Before the industrial revolution, specialized diets were something employed mostly for spiritual reasons. However, with a better understanding of biology and nutrition, they have, over the past century and a half, moved from just spiritual journeys, to ways of life to optimize fitness, and build a healthier body.
That’s the idea, anyhow, but diets come and go all the time, many people cite the ineffective nature of such “fad” diets, and frankly, whether they work or not, some of them are just a miserable experience. Who can forget the absurdity of the Atkins diet, which forbade the consumption of fruit and fruit juice, as well as an absolute abandonment of carbs? Your body needs the vitamins and natural sugars of fruit in moderation, and the same moderate consumption of carbs is needed for fuel. I saw people on that diet catch a cold, and then give it back to themselves for months due to immunodeficiencies.
So yeah, a lot of these specialized diets are ridiculous, ineffective and possibly even dangerous. A lot of people not in the know would say these things of vegetarianism, too. And you know, I get that. People associate protein with meat, dairy and eggs, and forget that there are plenty of protein-rich vegetarian foods, although a higher volume is often needed, than with meat.
Meat isn’t bad for you, but a low-meat diet has its benefits. Vegan and vegetarian athletes and body builders can be legitimate powerhouses, so there’s proof that it works. But at the same time, again, it takes a lot more plant-based intake for the required amount of protein, and anyone who’s tried and failed to adhere to a vegan or vegetarian diet can attest that most people find it kind of miserable and lacking in enjoyment.
When eating becomes a chore, that can be just as mentally unhealthy as an obsession with food.
This is why vegetarianism isn’t so cut and dry, and you hear terms like “ovo-lacto vegetarian” or “pescatarian”. Ovo-lacto is pretty obvious, being vegetarianism but adding dairy and eggs. What the heck is a pescatarian diet?
Coming from the Italian root word “pesce”, meaning fish, a pescatarian diet is a base vegetarian diet that includes fish and other seafood. Most, though not all pescatarians also eat eggs and dairy to some small or large extent.
Pescatarians, therefore, do not eat beef, pork, poultry or any other animal that doesn’t live in the sea. This allows for a lot more variety in your meals, and means you can enjoy things like dairy in moderation, the lean protein of egg whites (okay, sneak a yolk now and then, I won’t tell on you), and the diversity of seafood cuisine.
On top of being a more varied and rich diet, it has a lot of health benefits. If you don’t like seafood (and there are just as many people who hate seafood as love it), this diet will obviously have problems for you, and perhaps ovo-lacto (maybe with a little poultry) is more fit for you.
Benefits of Pescatarianism
- Elimination of meats – especially red meats – reduces cholesterol, heart disease and high blood pressure.
- It brings in nutrients and vitamins that aren’t present in a pure vegetarian nor vegan diet. Vegans and pure vegetarians have to use way more supplements, or eat a whole lot of various plant-based foods to make up for this, which becomes a chore as I said.
- It’s so much easier to stick to this diet, if you like seafood. The body craves meat. Even if you adore vegetables, fruits and legumes (who doesn’t?), it’s not satisfying to not have something heavier and more protein-rich.
- It’s very sustainable, as aquaculture is far more efficient and less demanding than raising livestock. Aquaculture will play a huge role in space colonization, and in humanitarian aids to end hunger in the near future as well.
- You’ll lose a lot of weight – seafood is lean by nature. Even the fattier fish aren’t the type of fatty that much matters to our bodies.
- Omega-3 fatty acids are fantastic for fighting inflammation, helping to control diabetes, reducing the risk of strokes, losing weight more quickly and naturally, growing better muscles, and for a healthier nervous and neurological system. People who don’t like seafood take fish oil pills for this, even.
Healthy Fish – Pescatarian Food List
Let’s look at a quick list of the healthier items on the pescatarian menu.
- Trout
- Catfish
- Salmon
- Squid
- Tilapia
- Sardines
- Clams
- Oysters
- Anchovies (if you’re the one person on the planet that likes these)
- Snapper
- Scallops
- Shrimp.
These are pretty common fare, and liked by most people who like seafood at all. Well, aside from perhaps anchovies and sardines, people who like them seem to be a minority due to their pungency and saltiness.
