RAUL

Saturday, March 28, 2009

White Wine

Will drinking white wine help shrink your pant size?

By now, most of us have heard about the cardiovascular benefits of drinking red wine. But white wines—like Chardonnay—have always taken a backseat to their healthier counterparts. Until now, that is.

Actually, drinking a glass of Chardonnay isn’t going to do much for your overall health. But eating the seeds from the Chardonnay grape just might.

Let me explain…

Chardonnay grape seeds contain powerful polyphenols. These substances basically patrol your body, zapping any free radicals they find. Free radicals are harmful molecules that can cause disease, especially cancer, in the body. (In January 15, 2009’s Guide to Good Health, we discussed how grape seed extract can zap 76 percent of leukemia cells literally overnight. To read that article, simply visit this link: http://www.northstarnutritionals.com/article_list.php?docs_id=91.)

Naturally boost your metabolism

Turns out the polyphenols in Chardonnay grape seeds may also help the body regulate its metabolism, even prevent obesity.

In recent lab testing, scientists at the University of Montpellier wanted to see if grape seed extract could prevent weight gain in hamsters. Test subjects were divided into three groups:

1. Subjects fed a normal diet

2. Subjects fed a high-fat diet

3. Subjects fed a high-fat diet but supplemented with the grape seed extract

Not surprisingly, after 12 weeks the test subjects fed a normal diet maintained a healthy weight. Subjects on the high-fat diet gained abdominal fat. These hamsters also experienced spikes in blood sugar, triglycerides, insulin and insulin resistance.

And what about the grape seed group? Could they keep off the fat?

The grape seed group did keep off the fat! Despite receiving a high-fat diet, they did not increase their abdominal fat.

So, how did they eat more fat without gaining, you ask?

It appears that Chardonnay grape seeds somehow “turned off” the body’s “switch” to retain fat. In fact, the high-fat/grape seed hamsters had 61 percent more adiponectin in their blood than their high-fat alone counterparts. Adiponectin is inversely related to body fat. The more adiponectin your body produces, the less fat you collect.

Plus, the news just kept getting better for the grape seed group. They experienced improvements in several key markers of good health.

Insulinemia (abnormally high insulin in the blood) decreased by 16.5 percent in the high-fat/grape seed group. Leptinemia (a marker for diabetes) decreased by 45 percent. The researchers also noted lowered glycemia and insulin resistance values among the high-fat/grape seed group.

Lastly, the high-fat/grape seed group experienced significant drops in two measures of oxidative stress. (Oxidative stress contributes directly to the formation of free radicals in the body.)

But as an antioxidant, the grape seed extract seems to counteract oxidative stress in the test subjects. Production of NAD(P)H dropped by 30 percent and superoxide anion dropped by a whopping 74 percent.

This is good news, as unchecked oxidative stress has been linked to everything from premature aging to cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.

Stay the course

Now—I’m not saying that this study gives you carte blanche to eat a high fat-diet. From my point of view, it’s just another tool to put into your toolbox if you’re concerned about maintaining a healthy weight.

And remember—so far it’s only been shown to work on hamsters. Scientists have a long way to go before proving this stuff works on you and me. But if you want to give it a try (under the care of a naturopath, of course), I would recommend taking 200 mg per day. It’s pretty easy (and cheap) to find.

If you want to shrink your pant size, give some grape seed extract a try. Not only is it a great antioxidant, it just may help you lose a pound or two.

Until next time,

Allan Spreen, M.D.

NorthStar Nutritionals

Tobacco

Make Me an Addict

If you think cigarettes are simply tobacco leaves rolled in paper, you’re about 597 ingredients off. Some ingredients are added for flavor, but research shows that the key purpose of using additives is to improve tobacco’s potency. And that means more people who try smoking become addicted. And the additives they are using are shocking.

I remember hearing something about “the list” of tobacco additives back in the 1990s, when tobacco companies first started being taken to task. But seeing the list again now that I’m a former smoker is quite a shock. When burnt, a cigarette spews more than 4,000 chemicals, including over 40 known carcinogenic compounds and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. To think I used to put these toxins in by body, one pack at a time.

