All articles by Steve P Smith

  1. Cut Through The Marketing Hype And Taurine Can Still Be Of Great Benefit by Steve P Smith

    Taurine is one of those perhaps lesser known amino acids which are known to medicine as “non-essential”. But “non-essential” in this context simply means that it is not essential to ensure a daily intake from diet, because the compound can be manufactured by the body, albeit in fairly small quantities. It should not be taken as lessening the importance of taurine or the other non-essential amino acids in any way.

  2. How Methionine May Serve As A Natural Anti-depressant by Steve P Smith

    Methionine is one of the 10 essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured in the body, and must therefore be obtained from the diet. Like other amino acids, methionine is vital for the formation of the countless proteins which make up not only the body’s dry tissue, but many of its vital enzymes. Logically enough, as it is an essential component of protein, it is protein foods which are the best source of dietary methionine. Meat, poultry, fish and dairy products are known as first class proteins because they contain all of the essential amino acids. A diet containing a good supply of each of these food groups should normally provide sufficient amino acids, including methionine, for most purposes, but vegetarians can also achieve satisfactory intakes through careful food combining.

  3. How Resveratrol Packs Red Wine With Health by Steve P Smith

    Resveratrol has recently attracted great interest in connection with the the so-called “French Paradox” which has long puzzled medical science. As a polyphenol type flavonoid it is in any case a very useful anti-oxidant, but many now believe it also to be the explanation of the relatively low rates of cardiovascular disease enjoyed in France despite a national diet traditionally rich in cholesterol and saturated fat. The French, of course, are also known as high per capita consumers of alcohol, particularly in the form of red wine.

  4. Get To Know Lycopene: The Little Known Anti-Oxidant by Steve P Smith

    “Carotenoids” is the term which describes the large range of more than 600 pigments which give many plants their characteristic red, orange or yellow colouring. Amongst those most commonly found in modern Western diets are alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene.