Food & Nutrition: Culinary Techniques, Diets & Metabolic Health

Nutritional health is achieved through the therapeutic use of whole foods, safe culinary preparation, and understanding the metabolic impacts of specific dietary frameworks and ingredients.

Iron Vitamin Tablet Supplements

I Take an Iron Supplement But I'm Still Anemic

Red blood cells are needed by the body to transport oxygen to your cells, which your cells need to use glucose efficiently to make energy. If you are anemic, you have too few red blood cells.

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Tangerines

Do Vitamin C Supplements Go Bad or Lose Potency?

Vitamins supplements are commonly taken by many people to treat a variety of health problems. Over time, however, vitamins can degrade, causing them to become chemically altered. Although vitamin C degrades, it is not toxic.

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Citrus fruits. Over wooden table background

Side Effects of a Vitamin C Overdose

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that is found in many fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C plays an important role in collagen formation, and it also functions as an antioxidant, boosting the immune system. Although you need to consume vitamin C every day, too much can be toxic.

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Black coffee and a paper

Does Caffeine Make You Urinate More?

How often you have to urinate depends on how much fluid you drink and the level of stimulatory signals sent to your bladder. One substance that may make you have to urinate more often is caffeine, though caffeine's effect on urinary output diminishes with regular use.

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Brain Cells

Does Sodium Affect the Brain?

Sodium is important for the function of all of the cells in the body because it is an electrolyte. Nerve cells are particularly sensitive to the amount of sodium in the blood because they need electrolytes to function properly.

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Can I Drink Protein Shakes While Nursing?

Breastfeeding provides many benefits to your baby as it helps develop the bond between you and your child and also boosts your child's immune system. However, the substances that you ingest can affect your breast milk.

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Glass of Fresh Soy Milk

Soy Milk and Estrogen Levels

Soy milk can be used as a milk replacement for people who are lactose-intolerant or who seek to increase their intake of soy protein. Like all soy products, soy milk has compounds that can mimic the effects of estrogen in the body and affect estrogen levels.

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yogurt 48

Does Yogurt Block the Absorption of Iron?

The calcium in yogurt and other dairy products may affect your body's ability to absorb iron. This is a problem because iron is needed to make hemoglobin, a protein that allows your red blood cells to carry oxygen.

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beautiful young woman near the window

What Are the Dangers of Tryptophan?

Tryptophan is an amino acid; amino acids are substances found in proteins. You need tryptophan to make new proteins; it also is needed to make other compounds in your body, such as niacin and serotonin. Although tryptophan supplements are generally safe, they can cause serious side effects.

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coffee beans and ground coffee

Citalopram and Caffeine

Anxiety and depression are psychiatric conditions that can be treated with a variety of different medications, including citalopram. Although citalopram is generally safe, it can interact with other compounds that can lead to undesirable side effects.

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coconut oil

Is Coconut Oil Good for Blood Type O?

One theory of nutrition advocates tailoring your diet to mesh with your blood type to improve weight loss and energy and otherwise maintain good health. According to the blood type diet, people with Type O blood should avoid foods made with coconut oil.

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How Much Garlic Equals an Antibiotic?

Antibiotics are medications used to fight infections, particularly if the infections are bacterial. Some herbs and foods, including garlic, have natural antibiotic properties.

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spoon of psyllium seed husks

Does Psyllium Husk Cause Severe Gas & Bloating?

If you're taking psyllium, you may notice gastrointestinal side effects. Psyllium husk, a type of soluble fiber, can cause bloating, flatulence or increased belching. Sypmtoms are generally not severe and can be minimized by taking smaller doses until you adjust to the fiber.

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Sweeteners in the spoon top view

Intestinal Inflammation After Sugar Alcohol

Your intestines are sensitive to inflammation, which can cause pain, diarrhea and bleeding. One thing that can affect the health of your intestines is what foods you eat. Sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate in the diet that can cause intestinal problems, though they do not directly cause inflammation.

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close up of a laptop on a kitchen table with a cup of coffee

Can Coffee Deplete Magnesium?

Minerals such as magnesium play an important role in the human body, even though you only need a relatively small amount of them for optimum health -- less than half a gram per day. If you drink coffee, you may not absorb magnesium efficiently, possibly leading to a magnesium deficiency.

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Glass of white wine on wood table

Drinking Wine With Clindamycin

When you take antibiotics, you may need to make other changes to your lifestyle to maximize their effectiveness and minimize side effects. Although there do not appear to be major adverse effects caused by drinking wine while taking clindamycin, talk to your doctor before drinking alcohol while taking antibiotics.

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Senior Patient Having Medical Exam With Doctor In Office

Magnesium & Irregular Heartbeat

Changes in the amounts of different minerals in your blood can affect many tissues, including your heart. Although your body only contains small amounts of magnesium, having too much or too little magnesium can affect your heart's rhythm. Talk to your doctor before taking magnesium or any other type of supplement.

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Happy patient at doctor's office

Soy & Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

The foods you eat can affect the health of many different organs in your body, including your thyroid gland. There are some concerns about the safety of soy products for people with thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

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