Garlic Supplement: How Can You Benefit

If you aren't getting garlic in your daily diet, you are missing out on some great health benefits. The other side of that is if you prefer to take garlic in supplement form, you need to do your homework and find a brand that processes it in a way that doesn't destroy the nutrients - or add unwanted chemicals during the processing.

Garlic may have more universal recognition than any other herb that is in use today, anywhere in the world. Some of us cook a lot with garlic and then many of us either don't like to handle it or for some reason simply don't use it much in their recipes.

Garlic History

Garlic is a member of the lily family and has been prized for over 5000 years, dating back to Egyptian pharoahs and ancient Chinese emperors who treasured it for its health benefits. Did you know that Egyptian slaves received a daily ration so they could continue to build their pyramids? The garlic bulb has been handed down through the centuries as a preventive medicine and cure-all that many medieval folk healers claimed would even ward off vampires, witches, and other unwanted imaginary creatures. 

Daily usage of garlic supports your body in ways that no other herb does. The strong odor of garlic is primarily due to the allicin in it and sulfur containing compounds that account for most of its medicinal properties. Research studies have shown that the potency and the effectiveness of garlic is greatly affected by the processing method. This is why we suggest doing your homework on a garlic supplement before taking one. The brands that deodorize improperly, such as drying garlic in the sun for 18 months or using chemicals like alcohol can product products that are significantly less effective in terms of the health benefits they will provide.

In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers show that eating garlic appears to boost our natural supply of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is actually poisonous at high concentrations — it’s the same noxious byproduct of oil refining that smells like rotten eggs. But the body makes its own supply of the stuff, which acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/unlocking-the-benefits-of-garlic/

A little history about garlic being associated with broad spread anti microbial activity against bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi and also quite impressive for a little bulb:   all the way back in the mid 1800's, Louis Pasteur noted its antibiotic properties and Albert Schweitzer, MD, treated with it in Africa. In studies the anti microbial effects were compared to commonly used antibiotics including penicillin, azithromycin and tetracycline. The same studies demonstrated efficacy in inhibiting the growth of some bacteria that had become resistant to one or more of the usual antibiotics.

Garlic Benefits

As an anti-fungal, garlic has been shown to be more potent that several of the prescription anti-fungals. Herbalists recommend garlic for specific ailments like:  colds (especially recurring), coughs, flu, chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, ringworm, asthma, intestinal worms, fever, and digestive, gall bladder and liver disorders.

Garlic is the most beneficial in the prevention and treatment of heart disease, including providing several actions that help reduce total serum cholesterol while increasing HDL - the good cholesterol. HDL is a protective factor against heart disease.  

Garlic has been shown to help decrease systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people with high blood pressure and help reduce the risks of heart attacks in people who have heart disease.

Garlic is the best anti-clotting herb, with 9 different anticoagulant compounds.

It can help with altitude sickness.

It helps babies nurse better.

The anti-inflammatory action helps reduce the inflammation of arthritis.

Garlic can be used to treat yeast infections.

Do You Need Garlic?

Given all the health benefits and medicinal properties of garlic, it is an herb that everyone might want to consume every day. Most of the studies associated with garlic for health purposes are based on having 3 to 8 cloves per day. That might seem like a lot to you. Like anything that is healthy, some is better than none.

The Shaklee supplement, Garlic Complex, includes garlic that has not been deodorized, so the potency and effectiveness of the ingredients is strong. The rosemary and spearmint that are included in the formulation mask the odor so that people who eat Shaklee garlic can be close to you without being offensive! Two tablets are equivalent to one clove of garlic.

 

Stress Remedy: herbal benefits for stress relief

Is stress affecting your quality of life? The stress remedy we are going to discuss today is an herbal blend that can be taken daily, or if you are one of the lucky ones that has only occasional stress – it can be taken on an as-needed basis. Most people can feel the effects in 30 minutes or less.

Stress is one of the #1 complaints that doctors hear about and that you might hear about in your daily conversations. The American Medical Association says that most Americans are under stress 97% of the time. So chances are that you feel stress.

The AMA also says that 100% of all degenerative disease are directly related to the stress in our bodies. Pharmacists regularly dispense prescription medications for stress such as tranquilizers and other anti- anxiety drugs.

Natural Stress Relief Solutions

There are different herbs that have anti-stress properties and that help you relax without causing drowsiness. When Shaklee makes an herbal product, their team of scientists go out and find several of these herbs, or nutrients, that will work together. That almost sounds simple but in reality, these scientists may spend years researching to find the ingredients and develop the product.

They have to secure high quality sources of ingredients, they have to get the formula ‘just right’ so that it will be absorbed by your body in a way that will product the intended effect. When you use more than one ingredient with similar properties, it can make all of the ingredients work better than any of them would work on their own.

This way that Shaklee formulates products is what I think sets them apart because people can really feel the difference in their bodies.. we get results! So what four herbs make up Shaklee’s natural stress relief herbal?

