Antioxidants

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Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:13:30 +0000
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  • Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?

    Maybe there's a possibility if taken too much in a short period of time.

    How much is too much? Experts say that 250mg of caffeine in a day may give symptoms of overdose - irregular heart beat, dizziness, restlessness, anxiety, ringing in the ear, difficulty breathing, etc. That would be more than 3 cups of coffee or more than 8 cups of tea, depending on the type.

    Here's a case of a motorcycle rider who drank 640 mg. of caffeine in a span of just 5 hours. He consumed this amount contained contained in 8 cans of Red Bull to give him the edge on the competition. Red Bull warns against taking more than 2 cans per day but Matthew Penbross did not heed the warning.

    After the motorcycle competition on Aug. 5, 2007, his heart stopped and luckily the ambulance officers were able to revive him with defibrillation.

    We cannot be certain of course that caffeine is the cause as Red Bull contains other ingredients. But 640 mg. of caffeine combined with energy enhancers only in a span of 5 hours may be too much.

    This event may give us a lesson to take everything in moderation, including caffeine. Choose decaffeinated tea or coffee to get more antioxidant power and lessen the risk of caffeine overdose.


    Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:35:00 +0000

  • Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award

    Markeff has presented me with another award!

    I am truly honored to be presented with this award from a sincere blogger who is interested in a wide range of topics as you can see from his stumbles.

    I myself will present this award to deserving bloggers at a later time is this will take some time to prepare.

    My congratulations to other bloggers who also have been presented with this award from Markeff.



    Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:57:00 +0000

  • How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?

    As long as caffeine is in your blood, it's effects will also manifest.

    The time it takes for the body to eliminate one half of a caffeine dose is normally between 3 to 12 hours. It is called the half-life of caffeine. Several factors can shorten or lengthen the half life of caffeine. Smoking, medications and diseases are some factors. Pregnant women have higher caffeine half-life, 18 to 20 hours. About 99% of the elimination process takes place in the liver.

    If you regularly drink a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and another in the evening, you can expect to have caffeine in your blood everyday. The effect of caffeine in your body is active 24/7.

    We know that coffee and tea are rich in antioxidants and having these in our body gives us better protection against disease. The irony is that coffee and tea also contain caffeine which may not be good if you take more than 250 mg (approximately 10 cups of green tea or 3 cups of coffee). Nausea, dizziness, headaches and irregular heart beats are some symptoms of taking too much caffeine.

    Decaffeinated coffee or tea may be helpful although they are not totally caffeine free. At least only a little caffeine is left and you can drink more without having the symptoms of caffeine overdose and getting more benefits from antioxidants that these beverages contain. See the benefits you get from this decaffeinated herbal green tea .

    An alternative to drinking decaffeinated tea is decaffeinating it yourself. See my earlier post: Decaffeinated Tea.

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    Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:15:00 +0000

  • Decaffeinated Tea

    Decaffeinated teas are commercially available. However, the process involves chemicals which may leave traces after the processing.

    How are coffee, tea and colas decaffeinated?

    The process of decaffeinating tea using chemicals not only removes the caffeine content but also some of the health promoting nutrients and polyphenols found in the tea leaves.

    There is an alternate way of making a decaffeinated tea right in your home. How about that? A caffeine free tea which you prepare yourself. The process uses no chemicals and can remove up to 80% of the caffeine from the tea leaves. How much caffeine will be left will depend on the source (black tea, oolong tea, green tea).

    Caffeine is very water soluble compared to the antioxidants (polyphenols) in tea. It means that caffeine easily combines with water when it makes contact with it. The higher the water temperature, the faster the caffeine combines with it. Here's what you'll do to make your tea almost caffeine free, approximately 80% caffeine free.

    • Boil some water
    • Place your tea leaves in a separate container
    • Pour some boiling water in the container where you placed your tea leaves.
    • Allow to steep for 30-45 seconds.
    • Discard that water which now contains a lot of caffeine from the tea leaves.
    • Boil the water again then pour it in the container and allow to steep for 2-5 minutes
    • You can now drink and enjoy your home made decaffeinated tea.

    You can drink more cups in a day without worrying of the side effects that caffeine may bring to your health.

    A bugging question has come to my mine but I can't seem to find the answer.

