Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin which has a number of important functions in the body. It was discovered in 1922 by two University of California researchers, Herbert Evans and Catherine Bishop, when they were doing an experiment involving rats on a semi-purified diet. The rats grew well but when the females became pregnant their pups would die in the womb. However, when their diet was supplemented with lettuce and then wheat germ, the female rats would give birth to healthy pups, leading Evans and Bishop to conclude that their diet was missing a “Factor X”. This “Factor X” was later … [Read more...]
Archives for 2008
Vitamin D Explained
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is often known as the sunshine vitamin because sunlight can prompt the body to produce it. Early signs of the benefits of vitamin D were discovered in the early nineteenth century when researchers suggested that sunbathing and cod liver oil could cure rickets (softening of the bones in children and young animals which is now known to be caused by vitamin D deficiency). Vitamin D was officially discovered in 1919 when Edward Mellanby raised a group of dogs on nothing but porridge and also kept them inside (unintentionally) meaning they had no exposure to … [Read more...]
New Free Fitness Tips Blog Design
Hello everyone. As regular readers may have noticed the appearance of this blog has changed over the last few days. The reason for this is that I have changed my blog theme to one that I believe is much more attractive and easy on the eye. Instead of having all the content in one long list (as was the case with my old theme) the blog is now divided into separate sections on the homepage. It also now has a featured section at the top of the blog which allows me to highlight some of my favourite articles to readers. The content is still exactly the same. It's just presented in a different … [Read more...]
Vitamin A Explained
In my last few articles I have been talking about vitamins. Today I am going to be discussing in greater detail the vitamin at the beginning of the alphabet – Vitamin A. Vitamin A was the first vitamin discovered hence it being given the the first letter of the alphabet. It was officially discovered between 1912 and 1914 by Elmer McCollum and M. Davis, although in 1913 Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel found that butter contained a fat soluble nutrient that would soon become known as vitamin A. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and its most notable function is that it helps improve … [Read more...]
What Are Fat Soluble Vitamins?
In my last post I provided a basic introduction to vitamins. Today I am going to discuss the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in greater detail. Fat soluble vitamins dissolve within the body's fat cells and are usually found in fats and fatty foods. Unlike water soluble vitamins, (which are quite easily removed from food during cooking and preparation) fat soluble vitamins normally stay in the food when it is cooked. If they are not needed immediately, the body will store fat soluble vitamins for later use in the liver and fatty tissues. Therefore, fat soluble vitamins do not need to be … [Read more...]
What Are Vitamins?
In a number of my previous articles I have mentioned vitamins in passing. However, I have never really expanded on this topic further and discussed exactly what vitamins are. So today I thought I would write about this exact topic and answer the question 'What are Vitamins?' Vitamins are essential nutrients that your body needs to help the cells function properly. They contain no calories and do not provide the body with energy but they are required for a number of important functions. Vitamins are distinguished from minerals because they are organic compounds (they come from plants and … [Read more...]
The Free Fitness Tips Newsletter – September 2008
Hello Everyone. The Free Fitness Tips Newsletter - September 2008 is now online. You can view the HTML version by Clicking Here. You can view the PDF version by Clicking Here. If you have anything you would like to say about this month's newsletter please leave a comment at the end of this post. Happy reading :-) … [Read more...]
How To Get Back On Track With Your Fitness Training
Recently I've been doing quite a few posts on fibre. My plan was to continue writing about diet and nutrition but because of what has happened to me over the last week I decided to write about something different for this post. Let me explain a little further. I took this week as a holiday from work. Since I live with students in a student area, I imagined that there would be quite a bit of partying happening during my week off. However, I thought that although I might be consuming a little (or even a lot) more alcohol my diet and exercise regime would not suffer. Sure, maybe I would … [Read more...]
4 Highly Recommended Whole Grain Substitutes
In my last article I discussed four benefits of consuming whole grain products. Today I'm going to be discussing the areas of your diet where you can make effective whole grain substitutes. 1) BREAD:- Bread is a staple of many people's diets and really it's no surprise. Sandwiches are quick to prepare, portable, practical and can be eaten on the go. Whether you are walking somewhere, you are on a bus or train or even if you are at your desk, a sandwich can provide you with a quick, convenient mini meal. Unfortunately, a lot of people choose to make their sandwiches with white bread … [Read more...]
4 Benefits Of Consuming Whole Grain Products
One of the best ways to get enough fibre in your diet is to start eating more whole grain (also known as wholemeal and wholewheat) products. Apart from being rich in fibre these products also have a number of additional health benefits. In this article I will be discussing why whole grain products are good for you and list four of the top benefits. So what is so great about whole grain? Well it is all down to the production process. Natural wheat is packed with nutrients, containing high levels of manganese, dietary fibre, tryptophan and magnesium to name just a few. However, as the … [Read more...]