Synergism and Antagonism in Sports Nutrition

Imagine of the comedy duos of Laurel and Hardy or the trios of three stooges. They together are more entertaining than acting individually. This is almost true about certain micronutrients. The field of nutrients, nutrition and particularly sports nutrition is highly dynamic and constantly evolving. It is moving forward at an astonishingly fast pace, affecting every aspects of human health

Outstanding advances in physiology and biochemistry have increased insights into the mechanisms responsible for the effects of every single nutrients taken into the body and their interrelationships. Understanding synergistic and antagonistic effects of nutrients allows practitioners to know positive and negative interactions among nutrients. For better nutritional guidance and to take full advantage of nutrients, it is important to know which nutrients increase or decrease each other effectiveness.

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Kidney Damage from Weight Loss Products:

A successful weight loss regimen has a sound scientific base, and a combination of authentic medical-nutritional knowledge, experience, intuition and clinical judgement defines the "art of weight management".

The so-called self- proclaimed weight loss experts mislead and screw many cases, and their learning from Dr Google has no credibility to rely on. Weight loss products is a billion dollars business and it lures everyone or company to formulate some sort of products. When a weight loss practitioner does not have the knowledge and skill to lead someone scientifically, they would use any weapons they have or know of it to generate some results. This gives result to using certain products.

Recently, consuming Chinese herbal products for losing weight is on the rise. One of the ingredients in Chinese weight loss products is "aristolochic acid". It is a very dangerous substance that could lead to significant damage to the kidneys and many cases have been reported. The kidney damage from aristolochic acid is called "Chinese herbal nephropathy" in medicine, as it was first described in a young woman who was taking Chinese herbal preparations as a part of her weight loss regimen.

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What Is Hypnic Headache?

It is a form of headache that is usually mistaken for migraine and cluster headaches. Unfortunately, most health practitioners do not think of this form of headache and they often miss to include this in their differential diagnosis.

This headache is benign and typically starts few hours after falling asleep and tends to wake up the person. This is why it is also known as "alarm clock headache". The headaches usually last 15 to 90 minutes and it may last up to 3 hours after waking. The pain is mild to moderate and generalized. However, it could be in one side of the head and even throbbing.

Hypnic headaches affect women more than men and often begin after age 50 years, but it may be seen in younger people as well. The episodes of headaches can repeat up to three times through the night for 7 to 10 nights in a month. Nausea, photophobia and phonophobia are usually absent in this form of headache. Surprisingly, daytime naps may aggravate the headache.

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Para-Doping in Sports: what is it?