Vitamin B3 - Niacin

Vitamin B3, also called Niacin, is one of the most important of the B vitamins.  We often hear it recommended for cardiovascular health, but it is also important for digestive health as it promotes hydrocholric acid production.  Did you know that most people who suffer from acid reflux actually do not produce enough hydrochloric acid?  The "acid" of acid reflux is usually organic acids produced by foods rotting and fermenting in the stomach due to poor digestion.

Here's the technical detail: Niacin is converted to the cofactor NAD which is an important part of how our body processes carbohydrates, fats, and protein (amino acids). It promotes a healthy heart, skin, digestion, cellular respiration, and enhances metabolism and circulation. 

You can get too much Niacin, particularly from syntethic sources.  How do you know?  You get what is called the "niacin flush" - your face and ears become red and hot.  I recently experienced this myself and was able to trace it back to this very source.

Niacin supports the cardiovascular, digestive, hepatic (liver), integumentary, and nervous systems.  It also supports the soft tissue and the tongue.

The best food sources of Niacin are: fish (salmon, tuna, halibut), lean beef, liver, mushrooms, nutrtional yeast, organ meats, poultry, and wheat germ.

Are you noticing a trend - the best sources of B vitamins are mainly from animal products.  Keep that in mind when we get to B12 in a few days!

Vitamin B2 - Riboflavin

Vitamin B2, better known as Riboflavin, is an integral part of enzymes involved in oxidation reduction reactions that drive cell respiration.  What does that mean? It is critical in our cell making energy for our body.  It also supports the function of antioxidant enzymes and interacts with the other B vitamins.  It promotes a healthy immune system and regulates the activity of 50 of our enzymes.  Wow!  Remember enzymes are what make things happen in our body.  They drive everything we do.  This is why Riboflavin is often one of the B Vitamins added back into our "enriched" wheat flour, but as you remember from the  B1 discussion, this is synthetic and our bodies need the real stuff.

We get the "real stuff" in lean beef, milk, mushrooms, nutrtional yeast, organ meats, spinach, wheat germ, and yogurt. 

Vitamin B2 supports the cardiovascular, blood, digestive, endocrine, integumentary, and nervous systems as well as our soft tissue.

Vitamin B1 - Thiamine

Today's Vitamin of the Day is B1, also known as Thiamine.  Did you know that the true Vitamin B complex actually has about 20 different parts to it.  We know these as all the different B's.  One of the main foods that have the B family are whole grains.  Let's use wheat as the example.  There are three parts - the germ, the bran, and the endosperm.  The germ and bran have the B vitamins as well as some healthy fats.  The endosperm is the carbohydrate.  When they make refined flour, the main ingredient in white bread and cookies all that gets used is the carbohydrate.  But the food manufacturers are nice to us and they "enrich" the flour with up to 8-12 synthetic B vitamins.  Doesn't sound like enriching to me - take away 20 and give back 8!

B1 is a required cofactor for some very important enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism.  This supports mental alertness and cognitive ability.  It also maintains appetite and normal digestion.  It aids the cardiovascular, digestive, integumentary (skin), and nervous systems along with the eyes.

You can find B1 in black beans, brown rice (not white), green and split peas, lentils, lima beans, mushrooms, navy beans, nutritional yeast, organ meats, pinto beans, sunflower seeds, tuna, wheat germ, and whole grains.

Vitamin A a.k.a Beta-Carotene

Vitamin A is also known as Beta-carotene.  However, here is where it gets confusing - they are not the same!  True Vitamin A is found only in animal products, such as butter, egg yolks, liver, organ meats and shellfish.  Beta-carotene is found in plant food, such as carrots, red bell peppers, sweet potatoes, winter squash, and particularly leafy greens (collard greens, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, turnip greens).  And for the animal product to be a good source of Vitamin A, they should be eating green food, such as cows eating green grass.  Think of the animal as a Vitamin A factory!  When we consume Beta-carotene from plants (or vitamin supplements) our body has to convert it into Vitamin A.  And guess what - we aren't that efficient in doing that.  To learn all about Vitamin A click here.

Vitamin A supports the endocrine, immune, integumentary (that's skin), and reproductive systems along with our eyes.  It is required for growth and natural repair of many body tissues, and maintains integrity of blood cells and epithelial tissue lining the gut, lungs, and reproductive tract.

Happy New Year!

Wow.

Can you say long overdue?

