Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

Co Q10 is a fat soluble substance that is used by cells to extract energy from food. The ability of our vital organs (the heart, liver, kidneys among others) to function properly depends on receiving
and maintaining a sufficient supply of CoQ10 to provide and sustain energy. Studies have shown that
CoQ10 is beneficial in maintaining a healthy heart by helping to regulate blood pressure, as well as
other benefits such as protecting the heart from surgery induced stress.

It has been found that patients who have taken prescription cholesterol medications have lower levels of this enzyme in their system and it is recommended that they take a supplement to increase these levels. You will find there are two forms of CoQ10 to choose from Ubiquinone and Ubiquinol . Ubiquinone is the most common form and has to be reduced to Ubiquinol by the body to utilize it. Some people are genetically incapable of reducing it and therefore are wasting their money by purchasing the cheaper form Ubiquinone. Unless you have had your DNA tested I recommend taking the reduced form of Ubiquinol.

As far as recommending a dosage I can only say that the average dosage is between 30mg and 150mg.
If you are not on cholesterol medication I would say you are safe taking 100mg a day with meals. If you
are on cholesterol medication I would check with your physician and let him recommend the proper
dose.

I recommend Now Ubiquinol 100mg that can be purchased at www.Physicaladdictions.com

Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Heart Healthy Supplements

We have all heard about ways to keep your heart healthy by exercise and diet. Basically mixing aerobic with weight training 3 times per week and eating a balanced diet will do it for most people. 

The confusion comes in when we talk about supplements. There are thousands of articles out there that recommend different supplements and if you listen to every recommendation you will have a cabinet filled with nothing but supplements. Here is what I recommend taking in conjunction with a proper diet and exercise. 

#1. Get on a good quality multi vitamin that is potent in B vitamins and contains Resveratrol and plant based minerals. Resveratrol has been shown to be very beneficial to the heart and plant based minerals are more easily absorbed then the hard minerals found in most vitamin supplements.

#2. Take fish oil. Fish oil has many benefits including elevating your HDL (good cholesterol). 

#3. Take a good natural cholesterol formula. I highly recommend a product called Heart Savior. This product has a combination of ingredients that has shown to reduce LDL and raise HDL. I personally know people who have had great results taking this product and a local doctor sends his patients into my store to buy it. These patients are the ones that will not take cholesterol medications due to the side effects.

As with all supplements I don’t recommend taking them every day. I am a strong believer in not letting your body get used to the same thing day in and day out. What I recommend is taking them every other day or third day and then 2 days in a row then skip a day…..you get the idea - just mix it up. If you have a day where your diet is off, take them that day.  Alternatively, skip the supplements if you followed your diet that day.

Here are the brands and supplements I recommend:

#1. Incredible Life liquid multi vitamin

#2. Krill oil by Now

#3. Heart Savior

All these products can be purchased at www.physicaladdictions.com 

Dad's Health Tip of the Week: Happy Healthy Thanksgiving

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and give you a few tips on how to survive the onslaught of food you are about to consume.
First let’s start out the morning with a big glass of water. Have your normal cup of coffee or favorite beverage to help you wake up. For breakfast try to eat some high fiber foods such as whole grain cereal and add some fiber to it such as psylium. With breakfast you should take an enzyme supplement to help with digestion right off the bat.

Wait 2 hours and depending on what time it is choose your second small meal. This meal should include your protein such as eggs if it’s still breakfast time or maybe a protein smoothie if it’s closer to lunch.

Remember to drink a glass of water between meals as this helps to control appetite.

When it’s time for dinner make sure you take your enzyme tablet right before you eat. You should try to eat a small portion of everything you like. If you feel full after one plate just stop and let that digest for at least one hour before you go back for seconds.

Try not to drink too much of anything while eating as this will dilute the acids in your stomach and make it harder to digest your food.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Joint Health

One of the most common complaints I hear about is joint pain. There are a few things you can do to help your joints and alleviate the pain and discomfort. The first thing is to look at your weight, and if you find are overweight then the best thing you can do is drop a few pounds. By doing so, you will ease the constant stress on your joints, specifically your knees and ankles.

Exercising your joints is also important. It may sound counterproductive but studies have shown exercise improves joint health. You need to research what type of exercise for your particular joint pain. If you exercise the wrong way you may injure your joints even more.

