The nutritional supplement industry is an economic juggernaut, one that continues to thrive even during these tougher financial times. Unlike prescription medications, supplements do not have to undergo a vetting process by the FDA, which serves to explain why manufacturers are able to make many unsubstantiated claims with relative impunity.

Does this mean that all supplements are worthless? I certainly wouldn't go as far as to say that. What I would say, however, is that it is wise to speak with a medical professional before taking a supplement to find out: a) If it is safe for you to take it, and b) If it will help you achieve your specific health and fitness goals. In efforts to expedite that conversation (doctors are busy people), at least narrow your options down to supplements that have shown promise in peer-reviewed studies.

Here are 5 of them:

5 - Protein Shake. While it's entirely possible to get enough daily protein from your regular diet, it's sometimes quite difficult to do so. Protein shakes provide you with a convenient and tasty way to get at least 20-25 grams of protein and a substantial amount of amino acids with each serving.

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Life Fit Chat with That's Fit Life Fit Expert Laura Lewis brings conversation provoking tidbits to your table, served up with a touch of spice! Byte-sized information that pack some punch, brought to you every Wednesday and Thursday!
If you are one who still thinks losing weight is all about eating a "no fat, low fat diet," then it's time to get up to speed. You need to eat fat -- good fat -- every day. I came across a great article in Wired magazine that was published a few years ago that makes a great point about WHY fat is essential!

If you don't eat fat, your liver isn't happy. You need to give it fat, eaten by YOU, so it is able to efficiently do its job which, includes telling the body to burn stored "older" fat on the body. Including good fats in your diet on a daily basis, such as ground flax seeds on your oatmeal or salads, fatty fish, delicious extra virgin olive oil, almonds and even real butter (make it organic), helps your body to mobilize stored fats. Gotta love that!

A balanced diet, that includes a variety of nuts and seeds, fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, a moderate amount of good fat as well as whole grains is what your body needs in order to be optimally healthy. What about supplements? Personally, I must admit, I do have an arsenal of supplements I take every day. I eat well but not THAT well! But I really find it makes a difference, especially in the area of ingesting good fat via flax and fish oil supplements on a daily basis! With my Scottish-Irish American heritage, genetically I am prone to need more essential fats than others in my diet. By the way, did you know fair-skinned red heads especially need to pay attention to this. Two out of three of my kids are red heads ... believe me, I KNOW! One symptom of needing more essential fat in your diet can be as simple as dry skin! If I miss my essential fats for a few days, then it shows up as dry skin as a reminder. It's that simple.

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The benefits of fish oil are many: providing essential vitamins and minerals, aiding in the battle against bad cholesterol, reducing weight, assisting with cardiovascular function, muscle repair and growth, etc., etc., etc. By now it's far from a secret that high Omega-3 content, in addition to a high concentration of certain vitamins and minerals, make fish oil a healthy choice.

But just like all good things, there's a bad side to fish oil, as well. For one, if you were to consume fish oil from a bottle (as it is sold as some health food stores), be prepared to want to throw up for the next five years of your life. I remember a few years back I purchased some fish oil, knowing that adding it to my diet would improve my overall health. My plan was to mix the prescribed tablespoon (or teaspoon, I don't remember. It really doesn't matter) with my daily protein shake, because -- at least in my head -- the fish smell would be overpowered by the full glass of chocolate protein powder. Wow, I could not possibly have been any more wrong.

For a while now, people have known about the many health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. From lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol and raising good (HDL) cholesterol to helping to slim down a waistline, omega-3 seems to be the nutrient of the moment. But, studies have uncovered yet another benefit of this heart-healthy compound (which is found in fish, but is also available in pill form): its ability to assist with chronic pain.

In tests, omega-3 produced pain reduction results on par with ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). When people suffering from neck and back pain replaced their daily NSAIDs with 1.2 grams of omega-3 fish oil for 10 weeks, 60 percent reported feeling better. What's more, 59 percent stopped taking their prescription or non-prescription pain medication altogether.

