Monthly Archive for June 2009
Move Over Fish Oil – Vegans Bring in the Spirulina
For all those vegans (and non-vegans) out there who are hesitant to supplement with fish oil there’s an even better solution for you.
It’s called spirulina and it is one of the most incredible foods our planet has to offer. Spirulina is a blue-green algae. Spirulina usually grows in waters of lakes naturally alkaline localized in arid zones.
Spirulina has unparalleled health benefits (explained later) and is an incredibly sustainable food source. For instance, according the journal Human Nature, spirulina presents a fast reproduction rate, dividing itself three times a day! Therefore, an area exclusively aimed at spirulina growth may produce 125 times more protein if compared to an area of the same size aimed at growing corn and 70 times more protein if compared to the breeding of cattle.
Furthermore, the spirulina presents some advantages in relation to other algae and seaweeds such as presenting no problems with digestion and no toxicity to humans. This can’t be said for other seaweeds such as Chlorella.
Spirulina – the omega-3 food choice for vegans!
Now let’s get to the good stuff. If you’re a vegan and looking for an alternative to fish then spirulina is what you want. This is because algaes, like spirulina, are athe original source of omega-3 fatty acids. Algaes are what small, bottom-feeding fish consume. These fish are then eaten by larger ones, and then eventually by humans. Cold water fish, which are well-known for their omega-3 fatty acids, owe their “omega-3 fame” to the consumption algaes such as spirulina, even if indirectly.
Here are some more incredible nutritional characteristics of spirulina. For starters, spirulina is the probably the highest vegetarian protein source consisting of 60-70% protein! It is also rich in chlorophyll and carotenoids, vitamins (vitamin A, especially) and tons of important minerals from deep in the seabed. An important note (especially for vegetarians and vegans) is that spirulina is a terrific source of vitamin B12 and iron.
Iron is the most common mineral deficiency in the world. Since spirulina contains high iron concentrations its bioavailability has been tested in comparison to ferrous sulfate which is the typical iron supplement. One such comparison was revealed in the journal Nutrition Research, spirulina fed rats absorbed 60% more iron than rats fed the iron supplement!
So next time someone asks you where you’re getting your protein, iron, or B12 from just tell them you’re eating an incredible blue-green powder called spirulina.
Aside from human breast milk and evening primrose oil, spirulina is the only food source rich in gamma linoleic acid (GLA). The GLA content comprises 25% of the total polyunsaturated fatty acid content of spirulina, a number that is much higher than the GLA content of evening primrose oil (only 7%)!
The Importance of GLA
GLA is essential fatty acid that has numerous benefits to the body. Along with omega-3 fatty acids, GLA has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Both are excellent skin fatty acids for preventing and treating eczema, psoriasis, wrinkles, rashes and more. Research has confirmed that GLA has positive effects in breast cancer treatment; they enhance lubrication in those with Sjogren’s syndrome; help relieve PMS symptoms, breast pain, skin conditions (including eczema and psoriasis, and wrinkles), and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children; improve cardiovascular health, mental health; and much more!
A British study published in 2000 observed women who had locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer (when cancer cells spread elsewhere in the body). They found that women with breast cancer who were taking Tamoxifen (a drug that blocks estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer) and received GLA demonstrated faster clinical response than those taking Tamoxifen alone. Study participants received 3 grams of GLA. The researchers concluded that GLA was a useful adjunct to primary Tamoxifen treatment with no serious side effects: “… this study suggests high-dose oral GLA to be a valuable new agent in the treatment of hormone-sensitive breast cancer.”
Spirulina’s Effects on Blood Lipids and Cholesterol
Numerous studies on rats have shown that spirulina has powerful effects on blood lipids and cholesterol. Almost all these studies show a reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol, triglycerides, and fat deposits in the arteries upon consuming spirulina.
A human study investigating the cholesterol-lowering effect of spirulina published in Nutrition Reports International looked at 30 male volunteers who had mild hyperlipidemia and mild hypertension. They were divided into two groups. Group A subjects were given spirulina at 4.2 g/day and group B subjects the same amount of spirulina for 4 weeks and, then were observed for the next 4 weeks without spirulina.
The results showed a statistically significant reduction of LDL-cholesterol in Group A subjects after 8 weeks. The LDL-cholesterol also fell significantly in Group B subjects after 4 weeks of spirulina consumption, but thereafter increased to its baseline value after administration of spirulina was discontinued.
