What is Flax seed oil and what are the benefits of it? Well, there's been a lot of research of this product, mainly to do with bodybuilding and fitness. It has been found to contain an essential fatty acid (EFA) known as alpha linolenic acid. This is very useful because it is turned into Omega 3 fatty acid (well known EFA) in the body which in turn increases the insulin levels in the bodies muscle cells. The Flax seed oil also produces and increase in steroid production and therefore serves as a valuable source for energy, building muscle, and gaining weight.

That's not all, to crank things up a bit, did you know that there are also tonnes of other very valuable nutrients included in flaxseed oil? Well, there sure is, when I say tonnes I mean it. Nutrients included are :

Folic acid - Is a form of water soluble vitamin B9 which is essential for the growth of new cells, it's also given to pregnant women during pregnancy to prevent anemia.

Niacin - Is another water soluble form of supplement and it's also known as vitamin B3. It's main roles are energy metabolism and DNA repair, but it also helps in assisting in the production of steroid hormones made by the adrenal gland, such as sex hormones and stress-related hormones.

Vitamin B1 - Is also known a thiamin, it plays an important role in helping the body metabolize carbohydrates and fat to produce energy.

Vitamin B2 - (Also known a Riboflavin) Essential for converting carbohydrate into energy; Essential for normal tissue respiration; Necessary for healthy mucous membranes

Vitamin B12 - Vitamin B12 is necessary for the synthesis of red blood cells, the maintenance of the nervous system, and growth and development in children. Deficiency can cause anaemia. Vitamin B12 neuropathy, involving the degeneration of nerve fibres and irreversible neurological damage, can also occur.

Vitamin A - helps maintain the health of skin and mucus linings (in the nose for example); helps strengthen immunity from infections; helps vision in dim light.

Vitamin D - acts like a hormone, regulating the formation of bone and the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the intestine. It helps to control the movement of calcium between bone and blood, and vice versa.

Vitamin E - protects your cells against the effects of free radicals, which are potentially damaging by-products of energy metabolism.

If you want to experience the full benefits of flax seed, it is very important that you ground the seeds before you eat them or you can just use pure flax seed oil instead. The flax seed is way to hard to digest in the body and it will pass straight through the body without releasing any of it's nutrients. I hope you can see the benefits of this oil for building muscle and gaining weight and that you go ahead if you're not doing so already and use it.

By: Wesley McDermott
If you want to know more information on how to gain weight and build muscle you can visit my Weight Training site to learn more.

Wesley is a bodybuilding and fitness expert with over 5 years experience in the industry. If you want to find out how to gain healthy weight and build huge muscles you can check out his site here www.weightgain4you.com.

Submitted by:
Rebecca Thornton
Law - USA

It might not seem possible but there really are fast ways to lose weight - and keep it off.

There are all sorts of short term things you can do to quickly drop some pounds but they aren't feasible for the long term, of course. But the best way to lose weight quickly and for good is to eat small meals several times per day.

Now, by small I mean they shouldn't exceed a certain number of calories. Yes, you'll have to start learning how many calories are in foods. You won't lose weight otherwise.

First you have to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your ideal weight. If you are female take your ideal weight and multiply by 12. That is the number of calories you should eat per day. If you are male, take your ideal weight and multiply by 14.

It's best to eat those calories throughout the day in small meals. Sure, you could blow all your calories at once on a super sized Big Mac meal and eat calorie-free food for the rest of the day but that would defeat the purpose.

When you eat regularly, in small portions, your body doesn't store fat. It knows there's food right around the corner and doesn't store fat by thinking there's a famine.

When you start paying attention to the calories you'll find that you also start learning more about nutrition too because you want to get the most nutrition for your calories. The technical term for this is Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition (CRON) and there is all kinds of research supporting the health benefits of this type of eating.

Don't worry: you'll quickly start memorizing the calories and soon it will become intuitive. You'll look at a dish and automatically know the proper size and roughly how many calories are in it. You won't have to walk around with a charge or calculator.

You will steadily lose weight until you reach your ideal weight. After you reach your ideal weight you will continue to eat the same amount of calorie in order to maintain that way. And as I know from experience, being in the position of maintaining your weight, instead of having to lose it, is a wonderful feeling.

