Pancreatic diseases are the serious alarming bell to change the diet, life style and focus on the liver’s health. Why on the liver, “I was told I have problem with my pancreas?”

To understand that, we have to accept the idea that all upper GI tract organs such as stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas and duodenum work together as a orchestra and failure in one organ causes  the problems in whole system. To understand relation between liver, bile ducts and pancreatic gland one needs to know about structure, function and relationship of these organs.

Liver is our chemical factory with many tasks. Manufacture and release the bile is one of the life important functions of the liver.

Liver removes the toxins from our body by separating them on water-soluble and fat-soluble substances.

First, liver makes water-soluble wastes less toxic; moves them to the blood and then to the kidney for urination them out.

Second, liver move the fat-soluble wastes into the bile and then to the small and large intestines for eliminating them out from body. More toxins are in our body, more toxins go to the bile. The liver is a storage site for carcinogenic chemicals, pesticides, drugs, and other toxins. Inability to remove these toxic substances can lead to decreased bile production and inflammatory changes in the liver and bile ducts. Thus, bile is getting acidic, aggressive and can corrode another tissue and cells. When the bile throws back to the stomach, it causes ulcers.

When the bile throws back to the pancreatic duct it causes blockage of the duct that drains digestive enzymes from the pancreas leading to inflammation of pancreas - pancreatitis.

The main reason to make bile aggressive is deficiency of minerals, microelements and bicarbonates, which cause the acidosis and changing of biochemistry of bile and pancreatic juice. From another hand, our organism is bombarded every day by myriads of harmful chemicals from food, water, air and toxins from inside or outside of our body. The worst enemy for the liver and bile is alcohol, thus, it is not wonder, that alcohol abuse is number one factor leading to pancreatitis. Unfortunately, there are many parasites, especially one cell organisms, which also cause toxicity and inflammation of bile ducts.

All of these above cause difficulties with production and elimination of bile. Toxic, acidic, solid bile with gallbladder stones or sand may obstruct the bile ducts and spasms of valve between the bile and pancreatic ducts and small intestine (duodenum). These stones can be very small like sand or large and can make blockage of moving of bile, increasing the pressure into pancreatic duct and back up the pancreatic juices that doctors call biliary pancreatic reflux.

The pancreatic digestive enzymes, which trapped inside, start to digest their own pancreatic cells causing congestion, inflammation, pain, cysts and finally death of tissue of pancreas gland.

If the doctor diagnoses pancreatitis this is a huge signal to change the life style and focus on liver and bile health.

 What can be helpful?

Healing Diet. Herbal Medicine. Nutritional Supplementation. Acupuncture. Therapeutic Exercises and Point Massage. Drinking Healing Mineral Water made from the Genuine Karlovy Vary Thermal Spring Salt.

Successful treatment of chronic pancreatitis is generally difficult and without focusing on liver and bile problems almost impossible. Contrary, the improving the biochemistry of bile, enhance the production and promote the elimination of bile are very beneficial for people with pancreatic disorders.

The information on this article is presented for educational, informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment and advice of a qualified licensed professional.





By: Peter Melamed Lic.Ac,RN, Ph.D

Find Nutrition Graduate Programs in the United States and Canada. If you’d like to achieve a Masters or Ph.D. in nutrition, you should first review admission requirements to nutrition graduate programs. Typically, prospective students must take an aptitude test prior to enrollment. Additionally, applicants to nutrition graduate programs must have earned a minimum undergraduate degree with an above average GPA.

Common studies involved in nutrition graduate programs are research in genetic and metabolic foundations (in animal and human diets), nutritional biochemistry, pathology in relation to nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, and other related subject matter.

Nutrition graduate programs that result in a Master’s (MS) degree entail in-depth coursework in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, advanced nutrition, physiology, and advanced human nutrition. In addition, students will almost always have to complete a thesis, as well as residency. Generally, nutrition graduate programs like this require a minimum of two years to complete.

Doctorate (Ph.D.) nutrition graduate programs include higher studies, doctoral dissertation research, and advanced nutrition sciences and research, among other associated courses. Ph.D. program lengths vary, but usually take between three and four years to finish successfully.