Chemical Soup

Once upon a time, cigarettes really were just tobacco and paper. But, allowing the full “flavor” of the tar to come through resulted in a bitter taste. The solution was to add filters and flavorings to improve the taste. But the cigarette manufacturers didn’t stop there. They found that a chemical similar to rocket fuel helps keep the tip of the cigarette burning at an extremely hot temperature, which effectively vaporizes the nicotine. Adding ammonia to cigarettes allows this nicotine vapor to be absorbed through the lungs more quickly. This, in turn, means your brain can get a higher dose of nicotine with each inhalation. Now that’s efficiency.

Here’s a list of the most toxic ingredients used to make cigarettes tastier, more stimulating, and more addictive:

Ammonia: Household cleaner.

Arsenic: Used in rat poisons.

Benzene: Used in making dyes, synthetic rubber.

Butane: Gas; used in lighter fluid.

Carbon monoxide: Poisonous gas.

Cadmium: Used in batteries.

Cyanide: Lethal poison.

DDT: A banned insecticide.

Ethyl Furoate: Causes liver damage in animals.

Lead: Poisonous in high doses.

Formaldehyde: Used to preserve dead specimens.

Methoprene: Insecticide.

Maltitol: Sweetener for diabetics.

Napthalene: Ingredient in mothballs.

Methyl isocyanate: Its accidental release killed 2,000 people in Bhopal in 1984.

Polonium: Cancer-causing radioactive element.

For the whole list of 599 additives used in cigarettes, check out the BBC website, “What’s in a Cigarette.”

Quitting Time

Most smokers have a defense built up, making it easy to ignore the facts. Some smokers want to quit – they really do – but they’re afraid they won’t be able to, or they can’t imagine life without cigarettes. Quitting is hard, maybe the hardest thing you’ll ever do.

Why is it so hard to quit? Nicotine. Nicotine is an organic compound found in the leaves of several species of plants, predominantly tobacco. Nicotine by itself isn’t carcinogenic. However, it does interfere with the body’s ability to destroy potentially cancerous cells. Nicotine also activates acetylcholine receptors, which leads to an increased flow of adrenaline (epinephrine), which increases the heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and glucose levels in the blood.

When smokers try to cut back or quit smoking, they experience nicotine withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms appear within a few hours and peak 24 to 48 hours after quitting. Withdrawal symptoms include tobacco craving, a desire for sweets, increased coughing, and impaired performance on tasks that require concentration. Most symptoms last an average of one month, but hunger (due to the lack of increased blood glucose) and food cravings can last for six months or more. But, while these symptoms may last for months after you quit, the benefits of quitting can begin in as little as 20 minutes after your last cigarette.

• In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.

• At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.

• At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.

• At 48 hours, nerve endings start to re-grow, and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.

• Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier, and you don’t cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.

• In 1 to 9 months, coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia – tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs – regain normal function.

• In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.

• Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.

• In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decrease. Your risk of developing an ulcer also decreases.

• In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.

One Last Thing …

If you’re a smoker, and you’ve decided to quit, good for you! You’re doing yourself and everyone you know a huge favor. Of course, there are numerous products on the market that can help you quit. But I’d like to mention some unconventional ways that just might work for you.

The most effective is acupuncture. Those tiny needles carry potent help if you’re trying to quit. Studies show that acupuncture boosts feel-good neurochemicals like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. This not only dampens the desire to smoke, it also brings about a sense of calm. But, be aware that you need to undergo repeated acupuncture sessions for this to truly help you quit for good.

If needles aren’t for you, St. John’s wort can also help you quit. This herbal antidepressant was recently found to lessen cravings in smokers. St. John’s wort works by increasing levels of dopamine in the brain. Low levels of this neurotransmitter may increase cravings and even depression. According to one clinical trial by researchers at the University of London, taking 300 mg. of St. John’s wort once or twice daily one week before and for three months after a target quit date was effective for helping smokers quit.

