Pregnancy Diet and Nutrition

Pregnant women

Energy - really eating for two?

Energy requirement varies among individuals. Unfortunately, pregnancy is not the ice-cream-free-for-all as we would like it to be. It is generally recommended that pregnant women increase their daily intake by 100 calories in the first trimester and 300 calories in the second and third trimester. For instance, an extra snack before bedtime consisting of a fruit, a serving of milk or yogurt and a few biscuits is often enough. A daily prenatal multivitamin supplement is often recommended during pregnancy.


Folate

Folate, or folic acid, is needed to support the increasing maternal blood volume and to decrease the risk of baby Neural Tube Defects (NTD). Diet alone is not likely to provide enough folate. Therefore, it is recommended that women should start taking a daily folate supplement of 400ug (0.4mg) 3 months prior to conception and should continue through the first 3 months of the pregnancy.

Iron

Iron is essential to maintaining a sufficient level of blood supply to the growing baby and the placenta. As many women's iron stores are not enough for meeting the increased requirements during pregnancy, a daily low dose iron supplement (30mg) is often recommended during the second and third trimesters. You can help prevent iron deficiency anemia by eating more iron-rich foods like lean red meat, fish, poultry, dried fruits, whole-grain breads, and iron-fortified cereals.


Calcium and Vitamin D

Your baby gets the calcium necessary for healthy bones and teeth from the mother's supply. Depending on your age, it is recommended to include 1000mg - 1300mg of calcium and 200IU of Vitamin D in your diet. It means 4 - 6 servings of dairy products or calcium-fortified foods a day. If calcium intake is insufficient during pregnancy, calcium supplements may be needed.


Dietary Cautions

Caffeine: some authorities suggest to limit coffee to 3 - 4 small cups a day; some such as the US Department of Health suggests to avoid it completely.

Seafood: Avoid high-mercury fish such as Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel and Tilefish. Also limit fish intake to no more than 2 servings per week. For more info - read Is it Safe to eat Fish during Pregnancy?

Artificial Sweeteners: use in moderation. For more info on sweeteners - read Which Artificial Sweeteners are Safe?

Herbal Tea: Some herbal teas are safe to drink during pregnancy. These include citrus peel, ginger, lemon balm, orange peel and rose hip teas. Avoid chamomile tea. 

The Bottom Line: Pregnancy and Diet

You will very likely experience cravings, but eating a balanced diet now is more important than ever. So eat healthy - do not skip meals.

If you are trying to conceive, take folate supplement now.

If you are already pregnant, take your daily prenatal vitamin supplement.

If you do not eat 4 - 6 servings of dairy daily, do some math on your daily calcium intake. Don't forget the calcium content in your prenatal vitamin. If the total is less than 1000mg, you may need to take a calcium supplement.

Source: (HealthCastle.com)

How to use Banaba Plant for Weight loss?

In a study conducted patients who are taking Banaba herbal tea reduce weight without side effects. The corosolic acid in Banaba leaves and flowers acts by delaying and reducing the absorption of carbohydrates by the body, thus continued drinking of banaba tea causes weight loss without any side effects.

Preparation and application of Banaba herbal tea for weight loss management 

•    Dry Banaba leaves and fruits without exposing the sunlight
•    Cut Banaba leaves and fuits into small peices
•    Boil the dried leaves and fruits in water,
•    Boil one cup of dried banaba leaves and fruits to 2 cups of water.
•    Seep for 30 minutes, strain the leaves and fruits.
•    Take the Banaba herbal tea for 2 to 5 times day

According to studies Banaba has no known toxic. But if you feel of discomport please stop using Banaba. And the most important thing is before you take Banaba herbal Tea it must be first consulted to doctor.

How to use Banaba Herb for Diabetes?

Banaba leaves

Banaba medication can be made simple:

Dry Banaba leaves or fruits but do not expose to sunlight

Cut Banaba leaves of fruits into small pieces

Boil the cut Banaba leaves having a ratio of 1 Cup banaba to 2 cups of water

Wait for 30 minutes then strain the fruit and leaves

Drink the Bolied Banaba tea 3 to 5 times daily

Banaba is also famous being use as herbal medicine for the following illness;

•    blood pressure control ,
•    kidney disorders,
•    urinary dysfunctions (helps ease urination) ,
•    controls the cholesterol levels,
•    treatment of diarrhea,
•    facilitates bowel movement
•    treatment of fevers and others.

According to studies Banaba has no known toxic. But if you feel of discomport please stop using Banaba. And the most important thing is before you take Banaba herbal Tea it must be first consulted to doctor.

Health benefits of Banaba Plant we must know

Banaba

Lagerstroemia speciosa is the scientific name of Banaba, which is a tropical flowery tree that grows in warm climate like the Philippines, India and others. It grows to a height as high as twenty meters. Its leaves are huge, and ranges from the shape of elliptical-ovate to rectangular. These leaves are shed by the plant in the coursework of the first months of the year, and are bright orange or red in the coursework of these times.