2010 became a bit of a crazy, hectic, traumatic year for me....for us as a family. I'm praying that 2011 is much better.

I learned a long time ago that I rarely stick with my "New Years Resolutions" so I'm not really making any. I am setting goals for this year though.

1. Write on my blog regularly.
2. Quit drinking Mt. Dew...for good.
3. Focus on my relationship with my husband.
4. Work on sticking to a budget.

I'm hoping that writing on my blog will give me a release as it used to and allow me to sit back and reflect on life and maybe not focus on the negatives (which I tended to do a lot during 2010). I need this for myself. To look back on in 2, 5, 10 years and laugh and cry as I remember all the little things that seem a distant memory.

By quitting the Dew...again...I'm hoping to work on getting my weight under control. Because I will also be starting my dance class again on Thursday nights. No Mt. Dew + Exercise = Healthier, Skinnier Lisa. Win-Win.

You'll notice that it doesn't say "focus on the kids or family". It says focus on my husband. There's a reason for that. Somewhere along the way, we have lost ourselves as a couple. We get so wrapped up in all the family stuff and parenting and dealing with the schools and a special needs child and bills and laundry and dishes and, and, and.... Well, we've lost who WE are together. As well as who we are individually. We started seeing a therapist and she's really encouraging us to have "date nights" every 3 weeks at least and then some time for ourselves weekly. The key to this is SCHEDULING. We are really trying though. After spending a whole day (blessed be! seriously an entire day with my husband and no kids!) it was easier to remember why we got married and love each other.

Ahhh, the elusive budget. I've tried setting budgets in the past...however, it was MY budget and not a family budget. Now, Chuck and I are going to work together to accomplish this and set some goals so that we can not be flying by the seat of our pants all the time.

So there you have it. Those are my goals. Somewhere in there fits the kids, chores, school, Pure Romance, friends, work and sleep. But I feel that I'll have a partner this year.

January 2011 Newsletter - Happy New Year and Resolutions

Happy New Year! May it be both happy and healthy for you and your loved ones. First off I’d like to thank all of you for your support this past year. My business grew over 20% and given the generally poor economy for most of the year I am very pleased with that. But even more so, I am pleased with the successes of my clients and their moves to healthier lifestyles.


Since it is that time of year I have two resolutions for the year with respect to Rosen Wellness. They both revolve around providing the best service to my clients and readers. The first one is to continue to expand my capabilities and certifications to help my clients through training and education. You can read the article below about my planned trainings for 2011. The second resolution is to begin what I’ll call “Health Club” – a monthly open forum meeting for clients which I’ll tell you more about next month.

For those of you in the Milwaukee area pick up the January issue of M Magazine. It is their wellness issue and I am featured in one of the articles!

I’ll be starting the year off with a series of workshops in Sonoma, California, so if you are in the area please join me. I’ll also be doing a Nutrition Boot Camp Part 1 in Port Washington. For a complete list of workshops click here Workshops.

Strategies for Successful and Sustained Weight Loss

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and adapt a healthier lifestyle. Each year we tell ourselves “this is the year I’ll do it.” The health clubs are jammed with others making the same resolution. You see all your friends and co-workers. There are lines of people waiting to use the stepping machines and the exercise bikes. Then, as it happens every year, by the middle of February the crowds are gone and the few faithful remain.

If you are like most people, at first you were successful, feeling good, and had dropped a few pounds. You cut back on your drinking, were choking down salads at lunch, skipped a meal here and there, swore off desserts, and worked out hard at the gym. But now you’ve hit the dreaded “plateau” and the pounds are no longer flying off. You’re starting to get discouraged and the old habits start to creep back in. You have a beer or wine, cheat a little bit at lunch, have a dessert, skip a workout, and before you know it, all the weight you worked so hard to lose is back on and perhaps a few more bonus pounds. Unfortunately you are not alone. This is how over 95% of all diets end. However, there is another outcome. If you read on you’ll learn how you can get lasting results.

Full Article - Secrets to Successful and Sustaining Weight Loss

My New Year’s Resolutions – New Certifications and Training

I have to admit - I enjoy what I do. One of my main reasons for leaving the corporate world was to have a more rewarding career – where I could truly help people improve their lives. When most people think of nutrition consulting they think of weight loss. While that certainly is a big part of it (particularly in January), I find what I do frequently is more like detective work. For many of my clients weight loss is not their main issue. Many of them have digestive or hormonal issues or something that “isn’t quite right” that their doctor can’t explain. While I have a variety of tools to use in my analysis, I’m always looking to learn new stuff.

This year I’ll begin two new trainings. The first is a Certified Clinician in Whole Food Nutrition (CCWFN) from the International Foundation for Nutrition and Health (IFNH). To read more about the IFNH click here IFNH. To read about the program click here Whole Foods Nutrition Certification.

The second is Nutrition Response Testing, better known as muscle testing. I will be learning this in March and am quite excited about it. The program is through Ulan Nutritional Services, one of the leaders in teaching this information. Ulan Nutritional Services/.

The Page Diet

One of the eating plans taught by the IFNH (see above) is the Page Diet Plan. It seeks to balance body chemistry through a whole foods diet. Of course one of the “side effects” of this is weight loss. If you’d like to read about this diet, follow this link Page Diet Plan.

Secrets to Sustaining and Successful Weight Loss

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and adapt a healthier lifestyle. Each year we tell ourselves “this is the year I’ll do it.” The health clubs are jammed with others making the same resolution. You see all your friends and co-workers. There are lines of people waiting to use the stepping machines and the exercise bikes. Then, as it happens every year, by the middle of February the crowds are gone and the few faithful remain.


If you are like most people, at first you were successful, feeling good, and had dropped a few pounds. You cut back on your drinking, were choking down salads at lunch, skipped a meal here and there, swore off desserts, and worked out hard at the gym. But now you’ve hit the dreaded “plateau” and the pounds are no longer flying off. You’re starting to get discouraged and the old habits start to creep back in. You have a beer or wine, cheat a little bit at lunch, have a dessert, skip a workout, and before you know it, all the weight you worked so hard to lose is back on and perhaps a few more bonus pounds. Unfortunately you are not alone. This is how over 95% of all diets end. However, there is another outcome. If you read on you’ll learn how you can get lasting results.

Here’s the secret. First, eat nutrient dense foods. We are told the equation is simple – eat fewer calories and exercise more and we will lose weight. Truth be told, the formula is much more complex – all calories are not created equal. A calorie is a potential for energy. How and when your body uses that calorie can yield completely different outcomes. I can guarantee you that 75 calories from a hard-boiled egg and 75 calories from white bread will behave completely different in your body. Look back at previous columns I’ve written or go to my blog for a refresher on these healthy foods.

Second, it is not only about weight, but also size! We need to measure body fat, not just weight. Remember our friend protein from last month? It is protein that builds muscle. Muscle burns fat and weighs more than fat. If we are working out too hard and not providing our body with enough nutrients, in order to keep up with the exercise our body will actually break down muscle. In a surprising number of people, a high percentage of their weight loss is coming from muscle loss disproportionate to fat loss. I always get a chuckle when a client is upset because they have not lost any weight, but they are down two dress sizes!

Third, exercise wisely. Improper exercise will raise cortisol levels. This puts sugar in the blood stream, and promotes fat storage which increases the likelihood of insulin resistance; and lowers DHEA (an anti-aging, libido stimulating, and fat burning hormone). Insulin resistance blocks the burning of fat, causes fat storage around the abdomen, and causes inflammation.

Fourth, be aware of hormone imbalances. Imbalances of estrogen and progesterone in women promote fat storing. Low DHEA and testosterone in men and women reduce the ability to burn fat and build muscle. High estrogen in men promotes fat storage. High progesterone in women promotes insulin resistance. With low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) muscle building is slowed, metabolism is slowed, sex hormones are not produced sufficiently and are out of balance, and general low energy and fatigue is experienced. How do our hormones get out of balance? Too much stress and poor food choices are the major culprits.

The best program for long term health and vitality will be one that addresses your individual needs. Working with a qualified nutrition consultant you can determine what foods you need to add to your diet, what exercise is right for you, and whether or not your hormones are in balance. As these areas are brought back into balance your metabolism will improve, enabling you to lose weight in a healthy manner. It may take some time to get the body back on track. The body has built-in healing mechanisms and with proper nutrition and healthy behaviors the body will heal. As the body heals you will lose fat and weight.

Bernard Rosen, PhD is a Nutrition Consultant and Educator. He works with individuals, groups, and at corporations to create individualized nutrition and wellness programs. His office is in Thiensville, WI. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, call (262) 389-9907 or go to www.brwellness.com.