AMA
Noun: The American Medical Association.
AMINO ACID
Noun: Any one of a group of complex organic compounds (like a chemical recipe to make something) of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen that combine in various ways to form the proteins that make up living matter. There are around 10 amino acids regarded as essential to nutrition because they are the building blocks of the proteins which make up the bulk of the cells of the human body.
- Latin - ammonia = ammonia (a sharp smelling gas that is chemically formed from nitrogen and hydrogen. All amino acids contain ammonia as part of their "recipe").
- Latin - acidus = sour
-
-
ANTIOXIDANT
Noun: In order to understand "antioxidant" it is necessary to understand "oxidation" and the harm it does the body. Oxygen is needed to provide the force for all energy producing reactions in the body, to build our bodies and keep us alive. However, there is a dark side to oxygen as well. A nice car left in the sun for months on end sees oxygen mixing with the paint and "oxidises" it, making it dull. Left in the rain, any unprotected metal in the car mixes with oxygen and "oxidises" forming rust. Oxygen is very reactive, meaning it chemically combines with almost every other chemical. When a chemical oxidises, that means it has chemically combined with Oxygen. The Oxygen, in these chemical combinations in the body can end up with an extra electrical charge. This makes it unstable and when it then comes into contact with delicate cell walls, or the DNA (which contains the chemical blueprint to make your body) within the cell, it makes itself stable again by taking some electrical charge from the cell or DNA structure. Unfortunately this unstablises the cells and the DNA and the result is that the cell walls lose integrity and weaken or leak out vital fluids, DNA transmissions become scrambled and cells start reproducing in strange ways, altering the genetic blueprint and creating mutants leading to Cancer. Physically you see aging spots, wrinkles, heart disease and premature aging. Oxygen from many sources that we breath in or contained in chemical combinations in the foods we eat can be already electrically unstable. Chemicals found in smog, pesticides, cigarette smoke, car exhaust fumes, rancid unsaturated fats, processed meats and caffeine all enter into the body unstable Oxygen which in it's effort to get it's proper electrical charge does untold damage to the body.
Antioxidants are chemicals which are willing to give Oxygen the extra electrical charge it needs without becoming unstable themselves. Vitamins such as E. A amd C provide a defence for the oxidising effects of Oxygen. Vitamin A and E are fat soluble and so provide the main antioxidant protection within the cell wall. Vitamin C is water soluble and acts as a roaming scavenger complementing the effects of vitamin E and A and occuriring in high concentrations within the brain, lungs and adrenal glands. The minerals Calcium and Selenium are also powerful antioxidants.
- Greek - anti = opposite or opposed to +
- Greek - oxys = sharp +
- Greek - genes = born +
- -ant = added to words to make them an adjective or noun.
ARD
Noun: Acid Reflux Disease. Also known as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. Caused by movement of acid from the stomach into the esophagus and may indicate nutritional problems. For further information see Acid Reflux Cause
BETA-CAROTENE
Noun: Beta-carotene is an antioxidant which is found in red/orange fruits such as cantelope and mango and red/orange vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes. It is turned into the Vitamin A we need by our bodies. Carotene is the red or yellow pigment found in these fruits and vegetables.
- Greek - beta = the second letter of the Greek alphabet corresponding to our "B". Used by chemists to indicate one of several positions of an atom in a chemical compound.
- Latin - carota = carrot
BIOFLAVONOIDS
Noun: Any one of a group of substances, present in citrus fruits and other plant foods, that promote capillary resistance to haemorrhaging and act as an anti-inflammatory agent.
- Greek - bios = life
- Latin - flavus = yellow (flavonoids are chiefly colouring pigments in fruits and flowers)
- Greek - oeides = in the form of
BOVINE
Adjective: from an ox or a cow.
Latin - bovinus = ox or cow
CAROTENOIDS
Noun: Carotenoids are coloured pigments widely distributed in animals and plants. More than 100 have been identified in nature. They include carotenes designated alpha-, beta-, and gamma-carotene which are all converted into vitamin A in the intestines and by the liver. Beta-carotene is the most potent of the carotenoids in that it's conversion results in a greater amount of vitamin A than the others. Carrots are the richest source of the carotenoids.
- Latin - carota = carrot
- Greek - oeides = in the form of
CHELATED
Noun: A chemical process which essentially transforms an inorganic mineral or metal such as calcium, selenium, copper, or iron into an organic compound. In supplements, the chelated versions are much more absorbable than their inorganic, metallic counterparts. The body naturally absorbs minerals in chelated form and stores them, transports them and utilizes them. It does not naturally absorb minerals in metalic form. For example, eating iron oxide, which is rust, is not a good way to get your iron levels up. Neither will swallowing a penny help your copper levels. Plants are more suited to utilising the inorganic metals or minerals.
