Vitamins and supplements like melatonin and fish oil offer health benefits but can cause side effects if misused. Learn about the impact of saw palmetto on blood pressure and find the best multivitamins for young women and adults over 50.
Apple cider vinegar is among the supplements touted by some practitioners of alternative medicine as a way to treat a variety of ailments, from warts to digestive difficulty. However, there's no scientific evidence to support the majority of claims regarding the substance.
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Scabies infestations are very uncomfortable, due to the intense itching that results from the activation of the immune system in response to mites, mite eggs and mite waste. If you're looking for a natural treatment for scabies, you may wonder whether coconut oil will do the trick.
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Calcium carbonate is a common, naturally occurring calcium salt that is often used as a source of calcium in supplements. Its abundance in nature makes calcium carbonate the least expensive supplemental calcium salt. It is also a major component of some types of stone that are used in architecture and sculpture.
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You may wish to take many different vitamins and minerals in the form of supplements. Some multivitamins contain both folic acid and calcium. There's no reason that you shouldn't take these two micronutrients at the same time, and both can benefit you -- particularly if you're a female of reproductive age or pregnant.
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Citric acid is named for citrus fruit, in which it's quite prevalent. Lemon juice contains citric acid, but it also contains many other chemical compounds besides. Pure citric acid is common in nature, but is also a common food additive for its flavor and preservative properties. It has no important nutrient value.
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Many personal care and pharmacy products contain a mixture of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate. While sodium bicarbonate is technically an acidic salt, it acts as a base in the presence of citric acid.
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During pregnancy, it's important to eat a healthy, balanced diet in order to make sure you're providing your developing fetus with the nutrients it needs. While citric acid technically contains calories, it's not an important part of a pregnancy diet.
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Vinegar and citric acid both have a sour flavor, and they're both common ingredients in foods. They're not, however, the same molecule, nor is one made of the other. While your cells make citric acid as part of normal metabolism, they don't make vinegar.
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Folic acid -- also known as folate and as vitamin B-9 -- is a vitamin you need to help maintain normal cellular function. While you need it all the time, it's of particular importance during pregnancy, and pregnant women generally take larger quantities than non-pregnant women. Despite the word "acid"
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Sodium carbonate is more commonly known as washing soda. Like the similar-sounding compound sodium bicarbonate—baking soda—it's basic, and can react with acids. HCl, or hydrochloric acid, is a strong acid that reacts with sodium carbonate.
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Magnesium hydroxide and magnesium oxide both appear in the active ingredients of certain over-the-counter medications, particularly laxatives. They're very similar in structure and in function; in fact, in the presence of water, magnesium oxide actually turns into magnesium hydroxide.
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Sodium bicarbonate is a chemical more commonly known as baking soda. It can react with and neutralize acids, which makes it a common home remedy for acid stomach. Your body also uses sodium bicarbonate for several different things, including assisting in digestive function.
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Maltose and lactose are both types of sugar that occur in some foods. They're both carbohydrates, and even though maltose is sweeter than lactose, they both provide you with the same amount of energy. Just as you can use table sugar and starch to fuel your cells, you can also use maltose and lactose.
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Valine and glutamic acid are amino acids with very different structures and properties. They are both building blocks of protein, and sometimes mutations in your DNA can cause substitution of one for the other. This can potentially lead to serious disorders, the most well-known of which is called sickle cell anemia.
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You may know that sodium is a mineral you need to maintain cellular health and well being – in fact, so is chloride. Table salt, or sodium chloride, is a source of both these essential minerals. You use sodium and chloride in the process of digesting other compounds, as well as elsewhere in the body.
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Sodium carbonate is a household chemical with a variety of different uses. Its chemical formula, Na2CO3, is similar to that of baking soda, NaHCO3. But baking soda is a nontoxic chemical commonly used in food preparation, while sodium carbonate is toxic and should not be consumed.
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Sodium bicarbonate is the chemical name for baking soda, a common household salt that is also an important part of your blood chemistry, because it occurs naturally in the blood. In general, sodium bicarbonate has the effect of acting as a buffer, meaning it helps to stabilize the blood pH.
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Poly-Vi-Sol is a vitamin and mineral supplement in drop form made by Enfamil, a company that also makes formula for infants.
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Lactose is milk sugar; you consume it any time you drink milk or eat dairy products. To absorb its components and use them for energy, you digest it with lactase, an enzyme produced by your digestive tract. Lactase reacts with lactose, splitting it into two smaller sugar molecules that you can absorb.
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There are a number of myths and misconceptions regarding prenatal vitamins and their effects on women who aren't pregnant. For instance, there's no truth to the claim that prenatal vitamins can help regulate your period. Your period depends on hormones released by various body organs, not on vitamins you take.
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