GPS Energize

Catch those Zzzs with products by PURE

/ livepureglobal

Was that a yawn? Did you get enough sleep last night? If you didn’t, do yourself a favor and read this post. It’s World Sleep Day® and a great opportunity to celebrate sleep because sleep is, well … dreamy!

You may already know how important sleep is for your body. Do you sleep 7 to 8 hours every night? I usually have no trouble getting to sleep and I rarely wake up in the middle of the night, though I do have some bad habits like playing games on my phone right before turning off the light. Now, getting out of bed in the morning is a totally different story. I’m not a morning person.

Whatever your sleep habits, getting quality sleep and an adequate amount are vital to health, and we’re going to discuss the benefits in this post. Lack of sleep can certainly make one cranky, but it can change more than just your mood.

Lose sleep and more

You charge your phone at night, right? Well, your body, and brain, need to recharge, too. Lose sleep and you’ll lose the ability to recall details or to focus. Your brain needs sleep to catch up. Lack of sleep may cause you to experience more negative emotional reactions and fewer positive ones.2

  • Lose sleep and your blood pressure doesn’t have time to rest, which can lead to illness.
  • Lose sleep and your muscles can’t repair themselves from the day’s activities.
  • Lose sleep and you’ll disrupt the hormones that control appetite. When these get out of balance, so does the temptation to eat unhealthily. You’ll also be more tired and less likely to exercise. Not a good combination.

Can you get too much sleep?

Yes, but we don’t want you to lose sleep over it. Sleeping too much may have the same effects as not sleeping enough. According to a study in the journal Sleep, researchers defined short sleep as six hours or less, adequate sleep as seven to eight hours and long sleep as nine or more hours.1

A study from the American Heart Association showed that people who slept for ten hours in a 24-hour period were 30% more likely to die prematurely, compared to those who slept for eight hours. Longer sleepers were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.2

Catch those Zzzs with products by PURE

If you’re not getting adequate sleep, or if you’re getting too much, we can help.

Fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up refreshed with SleepTrim, and help the body burn calories while you sleep.* Melatonin is released in two stages throughout the night, ensuring continued absorption. A Relaxation Blend of botanicals, including magnesium, L-theanine, passion flower and chamomile, helps the body relax mentally and physically.* Melatonin decreases as we age, making its consumption even more important.

Relaxed muscles are necessary for adequate sleep. CalciuMK+ can help by supplying magnesium, a mineral that relaxes muscles but also regulates blood pressure already in normal range.* CalciuMK+ is an excellent source of magnesium, providing 50% of your daily value.

GPS Reset, a product in our performance line, encourages restful sleep while enhancing muscle physiology and calorie burning. It supports the release of growth hormone (HGH) which encourages adequate sleep. Think of HGH as your body’s master hormone. It helps to maintain your health as an adult by controlling metabolism, immunity, brain functions, temperature regulation, heart health, organ and tissue growth and more. The older you get, the less your body produces it. Lose sleep and your body loses the ability to produce it as the only time the body releases HGH is when it sleeps.

GPS Reset not only helps you sleep but it helps boosts lean body mass and overnight recovery from physical activity from the day. *

Can’t stay awake? Caffeine and other botanicals might do the trick. Products like PURE Perk, PURE Café, ENERGY, GPS Energize, Matcha Vegan Shake and 360 Complete Shake work in different ways to boost your energy.* Be sure to monitor your caffeine consumption and limit it to no more than 400mg a day.

Well, I hope I didn’t put you to sleep. Then again, that might be a good thing!

1https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-sleep-trends/more-u-s-adults-losing-sleep-in-recent-years-idUSKCN1OR1FZ

2https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.118.0085523 https://www.ajc.com/news/health-med-fit-science/sleeping-the-weekends-could-help-you-live-longer-study-suggests/kGJdhV27BcObz5WhLl0nMP/

 

World Sleep Day is an awareness activity of World Sleep Society, founded by World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM) and World Sleep Federation (WSF).

GPS performance products are Informed-Sport Certified

/ livepureglobal

If you are an elite or amateur athlete, a coach, a nutritionist or anyone who faces drug testing, you can now be assured that GPS Circulate, GPS Energize, GPS Hydrate, GPS Rebuild and GPS Reset have been Informed-Sport tested and are free of banned substances.

