OPC 3

In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier was leading an expedition up the St. Lawrence River. Trapped by bad weather, Cartier and his crew were forced to survive on a ration of salted meat and biscuits. Cartier's crew began to suffer from severe deficiency of vitamin C and showed symptoms of scurvy. Many crewmembers died before the surviving members encountered a friendly Native American who saved most of their lives. He told them to make a tea from the bark and needles of the pine tree to cure their malady. They complied and, as a result, Cartier and many crewmembers survived.

Some 400 years later, Professor Jacques Masquelier of the University of Bordeaux, France, read a book by Cartier detailing their expedition. He concluded that pine bark not only contained some vitamin C, but obviously was a good source of bioflavonoids, whose effects are similar to those of vitamin C. Further studies and research revealed that the pine bark contained an array of proanthocyanidins complexes. These compounds were also found in a variety of plants, including grape seeds, cranberries, peanut skin, lemon tree bark and citrus rinds. Masquelier termed the active ingredients of the pine bark "pycnogenols", which today are referred to in the scientific community as oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or OPCs. 

Benefits of OPC-3:

Demonstrates anti-inflammatory activity

Powerful free radical scavenger

Supports cardiovascular health

Helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels

Helps maintain healthy circulation by strengthening capillaries, arteries, and veins

Supports healthy blood vessel dialation by promoting healthy nitric oxide levels

Supports healthy platelet activity

Helps maintain joint flexibility

Helps reduce mild menstrual cramping and abdominal pain

Helps support visual health and acuity

Supports a healthy complexion

Supports healthy blood glucose levels

Supports sperm quality

Why Do You Need Probiotics?

Probiotics are the 'good' bacteria that live in your gut. And like all things in the body, there is a delicate balance that must be maintained to keep you healthy. A poor diet, alcohol, prescription drugs, traveling, frequent illnesses, antibiotics, and aging are some of the factors that can create probiotic deficiency in your body. 

Some symptoms of probiotic deficiency can include bad breath, frequent colds or illnesses, indigestion, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation, gas, nausea, fatigue, IBS, and yeast infections.

We get our first good dose of probiotics during vaginal birth, and then through breast milk. This gives our digestive tracts a healthy start. 

Probiotics are essential to helping us digest foods and helping us absorb the nutrients in our foods.

Probiotic benefits:

• provides beneficial bacteria to help maintain optimal bacterial balance
• promotes a strong immune system
• promotes bowel regularity and stomach comfort
• promotes colon health
• supports a healthy gastrointestinal tract
• supports healthy teeth
• supports a healthy urinary tract
• supports the body's normal resistance to yeast
• supports a healthy upper digestive tract 

It is important to supplement with probiotics to ensure that your body is functioning optimally.  We offer our patients high quality Innate Choice probiotics as a healthy lifestyle option!

Vitamin D - A Very Versatile Vitamin!

Vitamin D is our product of the month at Complete Wellness Chiropractic, and for very good reason!  With decreased daylight due to weather and the shortened winter days, it becomes necessary to supplement our bodies when we can't naturally produce this vitamin. 

Did you know that Vitamin D helps...
Heart health
Cell formation and cell longevity
Skin health
Pancreatic health
Aging process
Sleep patterns
Hearing
Reproductive health
Athletic performance
Eye health
Vascular system health
Respiratory health
Immune health
Healthy mood and feelings of well-being
Weight management
Hair and hair follicles
Strong and healthy bones, because vitamin D encourages calcium uptake
Muscles
Proper digestion and food absorption

Vitamin D plays such an important role in keeping our bodies functioning properly that supplementation becomes necessary when our bodies cannot produce enough. Whether you just need a boost for your mood or immune system, our office offers both liquid and powder forms to put you on the right track towards health!