Various research on Banaba conducted in Japan show true the belief that this plant contains high levels of corosilic acid, a substance known as of the lots of treatments for diabetes mellitus. Besides its medicinal value, banaba is also cultivated and known for its pretty flowers.

Banaba is widely used in the Philippines as herbal medicine for diabetes for hundreds of years. It is now gaining popularity and getting recognition as a herbal medicine not only in the Philippines but worldwide. Banaba is often known as Queen’s Flower, Crepe Myrtle and the Pride of India. In India, Banaba has also been used to cure diabetes in Ayurvedic medicine for a long time.


Studies conducted shows that it has active ingredient, known as corosolic acid and is a potent compound that has insulin like effect to lower glucose in the body and is effective in treating diabetes. For a quick time Banaba is becoming known as natural plant insulin, and what makes it great is that, the herbal preparation is very simple and can even be taken orally, without any risk of adverse side effects.


Some studies that were focused on this plant resulted to the discovery of other potential medicinal benefits. These include antibacterial functions of seed extracts from this plant, as well as a water extract of the same manifest anti-oxidative functions. Another is the significant protection that Banaba seems to exhibit to treat HIV-infected cells. This is brought about by its ellagic acid constituents.


Aside from the medicinal value of Banaba, as a herbal medicine, it is also nice for the health. Banaba contains high concentrations of dietary fiber and minerals such as zinc and magnesium. The leaves can be boiled and taken every day as tea.

However, caution is advised against taking Banaba with any diabetic drug or any other drug simultaneously. Always consult with a qualified physician or a medical practitioner before taking any medication or any herbal medicine for an correct dose. Also, additional precaution is highly recommended as preliminary findings show that Banaba extract may delay and reduce the absorption of carbohydrates in the body and promote weight loss, despite its useful medicinal value.

The coming of health products from banaba makes Banaba popular in the Philippines, capsules and tablets of Banaba can be purchase in herbal stores as well as Banaba herbal tea.

Scientists disarm HIV to prevent it damaging the immune system

HIV

After a long battle against HIV researcher found new hope in their study about HIV, from tokay gecko issues that hit South East Asian Countries which is believe to cure HIV, now scientist able to control HIV from damaging Immune system I have found a great article from www.wellcome.ac.uk I hope this will insight everybody and give us new hope.

Here is the article read:

Scientists disarm HIV to prevent it damaging the immune system

Researchers have found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system, in a new lab-based study published in the journal 'Blood'. The research could have important implications for the development of HIV vaccines.

AIDS, which results from infection by HIV, is the third most common cause of death in low-income countries, killing around 1.8 million people a year worldwide. An estimated 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009. No vaccine against the virus currently exists.

Usually, when a person becomes infected with a virus or bacteria, the body's innate immune response provides an immediate defence. However, some researchers believe that HIV causes the body's innate immune system to overreact, weakening the immune system's next line of defence - the adaptive immune response.

Now, in research funded by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health, scientists from Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University have shown that HIV is unable to damage the immune system if cholesterol is removed from the virus's membrane. When the researchers removed the cholesterol, they found that this stopped HIV from triggering the innate immune response.

This led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by immune cells called T cells. These results support the idea that HIV overstimulates the innate response and hence weakens the immune system.

Dr Adriano Boasso, a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow at Imperial College London, said: "HIV is very sneaky. It evades the host's defences by triggering overblown responses that damage the immune system. It's like revving your car in first gear for too long. Eventually, the engine blows out.  

"This may be one reason why developing a vaccine has proven so difficult. Most vaccines prime the adaptive response to recognise the invader, but it's hard for this to work if the virus triggers other mechanisms that weaken the adaptive response."

Cell membranes contain cholesterol, which helps the membrane remain fluid. The cholesterol in the cell membrane is not connected to cholesterol in the blood, which is a risk factor for heart disease. HIV envelops itself in the membrane of the cell that it infects and uses it to interact with particular types of cell.

Normally, a subset of immune cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) recognise HIV quickly and react by producing signalling molecules called interferons. These signals activate various processes, which are initially helpful but damage the immune system if switched on for too long.

In collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Milan and Innsbruck University, Dr Boasso's group at Imperial has discovered that if cholesterol is removed from HIV's envelope, it can no longer activate pDCs. As a consequence, T cells, which orchestrate the adaptive response, can fight the virus more effectively.
The researchers removed cholesterol using varying concentrations of beta-cyclodextrin, a derivative of starch that binds cholesterol. Using high levels of this molecule, they produced a virus with a large hole in its envelope.

This 'perforated' virus was not infectious and could not activate pDCs but was still recognised by T cells. Dr Boasso and his colleagues are now looking to investigate whether this inactivated virus could be developed into a vaccine.

"It's like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognise it and attack it," he said.

Let's pray that these study will be a great success.

Source of original article: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2011/News/WTVM052755.htm