TLT Consulting has expanded it's scope in Mentoring for Success. The Lifestyle Consultant, Terry Tiessen, now strongly recommends healthy habits as a pillar of successful living.

The Journal of the American Medical Association is advising all adults to take a multivitamin everyday, reversing it's previous anti-vitamin policy. According to Drs. Robert Fletcher and Kathleen Fairfield of Harvard University, it now appears that people who get enough nutrients by taking a multiple vitamin, may be able to prevent such common chronic illnesses as cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Most American adults do not get the optimal amounts of vitamins in their diet, only just enough to ward off such vitamin-deficiency disorders as scurvy, beriberi and pellagra.

80 percent of Americans do not eat the five helpings of fruits and vegetables a day that is recommended to provide sufficient essential nutrients. Humans can not make their own vitamins, except for some vitamin D, and they must supplement to prevent metabolic disorders.

Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, chief of antioxidant research at Tufts University's Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging said "It's nice to see this change in philosophy that's saying we can make public-health recommendations based on this really compelling set of data,".

Dr.Fletcher says that even people who eat five daily servings of fruits and vegetables may not get enough of certain vitamins for optimum health. He says most people cannot get healthy levels of folate and vitamins D and E from recommended diets.

Dr Fletcher states that"All of us grew up believing that if we ate a reasonable diet, that would take care of our vitamin needs, but the new evidence, much of it in the last couple of years, is that vitamins also prevent the usual diseases we deal with every day - heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and birth defects".

Terry Tiessen, the Lifestyle Consultant and founder of TLT Consulting, has accordingly adopted a nutritional aspect in its Success Program. The Mentoring provided designs personal growth, longevity, and optimal health in incorporated into "The Internet Lifestyle Project".

Guidelines for choosing the right multi-vitamin

We have decided that we are going to believe the emerging research about how our daily food intake does not give us our DRI (Daily Recommended Intake) of nutrients to live a long and healthy life. We have decide to recommend you start taking a dietary supplement. Is there something other than the price that makes one product more desirable than another?

The incredible research of Lyle MacWilliam Msc,FP in his "Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements" became our system to rate our health products and dietary supplements.And it really takes all the guess work out of our health, and provides standards to help us the consumer, really make a difference in our health with this decision to supplement our diet.

This list of 18 points for rating is only a summery, and can be researched extensively at nutrisearch.ca

But the importance of choosing the right vitamin, for a happy, long, life makes this an important overview.

1. 1. Completeness- it takes about 42 vitamins, anti-oxidant, trace minerals, and essential fats to have proper cell function.

   2. Potency - emerging research has determined the need for dietary supplements.

      And has recognized that the DRI is set at levels that only keep you from not to getting a disease ie. Enough vitamin C not to get scurvy or vitamin D not to get rickets. But not what the body needs to be at its full health and vitality.

   3. Mineral forms - the issue is bioavailability. The most resent studies indicate that mineral are at there optimum bioavailability as amino acid chelates or organic-acid complexes.

   4. Bioactivity of Vitamin E - scientific evidence is demonstrating that there is a greater bioavailability, absorption and assimilation of vitamin E in its d-alpha tocopheral form.

   5. Gamma Tocopheral - another form of vitamin E that when properly combined with the d-alpha tocopheral form gives the optimal benefit of the "nutritional thoroughbred" Vitamin E.

   6. Anti-Oxidant Support - Anti-Oxidants do not work in isolation making it vital to use a wide spectrum including vitamin C, vitamin E ( alpha and gamma tocopherpol) vitamin A, beta-carotene, alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, coenzyme Q10 and selenium.

   7. Both Health - Does product contain vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin C,vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, boron, calcium, magnesium, silicon and zinc.

   8. Heart health - does the product contain vitamin E (alpha and gamma tocopheral), beta-carotene, coenzime Q10, calcium, magnesium, l-carnitine or acetyl-l-carnitine, procyanidolic oligomers (PCOs), phenolic compound and lycopene.

