The vitamin C does not only support us in fight against cold. It also makes us younger, we have better skin, stronger bones and more energy. How much of it do we need and in what form we should take it – explains Doctor Grażyna Pająk.

LNE: Does the quantity of the consumed vitamin C influence our look ?

G.P. : The vitamin C works in favor of our beauty because it neutralizes the impact of the free radicals. It is also a very active antioxidant working in the blood plasma.

It works with other compounds catching the free radicals, which means the slower destruction of cells and a younger organism. At the same time it reduces the oxidized vitamin E activating it anew. Thanks to that it enhances the stability of the cell membranes in the whole organism, also in the skin. The vitamin C also enables the synthesis of the collagen and the basic proteins. Thanks to that the connective tissue that builds the skin, bones and cartilage becomes stronger and more resistant. Also the influence of this vitamin on the immune system is well-known. It is worth mentioning that is promotes the wound healing, increases the iron absorption and enables the transport of the fatty acids to the mitochondria. All of this has influence on the beautiful and youthful appearance. Additionally, the beneficial influence of the vitamin C on the nervous system makes us smile.

LNE: How can we tell we have the deficiency of vitamin C ?

G.P. : There are many signs that can alarm us: fatigue, grey skin, aggravation of allergy, decrease of immunity – for example when we cannot cure cold for a long time.

LNE: How much of it do we need ?

G.P. : A while ago we talked about as many milligrams as we weigh. 60-75mg of the natural vitamin C is really enough when we are healthy, we fell well and live a balanced life. However currently people say that we need around 200mg. There are several reasons: less vitamins in the natural food products, more polluted environment, common stress. However when we suffer serious health conditions, in the hospitals or private clinics doctors use much higher doses, sometimes even up to 20g of vitamin C per day.

We should also note that under long-time stress our demand for vitamin C is higher. The same is when we smoke because the substances included in the smoke eliminate this vitamin from our body. Also the environment matters. The lesser the electromagnetic smog around us is and the more we work with computers, the more vitamin C we need and we must pay attention to supplement it.

The same is with illnesses, infections, taking medicines, drinking alcohol, high level of physical activity – especially when it is cold. The demand for vitamin C is higher in autumn, when the temperature is lower.

Sometimes we need only 60 mg of vitamin from acerola to give body a right dose – in the case of the ascorbic acid it must be much more.

LNE: In what form should we take this vitamin ?

G.P. : As opposed to other organisms, a man, the rest of the primate mammals and the guinea pigs do not produce the vitamin C. That is why we need to take it in proper amounts along with the food. It is worth taking this vitamin in the natural form. It is the so-called levorotatory vitamin, connected to the biologically active substances contained in plants and concentrated plant extracts.

I recommend being careful when it comes to the vitamin C in the form of popular pills or effervescent tablets. They are the pure ascorbic acid which may irritate the cell membranes, increase the quantity of stones in the gall bladder, kidneys and bladder, disrupt the insulin production by bodies of people suffering from diabetes. Sometimes it causes the stomach or duodenum irritation. In bigger doses – as results from the current studies – it may inhibit the transport of electromagnetic impulses in muscles. It is a dextrorotary chemical compound that acidifies the organism. For the body it is a foreign substance which is hardly recognized by our DNA, so it is hardly absorbed. From the chemical point of view, the natural and synthetic vitamin C is the same compound, but biochemically those substances work differently.

LNE: What products should we take into consideration ?

G.P. : Fruit of course, such as the wild rose, currant, gooseberry, chokeberry, grapefruit, lemon, strawberries and vegetables such as cabbage and cauliflower, onion, garlic, leek, chive, tomato and pepper. The bigger amount of vitamin C is in the fresh and natural food. Its content is influenced not only by processing the crop but also the length of storage, conditions of transport and chemical substances used in production and preservation.

It is worth taking vitamin C in the natural form, the so-called levorotatory vitamin, which is contained in plants and concentrated plant extracts.

LNE: Does it mean that it is enough to eat properly or we should take supplements containing vitamin C ?