Shaklee chose the 4 different herbal ingredients in Stress Relief Complex for very specific reasons:


1- L-theanine is a unique amino acid that is found in green tea that facilitates the generation of alpha waves that are associated with a relaxed yet alert mental state. It helps increase this alpha wave activity for mental and physical relaxation, and most impressively produces relaxation ‘without drowsiness’.

L-theanine may help with some other important healthy concerns like lowering blood pressure/=, improving learning performance, heightening mental acuity, promoting concentration, and acting as caffeine antagonist. It also supports the immune system, and has absolutely NO downside as a supplement. That’s not what can be said about many anti-anxiety drugs.

2-Ashwagandha is an herb that has tradition for enhancing your body’s ability to adapt to stress by diminishing both mental and physical stress and exhaustion. It has been used for more than 2000 years as a rejuvenating tonic to boost strength, stamina and vigor.

Other properties of Ashwagandha include calming you mind, countering stress and anxiety, helping you relax – again, without drowsiness.

3- Beta-Sitosterol is a a natural plant sterol that helps blunt the response of cortisol, a hormone that is produced in your body during physical stress. Chronic high levels of cortisol in your body have a negative association with long-term good health.

It also helps boost your immune function by blunting this cortisol response. Some stress in your life is healthy, though a lot of stress can be unhealthy. But it’s not the stress that is hurting the body – it’s the cortisol. Plus, common ways to relieve stress are through behaviors such as drinking, smoking or overeating that all present their own health risks.

When we are able to blunt cortisol we can tolerate stress better. Also cortisol is involved with diet -it makes your body want to store fat. The history of the way this works goes back many years and is part of the fight or flight syndrome which produces the famine effect (thus the need to store fat). This is not really the way we live now – we don’t hunt food (occasionally) and we have a lot more everyday stress in our lives today.

So by blunting cortisol you can get the side benefit of reducing your body’s desire to store fat, which makes this herb an appropriate part of a weight loss or weight management diet.

4- L-tyrosene is an amino acid that your body uses to make the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, and is important because it is related to our feeling of well-being, and scientists have discovered through studies that levels of these transmitters decline with stress.

L-tyrosene can help elevate your mood, counter depression, reduce stress, fight chronic fatigue, stimulate your libido, boost your brain function, suppress your appetite, and help reduce body fat. It may encourage your thyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands to function normally. Deficiency in L-tyrosene may result in depression and reduce your ability to cope with stress.

The combination of these four herbs is a very unique formula, and the result of extensive scientific research and development to get the right balance of ingredients that work most effectively in your body. And not only does Stress Relief Complex help you relieve stress and the bad effect it has on the body, but it also helps increase alertness and give you more energy.

Who would benefit from taking a natural stress relief herb, that has no side effects, like Shaklee Stress Relief Complex?

People who might benefit from a natural stress remedy: working women with children, working men with children(!), anyone who is working!!, people who feel pressure with their jobs such as those that have public speaking components or demanding deadlines to meet, athletes, entertainers and anyone in the public eye who might like some natural stress relief to take the edge off. Last consideration: today more than ever, people are experiencing increased stress due to recent economic or security concerns.

To learn more about Stress Relief Complex and natural stress relief along with more alertness and energy, visit: STRESS REMEDY.

Nutrition For Circulation

Are you confused about using natural herbs? There are quite a few and they can help with many different health challenges. We are going to break that down for you with a new series of articles about herbs.

Would you rather add life to your years, rather than simply years to your life? Herbs have been used for many years to help people do just that!

Some herbs are great for daily use and others are used for special occasions or for special people. Some you should not take at all if there can be an interaction with a health condition you may have or a medication you are taking.

Herb for Circulation

The first herbs we will feature are for circulation. One thing you will find as we go forward is that we usually talk about a group of herbs together. That's because Shaklee (almost) always has more than one herb together in a single product.

Shaklee uses their scientists and research teams to find herbs that complement each other so that when used together in your body, you get better results.

Is there any bodily process more important to life than circulation? Think about it: proper function of respiration, circulation, metabolism, and elimination all depend on proper blood flow throughout the body. Your brain represents just 2% of your body's weight and yet it can require up to 20% of the nutrients you consume.

Studies show that there is a 70% decrease in blood flow in the body between the ages of 50 and 70 years. Herbs that can help circulation, and in turn, all of these body processes can make a difference in your quality of life.

Help for Poor Circulation

Shaklee Mental Acuity Plus is a Shaklee herbal formula that helps improve circulation to the brain. There are five different herbs plus some supporting b vitamins in the formula.

Ginko (biloba) is the main ingredient. According to the the German Commission E (an internationally recognized authority on natural products and herbal remedies), Ginko is approved for 3 primary clinical conditions:

1. memory deficit (disturbances in concentration, depressive emotional condition, dizziness, tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and headache)
2. improvement of distance and pain-free walking in peripheral artery disease, and
3. vertigo (dizziness)

Ginko can help with hearing loss due to the increased circulation to the nerves that are critical to hearing. There are no known side effects or any known interactions with medications - that's good since pretty much anyone should be able to take it and important to know because as people age they start taking various medications and look for herbs that won't interact with their meds.

