Natural Choices — Health Food, Organic Produce, Gluten Free, Vitamins, Supplements — Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana

Archive for January, 2011

• Serotonin is a brain biochemical that promotes restful sleep, well-being, and satiety. When serotonin levels are low, people often experience depression, anxiety, insomnia, and the urge to overeat.
• The amino-acid tryptophan is needed to produce serotonin in the body. While foods contain some tryptophan, the diet may not provide enough tryptophan to make adequate amounts of serotonin. Additionally, enzymes that are influenced by inflammation and aging can break down tryptophan before it converts to serotonin.

• Inflammation is intimately involved in aging and the manifestations of age-related diseases- in fact, the two processes are so closely intertwined they have been recently dubbed inflammaging.
• Many dietary approaches to countering the effects of inflammation are effective, but the emerging science of nutrigenomics offers insight into highly targeted nutritional supplements such as the theaflavin family of molecules extracted from black tea.
• Theaflavins, like other nutrigenomically active molecules, exert their powerful effects by promoting activity of genes involved in controlling inflammation, and suppressing activity of genes involved in promoting inflammation.
• Highly purified theaflavin extracts have been shown to reduce damage caused by inflammation-based diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other age-related conditions.