Calcium is extremely essential in many of our body functions. In fact, approximately 1.5 - 2% of our body weight is accounted for by calcium. Calcium is required mostly for strong bone formation and prevention of osteoporosis.
In fact, due to the hectic lifestyle, people turn to calcium pills to fill the gap in their day to day diet. Are these safe?
This article published in the Straits Times talks about the risk of taking calcium pills.
"When you take calcium supplements, your blood calcium level...goes up to the top end of the normal range"
"That doesn't happen when you eat calcium in your diet because the calcium from food is very slowly absorbed and so the blood calcium level hardly changes at all"
"Higher blood calcium level may lead to the formatin of plague, or fatty deposits, in blood vessels, which can lead to heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases."
It is clear that we all need calcium. The only important choice we need to make is the source of where we are getting it from. Choose wholesome.
Here are some calcium-rich wholesome plant superfoods!
Cheers!
Janice
+65 84998618
Janice@ImmuneSuperFood.com
Beta-carotene is a nutrient found in orange or red vegetables such as carrots. It is a good antioxidant and brings benefits to our body if taken in wholesome form of fruits and vegetables.
This is a study conducted to investigate the effect of beta-carotene supplementation (in isolated form) on cancer risk.
The following are the main conclusions:
"Beta-carotene supplementation has not been shown to have any beneficial effect on cancer prevention.
"Conversely, it was associated with increased risk of not only lung cancer but also of gastric cancer"
"Nutritional prevention of cancer through beta-carotene supplementation should not be recommended."
Why would a nutrient become a poison when it is in an isolated form?
When beta-carotene is found in our wholesome fruits and vegetables, there are other nutrients there as well that work hand-in-hand with beta carotene to give a good and healthy outcome for our body!
It is critical that we go back to basics and opt for wholesome plant superfoods for our important nutrients!
Cheers!
Janice
+65 84998618
Janice@ImmuneSuperFood.com
Singapore is an extremely fast-paced society, with many families having both parents working to bring in an income to support the lifestyle in this country. With that, how many are able to slow down and take a closer look at what they are consuming daily?
Due to the rush here and there, people commonly opt for synthetic or natural extract type supplements to make up for the nutrients they believe they are not getting from their daily food intake. As such, the growth in the supplement market has been steady and on an upwards trend.
Let's pause here and ponder over it. Does taking synthetic or natural extract type supplements help with our overall health? If so, why are there more and more hospitals in Singapore, yet still having insufficient bed spaces?
1) Difference between Wholesome foods vs Synthetic or Natural Extract
The buzz word in the market is natural. However, do you know that "natural" may not necessarily mean that you get the nutrients in the exact form and package nature intended for you to consume it?
Synthetic is simpler to understand. This basically means that it is made in the laboratory. Hence, not natural at all.
Let's look at a simple example to understand the above terms. I'm sure everyone is familiar with vitamin C, right?
One common natural source of vitamin C is from oranges. However, our vitamin C pills are typically like the tablets we see on the right of the arrow. How did it go from within an orange into tablet form?
It has to undergo some chemical separation processes. So let me simplify by likening an orange to car. When an orange goes through this process, it is similar to a car going through a big machine that can only recognise tyres and removes them. At the end of the day, we are only left with tyres, the rest are disposed.
Now, would you want to have the whole car, or just the tyre?
For me personally the choice is clear. I'd take the car, the tyre is useless to me as a transportation tool.
2) Safety in Wholesome foods vs Synthetic or Natural Extract
If only taking synthetic or natural extracts would be as harmless as just being useless. There are instances when they pose a danger to our health too.
Read more here on safety of:
Fish Oil
Beta-Carotene Supplements
Calcium Tablets
Hence, it is important for us to be wiser consumers so that we can safeguard our health and the health of our loved ones.
Cheers!
Janice
+65 84998618
Janice@ImmuneSuperFood.com
