Category: Health Tips

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The Kitavan Diet: Tubers, Fresh Fruit, Coconut and Fish

There are a few places in the world that stand out against the rest of the globe when it comes to freedom free degenerative diseases. One such a place is Kitava, a small island in the Trobriand Islands group of Papua New Guinea where nutritional habits are virtually uninfluenced by Western dietary habits. Researchers who have studied Kitavans, their lifestyle (including diet) and their exceptional health report that there is practically no acne, diabetes, cardiovascular disease leading to stroke or congestive heart failure, dementia or blood pressure problems among the native Kitavans. What’s more, the native people on Kitava do not suffer from obesity of even overweight despite the abundance of food that is naturally available to them on their tropical island. They have low diastolic blood pressure (all under 90 mm Hg)…
http://www.healwithfood.org/diet/kitavan-diet-foods.php

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Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamin C

I have had two people tell me recently that they have heard that Ascobic Acid (that I use in my food bars and powders) is not as good as natural sources of vitamin C. While I agree with “natural is better than synthetic” as a principle and have seen claims, assertations and opinions to that effect but the below is the only reference I have seen to studies testing the hypothesis. If you come across any clinical studies, please let me know.
Natural and synthetic L-ascorbic acid are chemically identical, and there are no known differences in their biological activity. The possibility that the bioavailability of L-ascorbic acid from natural sources might differ from that of synthetic ascorbic acid was investigated in at least two human studies, and no clinically significant differences were observed. A study of 12 males (6 smokers and 6 nonsmokers) found the bioavailability of synthetic ascorbic acid (powder administered in water) to be slightly superior to that of orange juice, based on blood levels of ascorbic acid, and not different based on ascorbic acid in leukocytes (white blood cells) (1). A study in 68 male nonsmokers found that ascorbic acid consumed in cooked broccoli, orange juice, orange slices, and as synthetic ascorbic acid tablets are equally bioavailable, as measured by plasma ascorbic acid levels (2, 3).
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C/supplemental-forms