G.P. : With our current lifestyle and the state of environment the fruit and vegetables are not enough. However instead iof the pills with ascorbic acid I propose the natural juice and fruit extracts. They may be weak substances containing 60-150mg of this vitamin and they should be taken quite often. For example acerola products. This variant of cherry contains incredibly big amount of vitamin C along with the bioflavonoid. Sometimes we need only 60mg of vitamin with acerola to give our body a proper amount – in the case of the ascorbic acid it must be much more. If we decide to take synthetic ascorbic acid, it must be always accompanied by the bioflavonoid, so the biologically active compounds thanks to which the vitamin is friendly for the organism.

LNE: How often should we take those products ?

G.P. : Like every antioxidants, the vitamin C is best to be taken 2-3 times a day in small amounts and not once a day in a bigger amount. The antioxidants protect the cell membranes, however the organism cannot use them all at once. Their surplus is discharged and after about 6 hours the stress appears on the cell membranes. It is important to take vitamin C regularly – only then we can improve the immunity and balance the metabolic processes.

The deficiency cannot be complemented with one dose, however we can feel a bit better.

Dr Grażyna Pająk                                                                                                                                                       Biologist, diet coach, media expert, lecturer.

Interview for LNE – conducted Olga Filanowska

What our health depends on – genes or a  lifestyle ?

The newest technology let us look closer at nature and be amazed with the wonders it created. While wandering around the world, watching films and reading we can admire the ways the plant and animal species adjust to their habitats, working on the adaptive abilities that will let them survive.

In the 20th century we were convinced that genes control our lives, health and destiny. The school taught us about the process of inheritance and transferring the genetic features as well as health problems over generations.

We talk more and more about the risk of heart attacks, high cholesterol level, high pressure, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancers, etc. – we tried to justify it blaming our genes for the health state or we lived in terror of expecting a disease that our grandmother, mother or other relatives suffered from.

It is worth knowing that the civilization illnesses appeared in masses after the Second World War, however the epidemic of diabetes and obesity is present only for 25-30 years. The idea that genes control our biology was only a hypothesis which was negated already in the 90s of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the “genetic control” became such a strong metaphor that we still believe it today despite the fact that the disturbances (mutations) of one gene concern only 2% of the population.

At the same time the some people are born with genes that give them a chance for health and happy life. Usually the diseases that we suffer from appear as a result of the metabolic disorders connected to the relation between genes and environmental factors.

Thanks to the crucial publications on genetics and cytology of dr. Bruce Lipton, a professor in Wisconsin (USA), in the last decade there was a turning point in the field of the cellular biology and the scientists began to speak courageously about the fact that particular genes are correlated with features and behavior of the organism, however they are not active. It turned out that genes are shaped and controlled by signals coming directly from the environment and our thoughts, emotions and beliefs.

In this way the scientific revelations of recent years has begun to confirm the religious truths and the oldest knowledge concerning the human life on earth as well as the researches provided by the quantum physics. This knowledge confirms that the main factors deciding about our health in 65-75% are unchangeably – way of thinking, ability to relieve stress, lifestyle and way of nutrition.

Filled with goods of civilization we often don’t remember that we are inseparable and integral part of the natural environment and in order to survive we should live according to the truths  known for billions of years. The science and technology accelerated the development of civilization, but they were unable to adjust the adoptive abilities of our organisms. According to the rule of homeostasis, if we want a living organism to function properly, its internal balance must be kept no matter the changes in the external environment. When the pollution excesses the adaptive abilities of our body, the disorders in the external environment appear and they lead to the decrease of energy and a general weakness. The decrease of energy causes the disorders of absorbing the nutrients, inhibits the metabolic processes and makes it harder to remove toxins. The gradual disorder of the functioning lead to many civilization diseases. The environmental changes and lifestyle do not include the genetically coded and evolutionally developed necessary needs enabling a proper functioning of our body.

