Finding Vegetarian Vitamins

December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Becoming a vegetarian can be a great choice to improve your health and get a better diet. Whether you like to eat your fruit and vegetables as they come or dry them out with food dehydrators, there are many options open to vegetarians as to the diet they choose. However, you may want to take additional vitamins to supplement your diet and it can sometimes be hard to find vitamins that are made without certain animal extracts and proteins. If you are looking for vitamins that are suitable for vegetarians, there are a few things you should do.

The first step is to make sure you are looking in the right place for the vitamins. You are unlikely to find supplements that are suitable for vegetarians in your local supermarket, but places like Whole Foods and other dedicated health stores should have some available. You should especially be on the lookout for stores that sell organic items, as these should have a range of vitamins suitable for vegetarians. Make sure you check the label of any vitamins you buy thoroughly. Most vitamins will contain gelatin, which can be made from animals.

You can also take chewable vitamins that are more likely to be suitable for vegetarians. These can be chewed around mealtimes and will give you the extra boost of dietary supplements that you are looking for. Vitaball is one firm that makes vitamins that come in the form of bubble gum. Not only are these vitamins great for your diet, but they are more fun than simply swallowing a caspule! This will ensure that kids will love them, making it easier to make sure your children get the extra vitamins they need.

If you are still unsure about which vitamins you can take, contact PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

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Sneak More Nutrition Into Your Diet

August 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Diets are extremely varied throughout the world but one thing that is becoming more common is the lack of variety within the diets of the first world nations. With many people turning to prepackaged foods as well as many other processed foods, white flour, sugar, sodium, and fat have become staples, eliminating or at least drastically cutting the amount of multi-colored vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains from their diets. What fruits, vegetables, and meats that are being eaten are genetically modified and hormonally injected. Modern food is not the same today as it was many years ago. Even a common apple is much larger, and more “perfect looking” than a predecessor from 40 years ago, but many people will tell you that the modern apple probably has half the flavor as well. As such, many vital nutrients are lacking from the modern diet.

With malnourishment being an issue, especially among people who are anything but undernourished, changes are appropriate. There are plenty of ways to increase the nutrients you intake. Drastic, major changes are not the only way to supplement your diet either. Baby steps are easy ways to incorporate change without feeling like you have turned your world upside down. You may find that you won’t only enjoy some of the changes, but you will feel infinitely better physically, emotionally, and mentally as well.

Vitamins are a great place to start. A daily multivitamin can fill in a lot of nutritional holes right away. It is easy to pop one pill in the morning with your breakfast and feel the boost right away. The more nutrients in your breakfast, the better your vitamin will be absorbed as the nutrients will “piggyback” their way into your system.

Juicing is another painless way to start packing more nutrients into your system. High quality juicers can be found online and in stores starting in the one hundred dollar range. Fresh juice is not only delicious, but you will feel the pep immediately. If you don’t want to buy a juicer, many grocery stores and juice counters have great options available too.

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Vitamins Are Not Just for Old People and Health Junkies

August 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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While many free standing vitamin stores are thriving, most people do not consume any kind of vitamin supplement. The association with them is that they are for those who are very fitness focused or those who eat nothing but extreme diets of unappealing health foods. Other people associate them with people who are aging and looking to add to their diets. Most mainstream people do not realize however, that vitamins and supplements could be just the thing to fix what is ailing them.
It has been long believed that calcium deficiencies are the sole cause of osteoporosis. Recent studies have confirmed that while calcium is a big role, taking calcium supplements and eating a calcium rich diet alone may not do much. Calcium absorption is key and while you may ingest huge amounts of calcium, vitamin D and magnesium are necessary for proper absorption. Taking a little bit of calcium with magnesium and vitamin D can mean the difference between healthy strong bones, and frailty. When you’re in your twenties or thirties, that may not matter much to you. But do you get stiff or sore muscles? Does your neck get tense after a hard day of work? Those same supplements act as natural muscle relaxants without needing drugs.
Vitamin D is also known to boost mood. If you are feeling down, try supplements first. Omega fatty acids are also known to improve mood immensely (as well as heart health). Energy could also relate to a lowered mood and a boost could perk up your mood.
If you rely on caffeine and sugar to keep you moving through your day, you set yourself up for crashes and crabbiness. Taking a multivitamin alone could give you a major boost. Any number of deficiencies in necessary vitamins and minerals could be the culprit. You will likely notice a huge increase in energy and well being. Other supplements that could help immensely with energy are a vitamin B complex and vitamin B-12. With the deficiencies in our modern diets, it’s a wonder that more people don’t use vitamins to plug up the nutritional holes.
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Brighten Your Mood, Boost Your Energy, Drop Some Pounds

