Saturday, January 10, 2009

Vitamins are Essential for Growth


Vitamins:


Vitamins are essential for the normal growth and development of a multicellular organism. Vitamins remain essential nutrients for the healthy maintenance of the cells, tissues, and organs that make up a multicellular organism; they also enable a multicellular life form to efficiently use chemical energy provided by food it eats, and to help process the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats required for respiration.





Vitamin may refer to several vitamer compounds that all show the biological activity associated with a particular vitamin. Such a set of chemicals are grouped under an alphabetized vitamin "generic descriptor" title, such as "vitamin A," which includes the compounds retinal, retinol, and many carotenoids. Vitamers are often inter-converted in the body. The term vitamin does not include other essential nutrients such as dietary minerals, essential fatty acids, or essential amino acids, nor does it encompass the large number of other nutrients that promote health but are otherwise required less often.

The value of eating a certain food to maintain health was recognized long before vitamins were identified. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding a patient liver would help cure night blindness, an illness now known to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency.


Saturday, January 3, 2009

Weight Loss Naturally Basics



Weight loss refers to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness, health, and/or appearance. Weight loss occurs when an individual is in a state of negative energy balance. When the human body is spending more energy in work and heat than it is gaining from food or other nutritional supplements, it will use stored reserves of fat or muscle.

It is not uncommon for some people who are currently at their ideal body weight to seek additional weight loss in order to improve athletic performance.

However, others may be driven by achieving a more attractive body image. Consequently, being underweight is associated with health risks such as difficulty fighting off infection, osteoporosis, decreased muscle strength.

The least intrusive weight loss methods, and those most often recommended by physicians, are adjustments to eating patterns and increased physical exercise. Physicians will usually recommend that their overweight patients combine a reduction of the caloric content of the diet by inceasing their physical exercises.