The ones below are kind of high in mercury, which isn’t good for you, so enjoy these only occasionally as a treat.
- Tuna
- Marlin
- Grouper
- Swordfish
- Mackerel
- Orange Roughy
- Shark (if you can avoid eating sharks, please do, they’re important to the ocean’s ecosystem and are scarcely farm-raised. Swordfish is very similar, but more sustainable).
Does a pescatarian diet intrigue you? If you like seafood and lots of veggies, give this a whirl. You might just love it. To learn more about diets like this, and to get tips on cooking delicious confections that suit dietary restrictions, subscribe to my YouTube channel today!
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What Is Amino Acid Therapy?
Amino Acid Therapy for Cerebral Palsy
The contribution in the development of cerebral palsy focuses on potentially modifiable factors during the neonatal period. Studies revealed that it has something to do with the excitable protein building blocks and their role in neurological injury.
In preventing the permanent deficit of having cerebral palsy, amino acid therapy is a method of treating brain damage and early abnormality. This was created by Professor Alexander Khokhlov from Russia who is teaching biochemistry and nuerology. He also has other clinics in Cyrpus, Czech Republic, London and New Zealand.
This consists of the intravenous administration of one or more essential protein building blocks. It was performed on 84 patients that went through treatment from February 1994 to February 1996. About 39 received two courses, 20 had three sessions, 9 took four, 9 received five courses, 6 had six sessions and 1 took seven. Accordingly, a percentage of more than 50 patients were given 3 or more courses.
Amino Acid Therapy for Psychological Condition
Neurotransmitters are important chemical messengers which regulate functions in the brain, muscles, organs and nerves. Serotonin, dopamine, neropinephrine and epinephrine are the most common of its type.
People that have the neurotransmitter deficiency can have the following conditions depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, attention deficit, anxiety, panic attacks and many more. With the application of the amino acid therapy it has helped those who are agonizing such situations. Treatments include taking SSRI or selective serotonin re- uptake inhibitors and other prescribed drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor, Celexa or Wellbutrin.
It functions by artificially accelerating the amount of serotonin in the synapse of the nerve. This allows a temporary recovery in the chemical messaging system. The downside however, is that it does not increase serotonin levels and diminishes the stocks of NT. It happens because the SSRI class drugs bring about an augment in an enzyme called MAO.
Amino Acid Therapy for Cancer
Developed by Angelo John, a cancer scientist, he researched the role of the protein block- builders in the cancer cells. Afterwhich, he determined how it can be altered to eliminate to cause its death. Thus, his objective is to strategically and scientifically utilize the chemical reactions and supplemental responses by interfering with the five basic prerequisites namely structure, blood vessels, energy, growth hormones and functions.
Amino acid therapy works synergistically with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It hinders the rise of tumors and causes them to retreat. It is a six to eight month course administered to under the care of your doctor and just inside the comforts of your home.
There was a study done by Dr. Marco Rabinovitz of the National Cancer Institute where it showed that deprivation of the protein block- builders is beneficial in healing cancer. Such is an example that consists of scintifically formulated amino acids. In the otherhand, Dr. Chi Van Dang of John Hopkins School of Medicine stated that cancer cells are sugar junkies that if robbed of glucose, they will eventually pass away.
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What Is Allicin?
Overview
A powerful antibiotic, allicin is an anti- fungal compound that is found in garlic. However, it does not mean that it can be found in its natural state. When it is chopped or crushed, the enzyme alliinase performs chemically thus converting it.
Allicin may not a be a very steady complex because it slowly disintegrates when it stands and is quickly damaged when cooked. Good thing about it is that it will do a large contribution medicinally, it fights artiosclerosis. It also has the ability to dissolve fats as well as an antioxidant to some extent.
Dubbed as Mother Nature’s insecticide, allicin was discovered in 1944 by Chester John Cavallito who primarily recognized its antimicrobial activity. It has a patent for its antifungal activity in test tubes. Albeit, there were no clinical test that were performed and was never developed into a commercial drug because of its absorption inability and foul smell.
Potential Value
There are some manufacturers who attempted to prevent its typical loss so that it would not come together only until after consumption in the hope of producing it inside the body.