Already in the 60s professor Julian Aleksandrowicz stated that “the genetic information in the DNA code is the same as thousands of years ago, however the material received from food does not fit the coded parameters. So the human body is built and rebuilt out of the much worse material than before. It is like we would build a palace designed by a famous architect, but instead of granite we would use a sandstone or clay. From the outside it would be similar, however inside it would decay faster.”

In the 20th century we entered the age of the industrial food production with a body structure of our ancestors. Over 100 years the number of food products grew from 500 to 50000. The consumption of fat was doubled and additionally we received the new processed, refined plant oils. Earlier, the correct relation of omega6 acids to omega3 was 3:1, today it is 16:1. Before the seeds, the high-value groats, vegetables, wild fruit constituted 60% of the diet – today they are only 20%. It is worth knowing that the consumption of the purified carbohydrates and sugar was increased by over 250% and the energy was decreased by 75%. When it comes to food processing we reach the level of absurdity and currently we cannot even comprehend it. In the last 20 years the amount of chemical substances that was supposed to “enrich” food increased three times. Yearly with food we eat about 7-9kg of artificial chemical compounds, raising agents, fillers, artificial colorants, flavorings, aroma compounds, preservatives, sweeteners, aromas, etc. Only in the EU about 170 000 tons of aroma is added to food each year!

Well, obesity and civilization diseases are hidden on shelves. Influenced by pushy commercials we are lost in the rules of healthy living.

In keeping the natural body weight we are disrupted by: excessively processed food with big amounts of purified carbohydrates – white bread, purified rice, overcooked pasta, white rolls, chips, snacks, sweets, industrial ice-cream, sugar, sweetened fizzy drinks, beer, coke, industrial fruit juices.

Big amounts of the delicatessen products filled with fat, soya and gluten are foreign to our body. Harmful for us are also the processed plant oils, trans fatty acids, industrial mayonnaise, butter-like products and dairy filled with powdered milk and chemical substances. The body diseases are also aggravated by ready meals, canned food and meals prepared and heated in the microwave oven.

Unfortunately, no organism is able to adjust to this kind of nutrition and as a result many harmful changes and activation of genes responsible for many diseases may appear.

Based on years of research, in the 90s professor Ulrich Warnke warned that we enter the age of high technology with a structure of a primeval man. The new lifestyle: rush, stress, polluted dead water, artificial materials, concrete deserts, air conditioning, shortage of sunrays, electromagnetic smog began to accompany us every day and the distance from nature grew. Unfortunately the studies show that those factors can cause the disorders of the metabolism and enzymatic changes in the organism, which cause a whole variety of metabolic disorders.

The natural magnetic fields have been always controlling the biochemical and physiological processes in our bodies maintaining proper energy in the cells. All the cells in our body “talk to each other” using many biochemical reactions and very gentle electromagnetic signals with low frequency. Health and wellbeing are kept by the continuous process of renewal inside the body.

Everything that disturbs this process leads to the systematic destruction of cells, so the premature aging and creation of diseases. The newest researches show that our physical and mental state depends on the efficiency of all the metabolic reactions. Those changes in the organism are so fast that during one year we can change over 90% of the whole matter. Each minute we lose over 2 000000 of old cells, so about 2,5 billion cells a day disappear in our body and the new ones are created. The fast pace of renewal ensures us that every organism can be regenerated.

Unfortunately health, wellbeing and condition are nothing we can buy. We can however work on this and support others in order to help them. The complex program of regeneration, cleaning the body, proper diet, filling in shortages, eliminating environmental threats, contact with nature, positive thinking bring shocking results, no matter the disease we suffer from. Only in few weeks of following a properly adjusted regeneration program we can feel much better eliminating gradually the causes of our diseases. After some time we may function completely differently. That is why more and more people accept and promote healthy lifestyle. If we follow it, we may experience positive changes  that are possible to achieve by everyone.

According to the observations of the researchers, the most creative and healthy electromagnetic field  is sent by our thoughts connected to love, care and sensitivity. That, what we are convinced of is reflected in our reality.

Dr. Bruce Lipton after 15 years of research stated “I realized that we are not the victims of our genes, but the masters of our fate able to create life full of health, happiness and love”.