    "How much polyphenol content is removed from the first steeping?"

    I hope someone can contribute an answer for this.

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    Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:31:00 +0000

  • Caffeine and Tea

    I'm including caffeine in my posts because is one of the components of tea. This is the start of several posts regarding caffeine.

    How much caffeine does tea contain?

    Approximate figures from the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services are as follows:

    • Black Tea 25 -110 mg
    • Oolong Tea 12 - 55 mg
    • Green Tea 8 - 36 mg

    The longer the tea is brewed, the higher the caffeine content in a cup will be.

    Where else can caffeine be found?

    • Coffee - A richer source of caffeine than tea.
    • Soft drinks - Usually the colas. A 12oz cola has more caffeine content than green tea
    • Cocoa and chocolates
    • Pharmaceutical drugs - An example is Midol

    Is caffeine beneficial for your body?

    At low doses - less than 200mg - may be beneficial. It can improve alertness because it stimulates the nervous system - this could help students when 'cramming' for an exam-:)

    At higher doses, the beneficial effects diminishes and the harmful effects sets in.

    My personal experience with caffeine

    I started drinking coffee when I was a teenager. From time to time, I experience my heart palpitating but it lasts for only a few seconds, it's not frequent though. I didn't know what caused it and I just accepted it as a natural behavior of my heart.

    Later on I noticed that the more coffee I drank, the more frequent those palpitations manifested.

    Another experience I had which I think I had a caffeine overdose was the time when my flight was delayed. The plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM. With nothing to do at the airport, I drank around 8 cups of coffee in a span of 2 hours. It made me wide awake and felt refreshed. A few hours after I arrived home, I experienced the feeling of over fatigue that led me to sleep for 4 straight hours. What a waste of day time it was.

    Caffeine and Tea

    Tea contains many beneficial ingredients for good health. Antioxidants are one of them. The more tea we drink, the more antioxidants we ingest to our body which could equate to better health. But the caffeine in our blood also increases as we drink more tea.

    Well I have good news for you. There is a way to cut the caffeine content of tea by up to about 80%. I'll show it to you in my next post. In the mean time why not check out this caffeine free herbal green tea, it's great for the health.

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    Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:19:00 +0000

  • Herbal Green Tea

    We all know that green tea is beneficial to our health. One of its benefit is to increase the enzymes which belong to the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family (our internal antioxidants). These enzymes are responsible for modifying cancer causing molecules and render them inactive.

    To get the full benefit of green tea, you must drink more than 3 cups daily and that would mean more caffeine intake. Some experts even recommend 8 to 10 cups.

    Caffeine and the polyphenols in tea has some contrasting effects. One of which is that the polyphenols in tea may prevent heart disease but caffeine may increase the risk of it. I'll make a post on this later.

    There are some products which extract the polyphenols in green tea and eliminates the caffeine content like this herbal green tea. Check it out and read more benefits from this caffeine free green tea.

    I hope this would be a good tip for you.

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    Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:08:00 +0000

  • Body Mass Index (BMI)

    Do you think you're overweight?

    Find out using this body mass calculator.

    To calculate your body mass index(BMI), which is a measure of your body fat, just enter your height and weight in the fields provided.

    If the result indicates that you are overweight, maybe you should consider changing your eating habits and preferences. Try drinking tea - you can lose weight with it and at the same time gain beneficial doses of antioxidants.

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    Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:55:00 +0000

  • Life Expectancy in New York is Higher Than in Other States

    A recent study has shown that the life expectancy of New Yorkers are higher than in other states.

    Some conclusions derived from the statistical data focused on medical innovation/technology and medicare programs may be the big contributors for this fact.

    On another angle - Snapple, a producer in premium beverage has hinted on its products of black tea, green tea, decaffeinated tea and iced tea beverages may also contribute to the fact of higher longevity because it originated in New York. Beverages are widely available - restaurants, snack bars or any other eating places - which makes it possible that a large majority does indeed have plenty of doses of this nutritional beverages.

    Antioxidants has been associated with anti-aging and tea has plenty of these substances.

    Is it safe to assume that tea may be a factor to these life expectancy statistics?

