Royal Jelly

Get your health benefits from the hive with 4 amazing bee products! Bees do a whole lot more than just making honey. They’re actually extremely hard workers. They pollinate the many plants that feed us, and protect their hive and support their queen, while preparing for times of scarcity. They also skillfully make 4 different medicinally used products. Bee products and their health benefits can help you when you're feeling under the weather, while providing a dose of antioxidants and nutrition. 4 Bee Products Worth Trying 1. Honey It’s not just the bears that love honey, most of us do too. Can you blame us? Honey is delicious. To make honey, bees gather nectar from flowering plants. The nectar is stored in their stomach, and mixed with enzymes transforming it into a more liquid form of honey. Once the bees return to the hive the honey liquid is deposited into the honeycomb. But the works not over yet, the honey gets fanned by the bees wings to evaporate excess water, creating the delicious sticky honey that you see when you buy raw honey from your local farmer’s market. There are a lot of different types of honey, that can vary in taste, and nutrition. For the best health benefits, the number one thing you want to look for in honey, is that it’s “raw”. Raw honey is unpasteurized, which means it’s rich in minerals and live enzymes. Honey is often used to sooth a sore throat, but it can also be applied to burns, or even used as a facial wash. If you’re buying locally produced honey, the pollen content may even help you adapt to allergens in your region if taken prior to allergy season. 2. Bee Pollen Bee pollen is often coined a superfood. It’s a rich source of vitamins and minerals, and acts as the main protein source for young bees. It’s made from the dusty golden pollen that bees collect from flowers. They combine it with honey and press it into granules. Bee pollen can be used as a nutritive supplement to your diet in granule form or taken as a supplement. 3. Bee Propolis Bee propolis is to hives like caulking is to homes. It’s a resinous substance that bees use to fill cracks and holes in the hive. It also helps to protect the hive from contamination and invaders thanks to its anti-septic properties. Making propolis takes work. Bees collect resins from trees, combine it with honey, and beeswax and then chew the mixture adding the final ingredient, their saliva. Raw propolis is sometimes called “bee glue” because it’s rather sticky and thick in texture. Bee propolis is a great source of antioxidants, but it’s also often used in herbal medicine for sore throats and oral or mouth infections. Next time you get a cold, give bee propolis tincture or spray a try. 4. Royal Jelly Royal Jelly is the royal food of the Queen Bees. It’s also fed to larvae, and the bees destined to grow up to become queens. It’s a milky secretion that comes from special glands in the heads of worker bees. It’s a source of antioxidant and used as a nutritive tonic in herbal medicine. Studies also show that royal jelly helps to support healthy cholesterol levels. Bees are amazing little creatures, and their natural medicines are proof of that. Promote your health straight from the hive and give bee products a try. Your immune system will thank you. Which bee products do you use for your health?

Do I need to take collagen? Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It’s made naturally in the body. It’s also the protein that gets produced less as we age.In fact by the time we reach the age of 25, the amount of collagen our body produces starts to decline. Yikes!As a result, many are turning to supplementation. Do you need it? What is it good for? What Is Collagen? Collagen is naturally found in the body and is a protein with many functions. It’s the main component in your connective tissues, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and skin.Collagen can be thought of as the “glue” that helps hold the body together. It's responsible for keeping your skin firm and elastic, your joints strong and stable, and your digestive system healthy and working.It’s a hard-working protein that your body has a limited supply of.If you are thinking about taking collagen as a supplement, there are several benefits. 6 benefits to taking collagen 1. Supports Healthy Gut You may have heard that a healthy gut is the key to overall health. It’s true. Building a stronger intestinal lining, preventing its breakdown or weakening, and protecting it from unwanted bacteria is the goal. When the digestive tract is weakened, it can lead to pain and discomfort but also “leaky gut.” Leaky gut (where bacteria flow into the bloodstream from the gut) can cause fatigue, allergies, poor immunity, and more.Collagen can help. Loaded with the amino acid glutamine, it's been proven to be effective in preventing leaky gut and the subsequent chronic inflammation that can wreak havoc on the body.[1] 2. Improves Skin Quality Since collagen is the structure that helps with skin elasticity, it makes sense that as the body loses it, skin quality goes down. However, diet can help influence skin health. Diets high in sugar and processed carbohydrates cause our bodies to produce advanced glycated end products (AGEs), which reduce the density of collagen fibrils, leading to wrinkles and aging skin quality. Chronic sun exposure also further damages collagen fibers.To counteract that, consuming collagen peptides may help. Supplemental collagen has been shown to reduce the harmful UV-B induced skin damage to support superior skin quality.