Students may also opt to participate in nutrition graduate programs with an emphasis on food science. These studies generally focus on food chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology; food processing, and supplementary research, thesis and residency. These nutrition graduate programs generally require the same amount of time and prerequisites as typical M.S. and Ph.D. courses.

Candidates who have successfully completed nutrition graduate programs in North America have potential to earn well over $60,000 annually in a faster-than-average growing career field. In addition to the positive financial outlook, professional nutritionists and dieticians gain overall satisfaction in helping individuals to make effective dietary choices in the prevention of disease, improved health and overall wellbeing.

If you (or someone you know) are interested in finding nutrition graduate programs, let professional training within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, cosmetology, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore career school programs near you.

Employment source: Bls.gov (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Nutrition Graduate Programs in North America

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By: Steven Parbach

‘Mathematics is the queen of all sciences’ – those are the words of Carl Friedrich Gauss the greatest mathematician of all time.

Mathematics is an important tool for science. Math is most widely used in other sciences. Physics, Chemistry, astronomy, engineering rely most heavily upon mathematical ideas.

Students who consider studying Physics or Chemistry will need a relatively strong Math background.

Mathematics in Physics

Physics is the natural science which explores concepts like mass, energy, matter and its motions. Strong foundation in Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, and calculus is essential for physics. Mathematical methods are absolutely necessary to deal with important concepts in physics.

The following are some examples.

(1) Electromagnetic theory is the branch of physics that studies the group of forces associated with electric charges. Vector Analysis is very important for the understanding and developing of Electromagnetic theory.

(2) Group theory is useful in Spectroscopy, Quantum mechanics, Solid state physics, and Nuclear physics.

(3) Fourier techniques are important for the analysis of all linear systems in physics.

(4) Matrix Analysis is necessary for understanding Quantum Mechanics.

(5) Complex numbers are used extensively in physics to describe Electromagnetic Waves and Quantum Mechanics.

Mathematics in Chemistry

Chemistry is the natural science which explores the composition and properties of substances. Math is essential for chemistry. The necessary mathematical background for the study of chemistry includes basic algebra, some trigonometry, and calculus.

The following are some examples.

(1) Being able to balance chemical equations is a very important skill for chemistry students. It’s a simple mathematical exercise. Balancing a chemical equation refers to establishing the mathematical relationship between the amounts of reactants and products involved in the chemical reaction.

Let’s go more in detail.

A chemical equation is a statement that describes what happens in a chemical reaction.

In a chemical equation, we place the reactants (substances undergoing chemical reaction) on the left side of the equation and the products (substances produced in a chemical reaction) on the right side of the equation. We have reactants and products separated by an arrow and the arrow always points in the direction of the products.



Consider the reaction of carbon with oxygen gas to produce carbon-dioxide.



C + O2 —> CO2                    (2 is subscript)

The above equation is already balanced, because, it has an equal number of atoms of each element in the reactants and the product. One carbon atom (C) and two oxygen atoms (O) on the left side of the equation and it’s the same on the right side too.

Let’s look at one more example.

Sodium chloride is the common salt. Sodium and chlorine form sodium chloride.

Na + Cl2 —> NaCl                 (2 is subscript)

The above equation is NOT balanced. It has two chlorine atoms on the left side, but, only one on the right side of the equation.

Let’s balance this chemical equation.

2Na + Cl2 —> 2NaCl             (2 is subscript only in Cl2)

It works! Notice that now there are equal number of atoms of each element in the reactants and the product.

Chemical equations can be balanced conveniently using matrices or simultaneous equations.

A number of fields of chemistry use a significant amount of Math.

(2) Electrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies the chemical action of electricity and the production of electricity by chemical reactions. Diffusion in electrochemistry is completely based on differential equations.

(3) Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes in living organisms. Even biochemistry has important topics which depend heavily on binding theory and kinetics.





By: chandrajeet

If you are like me, you’ve probably read a label or two for an organic face cream and it definitely lists the ingredients that were used to create it. Still, an examination of those ingredients might not lead to discovery of these words “antioxidant,” “face cream,” “organic.” Despite that fact, the literature on organic facial products makes it clear that antioxidants enhance the natural biochemistry of skin cells any where on the body.

