Posts Tagged ‘pharmacy’

Phytonutrients your personal pharmacy means that it doesn’t take a hike to the Pharmacy; just a few steps to your garden will help heal what ails you.

phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are compounds that naturally occur in plants and provide a range of potential health benefits. It’s believed that the health benefits come from the pigments in fruits and vegetables that give them their vibrant colors. By boosting phytonutrient intake, it can help decrease the risk for certain chronic diseases, including cardiovascular, cancer, and diabetes.

A study, supported by the Nutrilite Health Institute and presented at the Experimental Biology Meeting, April 25, in Anaheim, California, found that despite the availability of a wide range of foods that contain phytonutrients, many Americans are getting phytonutrients from a relatively small number of specific foods that are not necessarily the most concentrated sources.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise; processed food is the food group of choice. With that being the main stay of the American diet, eating has become risky. There is no understanding of what are the primary foods for the human body to function at peak performance.

The next generation will have no compelling evidence, because this is seldom stated as the cause of ill health. The drop in plant consumption has resulted in many of the chronic health conditions plaguing us.

Produce Intake Among Americans

A previous study conducted by the Nutrilite Health Institute concluded that 8 in 10 Americans have a Phytonutrient gap, which translates to a lack of fruit and vegetable intake. If such great things come in small packages that could result in better health you would think that we would partake of it.

If fruits and vegetables were pharmaceuticals we would have the medical community touting the remarkable results that it produced.

Common drugs accelerates mental and physical decline in the elderly. Yet, changing to a good diet curtails both of these events. Pulling all the research together shows that produce promotes health and longevity.

Phytonutrients offer powerful protection optimizing digestive, circulatory, hormone function, bladder, liver, pancreas and vision function.

With all the health giving benefits produce intake which is the foundation of health is quite low. This is more than an apple a day will keep the doctor away. It literally is the fountain of youth that everyone is so intent on seeking. It is right in front of your nose, the plant food that lines the produce department of super-markets, and the farmers markets that spot the landscape.

A Short List of Potential Live Extending Produce

Beta-carotene – carrots

Beta-cryptoxanthin – oranges/orange juice

Lutein/zeaxanthin – spinach

Ellagic acid – strawberries

Isothiocyanates- mustard

For each of these phytonutrients, however, there is a more highly concentrated food that could be chosen instead:

• Beta-carotene – sweet potatoes
  Sweet potatoes have nearly double the beta-carotene compared to carrots in a single serving.
• Beta-cryptoxanthin – papaya
  A serving of fresh papaya has roughly 15 times the beta-cryptoxanthin of an orange.
• Lutein/zeaxanthin – kale
  By substituting cooked kale for raw spinach, it is possible to triple lutein/zeaxanthin intake.
• Ellagic acid – raspberries
  Serving per serving, raspberries have roughly three times the ellagic acid compared to strawberries.
• Isothiocyanates – watercress
  Just one cup of watercress as the basis for a salad has about the same level of isothiocyanates as four teaspoons of mustard.

It is no surprise that pharmacies out perform green groceries. What is news to most people is that green groceries will do more for your health.

Pharmacy Advantage 

The pharmacy advantage comes from the supporting cast. They are many from the diagnostic labs, doctors training, to the media ads, and now the new sweeping health care bill.

While the nation can breathe a sigh of relief that the healthcare debate may be over, the new laws would make pharmacies a beneficiary of this legislation.

With an expansion of coverage there will be more prescriptions written. Not one of them will be for the green groceries that are the long term solution.

The new healthcare law is going to benefit healthcare companies. Hospitals will get a larger number of insured patients, and some will have prescription coverage.

There will be people who were uninsured before because of preexisting conditions. Once they are added to the roll of people who will need prescriptions filled business will be brisk. Pharmaceuticals are already one of the fastest growing segments of our economy.

Biotech

Biotech will be getting longer patent protection and new research-and-development tax credits. Developing new drugs will now become more profitable for the biotech companies.

The influx of new drugs will help the pharmacies, who will not have to sell other products to see a profit. That is why you will be seeing a drug store on every other corner. The large chain drug stores will be expanding their operations.

Green Groceries

Green groceries aren’t going to out perform pharmacies in terms of profit, but in terms of turning around someone’s health they may.

Maximum health will not be found in a pill, or any medication. It starts with the main ingredients in your diet. The green groceries are a healthy option, and the right way to regain and stay healthy.

The competitive edge belongs to the pharmacies, but the future hopefully belongs to the green groceries. If not, than we are all getting a raw deal no matter what type of health coverage we get.

Toxicity and pharmacology are words that are joined at the hip.

Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the study of drug action and the interaction on a biological system. When a substance has medical properties they are pharmaceuticals. This field looks at the drugs property, interactions, toxicology, and medical applications. The pharmacy side is expected to be concerned with both the safety and effective use of the product.

Drug Toxicity

Drug toxicity is tied to both drug metabolism, and interactions with other prescriptions. While the pharmaceutical industry is looking to build more profits, the arsenal of drugs keep growing.

Variety in most markets is considered good. The world of pharmaceuticals is a place where they are always brewing up a new formula. Most are equivalents of some rival manufacturer. Some of these products aren’t fully validated for safety, and with little or no study of how they interact with other agents.

Research led by Wayne L. Backes, PhD, professor of pharmacology and Associate Dean for Research at Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, found that drug metabolism depends not only on which enzymes are present in an individual, but how they interact. This makes the difference in whether a drug can be safely eliminated from the body or is converted into a toxic carcinogenic byproduct. The paper is in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Dr. Backes and his research colleagues, J. Robert Reed PhD, Pharmacology Assistant Professor and Marylyn Ever, Research Associate have studied an enzyme called Cytochrome P450 which is responsible for the removal of the majority of drugs from the body by chemically breaking them down into inactive substances or metabolites. Because there are so many, there is a high degree of variability in people’s responses to a drug.

Pharmaceutical Companies

Pharmaceutical companies are on a roll. Today’s consumers want easy answers to their health problems. At the core of this are the consumer’s criteria for a healthy solution. From the prescription pad to the pharmacy the drug companies have the competitive edge.

They have the plum position of being able to control the studies, and the information that reaches the consumer. Not only can they influence and educate the doctors, they can advertise straight to the consumer.

Healthcare

Healthcare is on an incredible mission. They expect to medicate people into health. They may wipe out a symptom, without changing the condition. To me it is wheeling and dealing with the backing of the pharmaceutical industry. They change one thing and cause two things in exchange.

There are technical problems that are never addressed. How does taking 7 pills or more a day interact when given together? Since no one has tested this short or long term, detecting the changes should give every patient anxiety.

The confidence that the consumer seem to have in the medical system eludes me. Medication is not science, and every breakthrough proves that the conclusions may not be reliable. What is small, red and powerful, a raspberry or strawberry of course. However, if it is a contest with a little red pill, the drug would win hands down.

You can’t count on performance or value when you put your health in the hands of the pharmaceutical Industry.