[2] Taking collagen supplements orally has been shown to increase skin elasticity, hydration and density of the skin.[3][4] Collagen supplementation is generally safe with no reported adverse events. [3] 3. Fights Joint Pain The building blocks of healthy joints come from your diet. These include key amino acids like proline, lysine, and glutamine, which support the natural production of collagen in the body. Recent studies show improvement in pain and physical function after supplementation with hydrolyzed collagen peptides.[5] Consuming enough quality protein and digestible collagen can really support the joints long-term. Chronic pain and arthritis are two of the most common reasons for patient visits to the doctor. The solutions often prescribed from those visits are ointments and drugs that help ease the pain, but do not address the root of the problem. The building blocks of healthy joints come from your diet. These include key amino acids like proline, lysine, and glutamine, which support the natural production of collagen in the body. Recent studies show improvement in pain and physical function after supplementation with hydrolyzed collagen (see Figure 1.0)[3]. Ensuring you eat enough quality protein or easily digestible supplemental collagen is fundamental to healthy joints in the long run. 4. Supports Weight Loss Collagen supports weight loss in a unique way. It’s not thermogenic or stimulant, like most weight loss supplements, but rather it impacts your satiety levels by naturally inhibiting the main hormone in the gut that triggers hunger [6]. What that means is that consuming collagen peptides can keep you from craving mid-afternoon sugar-laden snacks and unnecessary snacking. Adding collagen to your mid-morning coffee or mid-afternoon tea can be a great strategy to curb cravings and make it through to your next meal. 5. Improves Athletic Recovery If you’re active, training intensely, or always on-the-go, then your joints are likely suffering from some wear and tear. You will want to do some form of muscle recovery after high performance. It’s been found that taking collagen 1-hour before exercise or rehab activity increases the uptake of collagen into your joints, which accelerates recovery. [7] Unlike muscles, which can soak up nutrients for hours after activity, your joints suck up the surrounding water and nutrients within the hour after exercise, making the timing of your collagen intake crucial for supporting joints. Tip: Add a little vitamin C from lemon juice or a fruit snack to further increase absorption. 6. Supports Deep Sleep It seems more than ever; people are craving a restful sleep. Interestingly, studies have shown how collagen can help support the deep sleep your body longs for. Collagen contains the amino acid glycine. Glycine helps your body decompress and unwind, and is needed for quality sleep. Quality sleep helps to keep energy levels up, give your body strength to fight off viruses and infections, and thrive in your daily life. [8] I need to take collagen, how do I add it to my diet? The easiest and simplest way to consume collagen is through supplementation. In fact, that’s how many of the studies on collagen were done. For digestibility, hydrolyzed collagen peptides are a great solution.A high-quality collagen supplement, such as Organika’s Enhanced Collagen is ideal. Voted Canada’s #1 collagen powder, it’s made with bovine collagen and is beneficial for bones, joints, gut, hair, skin and nails.Check out the full Enhanced Collagen line up! There are many variations of collagen supplements, however, depending on what you prefer or your lifestyle, one may work better than another. You can get collagen in powder, capsule, and liquid form.You may enjoy adding collagen in powder form to your beverages or smoothies. You can even mix it into your yogurt or add it to baked goods.Maybe you prefer taking your collagen in liquid form, easily adding it to water or juice.Want to try collagen but you're vegetarian? We have a Vegetarian Collagen in easy to take capsules. The options are endless and the benefits are so worth diving into! Incorporate more collagen into your diet and feel the difference for yourself. References 1. Rao, R. Samak, G. Role of Glutamine in Protection of Intestinal Epithelial Tight Junctions/ J Eptihel Biol Pharmacol. 2012 Jan: 5(Suppl 1-M7):47-54. 2. Tanaka, M et al. Effects of Collagen Peptide Ingestion on UV-B-Induced Skin Damage. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem, 73 (4), 930–932, 2009. 3. Choi FD, Sung CT, Juhasz ML, Mesinkovsk NA. Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systematic Review of Dermatological Applications. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019 Jan 1;18(1):9-16. 4. de Miranda RB, Weimer P, Rossi RC. Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Dermatol. 2021 Dec;60(12):1449-1461. 5. Bello A, Oesser S. Collagen hydrolysate for the treatment of osteoarthritis and other joint disorders: a review of the literature. CMRO. Vol 22, 2006 – Iss 11. 6. Halden G, et al. Evidence for a Role of the Gut Hormone PYY in the Regulation of Intestinal Fatty Acid-binding Protein Transcripts in Differentiated Subpopulations of Intestinal Epithelial Cell Hybrids. J Biol Chemistry. Vol. 272, 1997. No. 19, Issue of May 9, pp. 12591–12600. 7. Hagarty, P et al. The effect of growth factors on both collagen synthesis and tensile strength of engineered human ligaments. Biomaterials 2012. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.05.045. 8. Yamadera, W et al. Glycine ingestion improves subjective sleep quality in human volunteers, correlating with polysomnographic changes. Sleep & Biological Rhythms. Vol 5, Iss 2, April 2007, pg 126–131. Check out Organika®'s collection of collagen products

