Energise your life
With the onset of February the winter blues are setting in. But there is no reason to sit back. Take a supplement and feel a whole lot better
FEBRUARY! Not the month that inspires anyone in the northern hemisphere with much delight. But, like it or not, February follows January and with it come what always seem like the shortest days of the year and hours spent desk or house-bound. The great outdoors is damp, drab and not very inviting.
On the other hand, February does offer great opportunities to right the wrongs of the festive season, to evaluate personal health strategies and plan for sunny days ahead. And mostly what you need for this is energy: the stuff that’s hard to find when you’re bundled in thermal clothing, trying to resist the urge to hibernate. Which, of course, is what many a human body would really like to do: along with a host of lesser animals. The body has been fattened over recent months, metabolism is slow, the mind is waiting for sunlight to reawaken the senses.
Nutrition is the root cause of the vitamin and mineral deficiencies that make us feel sluggish. Nutrient levels in food are getting ever lower by the year. Supplementation is obviously the answer at this time of the year but, with extra energy in mind, which supplements make sense?
B vitamins spring to mind first. Opinions differ whether the Bs are best in a complex, or whether they work efficiently separately. Certainly, Folic Acid (B9) is recommended for pregnant mums and Pyridoxine (B6), essential in processing the body’s amino acids, is great for PMT and depression caused by oral contraception. Vitamin B12 (Cobalamine) is the star of B-Complex for those in search of an energy burst: celebrities extol its virtues for stress and the fatigue of being famous. In combination, B6, B9 and B12 are hugely effective at lowering the body’s homocysteine levels. Elevated levels put people at risk of heart problems and also diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimers and Crohn’s disease. Reason aplenty to invest in B vitamins. One brand, Viridian, available by mail-order (www.nutriglow.com), couples an excellent Vit-B complex with an additional boost of B12, absolutely the answer for the February glooms.
CoenzymeQ10 (available in local health food stores) has been in the marketplace in supplement form for a while but not specifically as an energy maker. But, research shows that every human cell contains CoQ10 and its function is to transform food into ATP – adenosine triphosphate – energy. It therefore makes sense as a supplement because the body stops producing it as it matures and yet cells still need it. As provenance, it’s been tested positively for male infertility, Parkinsons disease and much more.
To my mind, there is no better energy supplement than the mineral Indium, element No. 49 on the Periodic Table. Produced under patent in the US, Indium is only now being recognised as an essential trace element with nutritional benefits missing from our regular diet. Users notice an increase in energy and a sense of well-being within the first seven to ten days of taking it. The technical blurb cites Indium’s ability to support and stimulate both the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, which signal to the rest of the glandular system to release ‘a cascade of 31 youth-promoting hormones’. Good also for libido and endurance as well as helping with migraines, diabetes, glaucoma and more.
I’m currently road-testing Indium for myself (mail-order from UK) and will know more by the month’s end. Death to my February glooms, I fervently hope (for information email me on [email protected]).
Finally, water Drink more of it for extra energy. The number one trigger of daytime fatigue is lack of water.
Caption: So potent it’s been patented: Indium, available in liquid or pill form.
Q Our healthfood shop stocks a number of tinctures as well as pills. Please tell me the benefits of tinctures against tablet supplements?
Mr CD, Pissouri
A. Tinctures are a suspension of herb in an alcoholic preservative. It’s an age-old way of making a herbal remedy that’s stable and readily available to the body. Its bio-availability means it gets to work faster: the stomach doesn’t have to break down the pill to get the herb. The downside is that tinctures don’t always taste nice!
There are two excellent brands in Cyprus health-food shops. Swiss-based Bioforce have not only developed a magnificent range, they have also a really good UK helpline (0044 845 608 5858 www.bioforce.com). I would unreservedly recommend them – their Milk Thistle Complex is a ‘must’ for everyone around the festive season.
There’s also a good range from the UK company FSC, recently bought out by BHM Health Group (0044 1262 60789): particularly efficacious are the PMT and menopause formulae.
Another reason I prefer tinctures to tablets/capsules is that there are no ‘excipients’. Simply put, these are ingredients added to a pill to make the pill machine work smoothly and stop caking. Currently there is no brand available here that doesn’t contain the excipient magnesium stearate. We’re working on it!
Nikki’s column will appear every four weeks. Please you’re your questions to [email protected], PO Box 21144, Nicosia. Tel: 22818585