Sometimes, the makers of an organic face cream post their product ingredients online. Upon viewing that posting, an Internet surfer has a better chance for finding one or more of these three words: “antioxidant,” “face cream,” “organic.” In addition, that Internet surfer might note mention in the online information of several natural ingredients.

Anyone who has asked a search engine to unearth online information about a facial cream with organic ingredients might run across a website that makes mention of deionized water. Such water is used by scientific researchers, scientists who want to limit the number of variables in any experiment. Today, a number of skin care products contain deionized water.

Anyone who has typed the word “facial care” into a search engine has no doubt arrived at a website that has listed a number of sweet smelling oils. Substances such as avocado oil, wheat germ oil and virgin olive oil have long been used in facial masks. Today those substances are used in certain creams for the face.

By studying the ingredients in an organic face cream, one can also understand how ancient women managed to retain such smooth skin. Some of those women mashed together foods such as melon, carrot, avocado and banana, and then they added that mix to a combination of honey and yogurt. Those women had never heard the word “antioxidant.”

Organic face cream was also a term that was unfamiliar to ancient women. Through trial and error those women discovered how to care for the skin on their face. The women of Japan discovered that by eating sea kelp named Wakame they could hold-off the natural aging of facial skin cells.

Wakame contains an antioxidant. It has the ability to interfere with a certain chain reaction. That chain reaction has been linked to free radical damage in skin cells. When endothelial cells are nourished by an antioxidant, then they resist the damage that would otherwise result from the presence of free radials in those same cells.

Today, some of the most effective skin care products contain the age-defying ingredient that has been extracted from Japanese sea kelp. The Japanese women who lived in ancient times knew nothing about the biochemistry of the body’s endothelial cells. Those women had never heard the word “collagen” or “elastin.”

Today, smart women are learning about collagen and elastin. What are collagen and elastin, and how do those chemicals have a place in the arena of organic face cream? Collagen is a protein, a protein that is found in top quality skin care products. Due to its fibrous nature, collagen can provide a living cell with added strength. When cells have the ability to produce collagen, then those cells can remain firm to the touch. Those cells do not sag; they do not cause the formation of wrinkles.

Elastin, too, is a protein found in all healthy skin. When skin manufactures elastin then skin cells demonstrate a natural flexibility. Healthy skin cells can return to their original location, after they have been pushed or stretched.

A young adult has a countenance that glows, because his or her face contains healthy skin cells. When provided with the proper treatment, aging skin can take on the vitality of more youthful skin. An older face can thus be as glowing as a younger face.





By: Laurel Levine

Potassium and magnesium are the two most common minerals found within the cells of your body. They each have specific individual functions within your body, and together help to maintain the correct balance of electrolytes and the proper functioning of smooth and striated muscles. That includes allowing muscles to relax properly rather than to cramp.

Before discussing this, let’s have a look at the major individual properties of these two metallic minerals with respect to the body’s biochemistry.

Magnesium is needed to ensure the proper functioning of the sodium/potassium pump. This is a complex topic, and we shan’t dwell on it at length here, although the basics are that it is responsible for the movement of ions into and out of cells. Sodium and potassium ions are moved in opposite directions across the cell plasma membrane, three sodium ions being pumped out for every two potassium ions pumped into the cell.

This is of particular importance to nervous cells responsible for transmitting impulses in response to specific stimuli. In the event of a magnesium deficiency, this pumping action is impaired and the sodium/potassium balance within and without the body cells are imbalanced. This in turn impairs the response of nerve cells to stimuli. Both magnesium and potassium can be depleted through the use of diuretics, in which case a magnesium supplement can redress the imbalance.

There are several consequences of such an electrolytic imbalance, some having potentially serious consequences. Many can cause death if left untreated, although the symptoms usually allow appropriate medical treatment prior to the condition becoming fatal, such treatment frequently involving administration of magnesium and potassium. Among these are:

Calcium overload in certain heart cells that reduces the effective use of oxygen and ATP and causes overactive contraction of the heart muscle.