Anti-Cancer and Anti-Radioactive Properties of spirulina
Several animal studies have shown that spirulina inhibits tumor and protects the body from cancer propagation.
There are also unpublished reports from scientists and doctors about the radioprotective effect of spirulina in experiments conducted on child victims of the Chernobyl radiation. In a study involving 49 children, 3-7 years old, in Beryozovka, administration of spirulina for 45 days resulted in an increase in T-cell suppressors and beneficial hormones. In addition, the radioactivity of the urine decreased in 83% of the children!
These are just some of the powerful benefits and healing powers possessed by spirulina. So whether or not you supplement with fish oil, I would highly recommend spirulina as an addition to your diet for lifelong health, strength, and vigor!
References:
Furst PT. Spirulina – a nutricious alga, once a staple of Aztec diet, could feed many of the world hungry people. Human Nature 1978;3:60.
Nakaya N, Honma Y, Goto Y (1988) Cholesterol lowering effect of Spirulina Nutr. Rep. Int. 37: 1329-1337.
Johnson P, Shubert LE (1986) Availability of iron to rats from Spirulina, a blue-green alga. Nutr. Res. 6: 85-94.
How to Get the Best Motorcycle Insurance Quotes
If you are thinking of getting a motorcycle, you may want to hold off until you find out about getting insurance for that hog. The price to insure a motorcycle is much different than the price of regular car insurance.
A good part of this reason relates to the danger that goes along with motorcycle ownership. Motorcycles are considered much more dangerous than cars for many reasons including that those riding them are much more likely to try to speed or show off as well as the chance for injury is much higher if there is an accident.
So before you start putting money out on a bike, you need to sort out what you will pay for insurance, and if some of your bike purchasing decisions can bring that price down.
What Bike to Buy
The first thing you need to understand is that an insurance company will look at the correlation between your skill with a motorcycle and the bike you are buying when you are looking for insurance. This is something that is a little different than auto insurance.
If you are beginner in riding, you should be getting a bike that is appropriate for your experience, not something that is well out of your power range. The insurance company will take a look at what you are considering buying and get a pretty good idea if you are going to have a problem handling it. If they think you are, you are going to pay substantially more in insurance premiums.
Go Bike Shopping
You need to do some comparison-shopping for bikes at this point. Make a list of pros and cons of the bikes you like as well as the insurance costs. Often the dealerships will be able to give you an idea of which ones are easier to insure.
You should also look somewhere like consumer reports as they will give you a run down of the safety ratings, which insurance companies also look at.
Take Classes
Even if you think you know what you are doing on a bike, you should take a few classes to make sure. Most motorcycle dealerships offer motorcycle riding and safety courses.
These are good for more than just your safety. Just like car insurance companies like those who have taken safe driving courses, those offering motorcycle insurance will be much happier if you have taken safety classes, as they will think you are working to be a little more careful, and therefore less of a risk to yourself and others.
Another great reason to take motorcycle safety classes is that if you haven’t bought a bike yet, a dealership will often let you use some of their bikes for your classes, which will give you an idea of how the bikes feel as well.
Steve Sikes is an MBA and writes articles on insurance and other financial products. To read other educational articles on insurance at the InsuredItAll Learning Center or to get free insurance quotes for auto, home, health, life or long term care insurance, you will want to visit www.InsuredItAll.com
Using Weight Training To Lose Weight
When using weight training to lose weight it is important to look at things from an holistic perspective. You have to think about all aspects of health to get the bigger picture so when using training of this sort there are other factors for you to bear in mind.
There is no way that any level of success can be guaranteed if you do not look at different things that affect your lifestyle such as what you eat and how much water you choose to drink. Getting hydration levels just right is s necessary requirement for a healthy digestive system to function and helps with the transportation of nutrients internally. You are also required to get enough rest so make sure this happens.
Once you understand this then working with weights will be easier as you have covered everything else. Now you are ready to attack any regime with the intensity that is needed for results to be achieved. When you begin take time to really think about what the goals are that you wish to achieve as visualizing them usually helps you.
To get the levels of success you want maintain focus at all times and be keen and eager and willing to sweat. If this is the type of behavior that you employ results will happen fast and the process will be more enjoyable.
You can get results quite quickly if you make your workouts intense ones which have a fast pace and work on building and testing the muscles while the heart rate also gets elevated and this means it doubles up as a workout which is cardiovascular in nature. Different disciplines can be combined and this works out different muscle sets and is one of many ways in which you can get the most out of this approach.