It is done by measuring the additional water to garlic products that contain both alliin and alliinase to identify how much has been produced. But it then revealed that actual chemical reaction inside the body is a whole lot different as that being done in a test tube. The intestinal conditions hamper its absorption because the belly acid wrecks aliinase and intestinal fluids and depletes the amount created.
The enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of alliin called alliinase, has been discovered to be irreversibly neutralized to more than lower than pH3, an acidic environment found in the stomach.
Absorption Feature
Allicin is actually not bioavailable. There was a study conducted wherein 25 participants consumed a big portion approximately 90, 000 micograms versus crushed raw garlic of ten cloves. It showed that not a trace could be detected in both the blood and urine after 1 to 24 hours of intake.
Because of its towering reactivity, allicin was revealed to be entirely metabolized in the liver. If it could have reached the blood, it would have illustrated alterations into other compounds within five minutes. Also, in the method, it could have corrode the cells in the blood that brought about them to drop the capability in carrying oxygen.
Prior to that, allicin is quickly metabolized in the blood and tissues of human beings. It is doubtful however, if it contributes to any other actions in the body such as antithrombotic or better known as, blood thinning.
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What To Look For In A Probiotic
What you should know about probiotics
You might be surprised to learn that how you feel and even look every day is tied to your intestines. To maintain good health, your intestines must properly absorb nutrients and help eliminate waste and toxins.
Your intestines, which lie between the stomach and rectum, are part of the Gl tract or digestive system. In the small and large intestines, food is broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream, providing your celts and organs with the energy they need to function. Your intestines do this with the help of good bacteria (also called microflora).
These “good bacteria” aid digestion, promote vital nutrient production, maintain pH (acid-base) balance, and prevent proliferation of unwelcome bacteria. From the time of birth your body is inhabited by these good bacteria. Changes in diet, stress and aging and other factors can disrupt this delicate balance.
Lack of good bacteria can lead to:
- Digestion issues
- Poor bowel function and flatulence
- A weakened immune system
- Poor nutrient absorption
- Low level of energy and well-being
Lack of good bacteria is so common that many health professionals recommend the use of probiotic supplements. Probiotics are good bacteria strains that limit the proliferation of unwelcome bacteria in the intestinal tract by crowding them out.
In the first decade of the twentieth century a Russian scientist, Elie Metchnikoff, suggested that the long lives of Bulgarian peasants might be a result of their consumption or fermented microorganisms which positively influenced the microflora of the colon. This discovery, together with his work in immunology, earned him the 1908 Nobel Prize for Medicine. 1 his event raised considerable interest in the study of benefits of microorganisms to humans. In 1974 the term “Probiotic” (pro – for; bio = life) was coined to describe the use of beneficial bacteria to positively influence health.
Today the scientific field agrees that probiotics offer a broad range of health benefits when taken in sufficient numbers.
Restoring the balance
Because we are conditioned think of bacteria as trouble-makers, it’s hard to accept that we may actually have too few of these organisms in our digestive system. Yet that is actually quite common. And when it happens, our bodies let us know with occasional sluggishness, irregularity, bloating, or a weaker immune system.
There is a synergistic relationship between good bacteria and our body: we provide them with a safe place to live and grow, and they help us digest, absorb our food, eliminate and maintain a healthy intestinal function. It works very well… as long as there are enough of them.
Strain specificity
However, not all probiotic bacteria are identical. They differ on the basis of genus, species and strain and results. Also it has been shown that organisms must both live and colonize within the gut to induce beneficial effects. Unfortunately a lot of probiotics don’t even reach the intestine and hence offer no benefits.
Viability
Probiotics are fragile live bacteria. Probiotic cultures vary and the benefit of a probiotic is not measured simply by the number of living bacteria in a pill. The beneficial effects of the presence of probiotics in the gastro-intestinal tract depend on their viability — the ability of the bacteria to survive and colonize.
In the U.S. many probiotic products arc supported by poor research, are poorly formulated, and suffer from poor quality control. Most products list bacterial genera and species but make no mention of the viability of the bacteria. Acidophilus, for instance, has only -A 53% viability, which means that only half of the bacteria you take will be able to survive.
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