Straight Talk About Vitamins and Minerals

This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, but this giant jars that contain a years supply vitamins and only cost $19 are pretty much worthless.

As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

The cheap discount vitamins (and even a lot of the expensive ones) fail for a couple reasons:

1. They are not made with pure ingredients
2. They are not properly formulated for your body to absorb
3. They don't have the right amounts of each vitamin and mineral (most have too much!)

Anyone with a few buck can get into the vitamin business. In fact a dirty little secret of the vitamin business is that you can get a bottle of vitamins manufactured for less then $2 and slap your own label on it then sell it 3000% mark-up.

Needless to say you want to avoid these brands.

It would be impossible to list all the inferior brands of vitamins because there's far too many, and new one's are popping up every day so I'm going to let you know about the vitamin and nutritional supplement company that is the gold standard for the industry.

It's The Life Extension Foundation.

The Life Extension Foundation is a non-profit group that funds pioneering scientific research aimed at achieving an indefinitely extended healthy human lifespan.

Simply put you will not find higher quality vitamins and supplements then those made by The Life Extension Foundation.

And unlike the low quality vitamins that are heavily marketed, or sold through pyramid schemes the products sold by The Life Extension Foundation are competitively priced.

If you're at all serious about getting real benefits from taking a multi-vitamin I suggest that you get them from The Life Extension Foundation. You won't find their products sold in stores. You can order them directly from The Life Extension Foundation website

Vitamins and minerals can:

* Prevent or cure certain diseases, both short term (such as colds and flus) and long-term (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease)
* prevent certain unfavorable health conditions
* ward off mental illnesses and unfavorable mental states such as anxiety and depression
* slow down the aging process
* increase energy
* stabilize hormones
* encourage a good night's sleep
* correct or prevent reproductive problems
* increase stamina
* increase sex drive
* increase sexual performance
* improve short-term memory
* improve the ability to concentrate
* strengthen the immune system
* improve digestion
* eliminate acne
* make skin softer, smoother, and younger looking
* eliminate age spots and wrinkles
* protect organs
* clot blood
* protect vision
* prevent muscle cramps
* promote weight loss
* grow and regrow hair
* protect vein
* grow nails
* make fitness programs more effective

In other words, vitamins and minerals are related in one way or another to almost all areas of fitness and mental health. Of course, they are not all that your body needs. Your body also needs adequate enzymes, fiber, clean water, protein, fats, calories, fresh air, exercise, rest, sunshine, physical safety, mental stimulation, and protection from exposure to excesses and negative factors. But if you have all of these, then vitamins and minerals can do a really good job of helping your body and mind stay healthy.

Your body is like a machine, but much more complicated. Just like a machine, your body is built out of parts. The food and drinks you consume provide the parts that your body uses to build itself. If you give it plenty of good parts, then it can build you a really nice body. If you give its poor quality parts, then you're probably not going to like what it builds. And if you leave certain parts out, such as certain vitamins or minerals, then there will be parts missing, and you may not be able to build a strong, sound body.

Now you may be thinking, "If there are vitamins and minerals in my food, then don't I get enough of them just from my diet? Why do I need to take extra vitamins and minerals?"

The truth that is that you would have to eat an awful lot of food to get enough of each vitamin and mineral every day. There are currently about 13 known vitamins and quite a few more minerals that are vital to human health. In order to get the "optimum" amount of each of these, you would have to eat pound after pound of certain types of specific very nutritious foods every single day. (After a while, that would become bothersome... Not to mention ruining your diet!)

What's even worse is that most foods AREN'T very nutritious. The typical Western diet is full of highly processed foods that have had most of their nutrients removed. So in order to get optimal amounts of each and every vitamin and mineral every single day, you would have to eat 5 to 30 times as much of these "normal" foods as you would of very nutritious foods. That wouldn't just be a nuisance, it would be downright dangerous to your health.

By the way, even when you take vitamins, it's still important to eat a healthy, nutritious diet. Healthy food contains lots of other important stuff you need- minerals, enzymes, fiber, etc.

Instead of relying on your diet to give you the nutrition you need, you should eat the healthiest diet you can, and then take vitamin and mineral supplements.

Also make sure you exercise. Fitness helps your body use nutrition the right ways.

The most common way to take nutrition supplements is to take multivitamin pills. The problem with that is that most of the time, most of the pill doesn't dissolve. It stays practically whole, and is later excreted in the person's feces. Not only is that a waste of money, but (more importantly) the person thinks that they're getting vitamins and minerals that they're just not getting.

There's more than one way to solve this. One option is to chew up the vitamins, or to crush them before taking them. Chewing them usually doesn't taste too good, though, and can be hard on your teeth. And crushing them completely can be difficult unless you have a pill crusher. Pill crushers may make it a little easier, but they can be tough for some people to use, especially people who don't have much strength in there hands.

A better option is to just take liquid vitamins. Liquid vitamins are vitamins already suspended in a liquid base, ready to go. When you drink vitamins in this form, you can be much more certain that they'll be available for your body to use (compared to vitamins in pill form). Though they may appear to be more expensive per daily use than pill vitamins, don't be deceived. Liquid vitamins are usually actually a better value because your body is able to use them when you take them; your body may receive little, if any benefit from take pill vitamins when they don't fall apart during digestion.

Liquid vitamins vary. Some come as individual vitamins, but you can also get liquid multivitamins. Multivitamins can be less expensive (and less hassle) than buying each vitamin individually. On the other hand, taking each vitamin individually can allow you to precisely control the amount you take of each vitamin per day. It can also allow you to take certain vitamins twice or more per day, and others just once. (Vitamin C and the B vitamins should preferably be taken at least twice a day because once you take them, they only stick around in your body for a few hours.)

