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America’s Red Meat – have we created a KILLER?
The Harvard Study on red meat gave us some pretty startling headlines this week. According to their research, the red meat that people buy in grocery stores, eat at restaurants, and serve to children in lunch lines is killing us! In the recent article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine eating red meat was shown to be “associated with and increased risk of total, CVD, and cancer mortality.” It looks like the Hamburglar is stealing a lot more than hamburgers— it appears that he is robbing years from our lives. The study stated that that each additional serving of unprocessed red meat and processed red meat was associated with a respective 13% and 20% higher risk of dying. That’s right, the study claimed that red meat poses an alarming threat to those who eat it, but why?
It shouldn’t surprise us that the processed meats, made with nitrates, fillers, and sweeteners, caused havoc and ill health, but the unprocessed meats are whole, real meat, straight from the butcher—they should have been safe – right? Why did the unprocessed meats cause disease and death? Some people reading this article already know the answer. Like us, they have studied the meat at their tables and educated themselves as to what is happening to our meat supply here in America. We have carnivorous friends following low-carb, paleo, primal, ancestral, Mediterranean, and low-fat dietary philosophies, who know something about this unprocessed meat that the study didn’t reveal, and that the media didn’t share. They yell at their televisions when they see these negative reports on red meat. They do this because they know that the meat that was studied was not the meat that they eat. In fact, to many of us it is not meat at all.
The Harvard study examined what they are calling unprocessed meats. But the process of creating modern meat starts long before the processing plant. Let’s examine the numerous processes that the unprocessed cow suffered.
To Process- (definition) – To prepare, treat, or convert by subjecting to a special process. A series of actions, changes, or functions bringing about a result.
First, let’s look at what this unprocessed cow is fed on the farm? Farm, HA! This cow never saw a farm. It lived in a crowded animal factory known as a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO). Just like other factories, the CAFOs have cut costs wherever possible, so the cattle, herbivores, that for centuries dined on grassy pastures, now eat grain, candy bars, road kill and something tasty called “animal protein products” which can include rendered feathers, hair, skin, hooves, blood, and intestines. The process of feeding this foreign feed to the cattle is unnatural and destructive to their digestive systems and creates unnatural and destructive unprocessed meat for us all to enjoy.
Next, the modern cow is pumped full of antibiotics so that while living in an unnatural state of packed filth the cows don’t spread illness, most of which would have been avoided if they had been fed their natural grass diets in the first place. This preventative process leads to numerous health risks for both the animals and us. First, the antibiotics cause the animals to gain fat. Hmm, could they have this effect on humans? Additionally, the excessive antibiotics are of concern because antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are formed, which again leave both the bovine and humans at risk. By the way, you don’t have to worry about this process if you live in the European Union or Canada— Your governments are protecting you and have rightfully banned this practice.
Luckily the cattle don’t remain in the jam packed CAFO for long. While steer used to graze on grass and only mature to slaughter at the age of 4 or 5, now they are spared this miserable existence shortly after their first year. That is because the modern cow is given Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This makes the farm more profitable by creating a fatter cow faster. According to The Center for Food Safety, upwards of 80 percent of all beef cattle in the US are given growth hormones. This process of falsely fattening the cattle to turn a profit is also banned in the European Union, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Australia due to studies showing that it was unhealthy and a concern to human health. So, this only affects our unprocessed meats here in the U.S. Finally, after slaughter the meat may be washed with anhydrous ammonia, followed with a carbon dioxide treatment for cleansing then pumped up, to refresh the flesh color, with carbon monoxide gas injections. The USDA has deemed these actions “processing aids” so they don’t have to be labeled on our unprocessed meats.