These products have been validated to be free of banned substances through LGC, an anti-doping laboratory organization and are certified through their Informed-Sport program.

Look for the Informed-Sport Certification logo 
on each individual product page on shop.livepure.com and  know you can trust that our products have the highest level of quality assurance behind them.

What is Informed-Sport Certification?

The Informed-Sport program was developed to minimize the risk of banned-substance contamination within sports supplement products. Certification involves:

  •  Completion of a Manufacturing Assessment Questionnaire
  • Pre-certification testing of an agreed number of samples
  • Post-certification testing of every batch of product
  • Additional “blind” independent testing

For more information and explanations of the testing process, visit https://www.informed-sport.com/#view_video.

What substances does Informed-Sport screen for?

Products tested for Informed-Sport certification are screened according to substances listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA was founded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to curb the use of ergogenic aids, which would give athletes an unfair advantage. This list includes dozens of substances put into seven categories: androgens, peptide hormones, stimulants, diuretics, narcotics and cannabinoids.

At PURE, we pride ourselves on providing safe, effective, top-of-the-line products to support your personal health goals.

 

Caffeine: healthful hero or vitality villain?

/ livepureglobal / 4 Comments

Caffeine has long been a lively topic of discussion among scientists, health professionals, and the general public as to its possible risks and benefits to health. Caffeine has been lauded for its positive effects on mental acuity and physical performance only to be subsequently vilified for its possible harmful effects on the heart and nervous system. Tens of thousands of research studies have now identified and clarified the effects of this widely consumed substance and have helped settle a number of questions about it.  While the “final word” on the topic is undoubtedly far from being written, we are now armed with an abundance of reliable information about caffeine’s safety and efficacy in human health.

Caffeine was first isolated from coffee seeds (beans) nearly two hundred years ago although its consumption dates back many millennia prior to that.  It is now regarded as the world’s most widely used psychoactive compound with an estimated 120,000 tons of it consumed annually around the globe.  This equates to one 50 milligram serving every day of the year for every man, woman, and child on Earth!  The most widely used natural sources of caffeine include coffee, tea, kola nut, yerba mate, guarana and cocoa/chocolate.  Products by PURE use natural sources of caffeine. Those products, and their estimated caffeine content per serving, include: PURE Café (150mg), GPS Energize (110mg), ENERGY (120mg), 360 Complete Shake (35mg), Metabolic ONE (88mg), Green Coffee Bean (<16mg), Matcha Vegan Shake (45-50mg).*

Close to 99% of the caffeine that we ingest is absorbed into the bloodstream within about forty-five minutes.  Its half-life, (the time it takes to eliminate half of what is consumed), averages about five hours but can be more or less depending upon genetics and activity.  That means that your 7:00 a.m. serving of caffeine is still in your system at half-strength when the clock strikes noon.  This also means that caffeine is probably best avoided about five hours prior to bedtime – more about that in bit.

For those of you whose eyes glaze over when you read technical science, you can skip this paragraph as it describes the underlying physiology of caffeine in the body.  Four notable physiological effects occur with the consumption of caffeine: 1) it blocks adenosine, (a normal central nervous system depressant in the body), thereby increasing nerve activity and creating a more energetic, wide-awake feeling; 2) it causes blood vessels in the brain to constrict slightly which helps prevent drowsiness; 3) it increases dopamine production – dopamine being a neurotransmitter that activates the “pleasure centers” in the brain; and 4) it increases cyclic-AMP levels which leads to greater fat-burning.  In addition, caffeine positively influences the release of other neuroactive compounds such as adrenalin, noradrenalin, serotonin, acetylcholine and GABA.  The net physiological effect of these biochemical activities is greater mental alertness, increased blood flow to the heart, smooth muscle relaxation in the lungs (which eases breathing), increased muscle energy and work capacity and better body composition.

