Herbs Alert : Drug Interaction Possibilities

If you are taking maintenance drugs like antihypertensive or oral hypoglycemic types for your high blood pressure or diabetes respectively, it is important that you check the herb or the supplement you intend to use. Ginkgo biloba for instance, is said to be beneficial for the elderly for it can help treat age-associated memory impairment including Alzheimer’s. However, if an individual is taking a diuretic or other blood pressure control medicine, gingko biloba may hinder the effect of these drugs.

Image source

Ginkgo biloba won’t also work with aspirin and other blood thinners like clopidogrel, ticlopidine, warfarin, heparin etc. This herb contains some constituents that affect blood clotting therefore, can potentiate the effect of the anti-coagulant drugs causing uncontrolled bleeding or haemorrhage.

Read more here

Glutathione as a Skin Whitening Supplement

 Image source

Melanin is one of the two pigments responsible for the hair and skin color. While melanin comprises of the brown color, the other pigment – carotene is responsible for the yellow shade. Generally, the darker the color means the more melanin in the skin. With this, glutathione works its wonders in four ways:

1. It binds with the color forming tyrosine (a precursor amino acid to melanin) to form a less colored pigment.
2. It modifies black/brown/yellow melanin pigmentation (Eumelanin) to reddish white pigmentation (Phaeomelanin).
3. It deactivates the free radicals caused by sun exposure.
4. Its antioxidant activity lowers the rate of melanogenesis or the production of melanin.

Read more here

The Truth About Dietary Supplements

The statement ‘No approved therapeutic claims’ is usually found in herbal and food supplement containers. Like the line, ‘Smoking is hazardous to your health’ in cigarettes or the declaration, ‘Drink moderately’ in liquor bottles, the statement serves as a warning for those who would rely solely with some particular food supplements.

Dietary supplement categories

Supplements can be grouped into two - those that can be used in treating ailments and those that function only for dietary support. Ferrous sulfate for instance belongs to the first group. It is a vitamin indicated for anemia. Vitamin C promotes faster wound healing and therefore often prescribed by doctors with the antibiotics. The B complex combination is another thing. This group is advised with patients suffering from neuralgia. These supplements mentioned not only provide nutrients but can be used as treatment as well. Thus, this group can be regarded as supplements with therapeutic claims.

Image by the author

The second group on the other hand is exclusively for dietary sustenance. As mentioned earlier, these types are usually grouped in the herbal or food supplements. Encapsulated Ampalaya or Malunggay are best examples. These food supplements have numerous benefits. Ampalaya reveals good herbal supplement for diabetes. Malunggay is a good source to increase milk production for breastfeeding mothers.

Among others, are the new food supplement formulations that include Taurine, Lysine and the Chlorella growth factor or the CGF. Taurine holds a promise to make someone smarter; Lysine is an appetite stimulant; and CGF is said to be a height enhancer.

Misconceptions

The second group’s benefits are something for the consumers to look forward to. For a person who wants to have a taller or a smart child, supplements with CGF and Taurine are appealing news. However, the second group must be understood as mere provider of nutrients needed by the child for growth and development and nothing more. Their benefits may not be seen as positive. The Lysine for example may not work for a thin child. Two probable reasons - it could be an inappropriate appetite stimulant or it could have an inapt low dose. And because Lysine is included in a combination formula, its dose cannot be increased without affecting other active constituents. The bottom line is this, if a mother wants her child to improve his weight she should shift to real medication for appetite and not to rely with food supplements.

So are we really wasting money on food supplements?

Read more here

Lutein Facts and Dietary Sources

Lutein works in two ways- it acts as a filter against the harmful blue light and combats the free radical in the eye as an anti-oxidant. Excessive exposure to blue light can lead to formation of free radicals which can harm the eyes. Lutein prevents these radicals from storing and from causing irreversible damage to the eyes.

Image source

Lutein can be found in food- vegetables and fruits in particular, although eggs are also good sources of Lutein. Other food sources include papaya, orange, kale, spinach, garden peas, zucchini, brussels sprouts, pistachio nuts, broccoli, corn, kiwifruit, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, collard greens etc.       

Lutein can be available as a sublingual spray for old people with poor digestion. It can be found in fortified foods and as dietary supplements with positive effects at intake levels of 6–10 mg/day. As of now, the only known side effect of excess Lutein consumption is carotenodermia or the bronzing color of the skin.

Read more here

Gluta-White: Powerful Antioxidant

Image source

With glutathione as its chief constituent, Gluta-white acts as powerful antioxidant. Glutathione being the ‘Nature’s master antioxidant’, surpasses vitamin E by several million times its concentration.  It protects the cells by preventing them from being damaged and also aids in its restoration. Interestingly, glutathione turns off the anti-inflammatory response like in arthritis and even cancer: and of respiratory ailments such as asthma and pneumonia. It helps in the detoxification of drugs and pollutants that are ingested through foods or produced by the body in normal metabolism. Finally, glutathione restores the antioxidant power of vitamin C and aids in the control of hormones that are broken down in the liver.

Read more here

Robust Food Supplement Components

Robust is a dietary food supplement that supports men on their sexual activity. It is an all-natural and BFAD approved sexual enhancement formula, minus the potential side-effects. It contains the following natural extracts from plants.  

 Gingko biloba

In Chinese culture, Gingko biloba is considered to have aphrodisiac potentials. More to this, it blocks blood clotting that could lead to stroke or heart diseases and good for the improvement in blood flow to most tissues and organs.

Ginseng

Ginseng is known to contain phytoestrogens. It has been confirmed to have a stimulating effect on the pituitary gland to increase the secretion of gonadotropins. In another study involving mice, it speeds up the development of reproductive organs in young mice, while it stimulates the production of sperm in adult mice.

For more of Robust herbal components. Read it here.