So, we would like to thank Harvard for this study and for bringing these horrifying statistics to the front pages of our newspapers. However, we can all now see that Harvard never really examined unprocessed meat at all. Let’s call a spade a spade, the study should have said is that eating processed factory farm meats increase the risk of dying. This shouldn’t really surprise us after examining how we treat these animals as commodities. The fact is, factory farms and food processing plants have contaminated our food supply to the point that a food (red meat) that was once the very staple of a healthy diet has now become an almost unrecognizable “food” product and has been abominated to the point that instead of promoting health and longevity, science is now showing it to increase our risk of death by as much as 20%…and the USDA has allowed it.
Where is the newspaper headline that states “ Our meat supply has been destroyed by our government!” or “No foreign countries will buy meat made from our unhealthy contaminated cows.” We must have missed the TV reporter when they announced that, “Our government is so concerned for the health of its citizens that they are now banning antibiotics and growth hormones and regulating that cows eat grass.” Isn’t this what we all really want? We don’t want to stop eating meat or reduce our daily intake to less than 1.5oz as suggested by the Harvard researchers in order to reduce our risk of death. We want to stop eating processed factory farmed meats filled with pink slime, butchered of animals, which have been treated inhumanely. This study proves that it is all of us who will ultimately pay the price when animals are raised simply to make a profit and not in a responsible, natural and humane way. We want our government to realize, as the others around the world have, that the health of the nation is important. We deserve to eat real food that will promote health in ourselves and in our children. Our ancestors have enjoyed red meat and thrived on it for millennia. Grass-finished cattle produce meat with far healthier omega 3 to 6 ratio than their confined counterparts, and CLA, a healthy fat not found in grain fed cows. Additionally, it supplies higher levels of the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin. Calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium and vitamins A and E are abundant. This is the red meat that mankind thrives on. This is the red meat we demand.
In our book Naked Calories, we urge our readers to adapt what we call a “nutrivore” lifestyle. A lifestyle that focuses on the micronutrient value of our foods through the choosing of quality grass-finished beef, pastured eggs and chicken, wild caught fish and local/organic produce. Anyone can become a nutrivore regardless of their dietary philosophies, from the strictest paleo dieter to the strictest vegan and everyone in between. Part of becoming a nutrivore is educating yourself on what is happening to America’s food supply and to us as a people as we continue to eat foods full of Naked Calories and slip deeper into a chronic state of micronutrient deficiency. We need to become aware of the fact the micronutrient deficiency, caused in large part by factory farming, food processing and soil depletion/over farming, is the most wide spread and dangerous heath condition of the 21st century and that what we choose to eat has a direct affect on our likelihood of contracting a chronic health condition or disease. We need to wake up the world and explain that the meat, fat and the micronutrient values (vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids) are not the same for processed factory-farmed red meat as they are for naturally-raised, grass-finished red meat. Nor would the heath results of eating them be the same. To be clear, it is our firm belief that red meat from naturally and humanely-raised, grass-finished cows would NOT cause the increased risk of mortality that the Harvard study found, at any normal daily serving range, and in fact would decrease this risk substantially.
Along with this education, it is the nutrivores responsibility to share this information with others, and to take action. The farmers, or the large agribusinesses pretending to be farmers, will not change unless we force them to. They are making money doing things this way, and they have the system down pat. Our government isn’t regulating them to grow food that will benefit our health, so the only way we will make a change is to act as a unified group. Stop paying for meat that has been shown to cause disease and early death. Tell your grocers, your restaurants, and your schools that you want them to source grass-finished meat (be careful this is not necessarily the same as grass fed). Until it becomes available at your grocer, find yourself a local farm or join a CSA and work together as a tribe to gather the foods that will nourish you. This goes for pastured eggs and chicken, wild caught fish and local/organic produce as well. Our food supply needs an overhaul. It will take the nation to demand this and it begins with each and every one of us. Those who have already been sourcing these foods should become the elders in the group and use their knowledge to help others. Even if you already go to a farm for grass-finished meats, pastured eggs and chickens, or local pesticide-free produce stop by your local grocery store and ask them, no, bug them, to source these quality foods. Its time we stop fighting among ourselves and come together as one unified group, demanding better food, no matter what dietary philosophy we have chosen to follow.
