Nature knows best!

There is no doubt that in our unrelenting quest to stay healthy, a lot of us are becoming very confused! It seems like the advice and information we receive changes from one week to the next. Switch on BBC1 and they tell you one thing, and then Channel 4 says completely the opposite the following day. You head to Holland & Barrett on Saturday morning to buy vitamins, only to read a health magazine on Monday afternoon, telling you that without a doubt, supplementing your diet with anything but curly kale is gonna land you in some serious difficulty!

It's time to get real. Worrying too much about your health is, well ... unhealthy! You'd have to be pretty unlucky if the vitamins you just bought kill you, and many people lead wholesome, happy and healthy lives, having never even seen curly kale.

Frustrating as it may be, there are some people who seem to maintain a healthy weight, have plenty of energy, and rarely get ill, no matter what they eat or don't eat. However, many of us are not so lucky, and can benefit hugely from supplementing our diets. At Some Good, we believe in natural health. By design, everything we need to survive comfortably already occurs in nature, and it is just a case of finding the right balance for you.

Why are natural supplements better?

It might be better to start by explaining what the difference is between a natural and a synthetic supplement. Natural supplements are derived directly from plant or animal matter, whereas synthetic supplements are made from chemicals and are designed simply to behave in a similar way to the ones found in nature.

The major problem with synthetic supplements, is actually down to how amazing our bodies are at spotting fakes! Naturally occurring proteins and vitamins come in little teams, with other vitamins, enzymes and minerals, that control the way the body recognizes, metabolizes and uses them to make what it needs. Synthetic supplements don't come with any team mates, so the body often doesn't recognise them as nutrients, meaning that their absorption levels are low, or sometimes non-existent.

Think about it like this ... What happens when a cog is missing from a machine? Natural supplements have all the cogs your body needs to make the nutrients work, all in one neat package!

In some cases, synthetic supplements can even lead to mineral deficiencies, that can result in a wide range of problems, from headaches to insomnia. This is because they don't carry the trace minerals to make them work, so our bodies end up using their own mineral reserve in an attempt not to waste the vitamins that are present.

Don't be fooled ... Vitamin supplements can be labeled as natural if they contain as little as 10% of the natural form of the vitamin!

Whether you are an elite athlete, someone looking to put on a few kilo's of lean muscle, or simply trying to boost you immune system: you can get all the nutrition you need from nature ...

Look out for our new Organic Pea Protein, available next month. It is made with organic split peas, that are naturally high in protein, fibre and branched-chain amino acids (remember the cogs) ... Each tablespoon contains 8 grams of protein, so it really is the best plant based protein source around!
 




 

Fight sports and work related pain the natural way!

Whether you an elite athlete, an occasional gym goer, or someone who finds themselves out of breath in a five-a-side football game three times a year, as we get older we all become more susceptible to stiffness and aches. In the modern world, we also have a new problem to contend with. Most of us spend hours everyday working in front of a computer and a lot of our free time looking down at our mobile phones. This is creating problems with our postures, further increasing the chances of us suffering from constant niggling pain.

So what can we do to get some relief from this pain? Looking from a broader perspective, there is regular massage, physiotherapy, yoga, and ergonomic improvements to our work spaces; but what if we look at this in terms of what we are actually running our bodies on? How many of us are rarely going a day without using anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen or Aspirin?
 
Though NSAID's (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) play an important role in dealing with many acute conditions within medicine, taking them everyday for these kind of sports injuries or aches and pains is not the answer! My main issue with NSAID's, is that they interfere with our bodies natural ability to fix injuries itself. We create inflammation to protect our cells and tissues from damage, so having excess anti-inflammatory medication in our bodies for these kind of issues is simply slowing down our recovery process.
The other issues to consider are the side-effects of long term use. Although the risks are extremely low for occasional periods of short term use, long term use is heavily linked with stomach ulcers and kidney failure. Many athletes also claim they find it harder to stay hydrated, both during and just after extended use of NSAIDs.

The Natural Route

There are such a wide variety of foods and supplements available, making dietary choices has never been simpler. The strongest argument for looking at sports and work related injury from a nutritional angle instead of medicinal one, is down to longevity. If you have a work related injury, it is going to take time to fix through physiotherapy and ergonomic changes. Are you going to take medicine the whole time in the hope that one day you’ll sort the problem out and you’ll stop relying on them? What if you are a dedicated lifelong runner? How many tablets will you have consumed over the space of a decade if you are taking them morning, noon and night, just so you can train every day?

The benefits of adding anti-inflammatory foods and supplements to your diet extend way beyond a little bit of pain relief. Each flavour and colour brings its own unique set of active ingredients, so the anti-inflammatory effect these foods have on the body are produced in many different ways. The high levels of bromelain present in the stems of pineapples have been used to reduce swelling after surgery for centuries, whilst the levels of quercetin within lingonberries acts not only as a powerful anti-inflammatory its own right, but is said to significantly increase the bodies uptake of other important nutrients, that often struggle to absorb into our blood. Adding a variety of different foods and natural anti-inflammatory supplements to your diet won’t only help you manage your niggling aches and pains, but will aid digestion, support your heart, and promote overall health.

Our Lingonberry Powder is a really simple way to add more natural anti-inflammatory compounds into your diet. Adding a couple of spoonfuls to a jug of water and leaving it to cool in the fridge over night is my favourite way to take it. This method requires minimal stirring, as the powder just dissolves over night. It is really refreshing and can be infused with any fruit you may have in the house, which create nice subtle flavour variations. Lemon and cucumber are the obvious choices for this!

Here are our 5 favourite anti-inflammatory foods 

For any more info about nutrition or our products, please contact us at info@some-good.com