Author: Dr. Grażyna Pająk

Diet coach, biologist, nature therapist, member of the Slow Food International

Nowadays in the developed countries more than 50% of society has problems with excessive fat tissue. Every tenth Polish man is obese and almost 30% of women and 50% of men are overweight. The overweight and obesity are a serious problem for many people of all ages. In the past it was associated with wealth and prosperity, today they are treated as the lack of character, gluttony, indolence and a basis of many diseases. Despite the aesthetics itself we know that the overweight gradually leads to obesity, helps creating many chronic diseases increasing the risk of, e.g.:

  • Cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery disease, hypertension, vascular failure)
  • Diabetes
  • Kidneys dysfunctions
  • Digestive, respiratory, nervous system dysfunctions
  • Rheumatologic diseases, especially concerning the joints of the lower limbs
  • Immune system dysfunctions
  • Cancers

The modern civilization promotes an ideal of a slim, healthy, fit man, but this very civilization has created a large number of temptations and obstacles that make it difficult to reach this ideal. The high standard of living, unlimited access to food and technological development made us free from any form of physical activity. The quantity of food products that we have at our disposal is increased from the average of 500 to 50000 and the consumed energy decreased by 25%. At the beginning of the 20th century the natural complex carbohydrates constituted over 50% of the consumed caloric value. Today this share fell to 20%, however the consumption of fat doubled and the consumption of sugar increased by 240%.

The impairment of balance of the organic and mineral components caused the disturbance of all the biological processes in the environment. The lack of balance in the soil decreased the quality of plants and disrupted the balance of nutrients in plants which became a less valuable food for people and animals.

The modern technologies let us process the food, what as a result deprived it of the rest of valuable vitamins and minerals. By isolating particular nutrients, adding dozens of different chemical compounds in form of cultivators, colorants, odours, preservatives, we produce the modern food in a completely different form that the nature did. In 1985 the food committee working for World Health Organization (WHO) has set the average nutrition norms for the highly developed countries, but already in 1991 it turned out that e.g. because of the processing of food it lacks about 40% of vitamins, micro- and macroelements as well as fiber. An average man compensates it usually with an additional portion of food in order to get rid of the quality hunger. He gets fat, disrupts the balance of components in the organism and ruins the cells. He is completely lost in all the rules of healthy eating. We got used to comfort, we began to eat the beautiful, colorful, artificial and less healthy food.

In our menu we can find too many over processed food, artificial preservatives and colorants, canned meals or those prepared and warmed in the microwave ovens.

Let’s remember:

  • a diet used during the weight loss cannot be a one stand torture that we end feeling relieved
  • a correct diet must lead to balance in the organism, further change of habits and it must become a nutrition model for future

 

the process of the permanent weight loss without effort is possible only when:

  • we believe in ourselves
  • we learn to reduce stress
  • we stop counting calories obsessively and trying to lose weight
  • instead we learn to eat rationally, to compose meals efficiently
  • we improve the functioning of intestines and fill in the necessary nutrients

 

We eat too much meat, white bread, sweets, sugar, salt, fat. We eat food that is incorrectly balanced when it comes to quality and quantity, we eat it irregularly, consuming it also between the meals. Instead of clean water and natural juices we drink too much fizzy drinks without any nutritive values, but with a great quantity of sugar, chemical flavors and fragrance additions as well as preservatives.

According to the most recent researches, the obesity is a disease connected to the qualitative malnutrition of the body. It is mostly a problem of metabolic processes than an excess of calories. The metabolic disorders may be caused by a long period of improper nutrition, using some medicines or different weight loss diets.

Most often the overweight is a result of many years of improper eating. More often we go on diet the more problems it brings. The “wonderful” diets are only momentary, but do not promote the balance in the body. On the contrary, usually they disrupt it and make the metabolic processes even slower. A diet limiting a quantity of energy (e.g. up to 1000 kcal) also is not beneficial because – with current poor quality of food – we are not able to complement all the ingredients.

