The antioxidant vitamins found in fruits, vegetables, teas and supplements are proving to be powerful agents in the fight against disease causing free radicals.
The original concept was to take recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins to a level that would prevent acute deficiency diseases like the Sailor’s disease scurvy. These are the standards by which RDA;s were created.
However, in recent years, research has shown that Vitamins taken in higher doses can prevent sever chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. A debate still rages, but there is a plethora of research being done on Vitamin A, C, E, the antioxidant vitamins.
A National Institute of Health clinical trial involving people at high risk of developing advanced stages of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), showed that patients?risk decreased by 25 percent when treated with high doses of antioxidant vitamins and zinc. Read more…
The focus of research on vitamins these days is how antioxidant supplements may play a role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Antioxidant supplements ?E, C, and beta-carotene (a form of vitamin A) ?have potential when it comes to health promotion. However, most data available about such health promoting properties of antioxidant supplements are incomplete. And only up to 30 percent Americans are taking some form of antioxidant supplements.
But what exactly are antioxidants and how important are they?
Antioxidants come in two forms. They can either be vitamins or minerals. They help prevent oxygen from reacting with other chemicals in cells. Such reactions ?called oxidation ?could lead to cell damage which may result in heart disease and cancer.
Antioxidants can be found in a variety of foods, but they are far more common in fresh fruits and vegetables. A health diet of fresh produce could lead to high levels of antioxidants in your body, which could only mean one thing ?less free radicals (those harmful molecules that cause cell damage) and a healthier you. Read more…
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius, L.) is a perennial herb and grows wild in deciduous forests of the eastern United States. American ginseng is an erect plant that reaches a height of 0.3 to 0.7 meters and has fusiform roots, greenish-white flowers and red berries. The roots and rhizomes are often branched or forked, and they bring a premium price if they resemble a human form. Wild ginseng once thrived along most of the nation’s eastern seaboard, from Maine to Alabama and west to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. American ginseng, (panax quinquefolium) was at one time plentiful in all mountainous regions of the United States. However, it was over-harvested in the mid-1970s, and was subsequently defined as an endangered species. Now, only licensed ginseng harvesters are allowed to dig for the wild ginseng root.
Ginseng was one of the earliest marketable herbs harvested in the United States. Wild ginseng was one of Minnesota’s first major exports. In 1860, more than 120 tons of dried ginseng roots were shipped from the Minnesota to China. American ginseng is similar to Asian ginseng, Panax ginseng, L. that grows wild in Northern Manchuria and has been harvested there for thousands of years. Currently, 18 states issue licenses to export it. In Wisconsin and several other states where ginseng is cultivated, a permit is not required to export artificially propagated ginseng. Read more…
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