How To Boost Immune System For Seniors
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Spring will be starting soon and with the change in season come the typical colds and flu infections that tend to strike seniors particularly hard. The best defense to protect senior health is a good offense which means that seniors need to take the initiative to insure an immune system boost. A strong immune system is the best medicine to preempt the flu and colds that try to latch on to seniors. How to boost immune system is the subject of this post. The first step is to take the vitamins to boost immune system.
Vitamins C and E are two leading antioxidant vitamins that boost the immune system. A third vitamin that needs to be added is vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin. Two minerals that complement the vitamins are selenium and zinc. The members of the anti-inflammatory team are the omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin which is extracted from the spice tumeric, and bromelain which is extracted from pineapple. Two foods that are known to inhibit bacteria and viruses are garlic and green tea. Particularly in the case of seniors the supplement DHEA is known to boost the body’s immune system. Taken together the members of the immune boosting team can provide the means for building immune system for seniors against the respiratory infections that typically strike in the spring.
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What Makes Sweet Potatoes A Super Food?
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For many folks sweet potatoes are a food for the Thanksgiving season and usually no other time. It turns out that sweet potatoes provide an impressive array of nutrients, despite the fact that they are not really potatoes. They are members of the Convolvulaceae family which are plants with trumpet shaped flowers. Sweet potatoes come in 400 different varieties and range in skin color from white to yellow to orange to red to purple. The typical sweet potato has orange flesh and is sometimes called a yam. Folks have been consuming sweet potatoes for about 8,000 years. They were introduced in Europe by Christopher Columbus when he returned from the New World after 1492.
The good news for seniors is that sweet potatoes provide large amounts of the vitamins A and C and the minerals potassium and manganese. To top it off they deliver lots of fiber. Additional nutrients found in sweet potatoes include beta-carotene, copper, and vitamin B-6. Sweet potatoes hold special interest for senior men who need to supplement with beta-carotene, because consuming them on a regular basis may support cognitive function. Sweet potatoes have shown to provide significant support in reeling in some of the markers for diabetes, particularly improved insulin resistance. Finally in a cancer risk study that compared folks in Asia with those in North America and Northern Europe, the folks in Asia who regularly consumed sweet potatoes had a much lower risk of cancer compared with the folks in Northern Europe and North America who did not. For all these good healthy results that come from consuming sweet potatoes the conclusion for senior health is that sweet potatoes really are a super food.
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Lower Your Senior Risks for Cancer
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A number of years ago a signature line of a show business fellow was that ‘You are what your eat’. For seniors who want to reduce their risks of various cancers, this statement about what we eat is very true. Certain foods are known to lower our age-related risks for contracting cancers including breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and so on. Conversely, a number of foods are known to be associated with higher risks of contracting those same age-related cancers. As we age our cells are subjected to an accumulation of mutations in our genes that make us more vulnerable to contracting cancer. These mutations affect the way our genes regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In order to avoid cancer we need to restore our gene functions to a healthy state.
We can foster healthy healthy gene functions by the foods and supplements that we consume. By eliminating or greatly reducing the foods that increase our risk of cancer such as red meat, high fat dairy and sweets and replacing them with foods that support our gene health we can reduce our risk of cancer. The foods that allow us to take preemptive aging steps against cancer are vegetables, soy products, cruciferous vegetables, soy isoflavones, dietary lignans, and vitamin D3. The soy isoflavones in particular are associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer.
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Is Coffee Heart Healthy?
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Over the past few years a number of reports have been published claiming that coffee is good for your health or not good for your health. Finally, it appears that coffee is definitely heart healthy. These positive reports at a prestigious conference have just recently been published. The studies were presented at the American Heart Association conference that was held in San Francisco this week. This is good news for seniors including both women and men, because the enemy of healthy hearts, artherosclerosis, is the number one killer in the US. Artherosclerosis actually kills over 800,000 Americans by means of heart attacks every year.
One study reported that in the matter of artherosclerosis, drinking two to three cups of coffee daily does not contribute to hardening of the arteries that leads to heart attacks which are caused by artherosclerosis. Another study showed that coffee drinking apparently lowered the risk for hospitalization for folks that suffer from abnormal heart rhythms. A third study which last for 20 years and included folks from nearly every demographic group did not find any association between coffee drinking and atherosclerosis. The group included smokers and nonsmokers, blacks and whites, and men and women. The range of coffee cups consumed by the participants ranged from zero to four cups per day. The good news for seniors is that they can enjoy drinking coffee and benefit their cardiovascular health at the same time.
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Latest Word About the PSA Prostate Test?
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For a number of years men over 50 years of age have been urged by their doctors to get a PSA blood test to help diagnose the condition of their prostate. Very recently the American Cancer Society recommended changing the emphasis from it would be a good idea for men over 50 to get a PSA test to consider the potential risks of treatment before making the decision to get a PSA test to screen for prostate cancer. The reasoning supporting this change of emphasis was based on the trade off between the negative side effects of PSA screening versus the positive benefits of avoiding the test. For example a slightly high PSA blood test may detect prostate cancer, but it can be a false positive. Conversely men with apparently normal PSA scores actually have had cancer, but the test indicated that they did not have cancer. The high PSA score typically was followed by a biopsy and treatments that had negative side effects that included urinary incontinence and impotence.