At the time of each starvation diet the metabolic process slows down from 15 to 30%. This phenomenon is caused by decreasing of the muscle mass, in which the processes of burning carbohydrates and fats takes place, and decreasing of the efficiency of the thyroid hormones that are responsible for the regulation of metabolism.

When after finishing each treatment we go back to our own nutritional habits, the weight is increased above the original state. Another diet begins when the fat tissue is more thicker and the metabolic process is lower. We come across a vicious circle – at each new trial the starting conditions are harder, the impoverishment and weight are higher. At the same time the key issue of weight loss is not to lose kilograms, but to maintain a new weight for a long time. A well set program will never be a starvation diet. Despite the reduction of calories, we can supply the body with all the necessary nutrients that are necessary for a proper development and functioning of all the cells.

By unlocking the absorption mechanism we make the whole body more effective, we feel and look better and the weight control seems easier.

To determine the level of overweight we commonly use the so-called BMI index (Body Mass Index) – we divide the number of kilograms by the height measured in metres and then we square it. For example: the BMI index of a person who is 170 cm tall and weighs 80 kg is: BMI = 80 : (1,7)2 = 27, 68 kg/m2/

Nutrition and civilization diseases

Atherosclerosis

It is a chronic disease in which the cholesterol is stored in the blood vessels. In time it leads to tightening of the vessels that cause the painful asthma, heart attacks, hypertension or a stroke. Today more and more young people may suffer from this condition.

The cause of circulatory diseases is often an improper way of nutrition full of all the refined carbohydrates (white bread, rolls, sweets, sugar, starch, pasta, etc.), animal fats (fatty red meat, ducks, geese, sausage, pate, offal, canned meat), cheese and powdered milk containing the saturated fatty acid and the oxidized cholesterol. The well known Polish dishes and fast food snacks full of preservatives, colorants and chemical compounds systematically disrupt the balance of microelements and cause the deficiency of vitamins of B group (B6, B12, folic acid). This is the reason why the atherosclerosis is a civilization disease that happens mostly to people with bad eating habits. Those people usually have a chronic deficiency of vitamins from group B which causes the improper biochemical change of homocysteine. The real medical power is in the plant dishes.

A lot of green leaved vegetables, tomatoes, carrots, beetroots, legumes, melons, pumpkins, grapes, red and yellow fruit provide our body with valuable vitamins, mineral salt and compounds biologically active that prevent us from heart diseases. Enriching the menu with nuts, almonds, groat, dark rice, brown bread increases the quantity of those compounds that accelerate the regeneration of the body. However complementing the diet in B6, B12 vitamins and folic acid does not let raising the homocysteine level in blood which effectively protect us from damaging the surface of the blood vessels.

For human health important is not only the quantity and quality of the fat but also the proportion of certain types of eaten fatty acids. A diet composed of the modern highly processed food available on market does not provide us with the Omega-3 acids, but plenty of Omega-6. This state causes the increase of inflammations inside a body and regular weakening of the immune system. A diet should include sea fish that are a good source of necessary Unsaturated Fatty Acids Omega-3 that protect us from heart diseases. The well known source of Omega-3 and other nutrients is flaxseed. Apart from the unsaturated acids from Omega-3 and Omega-6 groups it is a good source of lignans, natural antioxidants of the fito estrogen class that are a part of the seeds in the cell membranes. According to the newest researches the proportion of Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids in the cold-pressed flaxseed oil is 2,5:1 and is in the range from 4:1 and 1:1. The research showed also that the lignans have strong anticancer properties.

Rheumatism

Every third person has problems with joint, bones, arthritis, gout (podagra) or back pain. All those diseases are caused, e.g. by the excess of uric acid in body. In the period of food deficiency after 2nd World War there were not many of them. In the animal world only the organisms of people and monkeys cannot decompose the uric acid. However only humans, by achieving the wealth, make many nutritional mistakes. We love to eat – we eat large amounts of animal proteins, fats and sugar. Eating too much of those can cause their storage in the body in minimal amounts, but regularly creating many disorders over the years.