The widely accepted safe consumption level of caffeine for healthy adults is 400 milligrams per day (US FDA, Health Canada, Mayo Clinic).   For pregnant or nursing mothers, the recommended maximum is 200-300 milligrams daily.  Consumption of caffeine in excess of 400 milligrams may cause nervousness, insomnia, irritability, migraines, slightly increased heart rate and/or stomach upset in sensitive individuals.*  For particularly sensitive individuals, (who comprise a very small percentage of the population), a much lower intake can elicit these same issues.  It’s worth noting that caffeine is not considered an addictive substance, (it doesn’t activate pathways in the brain related to addiction), and while slightly diuretic, caffeine has little or no impact on hydration levels in the body, particularly during exercise!

So, here is the general list of benefits that can be derived from caffeine consumption, as identified by thousands of scientific research studies.

  • Increased alertness and attention
  • Improved sports performance and exercise/training – both endurance and strength
  • Weight loss – through appetite suppression, increased fat-burning (lipolysis), and stimulation of thermogenesis (production of heat through calorie burning)
  • Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease
  • Improved long-term memory
  • Decreased risk of liver disease, gallstones, and kidney stones
  • Enhanced protection of eyes from cataract formation

Here is the general list of risks identified in the other scientific research studies.

  • Increased levels of anxiety and depression, especially in adolescents consuming “adult quantities” of caffeine
  • Slight rise in blood glucose levels in Type 2 diabetes
  • High intake may trigger gout attacks for those individuals with the condition
  • May cause insomnia, if consumed three to six hours prior to bedtime
  • See above (paragraph 5) for undesirable effects experienced with excessive consumption of caffeine

Finally, here is a list of specific takeaways that are found throughout the scientific research literature.

Caffeine and the Heart

  • May slightly elevate heart rate
  • Protects heart muscle from oxidative damage
  • Regular coffee drinkers have a lower incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (a-fib) than non-drinkers

Caffeine and the Brain – Mood/Cognitive Function

  • Improves reaction time, vigilance, memory, attention, and cognitive function
  • Benefits short-term performance and improves mood
  • Can increase anxiety
  • Partially prevents fatigue-related cognitive decline
  • Increases information processing activity of the brain
  • Enhances verbal IQ and reasoning abilities
  • Raises levels of “brain entropy” resulting in higher activity throughout the entire cerebral cortex

Caffeine and Physical Performance

  • Increases speed and power
  • Improves amount of weight lifted in resistance-trained individuals
  • Increases endurance and preserves muscle glycogen stores through fat mobilization and burning
  • Lowers perceived exertion during activity

Healthful hero or vitality villain? 

Maybe caffeine is a little bit of both. The overwhelming consensus in scientific circles, however, is that caffeine has been shown to be harmless for all but a very small percentage of adults and has been validated to be beneficial for a very large percentage.  The fact that 90% of the adult population consumes caffeine in one or more forms is a testament to its mental and mood benefits.  Coupling that with the health and performance benefits realized from caffeine use and the scales are tipped strongly toward it being a health hero.  As I said at the beginning, the “final word” isn’t yet written for caffeine but, for the present, the “manuscript” does support the view that consuming it at recommended levels is both safe and advantageous.

By Rich Scheckenbach, PURE Wellness Advisory Board Member –  May 2018

Rich Scheckenbach received his baccalaureate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with Bacteriology as his major field of study. He pursued his doctoral studies in Microbiology/Biochemistry at Oregon State University. Areas of expertise include product research and development, proprietary formulation, market assessment, product promotion, FDA and FTC compliance, and nutritional biochemistry.

 

*Do not exceed 4 servings per day of ENERGY, GPS Energize, Metabolic ONE or PURE Café in any combination, to prevent potential undesirable effects of too much caffeine.

How well do your know your B6 vitamins?

/ livepureglobal / Leave a comment

Knowledge is power and the more you know about vitamins, their benefits and their safe consumption, the wiser and healthier you’ll be.

All eight of the B vitamins, the energy vitamins, are important in helping the body convert food into fuel. B vitamins also help fight infection and disease. It’s also important to note that excessive consumption can be unhealthy.

In this blog post, we are going to educate on vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine. It plays a part in such major functions including movement, memory and blood flow. Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin meaning is dissolves in water so the body cannot store it. Leftovers leave the body through urine.