If we want change, it is our responsibility to take action and demand natural, micronutrient rich foods, and to educate and inspire others as well. Becoming a nutrivore is the first step to achieving micronutrient sufficiency, a physical state we believe is the basis of optimal health. For now, our health is in our hands, but if we continue down this road, and sit by as our more and more of our foods become vehicles of disease and death, this will not remain the case. Taking the time to understand how food affects your health could be the most important thing you ever do. If you haven’t read Naked Calories, read it! If you have, share it! Become a nutrivore today, and together we can make a difference.
New Video – Calton Expose Second Food on Dr. Oz’s 99 DIet Foods Shopping List That May Contain Arsenic.
by CaltonNutrition on Monday, February 27, 2012
Calton Nutrition is back with our second video transforming the Poor Food choices on the Dr. Oz approved, 99 Diet Foods Shopping List into Calton approved Rich Food options! We want to thank all of you who watched and shared our first educational and hopefully entertaining video. For those of you who haven’t yet read the first food transformation blog, or seen the first Wizard of Oz video you may want to Click Here to do so now. Either that, or click here to read a quick PDF about how the Calton Nutrition version of Transformation Nation began.
We don’t want to sound like a broken record, but we want you to remember as you watch the videos and read the blogs that this is NOT an attack on Dr. Oz or the brands mentioned in on the 99 Diet Foods Shopping List. Dr. Oz put those brands on his list. We did not. Remember, our obligation is to share with you any potentially harmful ingredients we find on the 99 Diet Foods Shopping List, so that we can help you make smarter choices when choosing where to spend your hard earned money. We will be offering apples to apples, or in this case, cookies to cookies, swaps from the Dr. Oz approved Poor Food options to Calton approved Rich Food Options that will increase micronutrient value while eliminating potentially dangerous ingredients.
Speaking of swapping, there is something else that we need to point out. We also want to highlight the disclaimer from Dr. Oz’s camp that appears on the bottom of his shopping list. Take a minute and read it now.
Disclaimer: for your convenience, we have listed specific brands, but Dr. Oz and The Dr. Oz Show do not endorse any of the name brand products listed above. If you prefer another brand that has the same ingredients & nutritional value, feel free to use it.
Feel free to use it? You mean swap it for another brand with the same ingredients? We will reiterate that it is the ingredients in these listed foods that we are trying to warn you about. Thus choosing a product with the same ingredients would obviously not be a good solution either. We hope you enjoy the new video and as always, we would love to hear your comments.
Let the Transformation Wars begin!
Calton Nutrition Dr. Oz video
Introducing #77 on Dr. Oz’s 99 Diet Foods Shopping List: Back to Nature, Chocolate-Chunk Cookies.
Here are the ingredients as they are listed on the label:
Ingredients: UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE*, DEXTROSE, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, SAFFLOWER OIL, BROWN RICE SYRUP, BAKING SODA, SEA SALT. CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY. *RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED(TM) COCOA BEANS.
Poor ingredient Numbers 1: Unbleached Wheat Flour
What could be wrong with unbleached wheat flour, it sure sounds healthy, right? Wrong! Did you even notice that it didn’t say unbleached whole wheat flour? Leaving out that one little word is sure to trick many a shopper. This unbleached wheat flour is nothing more than a fancy (and misleading) way of saying refined white flour. We all know from reading Naked Calories that refined grains are ingredients in poor food choices. Remember, refined grains, or processed grains, have had both the bran and the germ removed from the grain kernel. Protein and fiber are found in the bran, which is the outer protective layer of the kernel. The germ contains the vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids (EFAs), and the antioxidants. Once these macro (protein is a macronutrient) and micronutrient-rich pieces are removed, a fluffy white inner core called endosperm remains; it is with this nutrient depleted core that processed white flour is made. Refining white flour wipes out 50 to 80 percent of the various B vitamins, 86 percent of the vitamin E, 85 percent of the magnesium, and 60 percent of the calcium. Why would Dr. Oz support a product made with this misleading ingredient and filled with Naked Calories if his goal is improved health and enhance weight loss?