Fitness comes from taking care of your body. So there are hundreds of vitamins and nutrition supplements for weight loss on the market today. Most of them don't work the way people expect them to work. Most people assume that they'll just be able to take a pill (or a few pills, or a powder) a couple of times a day, and after a few weeks, they'll lose several pounds (or more). It's true that some supplements can suppress your appetite or block your body's ability to digest food properly. That's not a good thing, though. Those supplements can be dangerous. You need to eat to live. Cutting down on eating (or on digesting food) is not the answer. Fat blockers are especially dangerous. Many people think that fat is bad for them. The truth is that you need some fat in your diet to stay healthy.

Also, if your appetite is running all day, there's a reason for that. Usually it's because you're stressed out or eating bad food (especially sugar) or not getting enough nutrients. So instead of taking weight loss supplements, try taking "regular" vitamins. That's what your body's really craving, anyway. Then try eating more nutritious food; cutting the sugar out of your diet; and reducing stress through exercise and meditation. It will work better, and you'll feel better.

Fitness doesn't just come from a pill. It comes from taking care of your body in every way possible.

Vitamins help generate energy by helping in various processes that lead to the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats for energy use in cells. The B-Vitamins, especially Vitamin B-1 (thiamin) and Vitamin B-2 (ribloflavin) are very important in helping to help your cells produce energy. B-12 is sometimes referred to as the energy vitamin.

Vitamin C helps make a molecule that transports fat in the cell so that it can be converted to energy. So if you're lacking energy, try boosting your intake of B-Vitamins and Vitamin C. Remember, B-Vitamins and Vitamin C are water soluble, so they're depleted from your body quickly. To keep them in your body, find out how much of them you'll need in a day, then take half in the morning and half in the afternoon or evening. Or you can divide the total amount in 3 and take them three times a day, instead, to keep your energy up all day long.

Remember to exercise each day, too. Exercise is an energy booster, itself, and helps circulate vitamins, minerals, and hormones so your body can use them where they're needed. Plus fitness in general makes your body run better and use nutrition better.

Certain vitamins and minerals are especially important for healthy skin, hair, and nails:

* B-vitamins, Vitamin C, natural Vitamin A, Vitamin E, chromium, and zinc are good for the skin and for clearing up acne.

* Hair loss is often caused by lack of B-vitamins, magnesium, sulfur, and zinc.

* Nail problems are caused by a large number of different deficiencies, but the most important nutrients for making beautiful nails seem to be protein, zinc, iron, calcium, and the B-Vitamins.

For more cutting edge techniques to stay looking young the Life Extension Institute has was most consider the most advancement protocol for anti-aging that you'll find

Bodybuilding requires excellent overall health and fitness as well as the ability of the body to build and repair muscles quickly.

For that reason, bodybuilders should make sure to get ALL vitamins, and should be careful to take their Vitamin C and B-Vitamins at least twice a day. To grow muscles, bodybuilders need to get enough protein and amino acids. To repair tissues, they need extra Vitamin C. Bodybuilders often also take creatine, which is a natural supplement that the body uses to help provide cells with energy.

When you're buying vitamins, you want to look for vitamins that are easily absorbable and made from high quality ingredients. As I mentioned earlier, liquid vitamins are much easier for your body to absorb and use than pill vitamins. But if you take vitamins in pill form, make sure they've been tested for easy disintegration. Liquid vitamins that come from real food sources are even better, because the vitamins in them are natural and in general much easier for your body to absorb and use than "artificial" man-made vitamins. Although some people argue that man-made vitamins are fine, others claim that natural vitamins are not only more absorbable, but they're also more complete. But man-made vitamins are much better than no vitamins at all.

The exceptions are Vitamin A and Vitamin E. Man-made Vitamin A can be dangerous if you take too much of it. Beta-carotene (a natural form of Vitamin A), on the other hand, is safe even in high doses. (But it can turn your skin yellow if you take too much of it!) Man-made Vitamin E is almost useless at low doses, and dangerous at high doses. When you're looking for Vitamin E, look for "d-alpha-tocopherol." DON'T get "dl-alpha-tocopherol." That little "l" makes a big difference!

Chelated minerals are good, too. They easier for your body to absorb than "regular" minerals.

Be careful not to take more than the recommended dose of the following:

* Man-made Vitamin A. Taking more than 25,000 IUs can cause liver damage and blurred vision.

* Natural Vitamin A as Beta-Carotene. Too much can cause your skin to turn yellow.

* Vitamin B-6. An extremely high dose of more than 400 mg can cause numbness in you hands and feet.

* Vitamin C. Extremely high doses can cause stomach cramps and diarrhea.

* Vitamin D. Too much (50,000 IUs daily) can interfere with muscle function.

* Niacin. Very high doses can cause jaundice and liver damage.

* Iron. Daily intake of iron much higher than 20 mg could cause immune system dysfunction and possibly death.

Why Lifescript vitamins are a better choice then store bought vitamins

Some governments have established recommended daily dosages of certain vitamins and minerals. For example, in the United States the government establishes the "USRDA."

These recommended dosages are compromises based on what an "average" person should take. But who decides what "average" is? The recommendations made by the government may be too much for one person, and way too small for the next.

How much you need from your nutrition supplements depends on a number of things, including:

* your gender
* your size
* your age
* your activity level
* your current fitness and health
* what you eat
* whether you drink or smoke
* whether you take medications that affect your hormones
* whether you are pregnant

One way to know how to customize what nutrition supplements to take is to go online to Lifescript.com. Fill out a profile on their website telling them where you stand in all of these areas. Based on recommendations from their Scientific & Medical Advisory Board, they'll recommend exactly the nutrition supplements you need. Then they'll make it easy to get them and take them, because they portion the pills out into 28 daily dose packs and ship the whole thing right to your door.