Bonnie Jenkins

Editor, Advanced Natural Medicine Bulletin

Friday, March 6, 2009

SPY WEDNESDAY; Prayerful Pacquiao

By: Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD

2008, Manila Bulletin (Holy Wednesday)

Once a painter wanted to draw a picture of innocence. He found Rupert, a little child and painted him kneeling beside his mother at prayer. The painter valued the painting of young Rupert above all else. He hung it prominently in his study, labeling it “Innocence.”

Years later when the artist was old, he had often thought of painting a counterpart – the picture of guilt.

One day he purposely visited a neighboring prison. On the damp floor of the cell lay a man shackled with iron. His body was horribly wasted, his eyes hollow, years of a life of vices reflected on his face. The man was perfect subject for his painting on guilt. When he was through, he asked the condemned man his name.

His answer: “Rupert!”

The painter was aghast. It was the same person who inspired him to be his model for innocence many years ago.

The fate of Rupert may be compared to one of Jesus, trusted apostles, Judas Iscariot. No doubt Jesus chose him in the beginning for his good qualities. It’s been recorded that he was more educated and gifted than his peers who were simple, rugged fishermen, to which group he was assigned as treasurer.

But like Rupert, he degenerated into a vicious thief and traitor.

Holy Wednesday commemorates the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, thus the traditional name, “Spy Wednesday.”

The purpose of highlighting that tragic incident is to provoke us into examining our behavior as Christians. For isn’t it a fact, at times, we’re not much different from Judas?

Don’t we betray Christ in the way we live?

He is a “Judas”:

One who is a recipient of a special favor from a benefactor, but slanders and malign him or her.

For Filipinos, walang utang na loob (ingratitude), like ungrateful children towards their parents, is “unforgivable”.

A government official who accepts bribe money to approve a dubious deal, or a judge who favors a litigant in exchange for a “cash-unduan” is a modern day Judas.

This is a very timely occasion to confront the truth about ourselves.

-ooo000ooo-

PRAYER POWER. Despite his human frailties, Manny Pacquiao, never forgets to pray unabashedly in all his fights. Notice how he came out as usual wearing the rosary in his March 16 bout wherein he wrested the world super featherweight crown.

Well, his opponent was wearing it too, which must have been hard for Someone up there whom to favor. But with so many Pinoys here and abroad praying, Marquez must have been “out-prayed.” Obviously, there were other factors in the victory, like training, stamina and strategy. Notice, too, how Manny knelt down before the start of the match and mumbled a prayer; ten made the sign of the cross. After winning the bloody match, he knelt down again at his corner and said a prayer of thanks. The success of Manny could also be attributed to the agonizing prayer of his mother Dionicia, who did not watch the bout but kept on praying in front of their family altar. As the old saying goes, “God help those who help themselves.”

Happiness

Happiness comes and goes.

Happiness gives us a lot of relief from tension.

Happiness teaches us what the life means.

Happiness makes us forget all our sorrows.

Happiness gives us a new lesson of surviving in our life.

Had there been no happiness,

Life would have been like a hell.

Happiness makes you feel happy at every time.

Joke, laughter, playing entertainment is all about happiness.

Happiness never ends; it ends when you feel sad around you.

Happiness becomes your friend when you are very happy

True Happiness

The smile across her face is reflected in her eyes

This happiness she has, it’s not a lie

If she could, she would scream and jump for joy

But this happiness isn’t coming from a toy

Her cheeks hurt for smiling so long

I think she might start to sing a song

A song about true happiness

A feeling that she found in her heart

This happiness, she wants everyone to be apart of

This happiness is never to be taken away

She wants it so badly to stay

For all her life she’s been sad and lonely

But she finally found a cure

So please don’t ruin it for her

“If happiness is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence” …Plato

“O happiness! Our being’s end and aim!

Good, pleasure, ease, content! whate’er thy name;

The something still which prompts the eternal sigh,

For which we bear to live, or dare to die.” …Alexander Pope

Happiness can be said in a song!

