Vitamins and minerals are found in foods and they are vital to the proper functioning of the body. Some of the most important vitamins are Vitamins A, C, and D.

Vitamin A is crucial for maintaining healthy bones, teeth, skin, mucous membrane and eyesight. It is also an antioxidant and it may help to lessen the risk of some cancers. It also aids in boosting the immune system.

Deficiency in vitamin A has been linked to night blindness, dry skin, and dry eyes among other things. There are also dangers of getting too much vitamin A. An excess of vitamin A can lead to headaches, nausea and can cause rashes to form on the skin.

Great Food Sources of Vitamin A are:

•         carrots and carrot juice

•         sweet potatoes and pumpkin

•         spinach and kale

•         cantaloupe

•         sweet bell peppers

•         collard greens

•         liver

•         milk, cheese and egg yolk

Vitamin C helps with the creation of collagen which is a vital protein that increases the ability to absorb iron in the body. Vitamin C is also critical to the proper structure of bones and teeth. In some studies have proven that Vitamin C  reduces the effects of the common cold, but it does not cure the common cold.

Human beings do not have the ability to create Vitamin C in their bodies, so it must be consumed through foods that are rich in Vitamin C. A deficiency in vitamin C can cause certain aliments such as bruising, bleeding and can render the body helpless against fighting off infection. An excess of Vitamin C can cause diarrhea and nosebleeds among other things.

Great Food Sources of Vitamin C are:

•         Red and Yellow Bell Pepper

•         Kiwi and grapefruit

•         Broccoli and Brussels sprouts

•         Strawberries and raspberries

•         Oranges, tangerines and lemons

•         Cauliflower, Spinach and cabbage

Vitamin D is important to the proper structure of bones, and it helps to improve the immune system. It also aids the heart by keeping it beating normally. When the skin is exposed to sunlight, human beings do create vitamin D particularly in ultraviolent sunlight.

Vitamin D deficiency can cause tooth decay, weakness in muscles, bone pain, muscle spasms as well as many other problems. It is a good idea to take in as much sunlight as you can and if you do not get a lot of sun taking a vitamin D supplement is recommend.

There is a slight danger to taking too much Vitamin D. Too much Vitamin D can cause a loss of appetite, tiredness and can damage the kidneys, but Vitamin D overdosing is extremely rare.

Great Food Sources of Vitamin D are:

•         liver

•         salmon

•         tuna

•         Sardines

•         milk which is fortified

•         Egg yolk

Vitamins are extremely important to maintaining good health. A consultation with a physician or health expert is highly recommend before starting any vitamin regimen to ensure the proper doses are being met especially if the taking of Vitamin A, C and D supplements are involved.
By Lisa Arnold for Mark Trotter of Yo Naturals Vending Machines

Author: Grant Segall

Organic food has long been a primary choice for many people but in the past several years, this type of food has been given far more attention. As you are about to discover, organic food offers tremendous benefit. Although typically a little higher priced than inorganic food, the advantages are worth the investment. If looking for a healthier diet, a way to lose weight, improve health, and feel better overall, then perhaps organic food would be an excellent alternative.

Organic food is food grown without the use of any chemicals. Typically, a garden is grown using pesticides, fungicides, and other harsh chemicals but with organic food, everything is natural. The same is true for organic meat. Rather than the animals being shot up with mediation and steroids, the animals are fed a healthy grain diet, while raised in large open spaces. As you can see, organic food means clean food that has not been contaminated.

One of the first things that people notice when switching to organic food is the taste, which is much better than inorganic foods. For instance, if you were to taste a tomato grown completely organic versus one grown inorganically, you would notice a much firmer skin, juicier inside, and sweeter taste. No matter what type of food, all organic food has a much better flavor since it has not been altered with chemicals.

The most obvious advantage to choosing organic food is the safety factor. With pesticides and other chemicals being sprayed on inorganic food, even when the food is washed, some of the chemicals are consumed. The bottom line is that 90% of all fungicides and 30% of all insecticides are potentially cancer-causing agents. Therefore, choosing inorganic is a much better option in that these harmful chemicals are not entering the body.

Finally, if you plan to grow organic food, you will be doing your family a huge favor while also helping the environment. Since you would not use chemicals, any water runoff is clean. Additionally, soil is not being contaminated by the harsh chemicals. That means you can enjoy delicious food that is healthy while also doing something great for the environment.

