Your Nails and Your Health

Do you have beautiful nails? Are they pink and smooth? Are they strong? Can you grow them long? Do they look nice and healthy?

Or do your nails split? Are they soft? Do you have vertical or horizontal ridges? Do you need to keep nail polish or fake nails on to make them look nice?

If your nails aren't beautiful, strong and healthy-looking without nail polish or fake nails, that may be an indication of an imbalance in your body chemistry.

White spots can indicate a deficiency in zinc or calcium. Brittle nails could be a sign of low iron, biotin, or a thyroid problem. If your nails split, you may not be getting enough protein, vitamin C, or folic acid. Nails that chip, crack or peel can be related to poor nutrition. If you have vertical grooves in your nails, you may be deficient in iron.

How do you find out what you need in order to grow strong healthy nails and have a healthy body?

First of all, you need to find out what is out of balance in your body. What nutrients are you not getting enough of? What are you getting too much of?

Yes, you can take too many supplements and that will cause an imbalance in your body, just like not taking enough. You need the right amount of the precise nutrients that YOUR body needs.

Find out more...

Vitamins and Copper

Some vitamins work with copper in your body (synergists) and some work against copper (antagonists).

If the copper levels in your body are too high, it can cause a deficiency in the vitamins that are antagonistic to copper. For example if you have too much copper in your body, you can acquire a deficiency in Vitamins A, C, B5, B6 and niacin.

The higher the copper levels in your body, the more vitamin C you require. However, if you take too much vitamin C and you're deficient in copper, you may be more susceptible to infections.

The vitamins that are synergistic to copper are Vitamins B1, B12, C, D and folic acid. These vitamins work with copper and help to maintain the proper copper balance.

If you notice, Vitamin C is both an antagonist and a synergist. How can that be? It depends on the level of vitamin C in the body. At certain levels it's an antagonist and at other levels it's a synergist. This is one reason why it's really important to make sure you're giving your body exactly the nutrients it needs in the proper balance.

Find out more...

Some Conditions That May Occur With Copper Toxicity

Here is a list of conditions that may be present when the copper level is elevated. However, remember that the conditions may have other associated deficiencies or imbalances as a single mineral elevation or deficiency rarely exists. This list is not absolute, only a sample of disorders that may show copper toxicity.

• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
  
• Toxemia
  
• Post partum depression
  
• Gallstones
  
• Viral infections
  
• Epstein-Barr virus
  
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  
• Anorexia
  
• Bulemia
  
• Candidiasis
  
• Fungal infections
  
• Scoliosis
  
• Dyslexia

Learn how to determine if your mineral levels are out of balance and causing you health challenges.

Copper Toxicity

Your body needs a certain amount of copper, but too much copper is not good for you. Remember that the old adage, "If a little is good, more is better," is NOT generally TRUE, especially when it comes to certain nutrients, including copper.

Copper toxicity is a problem in the U.S. Often it's a result of copper water pipes in your home. It may also come from anti-fungal sprays used on vegetable and grain crops. Another source is meat, if the animal's food was supplemented with copper.

Your metabolic rate can be a factor in your body's ability to retain copper. People with a slow metabolic rate retain more copper than those with a fast rate. Vegetarians tend to retain copper more than non-vegetarians.

More next time.

Learn how you can make sure your body is getting the right amount or copper and all the other nutrients as well.

Dis-ease Conditions Related to Copper Deficiency

• Anemia
  
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
  
• Multiple Sclerosis
  
• Parkinson's
  
• Menkes Disease
  
• Heart Disease
  
• Gout
  
• High Blood Pressure
  
• Allergies
  
• Osteoporosis
  
• Insomnia
  
• Emotional Disturbances
  
• Hyperactivity
  
• Antibiotic Sensitivity
  
• Hyperglycemia

If you have one of these conditions, don't go running to the health food store to buy a copper supplement. Copper deficiency is commonly found in all these conditions, but deficiencies of a single mineral rarely occur. Generally there is a mineral imbalance involving numerous minerals. Learn more...

Your Body's Need for Copper

Copper is an essential nutrient. It's found in many tissues and organs of the body and is a vital component of numerous key cellular enzymes. A copper deficiency can disturb these enzyme functions. Too much copper, on the other hand is toxic.

Have you ever worn a copper bracelet, or know someone who has? Maybe you noticed that it made you feel better. If so, you were likely deficient in copper and the copper absorbed through your skin was helping to reduce the deficiency. Conversely, if you didn't notice any improvement, your body probably didn't need additional copper to affect the symptoms that were causing you discomfort. You may even have been contributing to a build up of copper beyond the levels needed by your body.