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one,

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will live as one…John Lennon..”Imagine”

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found

Was blind, but now I see.. John Newton…”Amazing Grace”

I’ve looked at life from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow

It’s life’s illusions I recall

I really don’t know life at all…Joni Mitchell…”Both Sides Now”

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of…Burt Bacharach…”What the World needs now is Love”

I’ve lived a life that’s full

I traveled each and every highway

But more, much more that this

I did it my way…Paul Anka…”My Way”

When you’re weary, feeling small

When tears are in your eyes,

I will dry them all

I’m on your side

When times get rough

And friends just can’t be found

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down…Paul Simon…”Bridge over Troubled Water”

You may be right

I may be crazy

But it may be a lunatic you’re looking for…Billy Joel…”You May Be Right”

And it seems to me you lived your life

Like a candle in the wind

Never fading with the sunset

When the rain set in

And your footsteps will always fall here

Along England’s greenest hills

Your candle’s burned out long before

Your legend ever…Elton John and Bernie Taupin…”Candle in the Wind 1997,” for Princess Daina’s funeral.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Various

Babies don’t speak. Neither do the dearly departed. But many of those laboring to make sense of life in between those two mileposts have a lot of wisdom-and a little foolishness, too-to share about the path through life.

Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes. (Bill Cosby)

The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy. (Alfred Lord Whitehead)

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Your children need your presence more than your presents. (Jesse Jackson)

In case you’re worried about what’s going to become of the younger generation, it’s going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation. (Roger Allen)

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders. (Abigail Van Buren)

I was asked why I did not give a rod with which to fish, in the hands of the poor, rather than give the fish itself as this makes them remain poor. So I told them: The people whom we pick up are not able to stand with a rod. So today, I will give them fish and when they are able to stand, then I shall send them to you and you can give them the rod. That is your job. Let me do my homework today. (Mother Theresa)

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. (Satchel Paige)

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. (Lucille Bell)

Men do no quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing. (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. (Abraham Lincoln)

My doctor recently told me that jogging could add years to my life. I think he was right. I feel ten years older already. Milton Berle)

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Next you forget to pull your zipper up and finally, you forget to pull it down. George Burns)

I’ll see a beautiful girl walking up to me and I’ll think, Oh, my God, I can’t believe my good luck. But then she’ll say, “Where’s your son?” or “My mother loves you.” (James Caan)

You know you’re getting old when all the names in your black book have M.D. after them. (Arnold Palmer)

It’s no longer a question of staying healthy. It’s a question of finding a sickness you like. Jackie Mason)

You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea. (Pearl S. Buck)

I look better, feel better, make love better and I’ll tell you, something else…I never lied better. (George Burns)

Gray hair is God’s graffiti. (Bill Cosby)

You know you’re getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It’s like, “See if you can blow this out.” (Jerry Seinfeld)

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety seven now, and we don’t know where the hell sghe is. (Ellen DeGeneres)

If you live long enough, the venerability factor creeps in; first, you get accused of things you never did, and later, credited for virtues you never had. (I.F. Stone)

A man who correctly guesses a woman’s age may be smart, but he’s not very bright. (Lucille Ball)

At my age flowers scare me. (George Burns)

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. (Vernon Sanders Law)

There are really three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, “What happened?” (Ann Landers)

It’s easier to go down the hill than up it but the view is much better at the top. (Henry Ward Beecher)

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself. (Charlie Chaplin)

The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the power of simplicity. We have a tendency, it seems, to over complicate our lives and forget what’s important and what’s not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget that we have the power to control our lives regardless of what’s going on outside. (Robert Stuberg)

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. (Robert Frost)

We are almost alive when we’re in love. (John Updike)

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. (Peter Ustinov)

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. (Henry Drummond)

ERIC CLAPTON

Life of a Guitar God, His Demons and All by: Alan Light

It it one of the most mythic romantic entanglements in rock ‘n’ roll history. At some point in the late 1960’s, Eric Clapton fell in love with Pattie Boyd, wife of his close friend George Harrison. Mr. Clapton’s 1970 masterpiece, “Layla and other Assorted Love Songs” (recorded with his band at the time, Derek and the Dominos), was a offering and a plea to her; they eventually married in 1979 and divorced in 1988.