Omega-3 contains EPA and DHA, which are converted into prostaglandins -- compounds that have been shown to fight inflammation. So, if you're back or neck are feeling a little sore, your solution may not be in your medicine cabinet, but may instead be at your local seafood market.

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UCLA researchers this week said that we all need a fish oil fatty acid to ensure we have the internal tools to make a plaque-fighting protein that could help prevent Alzheimer's Disease.

That's comforting -- but if you can afford it, a good supplement regimen of Omega-3 oils is great for just about everyone from teenage years up.

Specifically, choose a fish oil product with plenty of DHA, which was found to stimulate the brain into making more of a brain protein called LR11 that is associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

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I've always felt that fat gets a bad wrap simply because of its name. Let's face it, if it were called skinny, wouldn't you be inclined to eat more of it? Just as there are "good" carbs and "bad" carbs, "good" cholesterol and "bad" cholesterol, there is "good" fat and "bad" fat. The trick is to know how to play the fat game right.

The first step is to cut down on, or entirely avoid, foods that are high in trans fatty acids and made from man hydrogenated oil. Cookies, cake, pies and other baked goods typically fall into this category.

The second step is to avoid highly refined and processes vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have been linked to an increased risk of tumor growth and free-radical damage.

The third step is to balance your intake of omega-6 to your intake of omega-3s. Many people consume far more omega-6 than we do omega-3 fatty acids. Strive to consume a 4-to-1 ratio or less of omega-6 to omega-3.

The fourth step is to avoid using cod liver oil as a source of essential fatty acids. While omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to offer a host of health benefits, obtaining this healthy fat from cod liver oil is not the best way to go. Due to its high presence of toxins, pesticides and heavy metals, cod liver oil should instead be replaced by a product derived from fish-body oils.

The fifth step is to try not to consume anything that will minimize the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. Too many simple carbs, excessive amounts of alcohol, and an inadequate intake of vitamins can inhibit the anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing properties of omega-3s.

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Fish oil is one supplement that's gaining lots of recognition lately for its amazing benefits. Here's another one: Fish oil has been shown to help treat lupus. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect your skin, joints, nervous system, lungs and several other organs in the body.

It's all down to those Omega-3 fatty acids that we hear so much about these days -- in Lupus patients, recent studies found that those who received fish oil supplements showed less cell-damaging free radicals and had improved blood vessel functioning.

But whether you have been diagnosed with Lupus or not, getting your Omega-3s is important, and can help you have a healthier life for years to come.

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instead of holding back on eating fish and taking fish oil supplements, pregnant women should actually eat more fish in order to get those healthy oils in their system, according to a new recommendation from a coalition of nutrition experts and groups this past week.

Several federal agencies joined the coalition's suggestion that came to challenge government warnings about fish consumption by pregnant women due to mercury contamination in most volume-processed fish.

While that may be true (to a point), the health benefits of eating about 12 ounces of fish per week outweigh possible exposure to small amounts of mercury. A report from 2004 put out by the FDA and EPA is being criticized in the process here as well.

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I received an Email last week that escaped my spam filter and went straight to the inbox. Though usually I delete junky-looking stuff, this one didn't have any mention of Rolexes or enlarging my manhood so I read it and was taken to this website on Krill Oil. Actually, based on aesthetics, the website looks like it's selling snake oil, but looks aside, let's figure out what this Krill Oil is all about.

Krill oil is like fish oil but derived from the antarctic Krill. It's considered a great source of Omega-3 and antioxidants, not to mention vitamins A and D, and it's beneficial in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, and it's good for your brain too. And it's thought it can even help with menstrual cramps and PMS. Though no 'superfood' is without a price tag -- it will cost you about $20 for a bottle of 6 capsules. I'm not sold, because I think I eat enough fish to get my fill of Omega-3s.What about you? Are you a krill oil convert?

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Are your eyes indicative of your overall health? Many scientists and informed nutritionists think so. With nutrition so attached to the way our bodies function inside, the eyesight of premature babies is being studied as ways to stop a disease that can create vision problems in those specific infants.

The eyelids of premature babies can be affected by a disease that can even lead to permanent blindness if not corrected. The solution? Replacing components generally gleaned from a pregnant mom to these babies to mimic when happens in the uterus.