By: Hannah Graham
Want to try a calorie restriction diet that's actually fun and easy to learn? Go to http://www.sixworddiet.com. This little 60 page booklet has been flying off the shelves. Why? Because you get to eat whatever you want, 12 times per day.

Submitted by:
Josh Truegood
International Issues from Knowledge Is Power

Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, has been known to medical science since the 1930s, and like the other B complex vitamins performs numerous functions which are essential for human health. A regular supply must be ensured from the diet because the vitamin can be neither synthesized nor stored in the body.

Vitamin B6 has probably attracted most attention from medical researchers and nutritional therapists as a means of reducing blood homocysteine levels, because an excess build up of this compound is well established as an indicator of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. One European research project, for example, reported in 1997 that the risk was more than doubled in subjects who showed levels of blood homocysteine in the top 20% of the range revealed by the tests.

Vitamin B6 is known to operate together with vitamins B12 and folic acid to break down homcysteine into the harmless, and in fact beneficial, amino acids, methionine and cysteine; and the effect is potentially very significant. Some research in fact suggests that moderate supplementation with B6 may consequently reduce disease risk by as much as a third. But as important as this function of pyridoxine is, it's just one of the many health benefits it can offer; benefits which have led some practitioners to conclude that B6 may be the most vital of all the B complex vitamins.

On a general level, vitamin B6 is vital for the body's production of prostaglandins, hormone type compounds which are responsible for the proper operation of so many of the body's vital functions, including the blood supply and respiratory system, that imbalances are suspected to be a major cause of ill-health. This is also essential for the functioning of at least 100 enzymes governing such biochemical reactions as the manufacture of necessary proteins, genetic matter and amino acids; and the digestion of dietary carbohydrates and fats.

More specifically, good intakes of pyridoxine have been strongly linked to a robust immune system, particularly in older adults; whereas deficiencies appear to be directly correlated with a reduction the number of the body's T cells, the most vital for immune system function.

There is also evidence to suggest that vitamin B6 may help stabilise blood sugar and reduce the tissue and particularly eye damage which commonly follows the blood sugar problems associated with diabetes.

Vitamin B6 is also particularly associated with women's health, and is important in maintaining the correct balance of oestrogen and other female hormones. This relationship with the sex hormones has led to pyridoxine being used by some therapists as treatment for the depression that often accompanies the contraceptive pill. And more general depression is just one of the neurological disorders, along with epilepsy and impaired cognitive function for which B6 is claimed to be beneficial.

Vitamin B6 has been used for the relief of morning sickness in pregnancy since the 1940s, and is also believed to help alleviate pregnancy related high blood pressure. Vitamin B6 has also been used with some success in the relief of pre-menstrual tension and with the yeast growth, candidiasis.

On the face of it, given its wide availability in common foods, the Western world should never see deficiencies of vitamin B6. But like the other B complex vitamins, it is all too easily removed from the body by the normal process of excretion. Intensive exercise, sweating, and the taking in of excessive fluids may therefore increase the body's requirement. The body's need for B6 also appears to be greater in proportion as it is comprised of lean, particularly muscle, tissue and more is required the more protein foods are consumed. So even orthodox opnion therefore acknowledges the probable benefit of supplementing with B6 at a level sufficient to ensure an intake of at least 2 mg per day. Some practitioners, however, recommend a normal target of 50 mg a day because of the wide ranging benefits attributed to the action of pyridoxine. But even higher doses of 100 mg may be recommended when attempting to tackle specific conditions. This kind of intake is in fact the suggested safe maximum suggested by the US Food and Nutrition Board, limits which are always set at very conservative levels; and the only toxicities observed from vitamin B6 intake have been in consequence of amounts very far in excess of this dosage.

But when taking B vitamins it needs always to be remembered that they are so closely dependent on each other that no single one of them can discharge its functions effectively in the absence of an adequate supply of each of the others. It is for this reason that the B complex vitamins are commonly found together in foods, and why any additional B vitamins should only be taken in the form of a supplement including the entire complex. Importantly as well, like all vitamins, those of the B complex operate best when in the presence of good quantities of all the nutrients required by the body. Most authorities therefore recommend that they be taken in conjunction with comprehensive multi-vitamin and mineral supplements, magnesium being particularly important in maximising the effect of vitamin B6.

By: Stephen P Smith
Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest in health products.
Find out more at http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.c ... mation.htm.

Submitted by:
Barry Arcant
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