The saga sits at the center of “Clapton: the Autobiography,” which was published in October 2007. Mr. Clapton memoir follows the recent release of Ms. Boyd’s side of the story in “Wonderful Tonight.” Mr. Clapton said that he had not read her book and that he had seen excerpts in newspapers and noted discrepancies in the two accounts of their relationship.

On the phone from his home outside London, where he lives with his wife, Melia McEnery, and their three daughters, he singled out as far-fetched Ms. Boyd’s description of a night in which he and Mr. Harrison had a “guitar duel” for her hand. “We each have our different versions of our years together,” he said.

His description of his relationship with Ms. Boyd, though, offers few excuses for his emotional swings, substance abuse and extramarital affairs (including one that produced his oldest daughter) that defined much of their decade together. “Someone recently read the book and told me that I was really hard on myself,” Mr. Clapton said. “I think that’s a misunderstanding of it. I just tried to take responsibility for all the different phases of my life.”

“Clapton” chronicles the many musical configurations of Mr. Clapton’s career. He has played in several monumental bands (the Yardbirds, Cream); accompanied the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf; and top the charts and filled arenas as a solo performer.

With his sturdy blues foundation, liquid tone and architecturally structured solos, Mr. Clapton, 62, is one of the rock’s most influential and revered guitarists. Early in his career, the phrase “Clapton is God” was a common sight on the walls of London.

But Mr. Clapton’s life has also been defines by a series of tragedies and oddities. He was raised by his grandparents, under the illusion that they were his parents; he never met his father and, until the age of 9, he believed that his mother was actually his older sister. He suffered through a lengthy, epic battle with alcoholism and drug addition. In 1001, Mr. Clapton’s 4-year –old son, Conor, died after falling out of a hotel room window.

“I wanted to wait until I had an entire life to write about,” he said. “And though I don’t think I’m quite done yet, my memory was starting to play tricks on e. I realized that if I don’t do it now, I might have to rely on other people’s memories, and it might start to lose some of the accuracy.”

The biggest curiosity for readers surrounds his account of his marriage to Ms. Boyd. Her book incited a bit of tabloid frenzy, particularly a scene of the two guitarists battling for her affection with their instruments.

Mr Clapton remembers the evening in question. “I went over just to hang out, he got two guitars, and we played,” he said. “But we were always doing that, so how do you make en everyday thing into a commodity?’

Mr. Clapton’s friendship with Mr. Harrison survived the change in Ms. Boyd’s allegiance; the former Beatle once said, “I’d rather she with him than some dope.” Mr. Clapton was the musical director for the “Concert for George” tribute show after Mr. Harrison’s death from cancer in 2001.

Mr. Clapton tells of joining and quiting groups, no matter how successful, frequently and with little warning. But he said he finds his stability in the blues. “There’s matter-of-factness, a sense of acceptance about the blues,” he said. “Acceptance is a great state of being. It steps aside of hysteria, drama, extreme emotions.” And it is precisely this unblinking sensibility that defines the author’s voice in “Clapton.”

“To write this book, I have to be comfortable with my day-to-day existence,” Mr. Clapton said. “I like that I can look back and feel comfortable with my life.”

11 Featured Nutrients: Why You Need Them

Beta Carotene

What it does:

In the body, beta carotene is converted to vitamin A, a nutrient essential for healthy vision, immune function and cell growth. It also acts as an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals.

How much you need:

There's no RDA for beta carotene.

Food Sources of Beta Carotene:

Eat plenty of dark green vegetables and orange vegetables and fruits (papaya, mango) weekly to meet your vitamin A needs and reap beta carotene's potential antioxidant benefits.

B12

What it does:

Vitamin B12 is used in making DNA, the building block of genes, and in maintaining healthy nerve and red blood cells.

How much you need:

2.4 micrograms a day for people 14 and older provides all the body needs—although some researchers have argued that a daily intake of 6 micrograms would ensure absorption.

Food sources of B12:

B12 is bound to protein, so foods like meat, fish, eggs and dairy products like yogurt and milk are the principal sources.

Chromium

What it does:

Chromium is required by the body for the process that turns food into usable energy, helping insulin prime cells to take up glucose.