If you like to stay away from over the counter medications and prescriptions as I do, then I have a few supplements I recommend that I have had good success with as well as good feedback from my customers.

#1 liquid Joint Rehab… This product is great! It contains glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, aloe vera, and collagen.

#2 Hylauronic Acid…This product helps to replenish the gel surrounding the joints.

#3 Fish oil… fish oil is great for many things including joint lubrication.

#4 Tumeric… This supplement helps with inflammation throughout the body.

These products can be purchased at www.physicaladdictions.com

Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Are you ready for Flu season?

Here are a few tips to keep your immune system up to par at the start of the flu season. 

The first thing you need to do is to keep yourself hydrated. It’s very easy to become dehydrated especially in the winter when the heat is on. A couple of signs that you are becoming dehydrated are: dark urine, dry mouth, and dry skin. You should try to drink a minimum of a half gallon of water every day.

Another important point is to eat a healthy diet that includes foods rich in antioxidants such as greens and berries.  By following some of the recipes on this blog you can increase your immune system and help fight off the flu.

Supplementing with vitamins is also a good idea but make sure they are from a good company. Some of the cheap store bought vitamins may save you money but as a rule of thumb you get what you pay for. Look for vitamins derived from food sources, your body can utilize them more efficiently.

If you start to feel symptoms of the flu, there is a great product you can get that has shown to reduce the duration and ease the effects. The product is called Oscillococcinum.

Oscillococcinum has been shown in clinical trials to help reduce the severity and shorten the duration of flu symptoms.

Oscillococcinum works rapidly, with 63 percent of patients showing complete resolution or clear improvement at 48 hours. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the recovery rate within 48 hours of treatment was significantly greater in the group that received the active drug than in the placebo group.

Unlike other flu medicines, Oscillococcinum does not cause side effects, such as drowsiness, and has no known or reported drug interactions. Oscillococcinum is regulated as a drug by the FDA3 and can be purchased at pharmacies, natural food stores and supermarkets.

Make sure you have Oscillococcinum on hand because it works best when taken early. I recommend Oscillococcinum at the first signs of flu.

My supplement recommendations:

Men’s or women’s multi vitamin by Irwin Naturals

Oscillococcinum by Boiron

Greens Plus powder by Greens Plus

These supplements can be purchased for the best prices at www.physicaladdictions.com

I also recommend Kangen water ionizer from Enagic   www.great2hydrate.net

3 Easy Tips for Staying Healthy through Cold and Flu Season

Cold and Flu Season is Here!

Bacteria and viruses are spread easily through the things we touch everyday; door handles, railings, your desk, bathrooms.

Germs on your hands can enter your body by simply rubbing your eyes or touching your nose and mouth. These germs will eat up nutrients and energy and can produce toxins. Those toxins are what cause symptoms of common infections, like the cold or flu.

Take care of yourself this winter by following our tips to staying healthy this cold and flu season:

1. Wash your hands regularly
One of the most important things you can do to help prevent yourself from getting sick is to wash your hands throughout the day and especially before you handle food.  (We do not recommend using hand wipes or sanitizer with alcohol too often - they can dry your hands out and cause the skin on your hands to crack which makes it easier for bacteria to enter your blood stream.)

Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least twenty seconds and make sure you dry hands thoroughly.  If you are using a public restroom be sure to use a towel or toilet paper to open the bathroom door when leaving!

An easy way to ensure your kids are washing their hands for long enough is to have them sing the entire happy birthday song while washing.

2. Kuzu 
We also add kuzu into our diet to stay healthy.   
(See our previous post on Kuzu for even more information!)

3. Eat healthy

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet will help you get through the season.  Here are some foods that have   immune system boosting powers:  

- Berries, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cranberries. These berries are high 

in antioxidants which fight off toxins. 

- Yogurt, to take advantage of the benefits of Probiotics. Look for our upcoming post on Probiotics.

- Chicken and vegetable soup, See our recipe.

Eighty percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system, so eating smart can really help to keep you healthy through cold and flu season.  You can read more about digestion at Dads Tip of the Week: Digestion.   

Be sure to share these tips with your kids!

