More About Lysine

There are more good things about lysine. Researchers have found that lysine not only improves the absorption of calcium in the GI tract, but it also decreases the loss of calcium in the kidney. This is turn may be helpful to improving bone and decreasing osteoporosis.

Researchers have also shown that when lysine combines with arginine, bone building activity increases and collagen is enhanced. So lysine has a 2 fold effect on bones helping to prevent osteoporosis.

Weight Loss and Kiwi Fruit

Here's the last bit on Kiwi fruit. Arginine, which I have spoken about for the past few days, is found in kiwi fruit. This amino acid plays a key role in muscle health by helping the body to process creatine. Creatine is a substance which helps us build muscle mass. Arginine also helps the body process nitrogen, which is needed for muscle metabolism. Through this process, arginine actually helps reduce body fat by increasing muscle mass and speeds up weight loss.

Athletes as well as those with arthritis, may find arginine helpful in repairing damaged tissues to heal more quickly.

Did you have any idea this little kiwi fruit could do so much? Oh, and one more thing, kiwi fruit is ranked as the 4th highest antioxidant potential. One of these antioxidants is lutein which we know helps to decrease the progression of macular degeneration and may actually prevent it if we have the right levels.

Why is Kiwi a Super Food?

In addition to boosting the immune system and detoxifying the liver, arginine, the amino acid found in kiwi fruit also is a part of many of our hormonal processes. Arginine stimulates the pancreas to release insulin which stimulates the pituitary gland to produce vasopressin (which works on blood vessels) and regulates growth hormone production. In fact the commercial grade arginine is used to evaluate growth hormone deficiancy.

The production of vasopressin causes the blood vessels to relax or dilate. Because of this effect western medicine has used arginine to treat problems like angina, arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease and intermittent claudication. In addition, there is evidence to support it's use in other diseases that result as a problem with vasoconstriction. These include erectile disfunction and migraines.

Are you beginning to see why kiwi is a super food? Wait there is more!

More on the Super Food Kiwi Fruit

As I mentioned yesterday, arginine is one of the key ingredients in Kiwi fruit. Arginine works in the liver to detoxify the liver by neutralizing ammonia and other toxic substances. I could go through the Krebs cycle, but you would be bored to death and what is important here is to understand that when you build up ammonia in the body, it eventually ends up forming aldehyde which you may know as formaldehyde, something we use to preserve bodies that have died. Sometimes this is referred to as pickling the body. The problem is we are not dead yet and we don't need or want our brain pickled. So the detoxification process in the liver is a critical element to us staying well and mentally sharp.

Arginine is is required for the body to form urea, which is how the body removes ammonia in the urine.

There is more that arginine does in the body Tune in tomorrow.

Kiwi Fruit - Super Food

Kiwi fruit is another one of those super foods. One of the reasons kiwi is considered a super food is because it contains arginine. Arginine is an essential amino acid in the body and although we do manufacture it within our bodies, supplementation is often needed.

Arginine works in the immune system by stimulating the thymus gland to produce T-lymphocytes or you may have heard them called T-cells. If you think of the immune system as an army, the T-cells come in 3 varieties, helper, killer, and suppressor cells. These cells regulate immune reactions and control b-cell development.

What all of the last paragraph means is that T-cells are responsible for controlling the immune system. If the immune system is suppressed, then your immune system will be unable to fight off illness and disease.

A few of the disease entities that arginine helps with are cancer, HIV, any disease that has compromised blood flow (ie heart disease), and improves impotence.

More on the benefits of this super food tomorrow