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    Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:04:00 +0000

  • Functional Foods

    An anonymous commentator on my post 'ORAC' shared this very good resource for taking antioxidants and nutrients: This could benefit everybody so I decided to make a separate post to make it more visible.

    Aristo Wellness Bars and Drinks

    Their products are 'functional foods' with wellness for the consumers in mind. Their delicious wellness bars are all packed with omega 3, plant sterols and antioxidants.

    These products can be an alternative to fruits, vegetables or pills to get those needed antioxidants and nutrients in your body.

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    Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:20:00 +0000

  • ORAC

    ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It is a measure of the antioxidant capacity of food or other organic substances.

    How the measurement is done

    A comparison is made between two mixtures.

    The first mixture is a substance (fluorescein) combined with a free radical (peroxyl radical). The oxidation of the fluorescein is checked every minute for several minutes after the two are combined. From this, the rate of oxidation is known.

    The second mixture is the same as the first but with the addition of an antioxidant substance to be measured. The oxidation of the fluorescein is then checked at the same frequency as the first mixture.

    Different results from different antioxidants are observed. The introduction of an antioxidant substance significantly slows the oxidation of the fluorescein.

    A list of top scoring ORAC units of fruits and vegetables can be found here.

    How much daily ORAC units do we need?

    Experts suggest that we ingest at least 5,000 ORAC units in a day to have a significant effect on our body's antioxidant levels. This amount could raise your antioxidant levels by 10% to 25%. To achieve this level, you need to eat 8 to 10 servings of different fruits and vegetables.

    Can antioxidant pills achieve the same results?

    Fruits and vegetables does not only contain antioxidants but a mix of many different nutrients. Go for fruits and vegetables if you can. Only take antioxidant pills if your daily schedule prohibits you from eating that much fruits and vegetables.




    Wed, 22 Aug 2007 16:41:00 +0000

  • Children Should Be Taught Not To Eat Junk Foods.

    Those colorful and attractive packaging of junk foods combined with its flavorful content makes it hard for children to resist the urge to eat junk foods. It really could be very addictive.

    Many times have I seen parents ask their children what they want to eat. The children automatically scans the junk foods area of the store and point their favorites. Parents who are concerned with their kids' nutrition says discouraging remarks and suggests other foods that are best for them. The children frown of course. Others insist and others obey but with disgust in their hearts.

    Junks foods are a regular snack for most children and concerned parents find it hard to encourage them to eat nutritious substitutes for their hunger. Often times, the intake of these snack foods are large enough that their stomach are still full when the regular meal comes.

    Some parents though are happy to treat their children with these junk foods not knowing that the effects for the poor nutrition will be evident only in later years. One effect for improper nutrition which has been observed is macular degeneration which could possibly lead to blindness. We don't want our children to lose their eyesight when they get older, do we?

    Another ill effect is getting overweight. This has been observed in India where overweight children are growing at an alarming rate. The government of India has responded to this by giving guidelines to both public and private schools for the proper nutrition of children. They are also extending the guidelines to the parents of the schoolchildren as well. The schools were also requested to ban junk foods in their cafeteria..

    If children can be taught on proper nutrition, the longer their productive life can be. It's up to the parents and the schools to find ways of getting the idea into the minds of the children.

    How about you? Do you have any ideas or ways that can make the children turn away from junk foods? If you have, you can share them and post them here as comments.


    Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:21:00 +0000

  • Aging - Antioxidants and Cognitive Brain Function

    "Pedro can do it better because he's younger"

    As I'm getting older, in my late 40's now, I often hear that statement. My age group seem to accept the fact that the younger ones are better in their cognitive abilities. Solving puzzles, learning musical instruments or whatever challenges there are that involves brain function.

    Brain cells communicate with each other

    Our billions of brain cells communicate with each other through chemical neurotransmitters. If these neurotransmitters and the chemical transporters where the signals are carried become damaged, loss of mental agility may occur. The more we age, the more of these cells become damaged. This is one reason for the loss of cognitive skills.

    Loss of brain cells which also occurs normally may also be a reason for degrading cognitive skills but scientists have put more weight in loss of communication between brain cells.

    Nutrition connection

    Scientists believe that oxidative stress plays a major role in damages done to brain cell communication. The food we eat, especially those rich in antioxidants, can help protect our brain cells from oxidative damage.

