what gives with gluten-free?

Gluten is a protein found in grain products such as wheat, spelt and barley, among others.  Patients of celiac disease, a disorder which distresses the small intestines, have trouble digesting such products and are thus advised to follow a gluten-free diet.  Health food aisles abound with gluten-free cake mixes, breads and pastas.  Hundreds of recipe web sites offer creative suggestions for gluten-free living.

Rewind to thirty years ago, and most people would probably have not heard of celiac disease.  So, how did celiac disease suddenly become a household name?  Modernization provides a key – despite the advice from numerous health experts, we Americans still love our Wonder bread; those light, airy loaves cannot be produced without rich, glutinous dough, and agriculturalists have been striving to deliver the most highly glutinous crops of wheat available in order to meet our demands.

Another culprit might be commercial yeast, which has replaced sourdough yeast as the preferred rising agent among bread makers. According to a report published by Applied and Environmental Microbiology, sourdough yeast contains bacteria which break down the gluten in the dough, thereby reducing the likeliness of bowel irritation.  Commercial yeasts offer no such protection.

Celiac disease can lead to other complications such as osteoporosis, anemia resulting from B12 deficiency, fatigue and weight gain, to name just a few. Incidences of celiac disease are rising, either due to increased wheat consumption or the public’s rising awareness of the disorder.

A doctor’s visit is required in order to ascertain whether one is suffering from celiac or from gluten intolerance, the latter of which is less harmful.  Although gluten intolerance does not create any lasting damage, some experts believe that the continuance of a high-gluten diet might lead to an eventual celiac disease diagnosis.

A study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that regular intake of vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and B9 (folate) can prevent premature death of heart disease and stroke.

The Japanese study proves that women who eat foods enriched vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folate are less likely to suffer heart attack or die of a stroke.  Japanese men who eat B-rich foods are less likely to suffer heart failure.

These findings confirm similar studies which have been conducted in the US and Europe, all of which came to the same conclusion; B vitamins such as B12, B6 and folate are essential for cardiovascular health.

Through the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study, a survey which collected data on the dietary habits of over 85,000 Japanese between the ages of 40 and 79, scientists were able to gain information on a correlation between the amount of B vitamin intake and likeliness of mortality from heart disease and stroke.   Out of the 85,000 men and women studied, 986 died from stroke, 424 perished from heart attack and over 2,000 died from a variety of heart-related illnesses – all in a 14-year time frame.

Scientists grouped test subjects into five categories, varying in relation to B6, B12 and folate intake.  Of the female test subjects who ate the lowest amounts of B6, B12 and folate, more were likely to die of stroke or heart attack than those who ate a moderate amount of B vitamins.  Similarly, men who consumed the least B vitamins were more likely to die from cardiovascular illness than others.  Of the test subjects who reported eating a steady diet of B6, B12 and folate, fewer suffered mortalities related to stroke or heart disease than counterparts from any of the other groups.

Scientists believe that B vitamins lower homocysteine levels, an amino acid which many doctors believe increase one’s risk of suffering from heart disease and stroke.  Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid prevent the accumulation of homocysteine.  Eating whole grains, leafy vegetables, legumes and fish are excellent ways to get B vitamins.  However, many suffer from an inability to completely digest B12, resulting in B12 deficiency.  Symptoms include fatigue, memory loss and numbness or tingling in the extremities.

A new study released by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) warns diabetics who take metformin to get their blood checked regularly for vitamin deficiencies, particularly B12.

Sold under the brand name of Glucophage, metformin is often prescribed to patients who suffer from type 2 diabetes.  Metformin increases the body’s receptiveness to insulin while, at the same time, significantly decreasing the amount of glucose secreted by the liver; additionally, it also aids in lowering bad cholesterol.   Scientists, however, have reason to believe that metformin may prevent the body from efficiently absorbing B12, a vitamin which is essential for maintaining a healthy nervous system and red blood cell production.  According to recent research, patients who take metformin are 10% – 30% more likely to have difficulty utilizing B12.  Health experts urge anybody taking the medication over a long period of time to have their B12 levels tested routinely.

B12 deficiency is often misdiagnosed, as its symptoms are similar to those of many other illnesses.

Symptoms include, but are not limited to:

• Heart palpitations
• Trouble sleeping
• Depression
• Loss of memory
• Tingling and numbness in the extremities
• Fatigue
• Nervousness
• Slow reflexes
• Slow blood clotting
• Dandruff
• Trouble swallowing
• Red or sore tongue
• Menstrual complications

Treatment for B12 deficiency may include a series of B12 vitamin supplements taken in the form of intramuscular injections.

