New reports show that vitamins stored in the bathroom or kitchen could be losing their potency because of exposure to humidity. First, your vitamins are best consumed from fruits and vegetables. Second, vitamins that come in a pill form and have the exact amount listed on the label, are synthetic and not as good as a supplement that contains as much of the whole food nutrients as possible... like Juice Plus+®.  Whether you use Juice Plus+® or any other nutritional supplement, it is important to know how to best store them in order to be sure your not diluting the shelf life nor the quality of your supplement. Here's more --

The kitchen and bathroom are not recommended places to store your vitamins, according to a Purdue University study. The high humidity in these environments could cause your supplements to lose some or all of their value and shorten their shelf life.

You may have experienced this in your kitchen: salt, sugar, or powdered drink mixes that have clumped or caked together because they were exposed to humidity. Now imagine the same thing happening to your vitamin and other nutritional supplements, only you may not see it happening. Even if you put the bottle tops on tight, your vitamins and other supplements may be exposed to damaging humidity.

According to Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science at Purdue University, crystalline substances, such as vitamin C, some B vitamins, and other dietary supplements, can succumb to a process called deliquescence, in which humidity causes water-soluble solids to dissolve. Vitamin C and B vitamins are water soluble, thus they can be damaged when exposed to humid environments. Read on...

Bottom Line: The best source of good nutrition is from whole foods, specifically ripe, raw fruits and vegetables. Since most of us don't consume enough of those foods, we turn to supplements, thinking that we can replace or make up for what we're missing in our diet. Unfortunately for many people, just taking a few different Vitamins doesn't do it, as there are hundreds of phytonutrients in whole foods. That's why we recommend Juice Plus+, as it has nutrients from 7 different fruits and 8 different vegetables, along with 2 grains... although a healthy diet is still the best first choice.

The Health & Wellness Institute

The most important part of a healthy  diet is plenty of fruits and vegetables. Since most of us don't get near the recommended amount each day, we recommend adding Juice Plus+. Nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables, Juice Plus+ uses 7 different fruits and 8 different vegetables, so it is considered whole food nutrition. The brain is our most important organ and probably one that is ignored when it comes to nutrition and exercise. Here is an in depth look at why vitamins and minerals are so important to brain function --

Certain vitamins and minerals play critical roles in brain functioning, and consumers are often deficient in them, opening an opportunity for supplementation. In an online article, Jimmy Brownen explained the importance of focusing on key major vitamins and minerals to support brain function and deal with deficiency symptoms, which can manifest in conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Vitamin E, for example, plays a significant role in preventing the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by reducing oxidative stress in the brain. While several foods such as almonds and vegetable oils contain vitamin E, selecting a supplement with mixed tocopherols can supply a range of the healthy fat-soluble nutrient. Similarly, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, fighting free radical damage and possibly delaying conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

The B vitamin complex supports the health of the neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. B12 assists in the formation of myelin, which protects the nerve sheaths; folic acid can reduce the body’s level of homocysteine, which can damage the brain in large amounts; and B6 plays a critical role in the formation of dopamine and serotonin. (read on...)

Bottom Line: The best source of good nutrition comes from fruits, vegetables, and even grapes and berries.  Although we can study individual vitamins to learn about the effects on the health of the body and some of its systems, many of the studies only  look at what can happen if you lack certain vitamins in your diet. This is why it is better to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables. And if you can't, won't, or don't... then add Juice Plus+.

The Health & Wellness Institute
Official Juice Plus+ Independent  Distributor

Juice Plus+ contains nutrients from a variety of fruits and vegetables and can be used as a daily supplement. Unlike vitamins, Juice Plus+ contains more than just a few vitamins, but attempts to extract the entire gamut of phytonutrients from 7 different fruits and 8 different vegetables.

While Juice Plus+ is an excellent source of whole food nutrition, there are studies being published what seems like everyday on the benefits of Vitamin D. Here's more from Healthnewsdigest.com --

Vitamin D may be the superhero of vitamins. Dr. Zoltan Rona in his new book, VITAMIN D The Sunshine Vitamin, refers to it as the “anti-death vitamin. Studies show that the risk of death from all causes can be decreased 26% with vitamin D supplementation. Readers benefit two-fold. They can take immediate steps to improve their own health. And they can again feel safe enjoying the sun.

Sun phobia, sunscreens, and spending too much time indoors has resulted in at least 70% of North Americans being deficient in Vitamin D. This deficiency is one of the root causes of a number of chronic conditions, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and a host of autoimmune diseases. Completely referenced, Dr. Zona cites cases and studies that demonstrate how vitamin D supplementation can aid in the healing of these major illnesses and other common health conditions and can help prevent occurrence.

Direct sunlight is still the best source. Fears of sun exposure contributing to skin cancer can be laid to rest. The latest research shows that survival rates from melanoma can actually be improved with safe exposure to the sun. Additional topics addressed include:

1. misconceptions about the right time of day for sun exposure;
2. what supplements afford the best protection;
3. the pros and cons of sunscreens;
4. how vitamin D interacts with prescription drugs;
5. why the recommended dosage of vitamin D is increasing.

Vitamin D shows us that being able to improve our health safely and naturally is now a much more viable option. (read on...)

Comments: While a supplement of Vitamin D may prove to be beneficial to your health in the long run - and some sunshine on a regular basis - it is still important to get a diet that is rich in whole food, raw fruits and vegetables.