   9. Liver Health (detoxification)- does the product contain vitamin C, n-acatyl-cysteine (including cysteine), selenium, vitamins B2 and B3 (including niacin and niacinamide).

   10. Metabolic Health - Diabieties, now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and Canada, is a chronic disorder of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. Does the product contain vitamin B3 ( including niacin and niacinamide), vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha and gamma tocopheral), biotin, coenzyme Q10, chromium, magnesium, manganese and zinc.

   11. Ocular Health - does the product contain the antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin E (alpha and gamma tocopheral), vitamin A (including beta-carotene) and the carotenoids, lutien and zeaxanthin.

   12. Methylation Support - A high level of homocysteine in the blood is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease and demands supplementation with B2, B6, B12 and folic acid.

   13. Lipotropic Factors - essential nutrients for lipid mobilization and detoxification in the liver are choline or lecithin and inositol.

   14. Inflammation Control - does the product contain eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, linolenic acid, gamma tocopheral, alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin C, flavenoids, procyanidolic oligomers, and the phenolic compounds from green tea, olive and turmeric extracts.

   15. Glycation Control - Aging introduces chronic, cumulative chemical modification that attack the structure and cell function. Carnosine has been discovered to be the most promising broad-spectrum shield against the oxidative modification of proteins. Does the product contain i-carnosine, vitamin E (alpha and gamma tocopheral), vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid.

   16. Bioflavonoid Profile - Does the product contain a mixture of bioflavonoids (citrus flavonoids, soy isoflavones, quercetin, quercitrin, hesperidin, rutin, bilberry and assorted berry extracts) and PCOs (including resveratrol, grape seed, and pine bark extracts).

17.Phenolic Compounds Profile - The scientific evidence supporting dietary consumption of polyphenols is immense. The most famous phenolic compounds are: Tumuric , Olive extracts and green tea extracts.

18. Potential Toxicities - The majority of nutrients in supplements are safe, but caution in vitamin A and Iron levels are necessary.

It can be hard to understand what it is we want from a multi-vitamin, but our health is so important. So understanding that we need to supplement our diet is a first step, and the next step, doing a little research on the best supplement, is worth every second spent.

This is a basic outline of what each Vitamin does for your Health

Vitamin C , vitamin A, vitamin E , what exactly does each of these do for you? What exactly are the benefits we can expect from taking these vitamins.

In the June 19, 2002 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , two reports were published by Dr. Robert Fletcher and Dr. Kathleen Fairfield, a landmark review of 38 years of Harvard research. One of the conclusions was that the current North American diet is inadequate for optimal health. It is at best able to prevent vitamin deficiencies such as scurvy or pallegra, but not to live at our full potential health or peak performance.

The authors examined several nutrients in this study including Vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, folic acid and several of the caratenoids (including alpha- and beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, lycopene and lutein). Notably some of there conclusions were:

• Low levels of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are associated with increased risk of heart disease

• Inadequate folic acid status increases the risk of some cancers.

• Vitamin E and lycopene appear to decrease the risk of prostrate cancer.

• Vitamin D when combined with calcium is associated with a decreased risk of osteoporosis and fracture.

• Inadequate vitamin B12 is associated with anaemia and neurological disorders.

• Low levels of caratenoids appear to increase the risk of prostrate, breast, and lung cancer.

• Inadequate vitamin C is associated with increased risk of cancer.

• Low levels of vitamin A are associated with vision disorders and impaired immune function.

So along with JAMA's public declaration that supplementation is important for your health, scientific evidence is supporting the need for higher levels of many vitamins and minerals for optimal health.