High-protein diet causes the gradual increase of purine bodies in blood. People prone to arthritis or gout shouldn’t eat more than 1 g of proteins for a kilogram of the body mass. Cooking meat causes partial rinsing of the purins into water, that is why in a given meal we can eat either the brew or meat, not both at the same time.

The plant products that we should avoid include: legumes (bean, peas), asparagus, spinach, lentils, champignons and boletus. A lot of purines is also in the beer, beer yeast and yeast flakes. However the alcoholic beverages successfully inhibit the production of urine acid by kidneys. It is also worth to avoid sweets with refined sugar, it is not hard to understand why after parties with a lot of food – big amounts of proteins, fat, sugar and alcohol, we often suffer from different inflammations, colic, another arthritis attack or the gout.

People prone to podagra and strong rheumatic pains should avoid not only the high-protein and high-fat diet, but also the long-term starvation diets and intensive weight loss diets with a fast process of fat burning. The fast increase of products of metabolic processes are again inhibited by the removal of uric acid from the body.

Osteoporosis

It concerns about 10% of the population in the Western countries. In our country, according to the data from 1996, the statistics is higher by 50%. The reasons can be found in the environment pollution, lifestyle (alcohol, cigarettes, lack of physical activity) and in the incorrect diet of the Polish people.

The “escape” of calcium with urine is caused by many factors connected to the way of nutrition and lifestyle. One of the main reasons is excessive eating of high-protein animal products and purified carbohydrates. The acidification of the organism caused by the excessive consumption of sugar and proteins accelerates the functioning of kidneys and may remove the calcium with urine. The scientific researches from the last years show that in this situation the calcium balance is negative because of the amount of the delivered calcium.

The natural level of calcium is disrupted also by phosphorus compounds. Phosphates may produce hormones of thyroid that activate the calcium supply from bones. At the same time the phosphates present in many food products bond water in cold meats, thanks to which they look better, it improves the consistence of cheese and melted cheese, they leaven the pastry, “enrich” snacks and puddings, complement the instant coffee, fizzy drinks, etc. Especially harmful is the orthophosphate acid in the fizzy drinks. Children and teenagers who drink it may develop an abnormal bone structure with lower density. The researches show that 0,3 l of coke (one can!) drunk during one day by a 10-year old blocks completely the absorption of calcium and magnesium. Additionally it accelerates development of plague, acidify the body, irritates the stomach mucosa, causes heartburn, bloat, erosion.

Menopause

Menopause, despite the fact that it is a physiological period of a woman’s life, for the reason  of many changes happening inside the body is a reason of bad mood and accompanying diseases, is controversial and we are often afraid of it. Most often these include the hormonal disproportions, disorders and many diseases. They include the metabolic disorders, central obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high level of cholesterol, osteoporosis, thyroid diseases, circulatory diseases or degenerative-inflammatory diseases.

Currently 1/3 of the woman’s life on average is a period of menopause. The knowledge of proper methods of alleviating the symptoms and ways of early prevention of diseases and overweight is a base of good health. The individually set complex action plan, including diet, relaxation and proper prophylactics, gives good effects until the old age. The most effective therapies used in the menopause period is a natural hormonal therapy (bioidentical hormones – NHT), natural supplementation (herbal – plantal, antioxidants, vitamins, microelements) and, of course, properly adjusted diet enriched in the flaxseed oil.

Author: Doctor in biological science Grażyna Pająk

A biologist, nature therapist, dietician, long-term employee of the Polish Science Academy, member of the Polish Hydrobiological Society, Polish Phycological Society and Scientific Committee of the Polish Convention of Energy Therapy, Master of Energy therapy. As one of the first people in Poland she developed and promoted therapies and regeneration of the organism thanks to the cell nutrition. Since 1992 she has managed the Centre of Health Promotion “Herbacell”. In her practice she uses different natural methods of regeneration restoring vitality and health. She is the author of “Deacidifying diet”, based on the unique program of deacidification and nutrition influencing the improvement and strengthening of the organism defense system.