Spasms in coronary blood vessels

Over-activity of the striated muscle fibers, leading to cramps in the calf and thigh muscles, for example.

Cramp and pain in the smooth muscles of hollow organs such as the bladder or uterus that can also cause premature labor.

Several heart problems caused by an increase in energy consumption and a calcium overload and potassium deficiency that leads to cardiac ischemia and arrhythmia that continue to create a serious medical condition and hazard to life. Potassium, that can stop the heart if given in excess, can be just as harmful if present in too small a concentration.

The whole situation creates a self-perpetuating cycle that can be broken by a magnesium and potassium supplement that restores the correct gradient of potassium and magnesium across the cell membrane, improves the function of the sodium/potassium pump and reduces the excess cellular calcium by replacing it with magnesium.

This only works if both potassium and magnesium are taken together: just either alone is no good. It also takes time for the effect to occur, so the supplement is not suitable for emergency use. A regular supply can prevent the condition occurring.

There are many other properties that magnesium and potassium possess with regard to the body’s biochemistry such as the effect of magnesium in activating certain enzymes. However, in discussing relaxation, both of these essential minerals have a significant part to play.

It has been mentioned that a magnesium and calcium deficiency causes spasms and cramps in the smooth and striated muscles, and the corollary is also true. Magnesium and potassium can be used to relieve such cramps, and relax muscle tissue. Hence, because it can relax excited smooth bronchial muscle tissue, magnesium can be used to relieve asthma attacks. The intravenous administration of magnesium is, in fact, an accepted and proven clinical treatment for acute asthma attacks.

In the same way, magnesium has been used to treat muscle spasms and cramps. Again, it is not an immediate treatment for emergency use, but can be used over a period of days to treat athletes with a history of muscle spasms. Such spasm frequently occur after prolonged periods of exercise, when magnesium and potassium, among other electrolytes, can be lost through a combination of sweating and urination.

However, this is not the only means by which magnesium is lost from your body cells, and probably not even the main one. Less obvious, but likely of more importance, is the transfer of magnesium from the plasma into the red blood cells (erythrocytes). The amount by which this occurs is directly proportional to the more anaerobic the exercise, hence the need by athletes and weightlifters for more magnesium. It can be rapidly lost through exercise with insufficient oxygen, and cause their muscles to cramp up.

Magnesium deficiency is common in Americans, although factors such as high calcium intake, alcohol intake, diuretics, and kidney and liver disease are more responsible for this than a dietary deficiency. Potassium is readily available in bananas, brown rice, potatoes, tomatoes and oranges and dietary deficiencies are not common although supplements are readily available.

Magnesium is also known to play an important part in the secretion and use of insulin by the body. Supplementation with magnesium can help diabetics to make best use of insulin, become more tolerant to glucose and improve the fluidity of the membrane of red blood cells. The mineral; also has a small but definite effect in lowering blood pressure. Other uses for magnesium supplements include congenital heart failure, where higher magnesium contents lead to greater life expectancy and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) where magnesium supplements can significantly increase energy levels.

Other uses to which your body puts potassium other than to allow proper muscle contraction and relaxation and to maintain the balance of electrolytes in the body, includes the function of brain and nerve neurons. This, however, is academic since should your potassium levels drop by 50%, death would result.

Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium are essential in maintaining the proper workings of your body cells, although the most visible effect of magnesium and potassium is their relaxation properties on the body, put to specific use by sportsmen and women, particularly those involved in the more anaerobic sports.





By: Darrell Miller

But we can avoid these feelings-at least for the moment–by using drugs. We can do drugs and almost instantly feel “high.” We can forget about life for a while. We can experience pleasure, excitement, power, courage, thrills, joy, enchantment, and a sense of connection with other people and the world around us.Of course, in the long run drugs become less and less effective at bringing these benefits. Over time, the drugs themselves start causing suffering. Soon, we find we’re using drugs to relieve the misery that drugs themselves have caused. This is known as the “vicious cycle of addiction.”