How much you need:

Despite disappointing findings on chromium supplements and weight loss, the body still needs it. The daily recommended intake for adults is 50 to 200 mcg.

Food sources of chromium:

Best sources of chromium are whole-grain breads and cereals, meat, nuts, prunes, raisins, beer and wine.

Vitamin K

What it does:

Vitamin K is used by the body to produce an array of different proteins. Some of them are used to create factors that allow blood to coagulate—critical in stemming bleeding and allowing cuts and wounds to heal.

How much you need:

The current recommended daily intake of vitamin K is 90 micrograms for women and 120 for men. Luckily, vitamin K deficiency is extremely uncommon.

Food Sources of Vitamin K:

Kale, spinach, broccoli, asparagus, arugula, green leaf lettuce, soybean oil, canola oil, olive oil and tomatoes.

Potassium

What it does:

Potassium is involved in almost every vital body process: maintaining blood pressure, heart and kidney function, muscle contraction, even digestion.

How much you need:

Surveys show that most Americans get less than half the recommended amounts of potassium, which is 4,700 milligrams (mg) daily for adults and teens.

Food sources of potassium:

Foods that are closest to their original states are best, so be sure to choose whole, unprocessed foods as often as possible, especially fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and lean meats.

Magnesium

What it does:

Necessary for some of the body's most basic processes, magnesium triggers more than 300 biochemical reactions—most importantly the production of energy from the food we eat.

How much you need:

Around 300 mg/day (women) and 350 mg/day (men), with the upper limit for supplemental magnesium at 350 mg.

Food sources of magnesium:

The mineral is abundant in avocados, nuts and leafy greens including acorn squash, kiwi and almonds.

Vitamin C

What it does:

Researchers have long known that vitamin C is an essential building block of collagen, the structural material for bone, skin, blood vessels and other tissue.

How much you need:

The current recommended daily intake for men is 90 mg and for women it is 75 mg. The body can only absorb a maximum of about 400 milligrams a day.

Food Sources of Vitamin C:

Virtually everything in the produce section including oranges, green bell peppers, strawberries, broccoli, cantaloupe and tomatoes, turnip greens, sweet potatoes and okra.

Vitamin D

What it does:

Early on, most of the concern focused on bones, since vitamin D, working along with calcium, helps build and maintain them.

How much you need:

Official recommendations now call for 200 IU for children and 600 IU for people over 71, with other groups falling somewhere between.

Food sources of vitamin D:

We rely on fortified milk and breakfast cereals to get most of our dietary vitamin D. Apart from a few kinds of fish, including herring and sardines, there aren't many natural food sources, which leaves supplements and direct sunlight.

Folate/Folic Acid

What it does:

Folate is necessary for the production of new cells, including red blood cells. Folate deficiency remains a major cause of spinal-cord defects in newborns.

How much you need:

Many dietitians recommend taking a multivitamin with 400 mcg of folic acid; 1,000 mcg per day is the safe upper limit for folic acid.

Food sources of folate:

Rich sources of folate include liver, dried beans and peas, spinach and leafy greens, asparagus and fortified cereals.

Zinc

What it does:

Zinc is integral to almost every cell of the human body, from keeping the immune system healthy to regulating testosterone.

How much you need:

The recommended dietary intake for men is 11 mg/day, for women 8 mg/day.

Food Sources of zinc:

Oysters, cooked beef tenderloin, turkey, chickpeas, roast chicken leg, pumpkin seeds, cooked pork tenderloin, plain low-fat yogurt, wheat germ, tofu, dry roasted cashews and Swiss cheese.

Vitamin E

What it does:

Scientists have not yet elucidated all of vitamin E's roles, but they hypothesize that it has a role in immune function, DNA repair, the formation of red blood cells and vitamin K absorption.

How much you need:

The RDA in men and women is 23 IU, or 15 milligrams, and because many E-rich foods come from nuts and oils, some low-fat diets may be inadequate in vitamin E.

Food Sources of Vitamin E:

Wheat germ oil. Sunflower seeds, cooked spinach, almonds, safflower oil and hazelnuts.