Improve your health by building a better foundation for healing The path to being healthier starts with a stronger foundation. Often when issues arise with our health we treat the symptoms and don’t really address the reason why the symptoms exist. When we discontinue the treatment, the symptoms often come back worse than they were before or develop into a more serious health problem. 1. Detoxification When I start working with a new patient, I always start them out with some sort of detoxification program. The reason for this is because we are all exposed to a considerable amount of toxins in our daily life. It’s unavoidable. While our body does have the ability to detoxify itself, it wasn’t designed to handle the flood of stuff that we are often exposed to in our day-to-day life. Toxins in our body cause damage to our tissues and impair basic pathways that are essential to our health. This serves as an obstacle for people trying to feel better. 2. Digestion and proper nutrition Digestion and proper nutrition impact how we absorb and utilize the building blocks (vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates) of our health. Eating a healthy diet is a great start, but it’s difficult to get everything our body needs in our diet on a daily basis. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, due to impaired digestive function (dysbiosis, leaky gut, IBS, hypochlorhydia), our bodies don’t always breakdown and absorb our nutrients effectively. Secondly, our food is lacking in some essential nutrients that are fundamental to our health. Supplementing with a few basics (multivitamin and mineral, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D) can really make an enormous difference in your overall health. 3. Exercise and movement Exercise and movement are essential for health. As the basic law of inertia states an object in a state of rest will remain in a state of rest. This means that the less you do, the more sluggish and less efficient your system becomes. Movement helps to keep better flow throughout your system and provides benefits to your body that go far beyond the obvious physical improvements. It balances our endorphins, helps our body to cope better with stress and improves the function of all the systems of the body. 4. Immunity Our immune system is integral to how our body copes with exposure to outside influences, such as bacteria or viral infections. It also plays a key role in inflammation and allergies. If you are getting sick often or have allergies and inflammation, these are signs of immune system dysfunction. There are lots of ways to improve your immune function with herbs such as echinacea, ginseng, turmeric, astragalus, and medicinal mushrooms like reishi. Taking these if you feel run down or just to give your immune system a boost as we go into peak cold and flu season can be powerful for your health. 5. Sleep Sleeping well is crucial to your overall health. Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep consistently to be able to function optimally. Not sleeping well or enough, will wear you down and make you susceptible to all kinds of health issues. Also, if you are already experiencing health problems, not sleeping will slow down your road to recovery significantly. 6. Stress management Everyone experiences stress at times, it’s just a fact of life. If stress isn’t managed properly it can contribute to all kinds of dysfunction in our health. Supporting the body during times of stress is imperative to getting through the rough patches in our lives. There are many ways to help your body during stressful times including specific nutrients like B vitamins and herbs such as ashwagandha and ginseng. Lifestyle changes to decrease stress including deep breathing and shifting your perspective can all help you to cope better with stress. Rebuilding a stronger foundation for your health will allow your body to realign and rebalance more efficiently and effectively. Ultimately this makes the path to better health much faster and easier. Getting a plan in place that starts with these fundamentals will ensure that you are on track to better health now, and for years to come. Health and happiness! Dr. Cheryl Cooper Dr. Cheryl Cooper B.Sc., ND Dr. Cheryl Cooper is a Naturopathic Doctor and the owner and CEO of Vitallife Integrative Medicine based in Ottawa. She has 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry, specializing in hormone balancing, women’s health, detoxification, stress management and sleep issues. Dr. Cooper uses a holistic approach to helping patients, involving educating and empowering patients to take control of their health. Recently moved to her hometown of Canmore, Alberta, she now practices out of Inner Balance Spa in Calgary. Vitallife Integrative Medicine @doc_cheryl