It goes something like this: Life doesn’t feel too good. Bang! Try this drug or that drug, and things feel better. Come down off the drug, and things feel worse, just a little worse than they did before you took the drug in the first place. No matter. Bang! Use the drug and feel good again. Gradually, your biochemistry changes. Your brain learns that it doesn’t have to keep producing the chemicals that make you feel good. These chemicals keep appearing without the brain having to do any work. That’s why each time you try to get off the drugs, you feel a little worse than the time before. It becomes harder and harder for you to get off the drugs because you feel so bad whenever you try to stop.

And it all started with suffering, with your inability to accept suffering as an intimate part of life. You can break a drug habit anywhere along the way, or never start with drugs at all, simply by accepting life’s suffering and facing the suffering head-on. This doesn’t mean that you will live a sad, miserable, and tormented life. There are plenty of ways you can face your suffering and then cope with it. In fact, once you learn these ways and begin using some of them, you’ll feel as if your spirit has been renewed. Of course, it’s your choice.      If you choose drugs to cope with life’s suffering, you choose a buy-now-pay-later method. It works in the moment, but it just postpones the suffering. And by postponing it, it builds up, so that when you finally do face it, the suffering is immense. The detoxification from drugs might take a week or two, but the long-term withdrawal, the period of time when your biochemistry (and thus your physical and mental health) returns to normal, can take years. Luckily, during this time, you gradually feel a little bit better, day by day. What can you do to get help? You have many options. First, let’s consider an in-patient rehabilitation facility.





By: Jonas Smith

Let’s face it… In winter, a large section of the population struggles to keep warm. Those who retreat to the warmth of a home with central heating often develop dry skin. They might find that when they curl up to read, they can profit from taking a look at body moisturizer reviews.

Of course, today not all reviews appear as ink on paper. The computer user has ready access to a growing number of body moisturizer reviews. Both print and online reviews provide the public with a flood of information about the treatment of dry skin. How can any one person sort out fact from fiction, in that flood of information?

First of all, anyone who wants to get rid of dry skin needs to appreciate the importance of biochemical balance. Within a healthy and moist endothelial cell, the cell’s biochemistry creates a well-maintained balance. If an external force disrupts that balance, the affected endothelial cell could become too dry.

Heat can damage the outermost organ of the body. So can any prolonged or repeated scrubbing of the skin. Experts now warn that even herbal scrubs fail to treat the underlying cause for dry skin. Those scrubs can expose the endothelial cells to drying chemicals in the air, or in the water.

Chemicals that have a tendency to dry the skin trigger an imbalance within an area of endothelial cells. They usually cause those cells to form “free radicals.” The creation of those free radicals plays havoc with the entire cell biochemistry. A widening circle of body moisturizer reviews offer information on ways to remedy the damage caused by free radicals.

Often those body moisturizer reviews mention the benefits of anti-oxidants. When endothelial cells have been treated with a product that contains an antioxidant, then they are better able to fight the damaging effects of biochemical changes in the skin.

Yet dry skin results from more than just exposure to harsh chemicals. Nature has planned for aging skin to loose the moistness that confounds so many teenagers. Aging skin lacks the ability to make a generous amount of collagen and elastin.

What is the importance of collagen and elastin? Both are proteins, proteins that can be found in all healthy skin cells. The collagen molecule contains long chains of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Those long chains cause the collagen molecule to display a fiber-like nature. Skin that contains a healthy amount of collagen feels strong and firm (like a rope).

A good review about moisturizing skin aids would not suggest a product that coated the skin cells with collagen. Instead aging endothelial cells need something that can stimulate production of collagen within each cell. Those cells also need something that can stimulate production of elastin.

Like collagen, elastin is a protein. Elastin provides endothelial cells with flexibility. When those cells produce an adequate amount of elastin, then they can return to their original position on the body, after being pushed or pulled away from that position.

When you use an amazing proven moisturizer that can stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, then they can expect to enjoy having a youthful looking skin. Some food for though about body moisture reviews you can truly benefit from.





By: Laurel Levine

Many people are unaware that beautiful hair is due largely to their intake of silica. Silica is a form of silicon, one of the most common elements in the earth, and that is literally where it is most found: in the earth. Most forms of stones and rock contain silicon in one form or another.

