Flora Fountain Health

We’ve been working hard on a little Facebook application that you might find handy. It should help you set and achieve goals for health and fitness and it works on the premise that writing down a goal can help you visualise it and telling someone about your goal makes it a real thing.

Try it now and let us know what you think.

http://apps.facebook.com/health-goals/

Simon

Nutirtionalists from Spatone, an Iron supplement maker have found that many women are starving themselves of nutrients in an effort to stay thin.

They have highlighted the fact that many low fat foods have little iron or (obviously) fat which contains vitamins like A, D and E.

While this survey is an obvious ploy to PR their iron supplements they may have a point. We have all met people who are thin, and seemingly full of energy, yet consist of a luch that is a packet of quavers.

As these (often) young women get older and have a heavy workload or young children they become frazzled and drained. Their hair becomes thin and their complexion sallow. They are lacking vital nutrients and energy.

If you feel want to be slim and full of energy there is no easy option. Eating well (protein/grains/fruit/vegetables) and cutting down on the alcohol is the best option. SWANNS are just cutting down on the calories.

SWANNS obviosuly need to take a vitamin supplement. But, if you’re like the 80% of us that maybe want to go on a bigger diet before a holiday or wedding, maybe a vitamin supplement is the best option. Take at least Iron and vitamin D. Your best bet is to take a multivitamin. It’ll help you cope with the lack of nutrients your taking in and keep your skin and eyes healthy and glowing.

We recommend you do everything in moderation. Dieting, drinking, taking vitamin pills. It’d be a marvellous world where fatty food and diet regimes weren’t available or needed – but they are so we hope you do everything sensibly bearing in mind your long-term health. We want you all to be around for your grandchildren.

This is a really interesting look at the statistics around Cancer. We probably all know someone who has been touched by cancer – this diagram brings it all into stark reality.

http://holykaw.alltop.com/all-the-facts-about-cancer-infographic

Deficiency of Vitamin D

As you may have seen, vitamin D has had a lot of press recently. There have been suggestions that all children should get vitamin D supplements and that taking vitamin D (or going out in the sunshine) could prevent illnesses like MS and boost the immune system. We thought we’d write up a rundown of why vitamin D is important and how much your body needs to stay in tip-top shape.

Vitamin-D is a fat soluble vitamin and it is the only Vitamin which is produced in our body when exposed to Sunlight adequate precursors of the Vitamin are present in our body. Vitamin- D is essential for bone formation and in bone growth.

The daily intake of Vitamin D in our food should range about 600 IU and for the infants and old people it is more than 600 IU. The pregnant women should take about 600-700IU of Vitamin-D in their food.

If adequate amount of Vitamin D is not present, the deficiency diseases are produced which shows symptoms in the bones.

In Children:

The deficiency disease in children is named as “Rickets”.  Due to deficiency in Vitamin-D, the Calcium and Phosphate deposition in the bone formation site are affected; hence the bones would become soft due to lack of calcium and phosphate deposition in the bones. Thus forming bow legs.   In the Chest where the rib bones join with the sternum form beads like swelling and forms a rickety formation due to growth of cartilages and no proper bone formation.

In Adults:

In adults if there is no proper intake of Vitamin-D is present, it leads to bone resorption that is the bone formation would be stopped whereas the bone destruction continues and leads to the condition named “Osteomalacia”. There is bone thinning present and along with muscle weakness.

In old age:

If the old age people above 60 years of age have the Vitamin-D deficiency due to improper intake of the vitamin in food or lack of sunlight exposure, it will leads to Vitamin –D deficiency. They have “Osteoporosis”. The bone destruction is more and leads to weakening of bones, if any condition of accidents happens it leads to bone fracture.

In pregnant woman:

For pregnant women Vitamin-D is very essential, as the child needs more Vitamin-D for the bones growth, if any deficiency present during the pregnancy time, child growth is affected and it may even leads to death of the child in the womb.

Dietary Intake:

To prevent the deficiency disease of Vitamin-D the daily requirements is needed.

For men:

Up to age 70 years need 5-10nano gram/day

Above 70 years need 15nanogram/day

For women:

Up to age 60 years need 5-10nano gram/ day

Above 60years need 15nano gram/day

For children 5nano gram/day is essential.