Vitamin supplements not only provide nutritional needs, but also avoids the signs of aging. Several types of nutrients, like calcium and vitamin D, is not only useful for maintaining health, but also makes us stay young. What are the recommended supplements to maximize health and to keep us young?

Vitamin D
According to Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, a professor from Boston University School of Medicine, you can reduce your risk of colon cancer, breast and esophagus by 50 percent if you get enough vitamin D.

Vitamin D will inhibit the growth of cancer cells and activate the immune system to fight infection. The best source of vitamin D are egg yolk, fish, and foods that are fortified, such as milk and cereal. Sun exposure is also good for increasing vitamin D levels in the body.

Calcium
This mineral is essential to maintain bone strength and is required for muscle and nerve function. Lack of calcium will cause bone damage occurs more quickly than construction. In addition to bones, research shows calcium supplementation can reduce the risk of polyp formation of colon cancer.

Magnesium
Studies show magnesium deficiency is more common in older people than young people. This happens because for the older people, the body’s ability to absorb magnesium from food is reduced. In addition, medicines such as antibiotics and diuretic medicines also have the same affect. In addition to preventing diabetes, magnesium may also lower blood pressure.

Vitamin B
Several studies have shown, stroke and heart disease could be prevented if we get enough vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.  Enough of B vitamins can also help us avoid typical elder diseases, like dementia.

Here are several reasons why cucumber juice is very beneficial for anyone’s health :

Cucumber Juice is EXTREMELY good for your Hair, Skin and Nails. It Really is True.

Cucumber Juice is High In Potassium. Cucumber Juice can Lower Your Blood Pressure.

Cucumber is a wonderful source for Silica. Silica is important for healthy connective tissue, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, tendons, and bone.

Cucumber Juice has Molybdenem, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Manganese, Tryotophan, Magnesium, and Chlorophyll.

Cucumbers are a GREAT way to Cool Down Your Body.

Cucumber is Anti-Cancer in that it is VERY high in Alkaline Minerals and Cancer cannot Live in an Alkaline Body.

Cucumber Juices is also used to heal and cure issues with Acne, Water Retention, Arthritis, Kidneys, Eczema, Psoriasis, Weight Loss and Hair Loss.

Cucumber Juice is a useful Anti-Flam agent. Drinking Cucumber Juice can get Your Bodies Inflammation Down.

Cucumber Juice is a Diuretic and Therefore has wonderful Cleansing Powers.

In Conclusion, Juicing Cucumbers is a quick way to lead a pain free live, to Prevent and Reverse Cancer – High Blood Pressure and other Dis-Ease.

Potassium represents 5% percent of the total mineral content of a human body, even though only about one litre is found in the body at a time. Potassium is found in our bodies both inside and outside cells and is a very important mineral required every day to stay healthy. More than 98% of the body’s potassium is intracellular. The body easily absorbs potassium, but nearly 90% of it is excreted through the kidneys and bowels. Thus, potassium is a natural diuretic and is important for the elimination of body wastes, such as water and sodium.

Potassium is a primary electrolyte, it is a great alkalizer, and important for maintaining pH and water balance.

Benefits of potassium:

1. Along with other minerals such as sodium, chloride and calcium, potassium helps in normal cellular function, such as transmission of nerve impulses, digestion, healthy muscle contractions, proper cardiovascular functioning (heartbeat irregularities are normally a sign of potassium deficiency), and helping the body to convert glucose into glycogen (the body’s stored form of energy).

2. Potassium helps promote healthy cardiovascular health. It is strongly believed that potassium has the ability to pump sodium out of the body’s cells and reduce body fluid.

3. Potassium, along with sodium, helps to regulate blood pressure. Increasing potassium in the diet may protect against hypertension in people who are sensitive to high levels of sodium.

4. Potassium also affects blood vessel tone as well as the way blood vessels react to the flowing hormones, thus affecting pressure within blood vessels.

5. Potassium therapeutically assists in the treatment of alcoholism, acne, alleviating allergies, promoting the early healing of burns.

6. It also helps with problems such as congestive heart failure, chronic fatigue syndrome or kidney stones.

7. Potassium plays a vital role in cellular integrity by regulating the transfer of nutrients into the cell.

8. Potassium also attracts oxygen to tissues, helps correct positioning of vital organs. Potassium deficiency indicates that probably albumin, sugar, sodium, and chlorine are also in short supply or not being properly absorbed.

9. Potassium helps proper functioning of the adrenal glands. It helps support healthy sugar balance in the body.

Deficiency of potassium –

The kidneys excrete excess potassium from the body, and deficiencies are rarely found in people on a normal balanced diet. A deficiency may result in fatigue, cramping legs, muscle weakness, sluggish reflexes, acne, dry skin, mood swings and irregular heartbeat.

A shortage of potassium in body may cause a fatal condition known as hypokalemia, resulting from diarrhea, increased diuresis and vomiting. Hypokalemia can occur in people with a chronic disease or due to aging process. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness, ECG abnormalities, decreased reflex response, congestive heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia and respiratory paralysis.

If the fluid and electrolyte balance is not restored, the risk of heart failure increases.