Silica is silicon in the form of Silicon dioxide, or SiO2. Appearing naturally as quartz, it is also the principal component of glass and sand. Silica is also a very common component of your body, and is contains in all of your connective tissues such as cartilage and tendons, nails, hair, muscle tissue and bone. Your complexion and shiny hair all depend upon silica, which apart from its other properties help your skin and hair to retain moisture and keep looking young.

Not only that, however, but it also strengthens your hair, and renders it less likely to become brittle and suffer from split ends and that dull look that so many women spend a fortune on trying to overcome with various types of hair conditioner. Conditioners are designed to keep the moisture in your hair; that is also one of the main properties of the form of silicon that we call silica. The term is often wrongly used for other forms of silicon such as silicates and silicones, although these do not take part in human biochemistry in the same way as silica does.

If your intake of silica is at its optimum, your skin and hair will be well hydrated, and maintain a luster that makes it attractive and young looking, rather than lank of frizzy. It is not an overnight effect, however, and you may have to take silica supplements for two or three months until you see visible effects. You should then be able to maintain the effects through diet, although silica supplements can be used if preferred. It is not only your hair that will benefit, but also your skin, as already suggested, will maintain a youthful hydrated look and the wrinkles will take longer to appear.

You will therefore tend to look younger for longer, especially if you also have a good intake of antioxidants to prevent free radical damage to your skin cells. Silica can help to prevent baldness, but it is stressed that it cannot be taken to cure it. It stimulates the growth of your hair and keeps it healthy and strong in addition to looking more beautiful and attractive.

Silica in all its forms is a trace mineral in our diets, and is a relatively rare component. It is also a very important mineral because human life depends upon it. There are certain food sources of silica that you can use to ensure that you get the maximum amount naturally that you can. The foods that contain most silica include cereals, especially oats and rice, which is why Asians tend to have the healthiest and strongest hair. Others are cucumbers, asparagus, lettuce cabbage, onions, potatoes and sunflower seeds. Fruits include strawberries, and if you eat a diet rich in these various foods, then you should have a good natural intake.

Other sources of silica include horsetail and oat straw, or the stalks left once the oats have been harvested. Although not conventionally eaten, these sources are used for the preparation of silica supplements. It has often been claimed that beer is a good source, but only because silica is frequently used in fine powder form to act a defoamer in beer.

Meat sources do not include much silica, and neither do processed foods. Most junk food diets are low in this mineral that is so vital for the condition of your hair, although it is not necessary to eat just a vegetarian diet. A good balanced diet is necessary to ensure that you do not become deficient in one nutrient because you are trying to increase your intake of another. That is a very easy and common error to make. If you include a reasonable amount of silica-containing foods in your diet then there is no need to eat only those foods.

As with many other trace elements necessary in human biochemistry, you do not have to take large amounts of silica to meet your daily needs, and it is not the foods that are rich in silica that is the only aspect of the mineral you should consider, but also in the form in which it is available for the body to use. This ‘bioavailability’ is very important with all forms of nutrition, not only silica, since if the body is unable to use it as part of its biochemistry, then it is of no use as a supplement.

As an example of this, the processing of foods, including grains, can convert silica to silicates that the body cannot use since its chemistry is unsuitable. Silicates have to be converted first to silicic acid which the human body can easily absorb through the intestines. This acid, then, would be a good supplement for those deficient in silica, though only very small amounts are needed by the body. In fact, silicic acid is the silica gel supplement that provides the silica needed for healthy hair, and is formed by the hydration of sodium silicate which itself cannot be absorbed by the intestines and take part in the human biochemical reactions needed.

The reason for the importance of silica is that it is converted to orthosilicic acid that is an essential part of the biochemical pathway for the formation and stabilization of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) or mucopolysaccharides, that are essential to human life. Chondroitin sulfate is an example of a GAG. As one ages, ones ability to produce these compounds in the stomach reduces, and is one reason for aging skin and hair.