The Health & Wellness Institute
Official Juice Plus+ Independent Distributor

Many items are getting the "antioxidant" stamp on them for luring consumers into buying a product, but what may be unknown is the extent of the antioxidant's use in the body.  'Antioxidant' is a broad term that covers one general classification, but may act in a more specific way. This is why it's important to get your nutrition from a variety of coloful fruits and vegetables instead of taking a vitamin or vitamins that claim to have antioxidant "power".  And another reason that when you do supplement your diet, you take a whole food nutritional supplement like Juice Plus+®, as it has nutrients from a variety of different fruits and vegetables. Because there are thousands of nutrients, there could be thousands of possible uses, many if not most probably closely related, yet still beneficial in their own way.  As you will read, there are many products claiming to have 'antioxidants', yet it is important to know in-depth what different effects they can have on and for the body.  Here's more --

Antioxidants are big business. The number of products with ‘antioxidants inside’ style labels is mushrooming, according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD). In 2009, there were 409 launches globally with ‘antioxidants’ flagged on the labels, compared with 154 in 2005 and 299 in 2007 – and that is just in marquee supplement formats such as vitamin A, C E, selenium, CoQ10, and zinc.

The overall market for antioxidants was valued at a whopping $12bn (€8.8bn) in 2009, according to Euromonitor International. So what do scientists working in this field make of it all?

“The issue that I have is that we’re talking about thousands of different compounds with wildly different chemical structures, but they’re covered by one term. And that term implies one mechanism of action,” says Professor Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging Professor at Tufts University in Boston. Prof Blumberg.

“It’s simplification that could get us into trouble.”

From scientific term to marketing tool

Definitions are important, and an antioxidant, strictly speaking, is a “substance (as beta-carotene or vitamin C) that inhibits oxidation or reactions promoted by oxygen, peroxides, or free radicals”, says the Merriam-Webster dictionary (which admitted the term in 1926).

And with this definition in mind, Prof Blumberg asks what would happen when a consumer hears that an antioxidant does not actually have an antioxidant effect in vivo. What if the effects were actually a change in phase 2 metabolism, or anti-inflammatory, or an apoptosis effect?

“In my more jaded moments, I think this [over-use of the term] may all end with consumer burnout,” he says. “One of the problems with antioxidants is that there is no differentiation, and this clearly isn’t working.”

Putting the assays to the test

The use of the term antioxidant continues to grow, however, and attempts by marketers to up their claims are drawing on results from tests of ‘antioxidant activity’. Products are beginning to emphasise ORAC values on labels.

The issue of antioxidant assays is controversial – some people emphasise the importance of a measure, while other say such results should be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.

To rely on assays that measure ‘total antioxidant capacity’ is problematic, said Prof Blumberg. To rely on one test above all others, as some appear to be doing with ORAC, suggests that there is one simple over-arching way of characterising these molecules.

“That’s not fair,” said Prof Blumberg. “It’s misleading marketing.”

A recent paper in the Nutrition Journal by Monica Carlsen et al. from the University of Oslo, for example, sought to establish the most comprehensive database of the antioxidant content of over 3,000 food products. The researchers chose to use the FRAP assay because they considered it simple, fast, and inexpensive.

In agreement with previous attempts to put foods in antioxidant league tables, the Carlsen study found that spices and herbs topped the list, followed by berries, fruits, nuts, and chocolate.

In an interesting caveat, Carlsen and her co-workers note that “it is not likely that all antioxidant-rich foods are good sources and that all antioxidants provided in the diet are bioactive", and also mention that the bioactivity of many of these antioxidants "are not necessarily correlated with their antioxidant capacity”.

Such limitations are not minor, said Prof Blumberg.

Referring to the Carlssen paper, Prof Blumberg expressed his approval that such a database had been compiled, but not for direct antioxidant measurements, but “because it gives us a better database on which to ask, ‘does this make any difference?’ when compared to health outcomes and so on”.

“We shouldn’t throw out ORAC, FRAP, and similar tests,” he said, “but these simple assays equate isocyanides, carotenoids, tocopherols, and stilbenes, for example, as somehow equivalent. It doesn’t tell us anything about bioavailability, antagonism, and synergies.”

“The limitations of these assays are likely to outweigh the advantages.”

So what do we do? How do we measure the effects of these compounds in vivo? “One direction to go is to get more complicated, to recognise the different compounds in different ways,” said Prof Blumberg. “We need to go back to the drawing board on this.”

But options are already out there, he said, pointing to the rise of the –omics: Metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics.

Looking to the future

Many questions remain in this area, and Prof Blumberg says that, as we continue to seek to understand why diets are helpful, and how foods can be formulated to provide these benefits, antioxidants will indeed be part of the solution. “But which antioxidant, in what form, and in what combination?” he asks.

A move away from calling anything and everything an antioxidant is also needed, as is moving away from defining them by a single assay. (continue on...)

Comments: This may be more education than you care to have on the subject, but necessary if you want to be sure you're taking a good supplement that provides as many nutrients from the whole food as possible. While Juice Plus+ does contain nutrients from 7 different fruits and 8 different vegetables, Juice Plus+ is not a substitute for those foods. 

As you should have read, the term antioxidant is becoming diluted for the sake of marketing. What you can take away from this is either a valuable lesson on how antioxidants work and why getting nutrients from a variety of different foods is important...or, that you probably need to eat more of those foods to improve your health, wellness, and prevention of sickness and disease.

The Health & Wellness Institute
Official Juice Plus+ Independent Distributor