Tag: Kenzen Jade GreenZymes®

Do You Know What Beta Glucans Are?

Published on by Nikken

Medical experts have routinely stated that having a strong immune system is important for all people, especially for those more vulnerable to illness, that is, the elderly, chronically ill and immune-compromised. Consumers are looking for products and ingredients that help immune systems and beta glucans are one of the newest. They’re well-grounded in science with more than 1,000 published articles in the scientific literature attesting to their efficacy.1

Beta glucans are chains of glucose molecules that are naturally present and act as storage depots and structural components in bacteria, fungi, algae and cereals. Their chemical structure and composition as well as their molecular weight affect the extent to which they can stimulate and support the immune system. Beta glucans exert a prebiotic effect on the GI tract: they specifically fuel beneficial GI microbiota, enabling them to flourish and compete against pathogenic bacteria for space and food.2 

 While we think of the digestive tract primarily as the organ for digesting food and absorbing nutrients, it is also the body’s largest immune organ. Approximately 70% of immune cells reside in the human intestine.3 Feeding and maintaining the health of intestinal cells maintains GI tract integrity so it can act as a physical barrier to invading pathogens.

Because beta glucans are a type of soluble fiber, it can slow down the process of food moving through the intestines. By slowing down the digestive process, the body doesn’t absorb sugar as quickly and this helps stabilize blood sugar levels, an important benefit especially for diabetics. As beta glucans travel through the entire digestive tract, it can help transport cholesterol out, helping to lower levels. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a heart-healthy label for foods that have high amounts of beta glucan, based on this evidence.4

Like many fibers, beta glucans are available in supplement form. They are also found in various types of fungi, such as maitake and reishi mushrooms. Less known ingredients such as inulin and spirulina are also sources of beta glucans. More commonly, beta glucans are found in whole grains, oats, bran, wheat and barley.

Dietary fiber is sourced from plant-based foods, another good reason to incorporate them into an Active Wellness regimen. Many Nikken nutritional supplements contain an assortment of beta glucans. Check out Kenzen® Immunity, Kenzen® Cleanse & Detox, Kenzen Lactoferrin® 2.0, Kenzen Vital Balance® Meal Replacement Mix, Kenzen® Jade GreenZymes®, Kenzen® Digestion 4-20 and Kenzen® Total Vegan Drink Mix.

 

1, 2, 3 Nutraceuticals World, April 2020, pp.24-25

4 https://www.healthline.com/health/beta-glucan-heart-healthy#TOC_TITLE_HDR_1

Do You Have Finicky Eaters in Your Family Who Don’t Like Vegetables?

Published on by Nikken

Grandma always said, “Eat your vegetables.” Turns out, Grandma was right. The importance of vegetables to Active Wellness is irrefutable. One of life’s mysteries is why some children simply do not like or refuse to eat vegetables. What’s a parent to do? (Or, are you an adult who doesn’t eat vegetables willingly and regularly?)

Nikken has the solution with Kenzen® Total Vegan Drink Mix. It not only helps you and your kids get your daily allowance of vegetables, but it also helps to keep your digestion working at full blast! With the ratio of one daily serving of fruit to three daily servings of veggies per scoop, it’s designed to be a green superfood for kids but “grown-ups” will be tempted, too!

Organic vegetables in KTVDM come from land and sea: Barley grass, Carrot root, Spirulina, Beet root, Spinach leaf, Watercress leaf and Parsley leaf. Organic fruits in the powder come from Acerola berry extract and Banana, and natural flavors come from organic Cacao and Coconut sugar! There are only 20 calories per delicious serving.

Each of the organic vegetables and fruits are incorporated for specific reasons. For example, organic Barley grass is known by many as “Nature’s perfect food” and the primary ingredient in the flagship Nikken nutritional, Kenzen Jade GreenZymes®.

Organic Acerola berry extract is a superfruit that is known to be one of the richest sources of vitamin C and is considered by the National Institute of Health as a “functional food.”1 A functional food promotes optimal health and is considered helpful in reducing the risk of disease. The acerola berry extract in this formula not only contributes to the recommended daily allowance of fruit but it also helps to provide Kenzen Total Vegan Drink Mix with 210% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C.

Organic Spirulina powder is a blue-green algae with 60% protein content, a richer source than most vegetables. It’s also a source of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid, as well as a source of beta-carotene. The organic Spirulina adds marine-sourced nutrients to the powder.

If you didn’t know that watercress is known as a powerhouse vegetable, you’re not alone. However, the Center for Disease Control places it at the top of its list of nutrient-dense vegetables!2 It’s a green, leafy vegetable you don’t hear much about and you may not be able to convince your little ones to crunch down on it, let alone take a bite of parsley—something many people think of as a garnish rather than as a nutritious vegetable! But the truth is, both watercress and parsley are natural sources of vitamin K that benefits bone health, vital in growing children. And of course, our formula only uses Organic Watercress leaf and Organic parsley leaf powders.

Organic Carrot Root and Beet Root powders add naturally sourced vitamin C and fiber and are valued for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Both contain phytonutrients that help stimulate the metabolic and digestive systems. They work in tandem with the Probiotic Blend to enhance gut health. Each serving contains 3.5 billion CFUs of probiotics to get the digestion working at capacity plus naturally-occurring ionic trace minerals help to improve the body’s pH balance.

Kenzen Total Vegan Drink Mix 003Your kids won’t care about all the benefits of this naturally-flavored beverage. They’ll care that it’s yummy and tastes like chocolate. You can worry less about getting vegetables and fruits into their diets and feel confident knowing they’re getting a head start with an Active Wellness lifestyle!

