NOW Foods - Zimmerman Files

Zimmerman Files

Marcia Zimmerman, CN, is one of the natural product industry's foremost authorities on nutrition, wellness and human health. Take advantage of Marcia's expertise and counsel in the monthly posting of THE ZIMMERMAN FILES

Over the span of her illustrious 27-year career, Marcia has worked as an educator, product formulator, chemist and Stanford University Medical School researcher. She's also authored several books, including The Anti-Aging Solution, Eat Your Colors, The A.D.D. Solution, 7-Syndrome Healing and 7-Color Cuisine.

Over the past ten years, she's served as a consultant to some of the most respected companies in the industry, and has worked closely with several manufacturers in developing their formulations. We're pleased that she's joined our efforts to support NOW's line of quality products as well as our mission of empowering people to live healthier lives. To access her articles archives, please visit her website at http://www.thenutritionsolution.com

Register for FREE Monthly Nutrition Webinars hosted by NOW University and presented by Marcia Zimmerman.

Listen to FREE Webinar Replays on a variety of topics ranging from inflammation, brain power, menopause and belly fat to the truth about high fructose corn syrup. Don't miss these outstanding presentations, whether you attend the live session or listen to the replays!

Several online education courses based on Marcia's books are available at www.now-university.com.

The Zimmerman Files

3.01.10 - Achilles Heel – We all Have One!

Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for his heel. Since he died due to an arrow shot into his heel, the “Achilles heel” has come to mean a person's principal weakness. Your Achilles heel is your risk factor or factors for disease – something that could ultimately lead to your demise.

2.01.10 - Matters of the Heart

Love, the color red, chocolate, and the month of February come easily to mind when thinking of the heart. More important when it comes to heart “matters” is nutrition and lifestyle. Let’s look at love, red fruits and chocolate from the perspective of heart health.

1.01.10 - Gotta Hitch in Your Git Along?

Winter months are prime time for joint, muscle and tendon flare-ups. It’s hard enough to get out of bed when it’s cold and dark – even harder when aches and pains make it hurt to move. Before deciding that the discomfort is here to stay, take stock of exactly where you are hurting, your lifestyle, past injuries and surgeries, and finally, your family history.

12.01.09 - Gut Feelings, Tummy Matters

The remarkable gut is so complex, scientists call it the gut microbiome. It is an “organ” in the truest sense of the word, weighing in at approximately 5 pounds.2 The gut microbiome has an intimate symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with your body.3 It helps the body maintain homeostasis, a state of balanced metabolism under varying environmental conditions. The body provides a warm environment and food for the microbiome. How does this cozy arrangement play out? Let’s take a closer look.

11.01.09 - Immune Power for Seasonal Defense

Sugar indeed helps the “medicine” go down, but what effect does it have on white blood cells, the warriors of the immune system? An interesting study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed how much the neutrophils (a kind of white blood cell) drawn from test subjects were unable to engulf and digest (phagocytosis) the bacterium Staphylococcus. At the beginning of the test, each neutrophil was able to ingest and destroy an average of fourteen bacteria. After the folks drank a sugar containing beverage, each person’s phagocytes were able to gobble up on average only one bacterium before dying. Amazingly, the dampening effect lasted for up to 5 hours! Obviously, sugar in any form is one of the worst things to take with your “medicine.” So what should you drink and eat when you have a cold or flu?

10.01.09 - The Wise Woman Emerges - A Life in Balance and Lifestyle Changes

The term “sandwich generation” describes Americans between the ages of 45 and 55 – most are baby boomers. – at least half are menopausal to boot. According to a 2001 survey prepared for the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP), boomers are a unique generation that find themselves sandwiched between parenting children born late in life and providing for parents who are living longer. This month I will focus on natural remedies for the three classes of menopausal concerns: menopausal complaints, physical changes, and aging conditions.

09.01.09 - Rite of Passage – Menopause

Menopause is a normal, natural event – defined as the “last” menstrual period. So how do you figure out which one is the last? Although hopeful each month that this is indeed the last period, women won’t know for sure until twelve months without periods have passed. This is assuming natural menopause as opposed to that induced by hysterectomy, chemotherapy, or reproductive pathology. Despite the seeming abruptness of menopause, it doesn’t happen overnight – just as the first period didn’t magically appear out of the blue. The first clue that things are about to change in a woman’s reproductive life is something called perimenopause.

08.01.09--No August Zimmerman File

07.01.09 - Responding to Pain

According to medical authorities, pain is the most common complaint that sends patients to health practitioners. Approximately 35% of Americans have some element of chronic pain, and approximately 50 million are disabled, at least partially, because of it. Chronic pain is reported more often in women.1 As we shall see, there is a strong connection between hormone levels and pain.

06.01.09 - Taming the Fire of Inflammation - Part Two

Allergies and Asthma are chronic hyper-immune responses that inflame the airways and lungs. The aroused immune system recruits an array of cells and other fighters to eliminate the antigen (offending substance). Swelling, itching, burning and reduced ability to breathe are natural by products of this process. Allergies can be triggered by seasonal pollens, inhaled irritants, weather changes, foods, and some environmental contaminants. Allergic symptoms involve primarily the nose, but often include sinuses, ears, eyes, throat and skin. Gut inflammation is present in most cases.
Asthma is a more severe inflammatory airway condition that is closely related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. Long term inflammation in asthma and COPD damages lung tissue causing irreversible loss of function. Let’s consider three factors in airway inflammation, namely stress, immunity, and free radicals.

05.01.09 - Taming the Fire of Inflammation - Part One

Inflammation has often been described as the fire within because it’s usually not visible on the surface. Swollen sinuses, mucous membranes, bronchial, and alveolar tissues in your lungs may be irritated but not obviously inflamed. Arterial linings that are inflamed cause no pain initially, yet this is the first phase of cardiovascular disease and stroke.1 By contrast, swollen red joints that are painful, hot to the touch, and obviously “fiery,” cue us they are inflamed. To overcome these and many other chronic conditions, we must first tame the fire of inflammation.

04.01.09 - High Fructose Corn Syrup - More Than You Bargained For?

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a common ingredient in “junk” foods, has gotten a bad rap for ballooning waistbands, jittery nerves, and bad behavior. Now it seems there may be an even greater risk from consuming foods that list HFCS as a first or second ingredient on the label. Researchers at the Minnesota-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, found mercury in nearly half of fifty-five brand-name products purchased from grocery shelves.

03.01.09- DHA Antiaging Powerhouse

Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA is one of three omega-3 fatty acids with important health benefits. DHA is particularly abundant in the retina, brain and nerves. Omega-3 fatty acids are neither stored in appreciable amounts in fat tissue, nor produced within the body from other fatty acids. Thus they are a dietary essential.

02.01.09--Plugged In or Burned Out? Part Two

In part two of her article on memory and brain health, nutritionist Marcia Zimmerman offers more natural ways to support cognitive wellness.

01.01.09--Plugged In or Burned Out? Part One

12.01.08--No December Zimmerman File

11.01.08--Attention Deficit Disorder - Not Just for Kids

10.01.08--Move to the Head of the Class

9.01.08--Two Hamburgers, an Order of Fries and Metabolic Syndrome to Go!

8.01.08--Kids on Statins?

7.01.08--Vitamins D3 & K2 – You are My Sunshine!

6.01.08--ADHD and Developmental Delay Disorders - the Nutrition Solution

5.01.08--Essential Fatty Acids I: Development, Behavior, Cognition

4.01.08--Celiac Disease: A Missed Diagnosis?