Poor ingredients 2, 3 and 4: Sugar, Dextrose and Evaporated Cane Juice.
What’s worse than suggesting a diet food that contains sugar? How about suggesting a diet food that sneaks sugar in under three different names? That’s right sugar by another name would taste as sweet…and spike your insulin as high! You may remember that in Naked Calories we called refined white sugar, AKA the White Devil or sucrose, an anti-nutrient because it is chemically processed and stripped of all beneficial properties. Not only does sugar have a high glycemic index ranking of 80, but it also is extremely acidic to the body causing calcium and other mineral depletion from bones and organs.
As we mentioned in our last video dextrose rates a 100 on the glycemic index – speedily spiking your insulin and telling your body to store fat. In this blog we will add that dextrose, AKA glucose, weakens the human immune system by competing with vitamin C for entry into your cells. Depleted vitamin C levels will not only lower your immune system, but according to the University of Maryland, even slight deficiencies of vitamin C can increase cortisol output. And what happens when cortisol is increased? That’s right…you guessed it… your body fat increases too, especially around the midsection. It looks like Dr Oz is recommending cookies that add to your muffin top!
And just in case that cookie isn’t sweet enough, they have decided to stir in some evaporated cane juice. While some try and pass evaporated cane juice off as an unrefined sugar, we aren’t going to fall for that one. Juicing is a refining process and evaporating refines it further. Although evaporated cane juice is a better option than refined white sugar, or dextrose and only scores a 55, or intermediate on the glycemic index, cane juice (we would prefer organic cane juice if it has to be used) would be an even better choice as more of the micronutrients would have been delivered. But alas, this is not the case, and there are better choices. (we will go over these later)
Keep in mind that sugar, in all its forms, is addictive and that these cookies, with their triple shot of sugar intensity, almost guarantee you won’t stop at just one. In fact, this is what one loyal customer says about these chocolate chunk cookies in the review section on the Back to Nature website:
My son and I are seriously addicted to these cookies! We eat a box every day. And I do mean everyday. It should be against the law for these cookies to be soooooooooo gooooooooood! Thanks ~Joretta K.
Does eating a whole box of cookies daily sounds like it will do wonders for your waistline? And what about dieting diabetics? They needs to be extremely cautious as the blood sugar spiking could be dangerous. It looks like Dr. Oz overlooked sugar three times over when choosing this diet food.
Poor ingredient 5: Brown Rice Syrup
Yes, you read that right. The next ingredient is the very ingredient that Dr. Oz recently warned us about on national television – brown rice syrup. Do you remember the reason Dr Oz warned us to avoid this ingredient? That right. According to Dr. Oz brown rice syrup may contain high levels of our old friend arsenic! How can Dr. Oz recommend a product that contains the exact ingredient that he just cautioned about on the Today Show? While not all brown rice syrup has been shown to contain this high level of arsenic, as Dr. Oz said. “Arsenic is linked to cancer, developmental delays, and heart problems. Why would we want to risk it?” That is a good question Dr. Oz. Why would you risk it? Especially when Gary Ginsberg, Ph.D. a public health toxicologist and one of Dr. Oz’s expert/wellness warrior has this to say on DoctorOz.com:
Taking a crop high in arsenic and concentrating it down into a syrup and then putting that into baby formula [food] – sounds almost like a terrorist plot on a TV drama. Unfortunately, it’s actually happening. And it’s even more outrageous when considering that simple sugars and empty calories are a risk for diabetes. This effect is now combined with arsenic, a chemical that can decrease pancreatic function and is linked to diabetes.
You may be asking yourself why this possible carcinogen has been added to the cookies in the first place? It seems that the folks at Back to Nature felt that three sweeteners were not enough. You see, brown rice syrup is also a sweetener, and is now the fourth sweetener in this Dr. Oz approved diet food. This sweetener, like the others before it, spikes insulin causing your body to store fat. Again, we can’t imagine how anyone participating in Transformation Nation is looking for this effect from their diet foods.