To support Ginko, Shaklee chose 4 complimentary herbs:

1. Hawthorn since it acts as a cardio tonic, cardio protective agent for prevention of heart disease, can help lower blood pressure and prevent atherosclerosis (buildup of fat in the arteries that compromises blood flow to the brain)
2. Bilberry for its history in helping primarily with the eyes (can help improve night vision, catarcats, glaucoma, retinopathy and circulatory disorders in the eye)
3. Gotu Kola that is effective for improved memory, overcoming stress and fatigue, overcoming a feeling of heaviness in the lower limbs, night cramps and spider veins. Gotu Kola is a favorite snack of elephants and we all know that elephants live forever
4. Rosemary for its antioxidant properties - it has more than a dozen antioxidants. Rosemary has value in preventing alzheimers, and has such a reputation for improving memory that it is known as the 'herb of remembrance'

There is one last component of Mental Acuity Plus: B vitamins to help promote the formation of healthy red blood cells that will more efficiently carry nutrients throughout your improved circulatory system!

To learn more about an exclusive formula of herbs and nutrients that can be help for poor circulation, visit: Nutrition for Circulation.

Best Diet Supplements: Do Your Homework

Best Diet Supplements is a term widely searched by people. We've come a long way since our brand, the Shaklee Corporation started in 1956. Long before that, in the 1920's, Dr. Shaklee was pioneering the wellness industry when he discovered 'vitalized minerals' and made these vitamins for his patients. This was one doctor, in one practice, starting a revolution.

Back then vitamin was not a household word like today. It's taken a long time for the world to catch up with what Dr. Shaklee believed way back then: that natural nutrition can help the body heal and build better health. That belief has only recently been proven in Shaklee's long-term (20 year) landmark supplement study (Shaklee is the only brand to ever do a long term study like this).

Below is a recent communication withing the Shaklee family, from our Health Sciences Department that keeps us up to date with health and wellness science and research, and keeps us healthy with the #1 Natural Nutrition Company (in the United States) high quality food supplements.

We really do have to be in charge of our own good health and be proactive in looking for reputable information and ways to build better health so that we enjoy a great quality of life.



Good News Doesn't Always Make the Headlines.

When you think about supplementing your diet with vitamin packs, minerals, herbal remedies and other natural nutrients, you can think of it as insurance so that you are covered when your diet doesn't provide all of your nutrition needs, and with all the science and research that is being delivered to us, you can also count on these vitamins to give you better health.

I’d like to take a few moments of your time to provide some perspective on recent media attention to supplementation. It can be challenging to know what to trust, and we urge you to critically read articles about health and vitamins before assuming their validity - just as you would for any other reports from the Internet, a newspaper or the evening news.

Each year, hundreds of positive studies about nutrients and supplementation are published, the vast majority of which never make the news. Some examples of recently published clinical studies that have shown positive health outcomes include:

• Calcium and vitamin D for osteoporosis prevention
• Folic acid for preventing progression of cervical dysplasia, which are precancerous changes in the cells that line the cervix
• Omega-3 fatty acids for reducing the risk of sudden death in people with existing heart disease
• Vitamins C, E , beta carotene and zinc for reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration

Just recently, a study from the Netherlands showed positive metabolic effects in obese men taking resveratrol for as little as 30 days.

That’s good news, but it’s really only a very small part of it. And focusing on the positive contributions of dietary supplements is not only good for the people who use them, but for all of us. The Lewin Group, a healthcare consulting firm, actually estimated the U.S. could save $24 billion over 5 years if our elderly used a few basic nutritional supplements.

We are very committed to contributing to a broader understanding of nutrition and supplementation. Our dedication to clinical and scientific research separates Shaklee from the competition and has resulted in over 100 scientific papers—90 of them published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Recent examples of Shaklee sponsored studies are:

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism study from February, 2011, “A Resveratrol and Polyphenol blend suppresses the oxidative and inflammatory stress response to a high fat, high carbohydrate meal”

Our vitamin D intervention study published August, 2011 in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition entitled “Effects of Vitamin D supplementation on 25(OH)Vitamin D, HDL Cholesterol and other cardiovascular risk markers in subjects with elevated waist circumference”

Visit www.clinicals.shaklee.com for more information and to see our most recently published studies.

A great way for you to read more about these and other studies and to receive regular updates on the latest research published on nutrition, supplements and health, is to bookmark this page and come back often.

I sincerely believe that each of us has the choice to make an ongoing commitment to a healthy lifestyle, and include natural nutrition supplements as part of our diet every day because they have been proven to work. To learn more about that proof, visit the Landmark Supplement Study.

All the best to you on your journey to a longer and healthier life.

Be well!

To incorporate Shaklee supplements into your daily healthy lifestyle, feel free to contact me or visit Have Good Health For Life.