References:

Bloomberg Businessweek

Web MD

Diabetes Self-Management

There have been quite a number of studies that correlate infertility with a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Although a vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively easy to detect and treat, it often goes undetected until after expensive fertility treatments have been tried.  Worse, many multivitamins include folic acid, which can mask the B12 deficiency, but have only minute quantities of vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is naturally found in food products derived from animals.  However, many health-conscious women are choosing to eliminate these foods from their diets in order to live longer.  Vegetarian women who do not consume vitamin B12 supplements – even if they take multivitamins – have no way of obtaining this essential vitamin.  As time goes on, their excess vitamin B12 stores get depleted.

Dr. Bennett has written about his patients in the medical literature.  He told stories of women who have had numerous miscarriages due to a vitamin B12 deficiency.  These women went to fertility specialists and high-risk doctors in the hopes of carrying a baby to term, only to be devastated when the pregnancy terminated.  These women were given hormonal treatments.  Yet, they still had multiple miscarriages.

Fortunately, these women were referred to Dr. Bennett, a hematologist who specializes in blood disorders.  He diagnosed these women with a vitamin B12 deficiency, then resolved this problem.  These women were finally able to have normal pregnancies and deliver healthy babies.

Women are not the only ones affected by a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Additional research has demonstrated that men who have a vitamin B12 deficiency have fertility issues too, specifically with regard to low sperm counts.  These same studies have shown that B12 supplementation in addition to Clomid effectively increases sperm counts.

If you are a man or woman who is trying to have a baby, you should have your plasma B12 levels checked to ensure a viable pregnancy and a healthy baby.

There are new studies that show that people with AIDS usually have a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Furthermore, AIDS victims who are B12 deficient suffer more than those who are not B12 deficient.

AIDS is the acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.  It weakens the immune system, leaving its victims prone to various infections.  The root of this is HIV, acronym for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Vitamin B12 is found naturally in meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.  This vitamin is absolutely vital for nerve development.  Without this vitamin, the nerve cells don’t form properly, and the electrical impulses go haywire.  Symptoms of a B12 deficiency include memory loss, depression, fatigue, numbness and tingling of extremities, dizziness and paralysis.

There have been several studies on the relationship between a vitamin B12 deficiency and AIDS.  Researchers at John Hopkins University found that people with a deficiency in vitamin B12 or vitamin A had a faster progression of AIDS symptoms than those without this deficiency. 

About one-third of people with AIDS are B12 deficient.  It’s possible that they don’t absorb vitamin B12 well due to their diarrhea symptoms.  It’s also possible that AIDS patients have reduced hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor in their stomachs, preventing them from assimilating this vitamin into their bloodstream.

The symptoms of AIDS are strikingly similar to those of a B12 deficiency.  One-third of AIDS victims suffer from neuropathy, which is a burning tingling of the hands or feet.  There is a strong possibility that the root of this neuropathy is a vitamin B12 deficiency. In addition, late-stage victims of AIDS are known to develop dementia, another symptom that correlates to a B12 deficiency.

Until any research can prove conclusive, it is recommended that people suffering from AIDS should supplement their diets with Vitamin B12.

Pernicious Anemia is a genetic condition that causes a vitamin B12 deficiency.  A person with pernicious anemia is missing the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor, a protein that is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is made in the guts of animals.  We obtain this vitamin from eating meat, chicken, eggs and dairy products.  An enzyme in our stomach – called pepsin – separates the vitamin B12 from the protein.  The vitamin B12 is then picked up by intrinsic factor, a protein manufactured by parietal cells.  The intrinsic factor carries the B12 to the ileum, a section of the intestine.  Receptor cells in the ileum assimilate the vitamin B12 into the  bloodstream.  In the absence of intrinsic factor, the B12 is useless.

Pernicious anemia is a blood disorder, due to a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Vitamin B12 is necessary for the formation of red blood cells.  Someone who has pernicious anemia has fewer red blood cells.  Our organs derive energy from oxygen, which are delivered by the red blood cells throughout the body.  When there are insufficient red blood cells, a person has less oxygen and becomes tired.

Vitamin B12 is also necessary for nerve cell formation.  A vitamin B12 deficiency leads to a host of neurological problems.  Therefore, additional symptoms of pernicious anemia include weakness, pale skin, dizziness, shortness of breath, loss of muscle control, cold hands and feet, headaches and memory loss.

Pernicious anemia needs to be treated with supplementation of vitamin B12 and folic acid.  If it is not treated, the nerve cells will ultimately die and neuropathy takes place.

There are countless stories of people who were suffering from pernicious anemia, but were misdiagnosed and treated with ineffective medications.  These people nearly died as a result.  Awareness of the signs and symptoms of this disorder will lead to proper treatment.  If you are suffering from the symptoms mentioned above, get your blood plasma B12 levels checked immediately.

