I went out this week to Comedy Night at The Wellness Community in Westlake Village, CA (http://www.twcvv.org). This is NOT a comedy club. It is a cancer resource center where I volunteer. It has many things to offer: group meetings, relaxation technique classes and many other offerings to promote the mind-body connection. But one of the best things it offers is Comedy Night. This was my first time attending comedy night and it certainly will not be my last. We had the great pleasure of listening to a great comedian named Jack Mayberry (http://www.jackmayberry.com). He was SO funny that my sides hurt from laughing. This is a very good article that everyone would enjoy reading.
One of iron’s best friends is found in plant foods, while another is found in animal foods. That means that vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike can take effective steps to improve iron absorption. In the plant world, iron’s best friend is vitamin C. Iron in a meal is well absorbed as long as 75 milligrams of vitamin C are also present. As an alternative, even a modest size serving (more than 3 ounces) of meat, poultry, or fish will also make the iron in a meal highly absorbable. Meats contain heme iron – a special form of iron that not only is unusually well absorbed but also helps you absorb iron from other foods. Only meats contain heme iron. Still another alternative is to include both a modest amount of vitamin C (25 to 75 milligrams) and a very small amount of meat (1 to 3 ounces). A third factor also possible gives iron absorption a boost, but nutritionists are reserving judgement until more studies are done. This is the acid factor. Certain acidic substances found in citrus fruits, sauerkraut, beer, and other foods may lend a hand with iron absorption by converting it to a form that the body can absorb more easily.
Thanks to important advances in laboratory testing, iron deficiency now can be detected before anemia actually develops. This kind of early detection constitutes a major breakthrough, as it allows nutritional problems to be found before they become severe.Although many people have considered “iron deficiency” to be synonomous with anemia, these new tests enable us to make a valuable distinction between the two terms. Iron deficiency refers to the state before the development of the low hemoglobin or hematocrit readings that indicate anemia. In this preanemic stage, the body has too little iron stored away but has not yet become deficient enough to show signs of anemia. A blood ferritin test will tell whether or not your body has enough iron stored in its “banik account”. Iron-deficiency anemia develops after the body’s bank account of iron is depleted. The hallmarks of anemia are low readings on the hemoglobin or hematocrit blood tests. Obviously, a low score on the blood ferritin test sounds an early alert of impending trouble. It gives you a head start on correcting the problem before it progresses to a full-blown case of anemia. This is the bright side of iron deficiency, if there can be a bright side, that it does not have to lead to anemia. But, on the other hand, this less-severe condition is much more common than outright anemia.
The Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state (108.7 acres) to issue its own stamps. The Vatican is conservative in the issuing of collectible stamps, only doing about 12 commemorative series per year. These series may feature religious and historical subjects and many collectors are interested in these. Vatican City gained its political independence from Italy on February 11, 1929. Two days later, the Vatican Post Office began its operation with supplies and equipment donated by others. The first stamps issued by the Vatican on August 1, 1929, were called the Conciliation series. This series consisted of 15 stamps - 13 were regular issue which depicted the papal tiara and crossed keys and two were special delivery stamps which featured Pope Pius XI, the current Pope. This is a good article that everyone would enjoy.
We’ve known for years that anemia most commonly strikes young children and premenopausal women. It has been more recently discovered though that athletes are also very likely to become victims to this disease. No one knows for sure why an athletic lifestyle increases the chances of anemia. The theory is that iron loses are a key cause of iron deficiency among otherwise energetic people. It is no mystery where athletes lose iron by the buckets. Obviously, it is in the large amount of sweat that they generate during heavy exercise, or physical activity. Most of us are more likely to eat ourselves into an iron deficient state than to sweat our way there. It is also more likely that a medical condition that compromises iron nutrition will be the culprit. Among the most common causes of iron deficiency are the following conditions: - Poor iron absorption due to diseases of malabsorption, stomach surgery, or chronic diarrhea. - Excessive blood loss from ulcers, heavy menstruation, cancer, or other internal bleeding. - Pregnancy, particularly during the later months, when the baby’s demands for iron from the mother are the greatest. And every now and then, an uncommon metabolic disease or medical procedure will do its part in causing iron deficiency. |
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