Potassium deficiency increases acid levels in the body, lowers the natural pH balance, causes problems with the formation of connective tissue. Kidney diseases (such as acute renal failure), diabetes can also cause fluctuations in the levels of potassium. Many medications such as diuretics, cortisone, prolonged use of aspirin, and laxatives also cause depletion of potassium.

Dietary sources of potassium:

Eating a variety of foods that contain potassium is the best way to get the required amount. Individuals who eat a balanced diet do not need potassium supplements. Foods, which are rich sources of potassium include turnips, whole grains, molasses, fish, citrus fruit, apple cider vinegar, bananas, avocados, yoghurt, tomatoes, poultry, oranges, apricots, potatoes (especially their skins), leafy green vegetables such as spinach, lettuce; and meat. One large orange will supply one with 250 mg of potassium, one-eighth of a person’s daily need. Dried apricots contain more potassium than fresh apricots.

Steaming of foods helps to retain nutrients that are lost through other cooking techniques such as boiling (loss of about 50% of potassium content). Steaming results in only a 6% loss of potassium.

Recommended Daily Allowance of potassium:

There is no recommended daily allowance (RDA) for potassium, but it is advised to get between 2,000-3,000 mg per day. The range of intake for children is 780 to 1,600 mg per day.

This is not difficult, and most people meet this requirement on their own through a normal diet. In general, nutritionists recommend reducing salt intake and ensuring adequate supply by increasing the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables in the diet.

If one is into bodybuilding, he must increase the potassium intake, since potassium is needed to maintain muscles in good form, and also because potassium is lost from excessive sweating and urine.

Symptoms of high intake of potassium:

Excessive potassium can be toxic and will affect the heart. This is a problem especially when one is suffering from some problem such as kidney failure. Irregular heart beat and muscle fatigue is sign of toxic potassium levels. In healthy people, the kidneys in the urine excrete excess potassium.

Who requires extra potassium?

People who require potassium supplements include:

# women on oral contraceptives,

# chronic alcoholics or drug abusers,

# smokers

# people undergoing stress

# athletes

# people doing strenuous exertion,

# anyone suffering from any degree of mal-absorption syndrome

# people with eating disorders, especially bulimia and anorexia..

Lot of men experience an increase in the frequency at which they have to urinate as they get older. This is exceedingly common among older men. However, if you are a man that is “always having to go”, don’t just dismiss it as aging. There are several causes of frequent urination and the symptom needs to be checked out by a physician.

The definition of frequent urination

Always having to go or feeling the need to urinate more often than is usual is called frequent urination. This differs from urgent urination which is an urgent, compelling need to urinate. This can be accompanied with bladder discomfort.

If the need to urinate occurs at night, it is termed nocturia. Normally, a person can sleep for between 6 and 8 hours without the need to urinate.

Common causes

When experienced simultaneously, a frequent, urgent need to go to the bathroom is a classic symptom of an infection in the urinary tract. Typically, the infection will cause an inflammation of the bladder which, in turn, reduces the bladder’s capacity to hold urine. In this case, even a small amount of urine can be uncomfortable.

These symptoms can also be caused by:

? Diabetes.

?A condition called interstitial cystitis, which is a chronic, constant inflammation of the bladder. This is more common in women than men, but bears checking out.

? Diuretics as well as other medicines.

? Therapeutic radiation.

? Dysfunction of the bladder.

? Cancer of the bladder.

All of these are known to cause frequent urination, but there is one extremely common cause that is overlooked by many men. That is an enlarged prostate and affects more men than you probably know.

The prostate gland is a walnut sized gland that secretes seminal fluid (the fluid that carries the sperm cells). The gland itself surrounds the urethra, which carries urine out through the penis. As the prostate grows larger, it may exert pressure on the urethra and cause problems with frequent urination.

Causes of enlarged prostate

The prostate wraps around the urethra between the rectum and the pubic bone. Early in the development of an enlarged prostate, the muscle of the bladder contracts more powerfully than usual and pressurizes urine through the urethra. The bladder muscle responds by gaining thickness and sensitivity. This causes the need to urinate often.

The larger the prostate grows, the tighter is squeezed. The bladder then cannot compensate for the problem and empties entirely.

Symptoms of an enlarged prostate

Actually, an enlarged prostate is accompanied by no symptoms at all. There a re a few things to watch for, like:

? A weak stream of urine or a stop/start during urination.
? Finding it difficult to start urinating.
? Dribbling of urine after urination.
? Feeling like you are not done.
? Leakage of urine (incontinence).
? Frequent urination or an urgent need to go, especially during the night time.

If you have experienced any of the above, go to a doctor and get checked out immediately. An enlarged prostate only gets worse over time if it is overlooked. It could also lead to other more serious conditions.

No one can predict the moment of death. But physicians and nurses involved in end-of-life care know that certain symptoms are usually associated with the body’s shutting down. These signs of approaching death are specific to the natural dying process (apart from the effects of particular illnesses the person may have).

Not all dying symptoms show up in every person, but most people experience some combination of the following in the final days or hours:

1. Loss of appetite

Energy needs decline. The person may begin to resist or refuse meals and liquids, or accept only small amounts of bland foods (such as hot cereals). Meat, which is hard to digest, may be refused first. Even favorite foods hold little appeal.

