Author: Dominic Martin
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Everything You Need to Know About Vitamin C
Introduction Vitamin C has been found to be a crucial player in various aspects of the immune system (3), most plants and animals can synthesise vitamin C from glucose (sugar) however, humans and some other vertebrates lack the enzyme that allows this process therefore they have to get their vitamin C intake through their diet,…
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Vitamin D and the Winter Months
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is synthesised through our skin after sunlight exposure through UVB radiation. We can also get vitamin D through our diet however this is in very small amounts and hard to get adequate amounts without supplementation. Therefore, the best way is through exposure to sunlight, about 50-90% of our…
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Everything You Need to Know About Vitamin K
Introduction Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin but was not described as an essential nutrient until the 1930s when Dam found chickens fed a fat-free diet developed bleeding diathesis (2, 15). Dam ruled out cholesterol as the missing factor by 1935 and named vitamin K which was previously unknown as the missing factor (15). Vitamin…
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The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet was first defined by Ancel Keys during an epidemiological study observed in Greece and Italy during the 1960s (2). The observations were made due to the reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer found in the countries that overlook the Mediterranean Sea compared to other countries such as northern European countries and…
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Everything You Need To Know About Vitamin E
Vitamin E was discovered in 1922 as a necessary dietary factor by Evans and Bishop firstly for reproduction in rats (17). Vitamin E is a collective term given to a group of fat-soluble compounds the main forms of the compound for humans are named alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherols, the major most abundant form…
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About the Optavia Diet…
The Optavia Diet has become a popular weight-loss strategy, no doubt due to celebrity and influencer endorsements promoting the success of following such a diet. The Optavia Diet is from the company Medifast Inc. and is marketed as a weight-loss or maintenance plan that includes eating a mix of purchased processed foods by the company…
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Food Waste is Killing Your Gains
Global warming generates a major threat to all life on earth potentially causing the sixth mass extinction event on our planet. The global food system is the single largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world emitting 30% of the global total (8). These greenhouse gas emissions are generated through multiple sources such as land clearing…
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Everything You Need To Know About Vitamin D
Vitamin D may be labelled as a vitamin however technically it is more like a steroid hormone that regulates various tissue processes (5). Vitamin D is produced mostly in the skin and production depends on skin pigmentation either natural or caused by sunburn, which is then metabolised into more active compounds (21). The discovery that…
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What the Science Says About Keto
The ketogenic diet has gained a lot of attention in recent years mainly due to the effects it has on weight loss but is the hype real about this diet, what are the facts and what is the science saying about keto. Firstly, what is the ketogenic diet? Keto is a form of a low-carb…
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WaterBlog
Water does not suck it really really does not, water is an essential part of all life this includes humans as maintaining optimal hydration is important for humans to function well. The human body is made up of 60% water on average and is the major component of body fluids such as blood, urine and…
Evidence Based Nutrition 