Dad's Health Tip of the Week: Weight Loss

The number one concern of my customers in the nutrition store where I work is weight loss. I can honestly say there is no magic supplement to make you lose weight. The key is simple, diet and exercise. There are numerous diet plans out there along with hundreds of exercise machines for the home that make extraordinary claims about losing weight. My theory is that if you follow a consistent healthy diet and exercise regularly you will lose weight. Crash diets are temporary and exercise machines only work if you use them.

Here is a very simple idea that will work if you follow it.  Eat small quantities every 3 hours up until 7 or 8 at night.  Try to exercise 4 times a week - whether it’s going to the gym or walking and doing pushups and sit ups at home. By eating small amounts more frequently you raise your metabolism. By increasing your muscle mass through exercise you also increase your metabolism.  By increasing your metabolism you burn more fat - it’s that simple!

With that said there is one product that I have seen that seems to work as far as increased energy and appetite suppression.  It is called Lean EFX and the feedback I get in the store about this product is very positive, especially from women. This is a long lasting energy pill that shouldn’t be taken later than 2 or 3 pm, any later than that and it will keep you up at night.

I also need to stress the importance of hydrating your body. I know I have said this before but if you are not properly hydrated, your body simply cannot react the way it is designed to. The best water for this is Kangen water (alkaline ionized water). You need to drink a minimum of ½ gallon of this water every day and you will see the difference.

To purchase the products I have mentioned visit the following websites:

Lean EFX     www.physicaladdictions.com

Kangen water   www.great2hydrate.net

Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Digestion

It is my opinion that all diseases start in the colon and that’s why it is crucial to do the following 4 things to maintain a healthy colon. 

#1. Enzymes. When you chew your food enzymes are released in the mouth and start the digestive process; therefore it is very important to chew your food well. I also recommend that you take some digestive enzymes with each meal, either in supplement form or by eating something that contains a high amount of enzymes such as papaya, or pineapple.

#2. Fiber, it is important to keep things moving in the colon and fiber does just that. I recommend eating a high fiber diet or supplementing with good quality fiber supplements such as psyllium, chia seeds, flax seeds, to name a few.

#3. Probiotics. Throughout our colon we have trillions of bacteria, some good and some bad. The challenge is to keep it balanced so that nutrients can be absorbed and viruses are kept from entering the blood stream. I recommend supplementing with a probiotic that contains 5 – 8 billion bacteria and 8 – 10 different strains.

#4. Hydrate! As mentioned in a previous health tip it is extremely important to drink water to maintain a healthy colon. The best water by far is alkaline ionized water. I can’t stress this point enough because even if you follow all the tips listed above and you are dehydrated, your body can not work efficiently no matter how well you eat.

My supplement recommendations are:

• Super enzymes by Now Foods
• ProFibe by Cerburg Products
• Jarrow Dophillus EPS by Jarrow
• SD501 water ionizer by Enagic 

The listed supplements can be purchased at www.physicaladdictions.com

The water Ionizer can be purchased at www.great2hydrate.com

Dad's Health Tip of the Week - Protein

I work in a sport nutrition store in Florida and one of the most common questions I get is “what kind of protein should I take”? Proteins are judged by their biological value (BV), which means how much of it is absorbed and utilized by your body. The higher the BV, the better.

The highest BV protein is Whey Isolate. This is a milk protein that has been filtered down to where all the fat and lactose has been removed leaving the purest and most easily digested protein your body can use. The only thing you have to consider when taking it is that you don’t want to take too much in one serving. Whey Isolate is so quickly absorbed that any more than 25 – 30 grams at a serving will be wasted because your body can not utilize more than that at one time. I recommend mixing it with milk because milk contains casein that slows down the absorption and makes it more of a time released protein. The best time to take your protein is within one hour after your workout. This is when your body will uptake the protein and deliver it to the muscles with the most efficiency.

Whey Protein Isolate (WPI) is the best protein but it shouldn’t be your only source. There are many other types of protein such as eggs, soy, quinoa, beef, chicken, and fish to name a few. I recommend that supplementing protein should only be about 25% of your daily intake with the rest coming from food sources. As a rule of thumb you need about 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight per day.

For the best selection and best prices visit www.physicaladdictions.com