August 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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There are several crazy diet fads out there, but there are also some tips that celebrities and every day people have come up with to help them get through their day. Healthy diets are important, but everyone can use extra help sometimes. Here are a few diet and exercise “cheats” that can give you an upper edge without going to extremes.

When do you feel most energetic? When does your energy drop? Do you take a coffee break at 3pm only to crash at 4pm? Perhaps you need to tweak your rhythm. Eat healthy, full meals that appeal to you. You need to be comfortably full and satiated, but not stuffed. You will move more throughout your day and your mood will be higher.

If you have a craving for sugar or are just munchy without being actually hungry, try chewing some gum if appropriate. If you have an office or private working space, bubble gum is even better. Choose a sugarless variety that is beneficial for your teeth. People who chew gum actually get higher test scores as it sharpens your mental faculties. The burst of sweetness, the fun and pep of blowing some bubbles, and the sharpness of mind will give you a pick up. If you are attending a setting where there is a lot of food being served and you don’t want to overeat, eat what you have decided to eat, and then discreetly pop a piece of chewing gum. Having the gum in your mouth will help you from inadvertently grazing and the taste sensation will help you feel like you aren’t being deprived. It will also freshen your breath, clean your teeth, improve your digestion, and burn more calories!

For your afternoon slump, pack some almonds and a banana. You will get a great energy burst from the banana’s B vitamins and natural sugars without a candy bar’s crash. If you can, take a brisk walk or do some jumping jacks. With oxygen in your system, you will be alert and alive. You could even take a quick dancing break to bring back your mojo!

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Eat Your Way Happy

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Eating a pan full of brownies will probably make you feel much worse after the fact, but if you have been feeling more down in the dumps and sluggish lately, changing up your diet could make a significant difference. There are many different vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and chemicals in foods that can play a big role in how good you feel and getting a different balance of those foods can change your life.

With the high protein, low carbohydrate fads of the last several years, many people’s moods took a huge dive with their decrease in carbs. While simple carbohydrates like foods made with enriched flour and sugar can give you a quick, jittery boost, they come with a faster crash soon afterwards, making you feel even worse than before you went scrounging for that pick me up. Eating more nutrient dense carbohydrates (like whole grain breads and pastas) in conjunction with lean proteins (especially those high in mood boosting tryptophan like turkey and dairy products), you can get a solid spike in not only mood, but energy that will carry you over for many hours.

Many people know that omega fatty acids are good for you and they may even know that they are good for your heart health, but most people do not know that omega 3 fatty acids high in DHA can make you feel significantly more happy. Countries with diets high in fish have reported overall levels of depression and sadness that are much lower than the rest of the world. Sardines, anchovies, and salmon are good for starters but there are also vegan sources as well, such as leafy, dark green vegetables, and flax seeds.

If you tend to feel a slump in the afternoon, try a banana. Bananas are an amazing super food loaded with mood and energy raising B vitamins as well as the aforementioned tryptophan. It is a complex carbohydrate so you will get that sugar boost but with fiber and vitamins that will keep your mood high. With bananas, you won’t suffer the same crash that your fickle candy bar delivers.

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