Although biotin is one of the lesser-known B vitamins, it plays an essential role in a number of important body processes. Taking its name from the Greek word bios, meaning “life,” this nutrient assists the body in metabolizing protein, fats, and carbohydrates from food. It plays a special role in enabling the body to use blood sugar (glucose), a major source of energy for body fluids. Biotin also helps produce certain enzymes.
Category: Natural Apothecary
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Bifidobacteria
Like its better-known bacterial cousin, acidophilus, the bifidobacteria group (also called ‘bifidus’) are considered a “probiotic.” One of the hundreds of beneficial bacteria that inhabit your body’s intestinal tract, bifidobacteria helps to fight off infection. Probiotics such as these are especially helpful in preventing the diarrhea that often results from antibiotic therapy. They ease other gastrointestinal conditions as well, including irritable bowel syndrome and flatulence. They also help to prevent vaginal and urinary tract infections, and counteract the overgrowth of the fungus Candida albicans.
Bilberry
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is a short, shrubby perennial plant that inhabits the woods and forest meadows of Europe, western Asia, and the Rocky Mountains of North America. As with many other plants that belong to the same plant family (Vaccinium), bilberry bears edible fruits similar to those found on the American blueberry bush. Cranberries and huckleberry belong to this plant family too.
Beta-Sitosterol
As one of several phytosterols (plant compounds with chemical structures similar to that of cholesterol), beta-sitosterol is commonly found in foods such as wheat germ, soybeans, and corn oil. Over the past few years, concentrated extracts of this particular phytosterol have been tested for lowering cholesterol and lessening such discomforts of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) as frequent and painful urination.
Beta-Carotene
Beta-carotene is probably the best known of the carotenoids, those red, orange, and yellow pigments that give color to many fruits and vegetables. The body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, a nutrient first identified in the 1930s and now recognized as vital to the growth and development of the human body.
Astragalus
An herb native to China, astragalus (Astragalus membranaceous) has been used for more than 2,000 years to balance the vital energy–or qi–which is thought to flow through all beings. A relative of licorice and the pea plant, astragalus appears to give the immune system a powerful boost. Teas, tablets, and other healing formulations are made from the plant’s flat, yellowish root.
Arnica
Native to Europe and southern Russia, Arnica montana is a perennial plant with bright yellow, daisylike flowers. It has a long history of use in herbal healing. Other species of Arnica, grown in western North America, are also used medicinally.
Arginine
The amino acid arginine is acquiring a reputation for keeping the body’s biggest muscle–the heart–in tip-top shape. In fact, this workhorse nutrient performs numerous vital functions, facilitating the healing of wounds and promoting the secretion of key hormones such as insulin and glucagon.
Antioxidants
Over the last several decades, scientists have discovered that the body’s formation of unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals is unavoidable–every cell produces tens of thousands of them each day. We’re also exposed to free radicals in the environment on a daily basis. Cigarette smoke, for instance, is one of the most concentrated sources of free radicals.
Anthocyanins
Anthocyanins are naturally occurring compounds that impart color to fruit, vegetables, and plants. Derived from two Greek words meaning plant and blue, anthocyanins are the pigments that make blueberries blue, raspberries red, and are thought to play a major role in the high antioxidant activity levels observed in red and blue fruits and vegetables. Anthocyanins are also largely responsible for the red coloring of buds and young shoots and the purple and purple-red colors of autumn leaves. Close to 300 anthocyanins have been discovered.
Amino Acids
The body uses chemical substances called amino acids to build the exact type of protein it needs. There are two types: essential and nonessential. While the body must get the essential amino acids from foods, it can manufacture the nonessential amino acids on its own if the diet is lacking in them.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
In the late 1980s, scientists realized that alpha-lipoic acid, a compound initially classified as a vitamin when it was discovered three decades earlier, possessed potent antioxidant properties that could prevent healthy cells from getting damaged by unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals. In fact, this vitaminlike compound has proved to be many times more potent than such old guard antioxidants as vitamins C and E. As a perk, it even recycles C and E (as well as other antioxidants), enhancing their effectiveness.
Alpha-Linolenic Acid
Alpha-linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid and the major omega-3 fatty acid found in food. Essential fatty acids are not produced by the body and must be present in the diet to maintain health. The unique biochemical structure of alpha-linolenic acid is important and helps to make it a key player in immunity, vision, cell membranes, and the production of hormonelike compounds.
Aloe Vera
A succulent perennial plant belonging to the lily family, aloe vera grows wild in Madagascar and large portions of the African continent. Because of its many therapeutic uses, it is now commercially cultivated in the United States, Japan, and countries in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Many individuals also grow aloe as a houseplant.
Allium Compounds
Allium compounds are derived from Allium sativum, or garlic, which is one of the most widely studied medicinal plants. The fresh garlic bulb is usually dried, crushed into a powder, and then compressed to produce a tablet. The tablet form is the most commonly used commercial preparation of garlic. Raw whole cloves have similar effects.
Agrimony
The yellow, star-shaped blossoms of Agrimonia eupatoria, an herb found throughout the northern hemisphere, have long been used as a remedy for diarrhea and a host of other ailments. Legend has it, for instance, that the ancient Greeks soothed eye problems with agrimony, and the Anglo-Saxons treated wounds with it as well.
Adrenal Complex
This combination product contains herbs, vitamins, and other nutrients believed to stimulate the adrenals, endocrine glands located on top of each kidney that produce steroid and stress hormones. Nourishing the adrenals is believed to increase energy and reinforce the response to stress, properties particularly valuable to people suffering from fatigue due to overwork, emotional strain, chronic fatigue syndrome, certain thyroid disorders, and other causes.
Adenosine Monophosphate (AMP)
Every minute of every day, as part of normal metabolic processes, your body produces a substance called adenosine monophosphate (AMP). Think of it as a byproduct of your body’s effort to create energy from the foods you eat.
Activated Charcoal
Poison control centers often recommend activated charcoal to treat accidental poisonings, making it a useful supplement to keep in the home. Activated charcoal is made from organic materials such as wood pulp and then treated to further enhance its absorptive powers. Once ingested, it binds with certain chemicals in the digestive tract, preventing them from being absorbed into your system and causing harm.
Acidophilus
Of the 400 different kinds of bacteria and yeasts typically found in the human digestive tract, there are a handful of so-called friendly ones that are of particular importance: Lactobacillus acidophilus and other members of the Lactobacillus family. Acidophilus is considered a “probiotic” because it helps to maintain a normal balance of beneficial bacteria in the intestines and vagina. Like other probiotics, it does this by supplying healthy bacteria and inhibiting unwelcome organisms. Many people take acidophilus to prevent and treat various digestive disorders, vaginal infections, and other illnesses.