Natural Solutions
                           November 2006

Introducing  

Nutri Centre’s Q & A section 

Suppliers of complementary medicine, Nutri Centre (now offering their range of products in a number of larger Tesco stores), are providing laterlife visitors with the opportunity to ask questions on health issues.  

The Q & As are produced by Jo Rawlinson in conjunction with the Nutri Centre. Jo is a trained complementary health practitioner who regularly works with and writes on behalf of the Nutri Centre.

NATURAL SOLUTIONS

 
Q: Please can you advise on how my husband can keep his prostate healthy? He is shy about his health concerns but I have read alarming statistics about problems in older men.
 

A:  Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), where the prostate gland becomes enlarged, affects half of all men aged 50 and 80% of men in their eighties.

Symptoms include frequent urination with straining. When the condition is most severe, it becomes impossible to urinate and urinary tract infection, leading to kidney failure, can occur. So it would be unwise to ignore any suspicious symptoms.

Herbs and nutrients really can help and have been shown to do so in clinical trials. Zinc supplements (at least 15mg a day) were shown in one trial to help the prostate return to near normal in 70% of sufferers.

There are lots of formulas developed specifically for men, and the one herb they will all include is Saw Palmetto. A natural anti-inflammatory, the active ingredient helps inhibit the action of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. In Europe, a number of studies have shown that taking 160mg of Saw Palmetto extract twice daily is as effective as the prescription drug, finasteride or Proscar, but without the unwanted side-effects.

Diet plays an important role in prostate health. Increased soya in the diet can produce higher levels of a powerful phytochemical, genistein. This can help prevent the development of a tumour and also may slow down the growth rate of an existing one. Cut out animal fats, red meat, caffeine and tobacco and drink six to eight glasses of clean water daily.

 
Q: Increasingly, I’m finding it difficult to concentrate and my short-term memory has shown definite decline. Long-term memory is fine, however. Can you please suggest a supplement to help?

A:    A decline in mental acuity is unfortunately symptomatic of advancing years, but thankfully there are measures that can help.

Neurozan is a supplement formulated to help maintain different aspects of cognitive health. It’s the first product of its kind to incorporate phosphatidylserine with highly concentrated DHA and other essential nutrients for brain function such as Co Q10 and Glutamine, and highly concentrated DHA (50%).

The brain is a muscle, so exercising it will reap definite rewards. Crossword puzzles, making pictures of the things you need to remember, sudoko. These are examples of exercise that can keep the brain active and healthy.

Products

Zinc by Lamberts 15mg as Zinc citrate ?4.45 for 90 capsules
Saw Palmetto by Biocare ?9.80 for 60 gel caps.
Neurozan by Vitabiotics, ?8.95 for 30 capsules

All products are available from The Nutri Centre. Order by calling 0800 587 2290 or shop online at www.Nutri Centre.com . For more information, speak directly with a nutritionist on 020 7 436 5122

If you would like to ask a question, please send an email to nutricentre@laterlife.com


The information above is provided by the Nutri Centre. Laterlife cannot endorse any information presented and recommends that you consult your doctor if in doubt about any medication or health-related matter.


* Please note questions cannot be answered personally but will be selected for inclusion in future editions of 'Natural Solutions'
 

laterlife interest

The above article is part of the features section of laterlife.com called laterlife interest. laterlife interest contains a variety of articles of interest for visitors to laterlife.com written by a number of experienced and new journalists.

It includes both one off articles and also associated regular columns of a more specialist nature such as Healthwise, Talkback, Gardener's Diary, and a beauty section called Looking good in later life.

There's also 'It could be you' by Maggi Stamp laterlife's counsellor on human relationships. 

Also don't forget to take a look at our regular IT question and answer section called YoucandoIT by IT trainer and author Jackie Sherman.

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