 

 

 

1 ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6098779

2 cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/13_0390.htm#table2_down

Eat Breakfast on Any Food Regimen

Published on by Nikken

Virtually every advice column about starting the day off right includes a section about always eating breakfast. Yet the trend recently is to skip breakfast in order to practice intermittent fasting to lose weight. Many people show compelling weight loss through intermittent fasting, but what are the long-term ramifications of skipping breakfast?

According to study after study on both children and adults, people who eat breakfast do better on cognitive and memory tests than those who skip it.1 The Journal of the American College of Cardiology also notes that “skipping breakfast could be bad for your ticker. The results found that of the nearly 7,000 people it surveyed over a period of roughly 20 years, those who didn’t eat breakfast had an increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease.”2

As the name suggests, breakfast breaks the overnight fasting period. It replenishes our supply of glucose to boost energy levels and alertness, while also providing other essential nutrients required for good health. It improves our ability to concentrate in the short term, and can help with better weight management, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the long term.3

The good news for those who practice intermittent fasting is that in fact, you can have your intermittent fasting and eat breakfast, too, and there is substantial evidence you’d be better off that way. The time window we choose to fast matters. Fasting in the evening and overnight, then eating early in the day is the pattern that has the most profound benefits. “The research is clear that people who eat in the morning and afternoon have healthier blood lipid profiles and better blood sugar control and tend to weigh less than those who eat late in the day. And people who eat breakfast tend to have better overall nutrient intakes than those who skip it. Also, eating during the waking hours, when your mental and physical demands are highest, gives you the fuel to perform at your best.”4

Commonly eaten breakfast foods such as whole grains, eggs, yogurt and fruit are rich in key nutrients such as folate, calcium, iron, B vitamins and fiber. Breakfast therefore potentially provides a lot of your day’s total nutrient intake. In fact, people who eat breakfast are more likely to meet their recommended daily intakes of vitamins and minerals than people who don’t.5 

 However you choose to start your day, Nikken provides nutritional supplements to fill in the gap. Kenzen Vital Balance® Meal Replacement Mix is the perfect breakfast by itself or added to your other foods. Add Kenzen® Mega Daily 4 (formulas for women or for men) veggie-based multivitamins, Kenzen Jade GreenZymes® made with Mother Nature’s perfect food in the form of high-grade barley grass and Kenzen Lactoferrin® 2.0 to absorb iron and maintain a healthy gut for overall health! Eat an Active Wellness breakfast and feel the right start difference!

1, 4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/many-intermittent-fasters-skip-breakfast-heres-why-thats-not-a-good-idea/2018/10/23/976aba7e-d311-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.htm

2 https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/intermittent-fasting-breakfast/

3, 5 https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/breakfast

 

Nature’s Perfect Food

Published on by Nikken

It’s hard to imagine a single food having the multiple benefits of nutritional ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, amino acids, enzymes, plant protein and fiber. Yet, barley grass is composed of all those ingredients and more, making it a true superfood. Take a look at all the benefits provided by barley grass!

If you don’t want the calories that come with the antioxidant-laden fresh fruit juice, consider barley grass powder, easily mixed with water. It’s loaded with vitamin A, vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), folate, vitamins C (ascorbic acid), E (alpha-tocopherol) and K (phylloquinone). It contains an abundance of electrolytes such as magnesium, phosphorous and potassium along with other essential minerals such as zinc, iron and calcium.1

High in chlorophyll and beta-carotene, barley grass helps stimulate the body’s natural processes of eliminating waste materials and helps support metabolic processes while strengthening and detoxifying the liver. Zinc, selenium and copper are the minerals in barley grass that contribute to its cleansing abilities.2

By helping the body stay clean internally, barley grass also assists the gut in propagating healthy bacteria and thus decreasing inflammation and other associated symptoms of ulcerative colitis.3

With these cumulative benefits, it comes as no surprise that barley grass helps boost the immune system, which helps strengthen the ability to prevent and combat infection and disease. Regular consumption of barley grass provides the required nutrition, which is necessary for balancing the optimal production of immune cells in the body.4

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), barley grass powder is the best functional food that provides nutrition and helps eliminate toxins from cells in human beings; however, its functional ingredients have played an important role in providing health benefits. NIH comprehensive databases show numerous studies of barley grass that attribute super powers to the green food, including the prevention of chronic disease.5

 Short of calling barley grass a miracle food, various papers housed by the NIH show that “barley grass promotes sleep; has anti-diabetic effect; regulates blood pressure; enhances immunity; protects liver; has anti-acne/detoxifying and antidepressant effects; improves gastrointestinal function; has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypolipidemic, and anti-gout effects; reduces cardiovascular diseases, fatigue, and constipation; alleviates atopic dermatitis; improves cognition; and so on.”6

As if all these benefits for the internal organs were not enough, barley grass also has been shown to be effective in protecting against UV radiation. The superoxide dismutase enzyme essentially helps protect the body on a cellular level from the effects of radiation and barley grass is a good source. Barley grass juice can be consumed regularly to help prevent any such damage and reduce the effects of harmful radiation. The chlorophyll content in barley helps the regeneration of new cells and also helps with the repair of damaged cells.7

Nikken has taken “Nature’s Perfect Food” and turbo-boosted it for Active Wellness. Kenzen Jade GreenZymes® is made with organic barley grass and a proprietary blend of organic acacia and organic pearl barley seed extract powder. Acacia is a source of dissolvable dietary fiber used to promote good bacteria in the intestines.8 Pearl barley contains potassium, calcium and magnesium, which have been found to decrease blood pressure naturally.9 It has also been linked to a lower risk of chronic disease and a stabilizing factor in blood sugar and weight management.10

1,2, 3, 4 https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/cereal/barley-grass.html

5, 6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5904770/

7 https://www.naturalfoodseries.com/11-benefits-barley-grass/

8 https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-268/acacia

9, 10 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295268.php