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Category: micronutrients

Three reasons why Spectracell’s Micronutrient Test is more clinically reliable than serum

Serum testing measures how much of a nutrient is floating around outside the cell.  SpectraCell tells you how that nutrient is working inside the cell – where it matters. A very common misconception about taking vitamin supplements is that if some is good, more is better.  Since micronutrients (which includes vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and other compounds) work synergistically, there exists an important and delicate balance of nutrients.  Taking too muc... Read More
at Thursday, April 20, 2023

Autism, Muscular Problems, and Breathing

Autism, Muscular Problems and Breathing – the surprising ways vitamin C deficiency can show up in autistic children and how its correction can save heartache and money. Classic vitamin C deficiency is typically associated with scurvy, the disease known in colonial times to be linked to trans-Atlantic sailors that was corrected by consumption of citrus. In fact, the once pejorative term ‘limey” was given to British sailors who prevented scurvy with the addition of lime ju... Read More
at Friday, April 7, 2023

Targeted repletion may be the competitive edge every serious athlete needs

: From baseball to bodybuilding – targeted repletion may be the competitive edge every serious athlete needs.   The key word being “targeted.”  We all know athletes, particularly college and professional athletes, will push their bodies and skill to the edges of potential, and beyond.  The physical discipline and mental focus in elite athletes can be extreme.  Every improvement in physiology can potentially move the athlete into new realms of performance.... Read More
Posted by Nichole Herms at Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Better with Age: The Science of Healthy Aging

As you age, would you rather feel great, or look great? Why not both?  A new perspective on aging may give you hope, regardless of whether you are 40 or 80.  Here’s why getting old does not just mean accepting the inevitable – wrinkles, gray hair, or cognitive decline. There is very advanced, albeit not highly publicized, technology in blood diagnostics that allows you to harness the good and work to minimize the bad, at least from a physiological standpoint... Read More
Posted by Nichole Herms at Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Lack of this Nutrient May Induce Muscle Cramps. Spoiler – It’s Not Magnesium

  An expert panel of 6 medical specialists recently published a study on choline and its role in muscle metabolism.  This nutrient – just as important but lesser known compared to its B vitamin cousins – plays a fundamental role in muscle physiology and its deficiency may be a cause of muscle cramping, in otherwise apparently healthy people.   Perhaps choline’s most well-known function is its role as part of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is ... Read More
Posted by Nichole Herms at Thursday, June 10, 2021

What is Vitamin B12’s Relationship with Shoulder Injuries?

  In this prospective study, researchers followed 87 people to determine if their vitamin B12 levels correlated to a higher risk of a rotator cuff tear.  The rotator cuff are muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder and maintain joint integrity, and this is one of the first studies to look at this specific injury and its relation to B12. To begin the study, levels of vitamin B12 were measured as well as other nutrients including vitamin D, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and... Read More
Posted by Nichole Herms at Monday, June 7, 2021

Does Vitamin D Status Affect an Athlete’s Ability to Recover from Knee Surgery?

  A prospective study on 153 athletes that underwent ACL surgery looked at this very question.  Interestingly, the authors concluded that vitamin D status has no effect on outcomes, yet those with the lowest vitamin D status had three times the failure rate than those with higher vitamin D, meaning the authors’ conclusion is not the only conclusion at which one may arrive.  Here are the details... The average age of the 153 patients was around 24 years old – young... Read More
Posted by Nichole Herms at Thursday, May 27, 2021

T-Cells Are Finally Getting the Attention They Deserve, In the Era of COVID

  Research confirms that T-cells hold the key to lasting immunity against COVID.  While most of us are familiar with the notion that antibodies protect us against a specific virus, it is not as well known that antibodies can fade, sometimes even after just a few months.  T-cells, however, hold a cellular memory of infection for years, sometimes decades.   Further, T-cells are the cells responsible for telling the other immune cells what to do and coordinating a full-... Read More
at Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Glutathione: The Powerhouse Nutrient Purported to Protect Against Severe COVID Symptoms

  Could this powerhouse nutrient be the reason some people fare well while others get really sick from COVID?  One doctor has a theory.   A doctor at the Research Institute for Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology in Russia proposes a viewpoint that glutathione – known sometimes as the master antioxidant of the body – holds the answer to why so many people have different clinical courses of COVID.  Some mild, some severe, some short-term, some for mo... Read More
at Monday, May 3, 2021