Exalted by some and reviled by others, coffee is part of the daily routine of approximately 55 percent of adult Americans, according to the National Coffee Association. If you are a coffee drinker, the mild pick-me-up effect associated with a cup of java is not lost on you.
Read more →
Dietary supplements are big business in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that approximately 53 percent of the adult population takes at least one nutritional supplement. Calcium is the leading mineral supplement taken by Americans.
Read more →
Fiber supplements augment your stool bulk, which helps keep your bowels moving regularly. Dietary or supplemental fiber also traps a portion of the cholesterol in your intestines, which may reduce your total blood cholesterol level.
Read more →
Balance among electrically charged atoms and molecules is essential to maintaining chemical equilibrium in your body. Potassium is the most abundant, positively charged atom inside your cells. Because acids and potassium both have a positive electrical charge in your body, their concentrations are interdependent.
Read more →
The United States' status as the world's melting pot comes with many advantages, including enjoying foods from cultures around the globe. Commonly considered a German dish, sauerkraut, or pickled cabbage, originated in China and remains a dietary staple in many Asian and European countries.
Read more →
When you hear the word calcium, bone health is likely your first thought. No doubt, calcium is a key component of strong bones but its presence in your muscles enables movement.
Read more →
Rye is a cereal grain similar to wheat but with a slightly different taste and texture. Like wheat, rye kernels are ground into flour for use in baking. Traditional rye and pumpernickel breads contain rye flour of varying types and amounts.
Read more →
You can live days without water and weeks without food. Lack of oxygen, however, kills within minutes. Hemoglobin is the vital protein in your red blood cells that transports oxygen from your lungs to your tissues. A low hemoglobin level compromises oxygen delivery to your tissues.
Read more →
Addison disease, or primary adrenal insufficiency, is an uncommon disorder in which your adrenal glands slowly fail. The outer area of your adrenal glands, the cortex, produces the hormones cortisol and aldosterone, as well as small amounts of other hormones.
Read more →
Your doctor prescribes medicinal insulin to replace or supplement your body's naturally occurring insulin. The goal with medicinal insulin is to mimic the normal patterns of insulin secretion as closely as possible.
Read more →
Vitamin D modulates calcium metabolism, which affects your bone health and muscle function. The contraction and relaxation of your muscles occurs in response to nerve stimulation that triggers rapid calcium flow between compartments within your muscle cells.
Read more →
If you enjoy coffee, you appreciate its acidic flavor. Chlorogenic acids are the most abundant of the many naturally occurring acids in green and roasted coffee beans; others include quinic, lactic, malic, citric, lactic and acetic acid.
Read more →
Sweet chemicals called steviol glycosides from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni plant are the main ingredients in stevia-derived sugar substitutes. These products, which are approved for use as food additives by the U.S.
Read more →
You may have noticed that a high-fat meal lingers longer in your stomach than a low-fat meal. The length of time until fat is absorbed from food depends on the nutrient makeup of the meal and may vary significantly from one person to another.
Read more →
The levels of some substances in your blood vary substantially, according to when and what you last ate. To control for variability introduced by eating, you must fast for a specific number of hours before certain blood tests.
Read more →
Potassium is one of the body’s most important minerals. It is present in every cell of the human body. In solution -- as it is in the body -- potassium carries a positive electrical charge and is one of the body’s four main electrolytes along with sodium, chloride and bicarbonate.
Read more →