Brand Review: Mt. Capra Whole Food Nutritionals

Mt. Capra has a smaller product range than most, as they focus on goat milk products for whole food supplementation. However. they are well regarded in the natural health industry, and have been in business for over 20 years, constantly expanding since their inception. The goats milk for their products comes from their own farm, utilizing free range goats on a large property in the south of Washington state. Here are some of their more popular products!

Capracleanse

This whole food supplement aims to assist cleansing throughout the entire body, from the larger digestive down to a cellular level. It is supposed to be used daily to help remove mucoid plaque, cleanse the blood with chlorophyll and correct and prevent constipation. Their Activated FIber blend is popular, and contains arabinogalactan, psyllium husks, flax flour, apple fiber powder and rice bran solubles.

Capracolostrum

When I had just had my first baby, I was shocked to hear from the doctor's mouth that Olympic athletes would be climbing all over themselves to get their hands on my colostrum (made before breast milk comes in) if they could! The CapraColostrum whole food supplement makes it much easier than chasing around expectatant mothers. It provides dopamine and serotonin, and helps support the immune system.

Vital Energy

This quick selling Mt. Capra product contains five herb blends, that all aim to help your metabolism function optimally. It has predigested minerals and electrolytes, anti-inflammatories and melatonin as some of the notable ingredients. The immune system, your stamina, and stress-related conditions all benefit from this whole food supplement.

Capra Mineral Whey

A whey powder made from goat's milk, the most similar milk to human's in composition, this nutritional supplement has an enormous range of benefits. It is an alkaline mineral food, helping support a healthy environment in the body, and assists with conditions like:

• Weak and painful joints
• A weakened immune system
• Soothing the digestive tract

Caprobiotics Advancved Shelf Stable Formula

Probiotics have an enormous range of health benefits for humans, and the Caprobiotics organic whole food vitamins and probiotics are especially natural and helpful. People with any of the following conditions can benefit from taking probiotics like the Mt. Capra products daily:

• Peptic Ulcers
• Allergies
• Gastric distress
• High cholesterol
• Family history of cancer or celiac disease

Effective Nutritional Supplements and Skin Products Under $20

Nutritional supplementing can be an expensive process, with some whole food supplements costing in excess of $60 for a standard size bottle. All of them have awesome benefits, but sometimes the simplest formulations and the cheapest products can have just as great benefits as more expensive items.

For budget watchers, today we are checking out 7 of the most effective nutritional supplements and natural skin products available for under $20.

1. Garden of Life Clean Energy Mind and Muscle, 60 caplets for $17.97

This represents a 30% saving off retail prices, for the #3 selling herbal formula in the entire whole food supplements industry. The energy blends it contains are stimulant-free, and support energy and metabolism, help give you endurance and encourage a healthy response to stressful events.

2. Garden of Life Detoxifiber, 300g powder, $12.57

You save 30% off the RRP buying this product also. The certified organic fiber supplement helps your gut naturally cleanse itself. One serve provides 20% of your daily fiber needs, more than adequate for whole food supplementation.

3. New Chapter Probiotics Anti-Aging, 90 capsules for $17.97

There is not only one strain of probiotics in this whole food supplement, but ten, aiming to help offset the effects of oxidation and help support the immune system. The probiotics are said to both help boost the immune system's action, and help directly kill pathogens in your gut for optimal health.

4. New Chapter Supercritical Antioxidants, 60 capsules for $17.97

Antioxidants are New Chapter's speciality, and these supercritical formulation antioxidants come in an easy-to-swallow soft gel form. They help support your cellular enzyme system and are backed by clinical research.

5. New Chapter True Tamanu Oil, 1 fl. oz for $17.97

Tamanu oil has been used for centuries by Pacific Islanders to assist with the healing of cuts, blemishes sores and burns. It promotes the formation of new skin tissue and prevents microbial infections.

6. Mt Capra Alkalizing Goat Whey, 12.7oz powder for $16.07

Acidic conditions in the body are thought to lead to a host of diseases. This whey powder is not only good for helping build muscle after workouts, but for creating a healthy, disease repellent environment in the body, according to the manufacturers.

7. MyChelle Clear Skin Spot Treatment, 2.3oz for $13.46

This formulation is made specifically for teenage skin, and aims to help take the infection out of spots and heal blemishes faster than your body can alone. The sulphur in works as both an antiseptic and an exfoliant, while improving the texture and tone of skin also.

Losing Weight with Probiotics -- What Science Has Found

Probiotics are one of the newest fields of study in science, helping to combat disease in a more natural way by recognizing that not all bacteria are bad, and that some are quite necessary to human life. Reserachers are now finding out about what role probiotics play in weight management, including regulating metabolism and helping maintain a healthy weight throughout pregnancy.

