by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Sep 30, 2019 | Nutrition and Health
10 Facts About Vitamin B12 (Post may contain affiliate links).
Vitamin B12 was first “discovered” in the 1850s.
Thomas Addison, one of the earliest researchers of vitamin B12, discovered a lethal form of anemia he named pernicious anemia. Symptoms of this disease included:
- Glossitis – (inflammation of the tongue)
- Macrocytic – (too large) red blood cells
- Numbness and abnormal gait.
There was no treatment and so patients afflicted would die.
In the 1920s, Georges Richard Minot, a practicing MD at Harvard, came up with the idea that something in food might help patients. Minot teamed up with two other MDs and they did research on dogs 🙁 to discover a treatment.
The research involved bleeding dogs and then feeding them various types of food until they determined that meats, especially raw liver, were the best treatment. Unfortunately, they did not discover what was in the raw liver and meat. They did however, earn a Nobel Prize in Medicine for their efforts in 1934.
It has taken well over 100 years to understand vitamin B12. And research continues to this day.
During the period 1934 and 1948, Intrinsic factor was discovered. This was seen as a substance in the body that was necessary for absorption of this mysterious food element, that became known as “Extrinsic Factor.”
Intrinsic factor in the stomach is necessary for absorption
Intrinsic factor is most effective when the acid level is higher. As a result, older people and persons taking antacids are at an increased risk for vitamin B12 deficiency.
Animal Products are the only Natural Way to obtain vitamin B12
Spirulina has been cited as a source of vitamin B12, and Spirulina has been shown to have numerous health benefits. However, the “B12” in Spirulina is an Analog or “Pseudo-vitamin.”
To make matters worse, this B12 analog in Spirulina also interferes with the absorption of the real vitamin B12.
Thus Spirulina is NOT a source of real vitamin B12.
Non-animal products are often fortified. For example:
- Soy, Rice, and Almond Milk
- Breakfast Cereals
Vitamin B12 is one of the water soluble vitamins.
As a result, it is easily lost when cooked in water.
Deficiency can result in psychosis
as well as spinal cord demyelination, neuropathy, and death.
Vitamin B12 is more readily absorbed when the stomach is acidic. As a result, antacids lower the absorption, and chronic antacid use can result in deficiency, especially in older persons.
B12 and Folate (Folic Acid) work together to prevent Megaloblastic anemia. As a result, it can be hard for healthcare providers to determine whether the cause is folic acid deficiency or B12 deficiency. Thus, it is important that you don't take excessive amounts of either folic acid or vitamin B12.
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US RDA of B12
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.9 micrograms – 1-3 years
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1.2 micrograms – 4-8 years
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1.8 micrograms – 9-13 years
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2.4 micrograms – 14+ years
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2.6 micrograms – Pregnancy
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2.8 micrograms – Lactation
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For Further Study
https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12+
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-spirulina#section1
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by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Aug 22, 2019 | Food Allergies and Special Diets
Best Food for Psoriasis: How Diet May Improve Your Psoriasis
(post may contain affiliate links)
In 2017, a team of researchers from the San Francisco School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology, University of California found that reduced alcohol consumption and a gluten and nightshades free diet improved the symptoms of Psoriasis. Additionally, a diet that contained fish oil, Vitamin D, and vegetables also proved effective in the treatment for this skin condition.
More than 1200 individuals from the National Psoriasis Foundation were surveyed with 61 questions on their food habits and dietary practices. The researchers published the findings in Dermatologic Therapy May 2017 issue. People with psoriasis consumed less sugar, dairy products, and fiber to reduce their symptoms.
Along with it, a reduced quantity of alcohol, members of the nightshade family, such as peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant also helped them to curb down the skin shedding process effectively.
Furthermore, the survey also revealed that people with psoriasis alleviated their symptoms by including fish oil, vegetables, and vitamin D in their regular meals. These foods acted like natural cures for psoriasis.
Does Food Trigger Psoriasis Symptoms?
Nutrition is one of the biggest players in fighting against several health problems, including Psoriasis. Although food is not the only trigger that boosts the symptoms of Psoriasis (stress and bad weather can also be one of them), certain foods do flare up the condition.
While medical treatments often reduce the rapid skin cell production in order to curb the symptoms down, psoriasis is a lifelong condition and has no cure. Therefore, lifestyle changes and shifts in dietary habits are the only home remedies of psoriasis that you can include without worrying about the side effects of modern medications.
Choosing anti-inflammatory foods, eliminating gluten, and choosing low-calorie ingredients showed signs of improvement in the surveyed members.
High anti-oxidant foods, along with weight loss and remedies to reduce inflammation can also help relieve the symptoms effectively.
TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicines are herb-based treatments that can help you reduce inflammation naturally. Chinese herbs like Indica Naturalis and Aloe Vera are widely used in China to treat various skin conditions, including psoriasis.
Foods to Avoid for Psoriasis
You must avoid foods that trigger inflammation and weaken the immune system, such as:
Processed Foods
Processed foods are high in calories, trans fat and saturated fats. Consuming processed foods can lead to weight gain, low metabolism, metabolic syndrome, and other health conditions, including inflammation. Foods you must avoid to processed food intake include pre-packaged foods, canned foods, processed meats, packaged bakery products, and foods high in salt, sugar, and fat.
Nightshades
Nightshade plants and veggies are rich in solanine. Solanine is a compound that causes indigestion and promotes inflammation in persons with psoriasis. The National Psoriasis Foundation states that Nightshades can trigger the symptoms of psoriasis. Examples of foods classified as nightshades are tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant.
Gluten Rich Food
People with psoriasis could also become gluten sensitive. There are certain health conditions that are characterized by autoimmunity to gluten. So, you must avoid all foods that have gluten, such as wheat, rye, barley, and malt-based foods. You should also avoid foods that contain wheat, barley, and malts, such as pasta, vermicelli, semolina, baked goods, and noodles, sauces and condiments, and malt beverage like beer. These foods all contain gluten.
Alcohol
Psoriasis is an auto-immune health condition, which means it is directly linked to the immune system. Alcohol has the potential to disrupt your immune system and therefore, you must restrict alcohol every day.
Foods that People with Psoriasis Can Consume Every day
A diet high in anti-inflammatory foods can act as a natural cure for psoriasis, and such foods include:
Fruits and Vegetables
Most fruits and veggies are rich in antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory. Both are essential compounds to decrease stress and inflammation. anti-inflammatory, omega 3 fatty acids. contain a high amount of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidants include broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, and other dark fruits, and leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, and arugula.
Fish
Among all meat-based products fish is the best for health. You must have those fishes that provide your body the necessary anti-inflammatory, omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids promote good health and reduce both internal and external inflammation. You can have salmon, sardines, trout, and codfishes to treat your psoriasis naturally.
Healthy Oils
Certain vegetable oils also contain anti-inflammatory, omega 3 fatty acids, for example. Try including olive oil, coconut, flax seed, and safflower oils in your diet. However, do not have oils that contain a high amount of omega 6 fatty acids.
Dr. Pragno Diet
Dr. Pragno, in his book, Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative describes how a healthy lifestyle and a good diet can improve the symptoms of psoriasis. His approach includes consuming fruits and vegetables in high quantities, having grains, meats, seafood, eggs, and dairy in moderate quantity, and avoiding red meat, nightshades, and processed foods completely.
Vegan and Mediterranean diets also seem to help in treating the skin problem.
Reach out to your nutritionist for more clarity on how you can control your condition through food habits.
Author Bio:
Emylee Modest is a wellness lifestyle writer. She loves sharing her thoughts and personal experiences related to natural remedies, yoga and fitness through her writing. Emylee currently writes for How To Cure. She can connect with others experiencing health concerns and help them through their recovery journeys through natural remedies.
Other articles from Homeschooling Dietitian Mom:
Why are Kids Picky Eaters?
Does Food Affect Autism?
High Protein Meals
6 Reasons You Need Vitamin B6
Lactose Intolerance or Cow's Milk Allergy?
by Deborah Hanyon, MPH, RDN, ACE-CHC | Dec 11, 2018 | Getting Kids Moving
Below are my recommendations for 5 of the best free nutrition diet exercise apps. (Post may contain affiliate links).
My first 4 recommendations are for general diet, nutrition, exercise assistance.
The last one (1) is an app developed for kids with autism.
Available on IOS and Android mobile apps; also desktop website address.
Of all the 5 best free nutrition diet exercise apps, MyFitnessPal is BY FAR my favorite, and I use it all the time.
One of the best things about this app is you can create and add your own recipes into the system. The app will then give you calories and basic nutrition facts per serving. The desktop version also shows you a Nutrition Facts label that you can copy and paste into your documents or wherever you want.
Another awesome thing about MyFitnessPal is that practically all foods are in the database, including many restaurant foods. For example, Soupplantation/Sweet Tomato, Red Robin, McDonald's, to name a few. Also, there is a bar code reader, so you can save time by just reading the bar code of the food you are eating.
The articles on MyFitnessPal are trustworthy and written by credentialed fitness pros. They contain tasty recipes, and sound nutrition and exercise advice.
I use the free version of MyFitnessPal, and there are ads showing. However, they are in the background, at least in the IOS mobile app. The desktop version also has ads, and they are a bit more noticeable. But, I don't find them troublesome.