Dear Dr. Oz, if you feel it is important enough to warn people about the possible dangers of this ingredient on national television, then shouldn’t you take the time to remove the foods that contain this ingredient from your approved shopping list…especially if this carcinogen is also likely to promote diabetes?
Five Strikes… The Back to Nature Chocolate Chunk Cookies are OUT!
To be honest, we feel a little strange recommending cookies on a diet list to begin with. We would prefer to tell the reader to stop eating them in favor of whole, delicious, fresh, organic foods that are free of harmful ingredients and deliver greater micronutrient benefits. But, this is a swap…apples to apples. So, we have found some options that we feel are better choices for our Rich Food cookie options.
The first is, Yes to Cookies, Cocoa-licious cookies. This recipe was born out of a man’s love for a woman with severe insulin-dependant diabetes. They are sugar free, gluten free, and starch free. The creator sweetens with erythritol and stevia, which won’t cause an insulin spike. There is nothing but cocoa-goodness hiding in these cocoa treats. (Note: over consumption of erythritol could cause stomach upset in individuals with IBS)
The second is Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods, Raweo Cookies. Think of these as grown-up Oreos. They are chocolate on the outside with a vanilla bean cashew cream on the inside. These gems are sweetened with raw honey. While raw honey still spikes insulin, scoring a low 30 on the glycemic index (same as milk), it is considered a healthy sugar alternative when eaten in moderation. Unlike processed (pasteurized) honey, raw honey supplies antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and phytonutrients. This means that raw honey offers sweetness while delivering essential micronutrients – a Rich Food ingredient for sure!
Now, we can’t lie to you. It was difficult finding Rich Food packaged cookies. But, we know that there are many great chefs out there, living healthy and following our Rich Food Philosophy. We call on you to become one of our creative kitchen commandos. Join the brilliant baking battalions out there that are creating rich food recipes that will blow us all away. Just send us your coolest cookie recipes (we will be looking for other recipes later on) and we will test them in the Calton Nutrition test kitchen, then, we will post a collection of your Rich Food cookie recipes that really take the cake. [Submit here]
That’s all for today, but remember, we will continue to transform the Transformation Nation’s shopping cart, item by item, into one that is filled with Calton-approved Rich Foods that are safe and healthy for you and your family. Stay tuned for our next adventure – you never know which food we will be highlighting or what film we will be staring in next!
The Caltons Expose Potentially Harmful Ingredients in Dr. Oz’s 99 Diet Food Shopping List.
You don’t want to miss this MUST SEE video staring the Caltons and Dr. Oz! Its already going viral!
Our full blog will be posted tomorrow – make sure to check back then – you won’t want to miss it! In the mean time enjoy the video and don’t forget to count how many times we mention the word “OZ.” Then follow the directions on our Naked Calories Facebook page and you could win a free copy of Naked Calories. We will be giving away A LOT of books, so watch the video, count the “OZ’s” and enter your guess. Please share our video with as many people as you can, while it may be entertaining, we feel it is a serious topic people need to be made aware of. Thank you for doing your part!
Live Your Optimal Life,
Mira and Jayson Calton
See what potentially dangerous ingredients are lurking in Dr Oz\’s 99 Diet Foods Shopping list #1
Divas, Drinking, Drugs and Death… and yes, micronutrient Deficiency too!
Whitney Houston was an incredible talent. She will be missed by millions and forever be remembered for her huge, incredible voice. Today, we want to use her death to remind us of something else that is huge right now. We are talking about the abuse of prescription medications. According to reports, Whitney’s prescription of choice was a daily cocktail of at least three different types of anti-anxiety sedatives including the ever-popular Xanax. We say ever popular, because this single drug was prescribed nearly 50 million times in the past year alone.
Xanax works by numbing your brain when you start to feel anxious. The only problem is that the people become reliant on this numbing effect, and rather than dealing with the cause of the anxiety, patients pop the fast acting pills at an ever increasing pace. The process of weaning yourself off this particular drug is said to be so painful that hospitalization is often necessary. So, why are our physicians dolling out these drugs like candy, drugs so addictive, and with such horrible withdrawal effects that few can successfully quit?
Additionally we need to point out that by taking three different prescriptions from this class of medication, known as benzodiazepines, Whitney was depleting her body of her vital micronutrients threefold. Her levels of vitamin C, B12 and CoQ10, the micronutrients depleted by benzodiazepines, must have been dramatically reduced. We should note here that as we discussed in Naked Calories, reduced vitamin C levels are HORRIBLE for stress levels. It becomes like a dog chasing its tale – a patient starts to feel anxiety or stress so their doctor prescribes them a pill that depletes them of the very micronutrient(s) that they need to properly deal with that anxiety and stress. In fact, research shows that the demand for vitamin C increases by up to tenfold during periods of stress and that vitamin C can be more effective than medications for relieving stress. So now instead of feeling better the micronutrient depletion causes the patient to feel worse, which causes them to use more of the drug which depletes more micronutrient(s) and so on…
Let’s add to this the numerous micronutrients she was depleting herself of through her years of alcohol consumption/abuse as well. Remember, that alcohol decreases digestive enzyme secretion, which impairs the absorption of vitamin B1 (thiamin) and vitamin B9 (folic acid). What do thiamin and folic acid have in common? Well, besides both being B vitamins that help with stress, deficiency of these specific micronutrients can cause congestive heart failure. What other micronutrient do we know, that when deficient, causes congestive heart failure? Oh yes, we are talking about CoQ10 here, which if you remember Whitney Houston would have been extremely deficient in due to her trio of anti-anxiety drugs. Remember, in Naked Calories, we explain that studies have shown that congestive heart failure is primarily a CoQ10 deficiency disease.
As of yet we cannot say what took this Divas life, however, we know that she did not drown. Did her heart give out? We don’t know this either. What we can tell you is that we know her heart was in a good position to do so, looking at it from a micronutrient perspective, due to her everyday micronutrient depleting lifestyle habits of prescription medications and alcohol.
Regardless of whether the drugs depleted the micronutrients that caused Houston’s heart to fail, or if there was a drug overdose, one thing is certain…prescription drugs killed Whitney Houston – and she is not the only star that has fallen recently due to these habit-forming pills. Kurt Cobain, Chris Farley, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse, and Michael Jackson were all addicted to medications. According to the CDC, prescription drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., topping automobile accidents for the first time in 30 years! We think that Whitney’s death should be a wake up call to all of us, as to the over-prescribing and misuse of pharmaceuticals. Rather than treating the body with micronutrient-depleting drugs, physicians should prevent these conditions by creating a state of micronutrient sufficiency in their patients. We need to end this period of using prescription drugs as band-aids to mask the illness. Instead, we need to prevent the illness in the first place. With all the knowledge we have as to the body’s ability to use micronutrients to heal both body and mind, isn’t it time we start looking to them as safe and effective treatments for the health conditions and diseases that are plaguing our world?
Well, just how much safer are our vitamins, minerals and accessory micronutrients than prescription medications? According to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are over 100,000 Americans killed each year by adverse reactions to FDA-approved pharmaceuticals. There are 100,000 additional deaths to do overdoses of these same prescription drugs. Over a ten-year period this is over 2 million deaths! Now, let’s look at micronutrients. How many deaths are reported annually? According to the U.S. National Poison Data System the number of people killed in 2009 across America by vitamins, minerals, amino acids or herbal supplements was zero.