Near the very end of life, the dying person may be physically unable to swallow.

How to respond: Don’t force-feed; follow the person’s cues even though you may be distressed by a loss of interest in eating. Periodically offer ice chips, a popsicle, or sips of water. Use a moistened warm cloth around the mouth and apply balm to the lips to keep them moist and comfortable.

2. Excessive fatigue and sleep

The person may begin to sleep the majority of the day and night as metabolism slows and the decline in food and water contribute to dehydration. He or she becomes difficult to rouse from sleep. The fatigue is so pronounced that awareness of immediate surroundings begins to drift.
How to respond: Permit sleep. Avoid jostling the person awake. Assume that everything you say can be heard, as the sense of hearing is thought to persist, even when the person is unconscious, in a coma, or otherwise not responsive.

3. Increased physical weakness

A decline in food intake and lack of energy leads to less energy, even for activities like lifting one’s head or shifting in bed. The person may even have difficulty sipping from a straw.
How to respond: Focus on keeping the person comfortable.

4. Mental confusion or disorientation

Organs begin to fail, including the brain. Higher-order consciousness tends to change. “Few conditions leave people hyperaware when they’re dying,” says palliative-care physician Ira Byock, author of Dying Well.

The person may not be aware of where he or she is or who else is in the room, may speak or reply less often, may respond to people who can’t be seen in the room by others (see Passing Away: What to Expect When Witnessing a Loved One’s Death), may seem to say nonsensical things, may be confused about time, or may act restless and pick at bed linens.
How to respond: Remain calm and reassuring. Speak to the person softly, and identify yourself when you approach.

5. Labored breathing

Breath intakes and exhales become raggedy, irregular, and labored. A distinctive pattern called Cheyne-Stokes respiration might be heard: a loud, deep inhalation is followed by a pause of not breathing (apnea) for between five seconds to as long as a full minute, before a loud, deep breath resumes and again slowly peters out.

Sometimes excessive secretions create loud, gurling inhalations and exhalations that some people call a “death rattle.”

How to respond: The stopped breathing or loud rattle can be alarming to listeners, but the dying person is unaware of this changed breathing; focus on overall comfort. Positions that may help: the head slightly elevated with a pillow, sitting up well-supported, or the head or lying body tilted to the side slightly. Moisten the mouth with a wet cloth and moisturize with lip balm or petroleum jelly.
If there’s a lot of phlegm, allow it to drain naturally from the mouth, since suctioning it out can increase its quantity. A vaporizer in the room might help. Some people are given oxygen for comfort. Be a calm, physical presence, stroking the arm or speaking softly.

6. Social withdrawal

As the body shuts down, the dying person may gradually lose interest in those nearby. He or she may stop talking or mutter unintelligibly, stop responding to questions, or simply turn away.
A few days before receding socially for the last time, the dying person sometimes surprises loved ones with an unexpected burst of alert, attentive behavior. This can last less than an hour or up to a full day.

How to respond: Be aware that this is a natural part of the dying process and not a reflection of your relationship. Maintain a physical presence by touching the dying person and continuing to talk, if it feels appropriate, without demanding anything back. Treasure an alert interlude if and when it occurs, because it’s almost always fleeting.

7. Changes in urination

Little going in (as the person loses interest in food and drink) means little coming out. Dropping blood pressure, part of the dying process (and therefore not treated at this point, in tandem with other symptoms), also contributes to the kidneys shutting down. The concentrated urine is brownish, reddish, or tea-colored.

Loss of bladder and bowel control may happen late in the dying process.
How to respond: Hospice medical staff sometimes decides that a catheter is necessary, although not in the final hours of life. Kidney failure can increase blood toxins and contribute to a peaceful coma before death. Add a bed pad when placing fresh sheets.

8. Swelling in the feet and ankles

As the kidneys are less able to process bodily fluids, they can accumulate and get deposited in areas of the body away from the heart, in the feet and ankles especially. These places, and sometimes also the hands, face, or feet, take on a swollen, puffy appearance.

How to respond: Usually no special treatment (such as diuretics) is given when the swelling seems directly related to the dying process. (The swelling is the result of the natural death process, not its cause.)

9. Coolness in the tips of the fingers and toes

In the hours or minutes before death, blood circulation draws back from the periphery of the body to help the vital organs. As this happens, the extremities (hands, feet, fingers, toes) become notably cooler. Nail beds may also look more pale, or bluish.

How to respond: A warm blanket can keep the person comfortable, or he or she may be oblivious. The person may complain about the weight of coverings on the legs, so keep them loose.

10. Mottled veins

Skin that had been uniformly pale or ashen develops a distinctive pattern of purplish/reddish/bluish mottling as one of the later signs of death approaching. This is the result of reduced blood circulation. It may be seen first on the soles of the feet.

How to respond: No special steps need to be taken.

Note: These general signs of impending death can vary in sequence and combination from person to person. If a person is on life support (respirator, feeding tube), the process dying follows can be different. The signs of death listed here describe a natural dying process.