For these reasons the American Cancer Society made the recommendation that men who do not have special risks of prostate cancer should take counsel with their doctors, in order to reach an informed decision about getting screened for prostate cancer. The American Society of Clinical Oncology, which represents cancer specialists, including those treating prostate cancer patients, is supporting the Cancer Society guidelines. This is good news for senior men who are about to reach the age when they need to be concerned about the health of their prostates.
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Reduce Your Cardiac Risk Factors
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The leading cause of death in the Western world is atherosclerosis. As we age seniors low density lipoproteins (LDLs) become oxidized, which results in the oxidized LDLs accumulating on arterial walls. This accumulation of oxidized LDLs on the arterial walls causes hardening of the arteries. Recent research has shown that in seniors the high density lipoproteins (HDLs) that normally prevent the LDLs from becoming oxidized are not able to perform this function. The researchers suspect that as we age one of the HDL’s helper enzymes, known as paraoxynase (PON-1), drops to a lower level in the blood. PON-1 is produced in the liver and after it is released into the blood it attaches to the HDL, in order to assist the HDL to inhibit the buildup of lipoperoxides in LDL cholesterol.
The researchers have demonstrated that there is a correlation between folks with low blood levels of PON-1 and cardiovascular disease risk. Seniors need to counter the age related drop in PON-1 levels in the blood by raising their PON-1 levels. It turns out that there are several substances that have been found to boost PON-1 levels. Pomegranate and its extracts have shown to increase the PON-1 levels in the blood by a large amount. Two other potential PON-1 boosters have been identified as quercetin and resveratrol. This is good news for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to support their cardiovascular health by reducing their cardiac risk.
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Which Vitamin Protects Your Heart & Bones?
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Most seniors are knowledgeable about the need for sufficient calcium to keep their bones healthy and avoid osteoporosis. What many do not know is that a particular vitamin is required to maintain both healthy bones and a healthy heart. Doctors have known for some time that a lack of calcium in bone results in osteoporosis, but calcium deposits in the arteries result in cardiovascular disease. What is needed is a way to regulate the amount of calcium needed for healthy bones and healthy arteries.
Studies in the Japan have revealed that a particular form of vitamin K contributes to maintaining strong bones in seniors. It is found in a food called natto which contains vitamin K2. This form of vitamin K is also found in egg yolks, organ meats, and dairy products. In one study in Japan folks who were suffering from osteoporosis were treated with vitamin K2 and the number of spinal fractures was reduced by over 50%. In parallel studies have shown that even modest amounts of vitamin K2 fight cardiovascular disease by keeping calcium out of the arteries which prevents the formation of dangerous calcified plaques.
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The Line of Defense
The human immune system is marvelous in its design and execution. When a virus or harmful bacteria enters the body, white blood cells are released to wage war against the infiltrators. This process is entirely involuntary, and most of the time the immune system successfully wards off sickness and disease. The immune system even has the ability to detect cancer during its earliest stages and eliminate the problem.
In order to remain healthy and strong, it’s in our best interest to utilize immune system booster. The body can be worn down for a number of reasons – lack of sleep, exposure to an unhealthy environment, etc. – and those are the times when we require a supplemental boost. To ensure that your body continues to successfully isolate and destroy viruses and bacteria, you’ll want to seek out an effective immune system boost.
Is Cinnamon an Anti-Aging Spice?
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As seniors age our bodies generally do not form new blood vessels. New blood vessel formation or angiogenesis occurs in the early years of our lives into our teen years, but after that it ususally does not occur unless we suffer an injury. In recent research from the Far East researchers reported that cinnamon could assist in the formation of new blood vessels. Coupling this result with the knowledge that cinnamon has been used in Chinese medicine to improve circulation the conclusion begins to appear that the spice cinnamon might possibly be just what seniors need to add to their anti-aging team.
As seniors age they suffer injuries and the normal wear and tear of life occurs, so that cinnamon’s ability to increase blood vessel formation and repair is very needed to promote senior health in terms of increasing circulation and promoting cardiovascular health. The health benefits of cinnamon could be enhanced by combining it with niacin which would expand the blood vessels and improve blood flow. The good news for seniors is that both niacin and cinnamon are relatively inexpensive compounds, but they can produce very healthy results in terms of promoting the formation of new blood vessels and improving circulation.
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Be Good To Your Heart
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February is almost over, but it is not too late to be good to your heart, because February is American Heart Month. Seniors need to protect themselves against atherosclerosis which includes both heart attack and stroke. Here is the United States atherosclerosis is the number one killer. The first line of an effective preemptive aging defense is a lifestyle that includes both a healthy diet and regular exercise. A healthy diet that will support cardiovascular health needs to include foods that are low in calories and saturated fats, contains beneficial omega-3 fats provided by fish and fish oil supplements. Additional nutrients that provide additional cardiovascular support include CoQ10, niacin, and vitamin C. In addition to the omega-3-rich fish oil supplements, CoQ10, and other nutrients which are a vital part of a heart healthy diet, seniors need to include regular exercise with the approval of their physicians. The regular exercise may be as important as the heart healthy nutritional regime in avoiding cardiovascular disease.
Before February ends it would be a good idea for seniors to become aware of the warning signs of a heart attack both for their own sake and that of family members and friends. In the case of a heart attack the warning signs include chest discomfort that lasts more than a few minutes or comes and goes; discomfort in other areas of the body, such as one or both arms; shortness of breath, perspiration, nausea and/or lightheadedness. In the event any of these symptoms occur it is imperative to call 911 immediately for help.
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