Author: Aditi Joshi

Much of the writing on diet and nutrition is more than just informational. It often veers into the realm of values and ethics, recommendations about what you should (or should not) do. Nowhere is this more evident than in discussions of organic food. But, while advocates can reasonably debate the pros and cons of an organic food lifestyle, it’s beneficial not to lose sight of the objective science that can support either view.

What Is Organic Food?

In one sense, the phrase ‘organic food’ is redundant. If it isn’t organic (in the sense that science uses that term: a compound based on carbon) it isn’t food. Clearly, something else is meant by ‘organic’, in this case.

The generally agreed-on definition is: food grown and marketed without man-made chemicals, such as certain types of pesticides, or ones that don’t contain artificial preservatives.

But given how pesticides and preservatives are made today - from a wide range of substances often found in raw nature - the line is a little fuzzy. Many pesticides, for example, are extracts of plants that contain chemicals that naturally fight insect invasion. Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to regard organic food as that grown substantially without a wide range of inorganic pesticides and preservatives used in mass-scale food production.

Is It Better?

Organic food is generally more expensive, anywhere from 50-100% more in most cases. For those who place a high value on the purity and healthfulness of what they consume, it may well be worth the difference. But is organic food actually purer or healthier?

Unfortunately, there is no single correct answer that applies to all organic (or non-organic) food available on the market today.

Some organic farms take great care to ensure that their food is grown to maximize nutrients, minimize harmful compounds and is delivered fresh. Others may use manure as fertilizer that can introduce E. Coli bacteria into the food that can only be destroyed by cooking.

Organic food producers often tout the lack of pesticides used as proof that their food is healthier than that produced by large industrial farms. And, indeed, that can be true. Thousands of reliable studies done over decades show that high levels of inorganic compounds found in some pesticides increase the risk of a variety of cancers.

But it’s also true that the USDA has set levels for allowable concentrations of pesticide residue in food sold to the public. There is no evidence that, at the concentrations allowed (and frequently measured for compliance), there are harmful health effects. All food sold, ‘inorganic’ and ‘organic’, must meet stringent criteria before it can be legally sold to the public.

Apart from potential toxin levels, are there differences in the nutrition levels of inorganic versus organic food? There, the jury is even more mixed.

A French study that analyzed 12 different foods showed that organic foods contained higher quantities of Vitamins A, B-complex, C, E and essential minerals such as zinc and calcium. Another recent study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition had similar results. Mineral content of organic apples, pears and others had lower levels of heavy metals than those grown by non-organic methods.

Yet processed food is often fortified with vitamins that the ‘natural’ food may lack to some degree. Cereals are a case in point. Commercially produced orange juice is another.

Author:  Peter Salazar

With all the emphasis laid on the great impact of stress and pollution affecting our health, a very positive rage has started: that of organic food. The preoccupation to lower toxins to the minimum is only competed by the effort to have food intakes that contain enough vitamins and enzymes. However, nutrient deficiencies resulting from the lack of organic minerals in our meals, keep affecting millions of people who develop metabolic health problems every day.

Conclusive studies and research have come to show that even if we include all the essential nutrients in our meals, their consumption or even elimination rate is much accelerated due to external factors such as pollutants, stressors, drugs, injuries or sickness. The body needs of a person from the beginning of the 20th century would be a lot less demanding if compared to anyone from our days. Let’s take a clear and suggestive example.

You have a urinary infection let’s say, and use antibiotics for seven days in a row; chances are that when you complete the treatment, you may have developed an yeast infection. Even if you eat nutrient dense food with all the organic minerals, vitamins and enzymes necessary to the body, their absorption is highly limited because of yeast outgrowth. You will need to increase the amount of nutrients with the help of natural supplements in order to bring the body back on track.

Anyone can notice when something is missing from the diet; any craving of whatever kind is a clear sign the body urges for a nutrient. Usually people try to satisfy the craving by eating more calories including fat and sugar, thus continuing to ruin their health on a regular basis. For instance lack of organic minerals such as zinc weakens the immune system and makes you an easy prey to infections; or selenium deficiencies are manifest in cancer, premature aging, and cystic fibrosis.