The effect of silica in the human body in general, and on the hair in particular, has been proved, and as you age you will find the need for some form of supplementation. Even younger people who do not include an adequate quota of silica in their diet should consider a supplement containing this little known but essential trace element for bouncy, attractive and youthful hair.

It is known fact that beautiful hair comes from within with silica.





By: Darrell Miller

L-Alanine is one of 20 amino acids that are used by the body to manufacture the proteins essential for life. Each protein possesses specific biological properties that are imparted by the sequence of amino acids it contains. Proteins control the chemistry that takes place within the cells of our body, and comprise all of the enzymes that catalyze the body’s biochemistry.

Amino acids are also the building blocks of DNA that determines the genetic make-up of individuals, and that also provides recipes or templates for the production of proteins from amino acid sequences. There is a different DNA template for every protein required by the body that determines which of the 20 amino acids are needed, and in what order they are to be combined with one another to manufacture the desired protein.

10 of these 20 amino acids can be synthesized by your body’s biochemistry, the other 10 being essential parts of your diet. If you fail to include just of these 10, then your body will break down its proteins until it has obtained a sufficient supply of that amino acids for its needs. That involves muscle and other tissue degradation, and is one of the symptoms of malnutrition. Amino acids are not stored, and a daily supply is essential to avoid these symptoms.

L-Alanine is one of the ten that the body can manufacture, and used by the body to help build protein and also to enable the body to make use of glucose to generate energy. It does so as part of what is known as the glucose-alanine cycle. During anaerobic exercise, such as in weightlifting and sustained running, muscles produce lactate and also alanine.

The alanine is passed on to the liver where it is converted to energy via its conversion to glucose. This is not a particularly efficient means of creating energy because a byproduct of the process is urea, the removal of which in turn requires energy. However, it serves its purpose as an energy source once the liver is depleted of glycogen. In fact that is the major use to which alanine appears to be put by the body: the conversion of glucose to energy.

The way the glucose-alanine cycle works is that a process known as transamination produces glutamate from the amino groups of amino acids that are degraded during exercise. Glutamate is then converted to pyruvate by means of the enzyme alanine aminotransferase, with the production of alanine and alpha-ketoglutarate. This is a reversible reaction, and after the alanine has been carried by the bloodstream to the liver, the reaction reverses with the regeneration of pyruvate that undergoes gluconeogenesis (generation of glucose).

The result of this is glucose that returns to the muscle tissue to provide more energy. The glutamate is broken down to the ammonium ion in the mitochondria, which in turn enters the urea cycle with the production of urea.

In a nutshell, then, the glucose-alanine cycle removes glutamate and pyruvate from muscle tissue to the liver where glucose is generated from the pyruvate and returned to the muscle. Since gluconeogenesis involves the expenditure of energy, and this occurs in the liver rather than in the muscle, all the energy in the muscle can be used for muscle contraction.

L-Alanine possesses other properties, among them the ability to help maintain the health of the prostate. A study of benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate) indicated that treatment with L-alanine, glutamic acid and glycine over a period of three months reduced the symptoms. However, make sure that you consult your physician before using alanine in this way. This is not because there are any known adverse side effects, because there are not, but because it I always wise to so with any supplement taken with a view to treating any medical condition.

A less obvious application derives from the fact that it forms a stable free radical when deaminated. Deamination can be initiated by radiation, and so the concentration of this free radical can be measured to ensure that the correct dose of radiation is being given in dosimetric radiotherapy. It is not always easy to control the dose accurately, and this property of alanine allows it to monitored and to ensure that it is neither too low to have the desired effect, nor dangerously high.

Although it is a non-essential amino acid, and can be produced by the body, a dietary supply or supplement is advantageous if extra energy is required. Good dietary sources of L-alanine include meats, seafood, eggs, nuts, beans, seeds, brewer’s yeast, corn and legumes among others. Supplements are also available, and useful for body-builders, weightlifters and others involved in anaerobic exercise. Due to the glucose-alanine cycle, it can possibly provide energy when lactate build-up would otherwise lead to muscle cramps.

Those for whom a supplement could be useful are athletes and others who are trying to build muscle and stamina, or reduce their body fat and also the obese and overweight for the same reason. There is also evidence that a combination of the amino acids alanine, glycine and arginine can help to reduce arterial plaque from oxidized low density lipoproteins, and can also help to reduce high blood pressure.

Deficiencies are rare, although groups that do not eat meat should be careful to eat foods with a good alanine content. There are no known side effects of a deficiency since the body will generate what is needed for normal purposes, and while the supplement appears to have no side effects, it is advisable that pregnant and lactating women should first seek medical advice. The same applies if you suffer from hypertension or diabetes. High doses of alanine might also affect those with kidney or liver disease.

Although the benefits of supplementation of L-alanine might not be immediately obvious, the results and the science indicate that it is effective in making better use of blood glucose in that the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) created in the muscle tissue is allowed to be expended on muscle contraction while the glucose-alanine cycle provides the energy needed for gluconeogenesis.





By: Darrell Miller

Herbs are the most exciting topic emerging in the health and wellness field today.  Until now what was once the “go to” solution for all things medical and healthy aging has been relegated to the annals of history.  There is a reawakening to the error of our ways in 20th Century medicine.  I encourage all who read this article to stand guard to your health and longevity by looking deeper into the secrets of human biochemistry and its relationship with what I call “Natures Pharmacy”, the plant kingdom.  It is here that we, as a species, can find solutions to all ailments, diseases, infections, and longevity issues.  The sad fact is that, through a very aggressive 100 year long marketing campaign by the modern day pharmaceutical industry, we have forgotten where we came from and have paid a heavy price for it.

 

We are borne of the earth just as we return to the earth.  Everything the human organism needs, and has always needed, can be found in nature.  What most people aren’t aware of is that, at the turn of the 20th Century, discoveries in the plant kingdom led to the isolation of certain plant compounds that had medicinal properties that could be profitable when engineered in a laboratory.  Plants can’t be patented but synthetic compounds can.  This was the birth of the modern day pharmaceutical industry.  The level of toxicity and damage to the liver and immune system that occurs with medicinal drug treatment has led to a long awaited reawakening in the search for truth in the design of the human health profile.  People are now demanding an alternative way to address maladies in the human body.  How exciting!  The most powerful thing that ever happens in time is “an idea whose time has come”.

 

We seem to be slowly creeping back toward the times where the Romans, Persians, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Native Americans relied on Mother Nature to battle disease and illness.  Naturopathic medicine, homeopathic medicine, and the desire for herbs and herbal remedies are driving the truth back to mainstream awareness in the United States.  80% of the world still relies on herbal remedies and tonics to deal with health and disease issues.  From their point of view we are crazy to forego solutions, provided by nature, and resort to toxic substances that always have a negative impact on human biochemistry.  With the reawakening of medicinal herbs as a natural solution healing and maintaining a healthy profile, we are relearning that herbs can be used to treat and cure conditions such as gall bladder disease prostate cancer, leukemia, toxic buildup in the body.  They can also be used as an anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, liver function normalizer, and more.

 

Herbs perform one of two functions; either as a “tonic” or as a “stimulator”.  Tonics are relatively gentle in their affect on the human body and can, over time, slowly strengthen weakening immune systems and are beneficial for nourishment of the body in general.  Herbs that should be a daily part of your diet include green tea, dandelion, Echinacea, milk thistle, ginger, cayenne pepper, garlic, and rosemary to name a few.  Stimulators are herbs that are taken for shorter periods of time and act to initiate strong healing processes for certain maladies.  Example of these herbs include peppermint leaf, cramp bark, barberry bark, catnip, aloe vera, and ginger root to name a few.  When purchasing such herbs purchase organic herbs whenever possible as these herbs, as opposed to bulk herbs, are usually more nutrient dense, contain no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and typically are grown locally.

 

All in all we are, as a society, are beginning to look in the right direction for alternative solutions to health, wellness, and longevity.  Pick up a copy of any book on medicinal or therapeutic herbs from any bookstore and learn how to find herbs that can easily be implemented in your daily eating or cooking routine and bring yourself back to your roots.

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By: Scott A McKay