Some situations related to copper imbalance include:

• iron-deficient anemia that doesn't improve with iron supplementation
  
• chocolate cravings
  
• moodiness or depression after you eat particular foods
  
• premenstrual frontal headaches
  
• increased susceptibility to flu or colds premenstrually

More on copper deficiency mext time...

Remember, rarely do mineral deficiencies occur with a single mineral. Generally there is an imbalance involving a number of minerals. Learn more...

Vitamins and Minerals Associated with Magnesium

Magnesium, like all minerals, is important for your health. Your body uses magnesium extensively in many of its biological processes. But magnesium doesn't work alone. It works in conjunction with other minerals and vitamins, both synergistically (working together) and antagonistically (working against each other).

The vitamins and minerals that work with magnesium - synergistically - include:

• calcium
  
• potassium
  
• phosphorus
  
• zinc
  
• chromium
  
• manganese
  
• vitamin A
  
• vitamin B1
  
• vitamin B2
  
• vitamin B3
  
• vitamin C
  
• vitamin E

The vitamins and minerals that work against magnesium - antagonistically - include:

• calcium
  
• potassium
  
• phosphorus
  
• sodium
  
• iron
  
• manganese
  
• cadmium
  
• lead
  
• vitamin B1
  
• vitamin B6
  
• vitamin B10
  
• vitamin B12
  
• vitamin C
  
• vitamin D
  
• vitamin E

Take a look at these lists carefully. You'll notice that there are some of the same minerals and vitamins that are both synergists and antagonists.

How can this be?

It depends on the amount of the nutrient present in your body. If you get too much magnesium, too much calcium, too much iron, too much of any vitamin or mineral, it can have an adverse effect rather than beneficial. According to Dr. David Watts, author of Trace Elements and Other Essential Nutrients, "maintaining mineral content in the body is like walking a tightrope."

If you really want to feel good, not catch every cold or flu that goes around, and protect yourself from the modern diseases that are rampant in our society today, then you need to maintain an optimal vitamin and mineral balance in your body.

Learn more here...

Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency

• anxiety
  
• short temper
  
• hyper-irritability
  
• muscle tremors
  
• memory loss
  
• inability to concentrate
  
• depression
  
• hyperactivity in children
  
• excessive perspiration
  
• foul body odor
  
• muscle cramps
  
• fluid retention
  
• high cholesterol
  
• high triglycerides
  
• toxic shock syndrome
  
• insomnia
  
• PMS
  
• depression

These are only some of the symptoms that may occur when there is a magnesium deficiency. These symptoms may also occur in situations other than magnesium deficiency. So just because you have some of these symptoms does not definitely mean that you have a magnesium deficiency. And rarely is there a deficiency of a single nutrient. Most commonly there is a mineral imbalance involving a number of minerals.

So, don't run to the health food store and stock up on magnesium if you have a number of the symptoms in the above list. First read this...

Magnesium - An Important Companion For Calcium

Your body needs minerals in the proper balance. Some minerals work together. They're called synergists. Some minerals work against each other. They're antagonists. Some minerals are both synergistic and antagonistic to the same mineral, depending on the amount available in your tissues.

Calcium and magnesium work together so that your muscles can function properly. Calcium causes your muscles to contract. Magnesium causes your muscles to relax.

If you don't have enough magnesium in your tissues, your muscles will not be able to relax normally. You'll have chronic muscle tension or tight muscles. You may also get muscle cramps with slight exertion.

Too little magnesium will cause excess calcium to build up in your tissues.

Other nutrients synergistic to calcium include phosphorus, sodium, copper, potassium, selenium, vitamins A, C, D and E.

Of these nutrients that are synergistic to calcium, besides magnesium, the following are also antagonistic: phosphorus, sodium, potassium and vitamin A.

If you're thinking that this is really complicated, you're right! That's why it's important to know what nutrients your body needs before you start feeding it a lot of supplements off the health food store shelf. Not taking any supplements isn't the answer either. Find out what is...

Blood Calcium vs. Tissue Calcium

If you have a blood test and the calcium level in your blood is measured, it tells you how much calcium was circulating in your blood at the time of the test. It doesn't tell you anything about the level of calcium stored in your tissues. The level of calcium stored in your tissues may not match the level that shows up in your blood. In other words, you could have a normal or high level of calcium in your blood and your tissue calcium can be low.

How can this be?

Your body needs to maintain a certain range of calcium in your blood. If the level drops too low, calcium will be drawn from the tissues in order to maintain blood levels. If there is too much calcium in your blood, it will be deposited into your tissues.

Your blood gives you the levels of minerals in your body for a moment in time. Your tissues tell the story of mineral levels in your body over a period of time.

Learn more here...