Adults ages 19 to 50 need 1.3 milligrams of vitamin B6 daily, while older senior women need 1.5 milligrams and senior men need 1.7 milligrams.1 The recommended supplemental, tolerable upper intake level is 100 mg (5,000% DV).2

Benefits of vitamin B6

  • Maintains normal nerve function
  • Supports a healthy gut
  • Balances healthy levels of blood sugar
  • Aids in the function of enzymes and protein metabolism

Deficiencies of vitamin B6

Not enough vitamin B6 intake may be linked to depression, and can also cause anemia. A lack of vitamin B6 can cause confusion, nausea, susceptibility to infections and skin rashes.

Be careful not to overdo it

According to the federal government, you should not take more than 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 a day (the upper tolerable limit), in supplement form. However, high intakes of vitamin B6 from food is safe.

Taking too much vitamin B6 in supplement form can cause nerve damage, sensitivity to the sun, painful skin lesions and nausea and heartburn. Taking vitamin B6 can also interfere with several types of medications.1

GoYin, Daily Build, 360 Compete Shake, Metabolic ONE, GPS Rebuild, GPS Energize, GPS Hydrate, ENERGY and PURE Café all contain B vitamins, including B6. If you took the recommended servings of these products, which is 2 times a day, your vitamin B6 intake would be approximately 90 mg.

However, if you were to take more than the suggested serving, approximately 3-4 times a day, you would be surpassing the safe limit.

Following the recommended serving of every supplement is very important, as you want to be careful not to go significantly above the recommended allowance. Every product pack contains a Daily Usage Guide that offers suggested product use throughout the day for optimal benefits. Be sure to read the product labels or learn more about each product and its recommended use at livepure.com.

 

1http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/can-much-vitamin-b6-vitamin-b12-6060.html

2https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB6-HealthProfessional/

Ingredient spotlight: Amino acids

/ livepureglobal / 2 Comments

Remember studying DNA and protein synthesis in biology? You might recall seeing a picture of a “chain” in your textbook, like beads on a necklace? Just to refresh, that “chain” was a sequence of amino acids that together forms a protein.

Many of our dietary supplements offer amino acids for good reason. Amino acids are the building blocks of life. They help build and repair organs, muscles, glands, ligaments, tendons, nails, skin, and hair. They also aid in the formation of antibodies, they carry oxygen through the body, and they play a role in muscle activity.

The body must have all the amino acids, essential and non-essential, in order to build the proteins it needs to repair, grow and maintain cells. Keep in mind that when you are under the weather or dealing with significant stress, your body may not be able to produce enough of these amino acids to meet your needs which makes supplementation very important.

When your body does not get the amino acids it needs, your muscles start to waste away, your immune response may decrease, fatigue sets in and you may notice changes to the texture to the skin and hair.1

Essential and non-essential amino acids

Essential amino acids are “essential” because you have to have them, and your body cannot make them on its own. The only way to get them is through food or supplementation. The following is a list of the nine essential amino acids; the first three are usually grouped together to make up branch chain amino acids (BCAAs).2

  • Isoleucine
  • Leucine
  • Valine
  • Lysine
  • Methionine
  • Histidine
  • Phenylalanine
  • Threonine
  • Tryptophan

Nonessential amino acids, on the other hand, can be produced by your body. Supplementation may still be necessary to maintain balance. The 11 nonessential amino acids.

What does the “L” in front of the name mean?

If you look on the ingredient label of your dietary supplement, you will likely see an “L” in front of the amino acid name. Example: L-arginine (a non-essential amino acid). This “L” means that the amino acid is in a form which your body can easily absorb. These amino acids are more similar to the ones in our bodies.

Supplement amino acids with PURE.

Foods plentiful in amino acids.

Since we’re talking about protein here, look at animal-based foods with the highest percentage of amino acids. Things like seafood, lean meat, eggs and dairy are all high in amino acids. Quinoa, beans, nuts, seeds and soy products are also high in amino acids.

Learn more about PURE and order today. Send an email to SalesSupport@livepure.com or contact us at 866-535-5888 for assistance.

 

1https://www.gbhealthwatch.com/Nutrient-Protein-Symptoms.php
2http://www.nutrientsreview.com/proteins/amino-acids