A NOTE ON SUNLIGHT AND VITAMIN D:
To produce Vitamin D, your body has to absorb UVB rays from the sun. The problem is that UVA rays (which cause more damage to your skin than UVB) make up most of our UV sunlight exposure and do NOT help your body to produce Vitamin D. Exposure to sunlight can cause other numerous problems, but if you are determined to get your Vitamin D sufficiency from the sun, here a few guidelines:
     -you'll get the necessary UVB rays between 10am and 2pm (varies according to latitude)
     -40% of your skin should be exposed for optimal Vitamin D output ( "torso produces the 
        most, legs and arms some, hands and face very little or none at all")
     -skin pigmentation does affect the length of time needed in the sun (15 min for fair 
        skin and up to 1.5 hours for darker skin)
      -for people under the age of 20 and over the age of 60, it can take up to 4x as long for 
        Vitamin D synthesis
      -sunscreen with an SPF as low as 8 can block up to 95% of Vitamin D production
     -being in Fort Mill we are able to get UVB rays all year round, but anything north of 40  
        degrees latitude will have certain months where Vitamin D production is not possible
     -higher altitudes (mountains) have more UVB exposure
     -cloud cover and air pollution filter out some UVB rays
     -glass filters out UVB rays completely but NOT UVA rays

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-to-get-your-vitamin-d/uvb-exposure-sunlight-and-indoor-tanning/ 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/04/03/vitamin-d-grant.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/02/23/vitamin-d-part-five.aspx

http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/Tanning/ucm116425.htm

THE SCIENCE AND ADVANTAGE OF ISOTONIX

A quick article that explains some of the reasons we use and support these supplements in our office!

Healthy supplementation is about more than just ingredients; it’s about delivery and absorption.  
by Dr. Jim Wilmer

The Advantage

When we eat food, drink a beverage, or ingest most nutritional supplements, the stomach must secrete diluting juices, enzymes, hydrochloric acid and at least one vitamin-binding protein to begin the process of digestion. This process requires both energy and time — about 40 minutes or more, depending on the size of the meal. Isotonix products are delivered into the small intestine nutritionally concentrated, maximizing the opportunity for absorption of nutrients across cell membranes.

What Is Isotonic?
Isotonix® is a word, and that’s all to a lot of people. What does it mean? Broken down to its roots, “iso” means “the same” and “tonic” means “pressure” or “tone.” When isotonic is used to describe solutions for human consumption, it means having the same fluid pressure as body fluids. Tears, blood, plasma, lymph and other body fluids are all isotonic.

When we ingest food, gastric (or stomach) juice is secreted onto the food and muscular contractions of the stomach mix the contents until a reasonably uniform solution is achieved. The solutions of food (or chyme) that enter the small intestine for absorption are made isotonic by the action of the stomach in a time-consuming process. The fluid pressure of food or isotonic solutions across semi-permeable membranes, such as the walls of the small intestine, is generally referred to as having a particular osmolarity or tonicity. It can be said that when solutions on opposite sides of the membrane have the same osmolarity, they are iso-osmotic or iso-tonic. Normal human blood serum (the fluid portion without cells and platelets) has an osmolarity of 288mOs/kg, as do most other fl uids in the body. Therefore, in physiological terms, when a solution’s osmolarity is the same, or nearly the same, as that of normal human blood serum, it is referred to as isotonic.

Gastric Emptying Time

Why is gastric emptying so important? The answer is simply this: the longer the supplements stay in the stomach, the longer the time before absorption can begin, because no appreciable absorption occurs from the stomach. Why is gastric emptying time stressed when talking about Isotonix? Because the fastest emptying time occurs when isotonic solutions enter the stomach. When the biological sensors in the gastrointestinal tract detect that the ingested solution is isotonic and at a correct pH, the pyloric or duodenal valve at the lower end of the stomach remains open and the solution is squirted into the small intestine. Absorption of the nutrients by the intestinal mucosa then starts to occur.

Concentration and Absorption

Concentration and absorption are factors that go hand in hand for the proper use of nutritional supplements. Concentration, the amount of nutrient dissolved in a given amount of solution, is directly related to the efficiency of nutritional absorption. It is known that the greater the concentration (as milligrams of nutrient per milliliter of solution at the absorption site), the greater the rate and amount of absorption. Because Isotonix solutions experience little dilution in the gastrointestinal tract, they arrive at the absorption sites in high concentration to assure effi cient absorption. Isotonix®

Jim L. Wilmer, Ph. D. is Chief Science Officer at Market America and has been employed by the company for over 15 years. He earned a doctorate from Cornell University in environmental toxicology (1991), a master of science in biolog y from East Tennessee State University (1974), and a bachelor of science from Wofford College (1972). Dr. Wilmer has 44 peer-reviewed publications in journals, including Cancer Research, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Mutation Research, Environmental Mutagenesis, Cell Biology and Toxicology, Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics, Angiology, and Phytotherapy Research.

article taken from http://maisotonix.blogspot.com/2012/01/science-and-advantage-of-isotonix.html