Health News From Pilgrims Pride

CARPINTERIA, Calif., Dec 03, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Each year during the holidays, it seems like we never have enough energy and we”re constantly trying to avoid getting sick. Luckily, there are some nutritional supplements that have been shown to both enhance the immune system and reduce fatigue.

Dr. Laura Hatton, CCN, PhD, and International Sports Sciences Association Certified Fitness Trainer recommends considering using Vitamin D, NADH, Ginseng, Astragalus, Glutamine this winter. ISSA’’s latest version of its acclaimed Performance Nutrition course is scheduled to be released in January.

Vitamin D was traditionally perceived as a nutrient solely used as a bone builder because of its effect on calcium absorption. However, Vitamin D has a role in every organ system of the body. It modulates the immune system and enhances its function. It also regulates an enzyme that’’s responsible for the production of L-dopa, which converts to energy enhancers. Supplementing with adequate Vitamin D ensures an optimally functioning immune system and sufficient energy production.

NADH (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme involved in energy production in cells. NADH is required by all cells that require energy. Supplementing with NADH provides your body with more of the molecules necessary to generate energy. NADH is also required by immune system cells as the immune system uses energy to fight infections.

Ginseng has been studied extensively for its effects on the immune system and on stamina. By enhancing the function of the adrenal glands, ginseng improves muscular oxygen utilization — thus increasing endurance. Studies have demonstrated that ginseng also improves various immune system responses, raises white blood cell count, and has a marked effect on the symptoms of aging.

Astragalus is an herb that works with ginseng to improve endurance and white blood cell counts. When looking for a good ginseng supplement, it’’s helpful to find one that works in conjunction with this herb.

Glutamine is an amino acid necessary for developing muscle mass that also aids in immune function by enhancing some white blood cells. Studies have also shown depressions in glutamine levels after exercise stress, with glutamine levels not returning to normal even after six days of rest. Since skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue require glutamine for growth and maintenance, it’’s important to ensure an adequate supply of glutamine.

SOURCE International Sports Sciences Association

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Ars: Vitamin A Suppresses Type 1 Diabetes in Animal Study
M2 Communications - December 28, 2007

Pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and many other holiday favorites are rich in vitamin A, a nutrient essential for good health. Now a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) nutrition scientists has shown, for the first time, that high levels of vitamin A can suppress development of type 1 diabetes in laboratory mice prone to that disease.

Type 1 diabetes, which affects more than 750,000 Americans, occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the pancreas” insulin-producing beta cells. Scientists already know that vitamin A and antioxidants–such as those in the freeze-dried grape powder also tested in the study–can regulate the immune system.

However, apparently no one had shown the suppressive effect of either vitamin A or grape powder on type 1 diabetes in either lab mice or humans, according to ARS physiologist Charles B. Stephensen.

He collaborated with molecular biologist Susan J. Zunino for the investigation, conducted in their laboratories at the ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, Calif. They reported their findings earlier this year in the Journal of Nutrition.

Blood sugar levels of the 45 mice in the experiment were taken regularly to determine onset of diabetes. At about seven months, only 25 percent of those mice eating a high-vitamin-A feed, and 33 percent of those eating grape-powder-enriched feed, had developed type 1 diabetes, while 71 percent of those on non-enriched feed had became diabetic.

Differences in levels of a protein called tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-alpha, linked in other studies to type 1 diabetes, were notable. TNF-alpha production by immune cells of mice fed the vitamin A- or grape-powder-enriched feed was significantly lower than that in cells of mice fed standard feed.

The study is part of ongoing research at the nutrition center to discover more about the potential of vitamin A and other nutrients to help prevent diabetes, cancer, asthma and other diseases of the immune system.

ARS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’’s chief scientific research agency, and the National Institutes of Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded the research.

CONTACT: Marcia Wood, USDA, Agricultural Research Service Tel: +1 301 504 1662 e-mail: marcia.wood@ars.usda.gov ARS News Service, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service Tel: +1 301 504 1636 Fax: +1 301 504 1486 e-mail: NewsService@ars.usda.gov WWW: http://www.ars.usda.gov/news

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