If you have been working with light weights and have been lifting then setting them down repeatedly this is a decided waste of time and will do you no good. You need to really challenge yourself and in doing this results are more likely to follow. Try doing much fewer repetitions at heavier levels and make sure your form is good and it will work better for you.
Using exercises such as lunges and squats particularly utilizing weights alongside them you will work a lot of different groups at once and this makes them more effective and can even save you time so they are worthwhile investigating.
Are 3D TVs The Right Home Entertainment Solution For You?
There are constantly new and wonderful developments in technology, and it is the consumer electronics and home entertainment sector that has most people buzzing and looking forward to the next steps that we will see. The latest of these developments has been 3D TVs, or Stereoscopic Televisions to give them their scientific name, and with movies such as Avatar and Cloudy, With a Chance of Meatballs making the 3D experience much more appealing as well as other features like sports.
3d tv sets are much like other high definition sets apart from them having fast enough refresh rates (how quickly the image is updated on the screen) that it can process the 3D image properly. These TV sets also come with special 3D glasses that are required in order to get the desired effect; they are nothing like the old red and blue 3D glasses and allow you to see 3d images in full colour, minus the headaches people used to cite as a reason for avoiding 3D films in the past.
These glasses use special shutter technology and so will need powering via a battery; these glasses may not be enough for your family with many sets coming with just two or four pairs. Watching regular television programmes will be fine for everyone but when you are watching a 3D broadcast or movie then there may be a scramble for the glasses unless you buy extra pairs.
Whilst the effect produced is impressive for most who view these 3D sets obviously there will be some people who do not like the technology or may even feel nauseous when watching a 3D TV image, certain kinds of motion sickness can be triggered by 3D TVs so you may not be interested in one of these newer TV sets and be quite happy with a regular high definition television instead.
The introduction of these 3D TVs may actually help you when buying a new HD TV even if you don’t plan to buy a 3D TV as the price of regular high definition televisions has been lowered as the new 3D sets have come out. It is worthwhile considering looking at some 3D capable TVs when buying as they may have other features you find impressive and worthwhile investing in.
Vivitar’s Dual Dvr and Digital Camera
Digital cameras are found far and wide and offer a lot of options compared to how many were on offer even a few years back. Vivitar has gained in popularity and carries a range of sporty and versatile cameras that cater to a wide audience. Seventeen models cover everything from basic digital cameras to models that have capabilities for DVR and playing MP3s.
Vivitar made a big splash when the brand was first introduced to the celebrity mainstream. Entertainers at the MTV Music Awards and the Sundance Film Festival used Vivitar’s range of cameras. Although this has helped, they are not the only things that have stood Vivitar in such high stead. The range of affordable and good looking cameras make them a good choice for anyone looking for a new digital camera.
Underwater Fantasy
Although for most consumers, the idea of having a waterproof camera might seem a little over the top and would at the most bring up images of being protected from a heavy downpour, rather than fully-submerged. The ViviCam 6200w features a rubber seal and helps to keep it waterproof at up to 30 feet below water, making it ideal for outdoor activities, and for heavy showers.
A two inch monitor gives plenty of space to view the up to 6.0 megapixel images, rather than through the viewfinder. There is also a built-in flash, support for more memory by buying another memory card with higher capacity. There is also a range of picture editing software to allow standard pictures to be given that little extra something and to do standard edits like removing red-eye.
Vivitar DVR-530
The are three cameras in the DVR range, but the DVR-530 offers a little something extra. The standard stills camera options are all there, but included are the ability to take movies, and to listen to MP3s. The 2.5 inch screen allows viewing of pictures that can have up to a 5.0 megapixel resolution. For close-ups there is a standard 3x optical / 4x digital zoom. The video recording capabilities don’t match those of traditional video cameras, but that shouldn’t bother most people. With a large amount of video only be distributed and viewed online, there is often very little reason to have the super high quality when the final version is viewed on a computer screen.
Wide Range
The functional range of Vivitar cameras extends from 5.0 megapixels all the way up to 10 megapixels. The range follows budgetary considerations, and the top-end models will set you back a bundle. The ability to change many of the features is one of the greatest assets of the upper range models. These features are indispensable for the professional photographer. Have a look at the whole range and you’ll be sure to find something suitable.