The abnormal growth of blood vessels in premature babies (and others as well) can be possibly halted by the use of Omega-3 fatty acids, say scientists. Surprised? With the known health benefits fatty acids bring to adults, perhaps this is not a surprise at all.

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Wow. It seems they can't stop doing research on eating fish, and I can't stop writing about it! Yesterday I noted a study showing that women who consumed fish while they were pregnant had children less likely to suffer from eczema. Today I read an article on a study purporting that consuming fish oil might help you lose weight. This was, of course, in addition to moderate exercise. I can assure you that, whether or not the fish oil thing turns out to be gold, exercise is definitely known to assist in weight loss.

According to the study, overweight individuals who both took fish oil and exercised saw an increase in their good cholesterol and a decrease in their triglycerides along with a decrease in body fat. Now, before you rush out to buy fish oil pills and start scarfing them down like mad, be reminded these were the results of one study, and were "early" results at that.

The article mentions that those participating in the study were overweight, but it didn't say by how much. In other words, it is possible that the benefits of fish oil might be enjoyed only by those who are severely overweight instead of trying to shave off those last five pounds. Fish oil contains Omega-3 fatty acids, which previous studies have shown may good for the heart. Although Omega-3s have been linked to weight loss in lab studies, as noted by the researchers themselves, more testing is needed to understand fully the reasons for the results. Stay tuned!

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The debate about whether or not to eat fish could go on for eternity. Should we risk potential mercury and PCB poisoning just to get the benefits of the omega-3s?

I think the risk is worth it, if you know which types of fish to avoid and which are the lowest in mercury. Some say you can get the benefits of the omega-3s in fish oil from plant sources, such as flax oil and hemp seed oil, but my research tells me that fish oil is the best source, along with grass fed beef and krill oil.

So how can you know if the fish you choose is low in mercury? Easy! Go to Got Mercury? and use their mercury calculator to find out how much mercury is in your choice of fish. I love that this is available, because it is sometimes tricky to sort out exactly which types of fish to avoid.

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A new Japanese study suggests that those who take high doses of fish oil and statin drugs at the same time had fewer heart attacks and cardiovascular problems than those taking drugs alone.

Statins, commonly used to lower 'bad' cholesterol levels and keep those levels safe, are used by millions across the world to ensure their cholesterol levels stay within a normal range. Although there are many natural alternatives to keeping cholesterol levels healthy, pharmaceutical drugs are one of the most popular methods.

Adding a healthy dose of Omega-3 oil-containing fish oil would naturally seem to help high cholesterol sufferers keep cholesterol levels in check and help prevent heart failure, and it seems obvious that combining two cholesterol-fighting substances would produce better results that from a single method.

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Fish oil is apparently made of magic. It can help with menstrual cramps, combat depression, and now, according to a recent study, may help with toddler's eye-hand co-ordination.

98 pregnant women in Perth, Australia were given either 4g of fish oil, or 4g of oil olive from 20 weeks until birth. At age 2 1/2, their children were tested, and the fish oil group scored slightly higher on understanding, comprehension, average phrase length and vocabulary. The same group scored far higher on eye-hand co-ordination.

No word on yet on why fish oil might be linked to eye-hand co-ordination, and, according to this study's authors, "Further studies are needed to determine the significance of this finding."

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Surgery without anesthesia? You'd be hard-pressed to convince me to try it, that's for sure! But this article does a great job of outlining other natural remedies for every day aches and pains. Including:

• Treating heartburn with gum: The saliva created will wash those pesky acids back into your stomach where they belong. Save your teeth and chew sugar-free.
• Using music to reduce body aches: Use earphones or ear buds to block out environmental sounds. The type of music isn't important, so pop in or download your favorites.
• Getting hypnotized for just about anything! This deep relaxation technique also appears to help those with asthma and irritable bowel disorder.
• Treating menstrual cramps with fish oil: Take 1800 mg per day for relief.

I'm intrigued...has anyone ever used hypnotism to relieve pain? Do you have another natural remedy that works? Fill me in!

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