    The antioxidant capacity of food is measured in ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

    With lesser damage, our cognitive cells may be in top shape even as we grow older. That equates to a more productive life.

    Research

    So far, researches have been done in mice. Eight weeks of a mice's lifespan is equivalent to ten years in humans making the results to be observed and examined in a shorter period of time.

    Mice fed with antioxidant rich foods far exceeded the mice fed with normal diet in terms of their cognitive abilities.

    Hopefully, the results of their studies will also apply to humans.

    What foods contain high in antioxidants?

    Fruits and vegetables of course. The general guide is - the darker the fruit color, the more antioxidants it contain. Some of these are acai, blueberries, black currant, grapes, watermelon, etc.

    To slow down the degradation of our cognitive abilities, we need an antioxidant rich diet - that is if the mice study can be applied to humans.

    Maintaining our cognitive abilities could help us meet life's challenges more efficiently.


    Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:51:00 +0000

  • Vitamins C, E, and A Has No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?

    Confusing stories are spreading around basing from a 9 year study done on more than 8,000 people taking the antioxidants vitamin c, vitamin e and beta carotene. These stories states that these antioxidant vitamins does not prevent cardiovascular disease.

    I believe that antioxidants promotes health. Preventing cardiovascular disease is just one of the many diseases which antioxidants can help prevent. It saddens me to know that stories discrediting antioxidants over pharmaceuticals are making the headlines.

    Pharmaceutical drugs are made from synthetic materials and as such, it is not a 'natural' substance inside our body. I'm not saying that it's no good - many diseases have been treated with these drugs.

    Antioxidants and vitamins like vitamin c, vitamin e and beta carotene - which the study focused on - can be found in fruits and vegetables meaning they are natural substances. Before the invention of drugs, people relied on fruits and vegetables for their nutrition and health needs. They utilized the natural defenses of herbs like black tea, green tea, oolong tea and herbal green tea which contain vitamin c and bioflavonoids

    So why the stories on drugs over natural nutrients and antioxidants? Why confuse the public? Why the intellectual dishonesty?

    Click the link below and find out.. The article clears the confusion. A must read

    Unraveling the lies about the antioxidant study on vitamins E and C

    A side note: Pharmaceutical drugs treats diseases which have already began. Antioxidants and vitamins however, prevents diseases from happening and even accelerating the recuperation process once the disease has began.


    Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:14:00 +0000

  • Coffee with more Antioxidants
    There are approximately 108 million coffee drinkers in America, making it the no. source of antioxidants.

    Since a lot of people are drinking coffee, why not include antioxidants from other sources like fruits and 'inject' it in the coffee beans? Many can surely benefit from this as the statistics for coffee drinkers have shown.

    Antioxidants mainly prevents the onset of many diseases It stops free radical chain reactions which could harm our cells. Cardiovascular diseases, cancer and arthritis are some examples of what antioxidants can prevent.

    Different antioxidants can be found from different sources. Coffee contains chlorogenic acid or caffeic acid and tea contains catechins. Other fruits contain other forms of antioxidants as well, mainly flavonoids.

    Combining the antioxidants in coffee with the antioxidants in tea, pomegranate, blueberry and grape seed could mean extra antioxidant power. That's what they did at The Healthy Bean.

    How's that for a healthful drink?
    Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:21:00 +0000

  • Coping with Stress for Bloggers
    Bloggers too are subject to psychological stress. Blogging could use a lot of time and requires concentration. Stress may come from the following:

    -Distraction from kids.
    -Household chores.
    -Obligation to your partner - you wouldn't want to keep her waiting would you...lol
    -Deadlines which bloggers impose upon themselves like posting daily.

    The most affected part in our body that is affected by psychological stress is our brain. Free radical generation in our brain occurs and without ample supply of antioxidants, the situation could result to oxidative damage.

    There are ways to relieve the stress and thereby reversing the harmful effects to your brain.

    If I'm feeling stressed out, I visit sites which can remove my stress like:
    http://markeff.blogspot.com/2007/08/cutest-images-ever.html

    How about you? How do you relieve yourself of stress? Would you like to share it so that other bloggers may know?
    Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:33:00 +0000

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