Uncertain, but definite potential

A recent study by Amsterdam researchers may not have uncovered any clues about HOW probiotics help people maintain a healthy weight, but it provided some unarguable facts. The team studied 256 women who had recently gotten pregnant, and divided them into three random groups. The first group received probiotics capsules as well as dietary counselling and food samples. The second group received dietary counselling and a placebo capsule, while the third group received a placebo capsule and no dietary counselling or food samples.

The women continued taking the capsules until they began their babies on solid foods and stopped breastfeeding exclusively, at around 6 months of age. Ther results were as follows:

• 25% of the women who received probiotics and diet advice showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 28%.
• 43% of the women who received a placebo and diet advice showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 29%.
• 40% of the women who received only a placebo showed symptoms of central obesity. Their average body fat percentage was 30%.

Central obesity was defined by the study as having a BMI (Body Mass Index) over 30, and a waist circumference of greater than 80 centimeters.

Speeding up the metabolism with probiotics

In a study that has been published for over a year now, researchers from Imperial College London and Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, gave two different types of commercially prepared probiotics drink to mice that had human gut microbes transplanted into them.

The mice that were treated with probiotics metabolized bile acids differently; the function of these acids is to emulsify fats in the upper gut. Being able to absorb more fat from the food you eat could contribute to obesity, while excreting more of that fat would have positive implications for weight loss.

Brand Review - New Chapter Products Organic Vitamins and Probiotics

New Chapter may sound like a young, upstart company -- but in reality it has been a considerable force in the whole food supplement arena for more than 24 years. You'll often hear that it is far more beneficial to get your nutritional needs from the food you eat, rather than from chemical isolates. New Chapter's whole food multivitamins are a big step in the right direction, as every ingredient is grown or cultured, rather than synthetically put together or reduced chemically. Here we look at the differences between New Chapter's dietary supplements and what you'll find at the pharmacy.

Potent but not dangerous supplement levels

New Chapter focuses on providing an effective dose of many nutrients and probiotics to support health, without overdosing. The true daily required intake of many vitamins and minerals is much lower than what is included in a conventional multivitamin tablet. In the case of some minerals, having too much can cause adverse health effects or even lower their potency. You will also find that in the case of many New Chapter products, while the milligram measure is lower than conventional dietary supplements, the cellular activity of the substances when absorbed this way is much higher.

Fermented soy base

Many people have trouble digesting natural or raw soy. Fermented soy is used for culturing many probiotics and deriving vitamins and minerals in New Chapter products, and this form of soy agrees even with many people who are sensitive to it.

Suitable products for pregnant or nursing mothers

New Chapter has also created a line of dietary supplements for nursing and pregnant mothers.

Fridge-free dietary supplements

Many whole-food supplements and probiotics require storage in the refrigerator. New Chapter products are formulated for shelf-stability, so you can still get the full effect without clogging your refrigerator door. However, if you live in relatively humid conditions, the efficacy of your products may be influenced by the moisture in the air. The fridge is usually the driest place in the house, so you can extend the life of your New Chapter products by storing them in the fridge.

Vegan and gluten-free options

New Chapter has herbal supplements and dietary supplements that have been derived according to vegan principles, with no animal products, by-products, or testing. There are also a range of gluten-free products, nor any ingredients that the Celiac Sprue Association considers harmful to gluten-intolerant persons.

Top 5 Women's Whole Food Supplements - What a Girl Wants!

You don’t have to be a high maintenance sort of girl to need certain things! Today we look at what a good women's whole food supplement needs to include, to help you achieve optimal health.

1. Folic acid

This is too often seen as only a pregnant woman's vitamin. It has an enormous range of health benefits in addition to helping prevent birth defects. Folic acid can help lower homocysteine levels to aid in preventing heart disease, reduce the risk of developing clinical depression, and improve memory and mental agility. Macular degeneration can also be slowed with folate whole food supplements, according to some studies.

2. Vitamin E

It is not only important for top brands of shampoo -- your body needs it as well. Vitamin E deficiency is rare, but can cause neurological problems and anemia. Combined with other common vitamin and mineral ingredients in whole food supplements, vitamin E has shown to be beneficial in reducing macular degeneration risk, and some studies have shown a reduction in Alzheimer's development associated with vitamin E intake.

3. Iron

Iron is essential for carrying oxygen around the body, and due to our monthly blood loss, women are often low on iron. Iron should be taken as part of a whole food multivitamin as iron toxicity, or an overdose of the mineral, carries health risks just as significant as deficiency.