"Insufficient vitamin intake is apparently a cause of chronic disease" - Dr. Robert Fletcher and Dr.Kathleen Fairfield-

Baby Boomer Health- It's all about aging gracefully

We all hope to get old with as little disease's, pain and suffering as possible studies are now showing that the underlying cause of the vast majority of chronic degenerative diseases is systemic low grade inflammation. In fact inflammation has been associated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's to name just a few. So it seems that understanding chronic inflammation is crucial to longevity's and aging healthily. The bodies defense mechanism against pathogens back fires as we get older, in fact the University of Vermont pathologist Russell Tracy has linked aging to the very process that keeps us healthy when we are young. The fact that this type of inflammation increases with age means that with poor dietary and life style choices most people unknowingly suffer from this affliction. It doesn't have to be like this, the solution at hand is to understand that what we put into our bodies will largely determine our longevity's and quality of life. Simply put we have to stop digging our own graves with our own knife and fork. Regulating the elements in our diets that cause inflammation will reduce our risk of dying tomorrow of cancer or cardiovascular disease. It's as easy as choosing the salmon rather than the burger, snaking on fruits and vegetables other than french fries and onion rings. Taking a walk rather than having a martini or taking the stairs rather then the elevator. Using olive oil and healthy fats rather than saturated and un-healthy fats. It's just as east to go for the nuts over the candy bars and to supplement with a high quality nutritional.

Polyphenols are usually found in high quality nutritional supplements. These would include citrus bioflavonoids from fruits and berries; resveratrol found in red wine and grapes. Cucumin from turmeric and the catechins from green tea, grape seeds and assorted nuts and berries as well as pine bark. Supplemention with carnosine provides cellular rejuvenation which is why it has been called "Nature's life extension agent".

Usually the designation of public enemy # 1 is applied to cardiovascular disease. However studies that began in the 80's now lead us to understand that cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of preventable death is in fact an inflammation condition. It doesn't stop there, chronic inflammations also a cause of accelerated aging, obesity, onset diabetes, Alzheimer's, Huntington's as well as multiple sclerosis is just to name a few.

What is inflammation? Well inflammation happens to be a part of the body defense against pathogens that increase the body temperature, a flood of free radicals and proteins is the body defending against danger. As we age it becomes harder for our body to regulate and the inflammation becomes silent and systemic. Silent inflammation causes the body to turn on itself and the immune system to attract it's own organs. This is actually good news to us all in our quest for health and wellness. It is no longer necessary for different radical treatments for the degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's. Preventive measures to reduce inflammation could prevent all of these ailments.

The number one defense against chronic inflammation is the Omega 3 fatty acids found in the flax oil, canola oil and pumpkin seeds as well as the cold water fish oils like salmon and sardines. Most antioxidants show some level of anti-inflammatory benefits such as Vitamin C has demonstrated to be most benifitial. Then there is the polyphenols mother natures provided plant based regulators inflammation. Polyphenols are usually found in high quality nutritional supplements. These include citrus bioflavonoids from fruits and berries; resveratrol found in red wine and grapes; cucumin from tumeric and the catechins from green tea, grape seeds and assorted nuts and berries as well as pine bark.

Two decades ago researchers predicted that high dose supplementation with antioxidants would play a significant role in the prevention and cure of many of today's common ailments. Now there is impressive scientific evidence supporting supplementary with antioxidants. Consequently, many health practitioners now recommend higher intakes of these important nutrients to prevent oxidative stress.

Oxygen the giver of life is also our mortal enemy, even though we need it to live, oxygen as it interacts with the cell respiratory process. A transfer of electrons from one molecule to the next happens as energy flows through energy well. When an electron leaves the molecule it is now oxidized, the molecule that gains the electron is reduced. This process is called respiration, during the respiration process electrons escape and become free radicals. It is estimated 2 - 5% of electrons end up becoming toxic free radicals. Other foreign materials like pesticides, smog, cigarette smoke, chemical carcinogens, metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic contain free radicals generating toxins. Un-checked free radicals damage and threaten cell integrity. It is essential that the cells be maintained in there optimal nutritional state. Once the damage begins so does degenerative disease and accelerated aging. The evidence is now irrefutable that proper antioxidants supplementation prevent or reverse many forms of cancer, heart disease, atherosclerosis, adult onset diabetes and many other diseases caused by oxidation.

The key antioxidants is the Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta carotene triad. But when looking for a high quality supplement several other antioxidants play a synergistic role, such as Vitamin A, alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene coenzyme Q10 and the antioxidants mineral selenium