- Greek - chele = claw (as organic part grabs onto inorganic part)
- Latin - atus = to combine
CHOLINE
Noun: Choline is part of the vitamin B group, present in many animal and plant tissues, which prevents accumulation of fat in the liver. Choline is the basic constituent of lecithin which is present in all animal and vegetable cells. It is essential for brain function.
- Greek = chole = bile +
- English -ine = in chemistry, added to a word to mean it is a basic substance
ENZYME
Noun: A protein substance produced in living cells that influences a chemical reaction within a plant or animal without being changed itself. Enzymes help break down food so that it can be digested. There are a number of enzymes which can be taken as supplements to help you with digestion of your food.
- Greek - en = in +
- Greek - zyme = leaven (which is any substance such as yeast which ferments and will raise dough. Used in this case figuratively to mean something that can produce a change.)
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
Noun: The part of the digestive system that consists of the mouth, oesophagus (throat down to the stomach), stomach and intestines.
- Greek - gastrós = stomach +
- Latin - intestinus = internal +
- Latin - tractus = a drawing out
GINGIVITIS
Noun: Inflammation of the gums.
- Latin - gingiva = gum +
- Greek -itis = word added on to medical terms to mean "inflammation of"
HYGIENE
Noun: The science of keeping well: rules of health.
Greek - hygieine = healthy
IU
Noun: Measurement abbreviation meaning "International Units." Any one of various units used internationally to measure the potency of biological substances such as vitamins, hormones and enzymes.
METABOLISM
Noun: The process by which all living things turn food into energy and living tissue. In metablosism, food is broken down to produce energy, which is then used by the body to build up new cells and tissues, provide heat, and engage in physical acitivity. Growth and action depend on metablolism. Only living matter is able to carry on metabolism.
Adjective: Metabolise. The act of doing the above.
- Greek - metabole = change +
- Greek - ismós = action of or act of
PROBIOTICS
Noun: As opposed to antibiotics which kill off all the bacteria foreign to the body, Probiotics introduce bacteria to the body which are beneficial. Once you are off the antibiotics , the first priority is to replace the good bacteria that have been killed off. They are your first line of defence against the fungi that will inevitably try to fill up the empty space in your intestinal tract where up to 1.8 kilos of friendly bacteria were keeping them under control, helping you digest your food and producing a number of B vitamins for your benefit. Once these good bacteria have been killed off (if you are not still medically on antibiotics and antifungals), yeast-like fungus microbes multiply rapidly and can invade the intestines, skin, nails, mouth, lungs, and vagina.
Most fungi are harmless, but in a person with a suppressed immunity, about 200 varieties can cause serious conditions in the brain, lungs, intestines and skin.
- Latin - pro = in favor of
- Greek - biotikós = related to life
RDA
Noun: An abbreviation for the Recommended Daily Allowance. A group has got together and decided how much of each vitamin or supplement you should take each day.
What it doesn't take into consideration is where you live. For example, English soil for the most part is very deficient in Zinc and Selenium. Various parts of the world have their own deficiencies and excesses as the minerals are not in set quantities all over the world. Plants grown in areas where there is no copper in the soil will not be able to make any of the nutrients that are copper dependant. Soils that have been farmed continuously are terribly depleted of minerals. All the farmer puts back is potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. The plants won't grow without these. What about the other 72 minerals that the plants at one time used year after year to make the vitamins and nutrients the plants should contain?
Also the RDA does not take into consideration the lifestyle habits or age of those taking the supplements. Smoking a cigarrette consumes 25 mg of Vitamin C in it's effort to handle to toxins injested. Antibiotics and steroids deplete the B complex vitamins. Stress, alcohol, pollution, eating foods high in preservatives or colouring, medical and street drugs all use up the bodies reserves of valuable vitamins and minerals or block their absorption. As we get older, our ability to absorb nutrients from foods decreases also as does our ability to chemically process them and change them into the life and energy compounds the body needs resulting in most of the conditions we associate with old age. These choices in lifestyle as to where we live, what we eat, smoker/nonsmoker, pub crawler or abstainer and our age all make the RDA unworkable from my viewpoint.
VITAMIN
Noun: Any one of certain special substances necessary for the normal growth and proper nourishment of the body, found especially in milk, butter, raw fruits and vegetables, brewers' yeast, the outside part of wheat, and cod-liver oil. Lack of vitamins in food causes diseases such as rickets and scurvy, as well as general poor health.
Latin - vita = life + amine (from amino acid as it was thought that all vitamins were derived from organic compounds obtained from ammonia.)