4. Calcium

We all know that women are at increased risk of osteoporosis, and that calcium helps support our bones and teeth and in turn reduce that risk. However, most of us don’t realize how little calcium we actually have in our diets! Health consciousness leads many women to shun the dairy foods that are high in calcium, and a dislike of spinach doesn’t help either. Your whole food multivitamin should have a moderate amount of calcium, no more than 600 mg in a tablet, because the more calcium a supplement contains, the less is absorbed.

5. Green tea

Whole food supplements are your best bet for upping your intake of green tea if you don’t particularly like the drink. Green tea helps support the function of estrogen in the body, and the EGCG compound helps our bodies metabolize fats. Hooray!

Extra, Extra - Read All About It

As promised, here’s the next news installment we found during our probiotics research. This story is courtesy of Fox 7 News!

If you are one of the millions of Americans who suffers from stomach issues like bloating or constipation, relief may be as close as the grocery store! 7's Diana Diaz shows us why some doctors are making the Push for Probiotics.

Look in almost any supermarket or health food store and you'll see them: products that promise to strengthen your immunity and regulate your digestive system with probiotics.

But do they really work?

Karen Cohen is a busy mother of three.

"After I delivered Jarod, my second, I started having hoarseness, and I thought it was sinus," Karen says. But what Karen was feeling wasn't a sinus problem, it was actually a digestive problem. "I looked into it further and found it was reflux."

So she went to see gastroenterologist Charles Gluck at Memorial Regional Hospital for help.

He says the digestive system requires a critical balance. "There's a hundred trillion bacteria living in the colon, and they are an ecosystem just like any other ecosystem. If they're out of balance, you're out of balance."

Imbalances in the system can be caused by taking antibiotics that wipe out both the good and bad bacteria, causing a variety of symptoms.

"It could present itself as diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas," Dr. Gluck says, adding that probiotics are "friendly" organisms that can be found in supplement form or by eating foods like Activia and DanActive yogurt. "What you are doing in that situation is flooding your colon with non-gas-forming friendly bacteria, thereby crowding out some of those aggressive or disease-causing organisms."

Karen had been taking a prescription medication for her reflux but wasn't getting relief.

Then she started taking two different probiotic supplements daily and watching what she eats.

"So, two weeks in, three weeks in, I started noticing I wasn't as hoarse, feeling better."

Dr. Gluck says there is no downside to taking probiotics, even though they might not work for everyone. All Karen knows is they worked for her!

News on the Probiotic Front

As we mentioned before, we’re always on the lookout for the latest and greatest probiotics news…check out the following Fox News report!

Regular consumption of a yogurt-like fermented milk product containing the digestion boosting probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis appears to ease digestive discomfort, researchers report.

An open-label study of healthy adults who ate or did not eat Activia (Danone, Ltd.) daily for 2-weeks suggests "the daily consumption of this specific probiotic food improves digestive comfort," Dr. Denis Guyonnet told Reuters Health.

Guyonnet is the senior research scientist with the Activia Health Benefit Team at Danone Research in Palaiseau, France, and the study was supported by a grant from Danone.

Previous research has shown probiotic products -- those containing microorganisms that aid digestion -- are beneficial for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and other digestive problems , Guyonnet and colleagues point out in their article in the Journal of Digestive Diseases.

The findings of the current study suggest "people experiencing some digestive troubles, even without diagnosed gastrointestinal diseases like IBS, can benefit from the consumption of this specific probiotic product," said Guyonnet.

The study participants included 360 healthy men and women, 18 to 65 years old, who had no diagnosed gastrointestinal problems but reported some digestive discomfort in questionnaires completed at the start of the study.

For a 2-week period, 144 and 147 of these men and women, respectively, ate one or two servings of the fermented milk product daily, while 69 participants (controls) did not. The investigators urged all participants to otherwise maintain their other normal dietary and exercise habits.

After 2 weeks, about 83 and 84 percent of those eating one or two servings of the probiotic product reported improvements in digestive comfort. Just 3 percent of the control group reported the same.

Among those eating the fermented milk probiotic, "the bother from different gas-related symptoms (feeling bloated, excessive or trapped wind, swollen stomach) was significantly reduced," Guyonnet noted.

These findings suggest an overall positive effect from the regular consumption of probiotic food, Guyonnet and colleagues conclude. However, they acknowledge, a proper clinical trial, in which participants do not know if they are getting an active of placebo product, is needed to confirm the beneficial effects.

We’ve got one more hot news story to pass along…stay tuned for the next installment!