People who undergo gastric bypass surgery are likely to develop a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Vitamin B12 is absorbed in the stomach.  When surgeons cut off a part of the stomach, they prevent the release of enzymes necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is produced in the guts of animals, and is found in meat, chicken, eggs and dairy products.  This vitamin is bound to the protein of the food we eat.  Pepsin – an enzyme in our stomach – removes the vitamin B12 from the protein.  Intrinsic factor is a protein that binds to the B12 and brings it to a section of the intestine called the ileum.  The ileum has receptor cells that absorb the vitamin B12 and pass it along to the bloodstream.

The stomach produces hydrochloric acid.  The enzyme pepsin works only in the presence of hydrochloric acid.  When part of the stomach has been removed or sectioned off, cells that secrete intrinsic factor (which binds to the B12) and hydrochloric acid are destroyed.  Therefore, none of the chemical reactions needed to obtain vitamin B12 can take place.

Vitamin B12 is necessary for proper nerve growth and red blood cell formation.  Signs of a vitamin B12 deficiency include dizziness, memory loss, depression, tingling of the hands and feet, loss of bladder control, fatigue, weakness and constipation.

A vitamin B12 deficiency that is left untreated can lead to paralysis, internal bleeding and death.

It is imperative that anyone who undergoes gastric bypass surgery should discuss with his/her doctor how to obtain vitamin B12 through injections or supplements.

The medical community has recently recognized that Vitamin B12 helps prevent heart disease.  The reason is that vitamin B12 is involved in the metabolism of homocysteine, a toxic amino acid.

When there is too much homocysteine in the bloodstream, the blood vessels become inelastic and are unable to dilate.  Then, fatty deposits stick to the walls of the arties.  This turns into plaque, which leads to heart attacks and strokes.  This plaque formation in the arteries is commonly known as atherosclerosis.

Although the relationship between vitamin B12 and heart disease has only recently become publicized, this information was actually discovered by Dr. Kilmar McCully over 30 years ago, in 1969.  At that time, he studied the occurrence of heart attacks in children, and concluded that the culprit was high levels of homocysteine, due to malabsorption of vitamin B12.  He wrote that vitamin therapy could counteract these problems in children as well as adults.

Dr. McCully argued with the common belief that the primary cause of heart disease is cholesterol.  The medical community did not acknowledge his research or his findings, so this was hidden from the public until recently.

There are many studies done over the last decade that support Dr. McCully’s claims.  For example, a study done in Israel found that men living in Israel were more likely to suffer heart attacks than men living in the United States.  The researchers concluded that this result was due to lower B12 plasma levels in the Israeli men.

Despite the knowledge of how vitamin B12 affects heart disease, doctors still check blood cholesterol primarily to determine cardiovascular risk.  Even so, many victims of heart attacks and strokes actually have blood cholesterol levels that are within the range of normal.

If you want to determine your likelihood of developing heart disease, tell your doctor to check your blood plasma B12 levels.

There are children who are brain-damaged as a result of a vitamin B12 deficiency.  Some of these children are born with an inability to properly metabolize B12, and this condition was not detected at birth.  In other cases, they were born to mothers who are overly concerned with their health, who exclude animal proteins from their diets.  Such diets are known as vegetarian or vegan.

Women today are concerned with unnecessary hormone injections in cows, chickens and pigs.  The implications of these hormones on humans are not yet known.  In addition, documentaries have reported that most farm animals are mistreated and bombarded with antibiotics, then sold to grocery stores for consumers.  Who would want to knowingly ingest such an animal and risk developing an antibiotic resistant illness?

Our generation is also well aware of the medical literature that reports higher mortality rates due to obesity, which recommends the reduction of fat intake.  For all these reasons, it would seem that the only way to be healthy is to eliminate animal proteins from our diets, right?

The answer is: wrong.  Animal protein is the only natural source for vitamin B12.  A woman who eats a strict vegan diet has no way of obtaining vitamin B12, unless she chooses to supplement.  This puts her at grave risk for a vitamin B12 deficiency.

A mother who does not consume any animal products is liable to put her baby in grave danger, especially if she chooses to nurse exclusively.  She can eat as many healthy fruits, vegetables and nuts as she can, and still be deficient in vitamin B12.

Vitamin B12 is necessary for nerve cell formation.  A vitamin B12 deficiency in a growing baby can cause neurological problems, developmental delays, and mental retardation.

In one case, a baby of a vegetarian mother ceased talking and stopped growing at eight months old.  Fortunately, a few months later one doctor diagnosed the vitamin B12 deficiency before permanent brain damage could set in.

Studies demonstrate that 80% of all people who are on vegan diets for at least two years have low levels of plasma B12.  Therefore, doctors need to test pregnant women for a vitamin B12 deficiency in order to protect unborn children from harm.