If you are interested in a more extensive analysis of the foods you eat, you can pay for the premium version. But I have never found any use for it.
MyFitnessPal can be downloaded on Android and IOS, and can also be used on a desktop/laptop. There are several apps that can be connected to MyFitnessPal, including MapMyRun, MapMyWalk, FitBitTracker, and Pacer Pedometer.
SparkPeople Calorie Tracker
I discovered the desktop version of SparkPeople through Pinterest recently while looking for stability ball exercises, and I like it a lot. It reminds me of MyFitnessPal, except there are some really good exercise videos available on SparkPeople.com. There are a lot more ads that popup, however.
The Calorie Tracker app connects with the website, and offers different challenges including, “Eat 5+ Servings of Fruits & Veggies a Day for 7 Days,” and “Exercise 10+ Minutes a Day for 7 Days.”
These basic, concrete goals can be easily integrated into your homeschooling health and/or PE curriculum.
You can connect with friends and share via the feed.
There are also lots of recipes including “20 Incredible Ways to Make Chicken in Your Instant Pot.” Clicking on these recipes will take you to SparkRecipes.com.
I just got a brand new Instant Pot for my birthday in November, so I found this one interesting. By the way, I LOVE my Instant Pot!
SparkPeople also has several apps that complement the calorie tracker, including Nutrition Lookup and SparkRecipes.
Nutrition Lookup by SparkPeople
This is a very specific app for food lookup analysis. The free version of this app has more detailed nutritional information than the free version of MyFitnessPal.
For example, the free version of MyFitnessPal only includes calories, fat, carbs, protein, cholesterol, potassium, sodium, calcium, vitamin a, c, and iron. In contrast, Nutrition Lookup also has information on vitamin B12, B6, D, E, Copper, Folate, Magnesium, and more.
Vitamins B6, B12, Folate, D, E, and the minerals Copper and Magnesium are all important nutrients to have in your diet. So, if you are interested in detailed nutritional analysis without having to pay, Nutrition Lookup is a better choice than MyFitnessPal.
SparkRecipes
This app does what it says. It provides recipes. However, not just any kinds of recipes. Healthy recipes. For example, the recipe, “Raspberry-Lemon Scones,” includes nonfat milk and whole wheat flour. Also, the amounts of butter, salt and sugar are significantly lower than is typical for a Scone recipe.
And, of course, there are TONS of recipes that are kid-friendly, allergy friendly, quick and easy, and so much more!
For example, Mini Vegetable Frittatas are low carb, rich in veggies AND kid friendly; 55 Healthy Snacks under 200 Calories are low calorie and kid friendly; and Gluten Free Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese is gluten free and kid friendly!
SparkRecipes allows you to add your own recipes as well, which is similar to MyFitnessPal. You can also create favorite ingredients, which is not an option that I have noticed in MyFitnessPal.
Calorie Tracker, Nutrition Lookup, and SparkRecipes can all be connected to the main website, and you can use the same username and password for all three.
EB Pro was designed specifically for autistic kiddos to encourage regular exercise. Despite this fact, EB Pro can also be used for any child who struggles with exercise.
One downside is that EB Pro works only on tablets.
Unfortunately, it also has a few bugs.
We have been using EB Pro since summer, and it is wonderful when it is working correctly. The developers have been having issues with PayPal and monthly subscriptions, so we have been canceled a couple of times. I have had to redo my programmed workout routines a couple of times, which has been frustrating. However, the developer is easy to work with and he does all he can to help get you functional on EB Pro.
The pluses of EB Pro:
Every exercise is categorized with most having a short video showing the exercise. Most of the exercises are basic and easy to learn. The developer works with autistic youth, and all of the videos are of autistic youth doing the exercises. You can make your own videos and download them as well.
Since the exercises have visual aides, mom and dad or older brother and sister can learn the exercises and teach them to younger or special needs siblings. Higher functioning special kids can become independent once they learn specific exercises. They can then use the Exercise Buddy on their own, which helps mom a lot!
My son is able to do this, and it helps ease my stress level tremendously!
Exercise Buddy is not actually free, but it hardly costs anything. It is only $4 per month (or $36 for a year). Plus, you can get a 14-day free trial before deciding if it works for you.
The developer is pretty easy to reach via phone if you have any questions or issues. His name is Dave Geslak, his company is Exercise Connection, and he is an Autism Exercise Specialist.
Don't forget to checkout my freebies page, including FREE Christmas Cards with Envelope Template! and the booklet, “Lactose Intolerance or Milk Allergy? How to Tell the Difference”
I've also recently written articles on Gluten Intolerance and 13 Benefits of Omega-3 Fats.
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