We hope that these fallen stars can help to illuminate the bigger message. We are a nation that is killing ourselves through the misuse of medications. Medications that kill us through overdose, adverse reactions and yes, by depleting us of our essential micronutrients that we need to live long, healthy lives. Your health is in your hands. Take time today to evaluate your personal intake of prescription and over the counter medications. Consider how you can improve your health through micronutrient sufficiency and start working with your physician to take steps towards the elimination of your pharmaceutical crutches. If your doctor laughs when you tell him/her of your goal, find a new doctor – your health is not a joke. Its time to transform America from a sick, overweight over medicated nation to one were optimal health is a reality!
Vitamins Can Be SEXY!
We want to talk about something serious in this blog, something we think is extremely important — SEX! With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we don’t want there to be any excuses in the bedroom. We don’t want to hear that you are too tired, have a headache or that you aren’t in the mood. Regardless of your age or sex, it is time for you to get a little bit frisky. So, if your libido is just so-so it is time to boost your MOJO with micronutrients!
That’s right! We are going to make vitamins SEXY! While some people look to aphrodisiacs such as oysters or Spanish fly to intensify their sexual desire, we want to assure you that becoming sufficient in your essential vitamins will be all you need to bring some spice into the bedroom. Some vitamins provide building blocks for making the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, and without the proper amounts of these vitamins, it can be difficult to maintain good sexual health. Others help to boost energy, and physical enjoyment. Here are five great vitamins to heat up this Valentine’s Day.
Vitamin D
You probably already know that there is a widespread vitamin D deficiency among Americans, mostly due to the fact that we are spending more time indoors and less time soaking up the sun. In Naked Calories we state that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of the general population in the United States is vitamin D deficient, regardless of age. About 70 percent of elderly Americans and 90 percent of Americans of color are vitamin D deficient. However, you may not know that a vitamin D deficiency can devastate a women’s sex drive because it can bring on low estrogen levels, as well as bone diseases and cardiovascular difficulties. Low vitamin D can also make you moody and depressed – two attributes rarely associated with romance. And men, low vitamin D levels mean low testosterone and that equals a low libido. So boost both of your vitamin D levels this year and make cupid work overtime!
Vitamin A
Could vitamin A be a natural Viagra? Listen up guys…if you are having any troubles in the bedroom you may want to check your vitamin A levels as vitamin A deficiency can result in lower production of the essential sex hormone testosterone and is the most common deficiency in impotent men. With more than 50% of Americans deficient in Vitamin A, this looks like a good place to start if your looking to put a little steam back in the bedroom. A sign of this deficiency may be some not so sexy dry skin.
Vitamin E
According to the USDA, only 13 percent of the U.S. is sufficient in vitamin E. That’s too bad, because vitamin E has been called the “sex vitamin” due to its ability to aid in the feelings of desire, attraction and enhanced mood. It doesn’t hurt that it is also considered an anti-aging secret as well. What can be better than looking young and feeling like a teenager in love again? Some find vitamin E can also be used topically as a sexual lubricant, and it may increase sensation. Just open a vitamin E liquid capsule, use topically, and boost the enjoyment of this special night.
Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
Do you want to make the passion last all nightlong? Then you will want to make sure you are getting enough vitamin B1 in your diet. B1 is important to maintain energy and sex drive, as well as for metabolism and high energy. Those with deficient B vitamins may find themselves with low desire and may feel tired or sluggish…a deficiency can also make you feel constipated, which is never very sexy.
Vitamin B3 (niacin)
Vitamin B3 increases blood flow to the extremities, and yes, that also includes the brain! This vitamin is crucial in the process of achieving orgasm during sexual encounters. You can turn on your ability to get off by eliminating a niacin deficiency that could be putting a real damper on your sex life.
If you have not checked out our media page lately, we have put together a couple of our latest television spots for your enjoyment.
The Daily Buzz – Bodychecklist with Rachel K
Fox and Friends with Gretchen Carlson.
Good Day Tampa Bay with Kristin Wright
Daytime with Lindsay MacDonald and Cyndi Edwards
ABC 7 with Hayley Wielgus
Register for the 2011 AAIM National Conference before 2/28/2011!
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