Alternative health expert Bryce Wylde breaks down for us the healthy, healthier, and healthiest options for sweeteners, vitamins, and more.
Sweet Surprise:  Take Xylitol not Stevia
Customizing morning coffee has become a daily habit for even the most health conscious consumer. But, while most people know that adding sugar is the least healthy choice they can make – Bryce reveals there may be an even better choice among alternative sweeteners.
Stevia:

• Contains steviosides, which may irritate the stomach.
• Taking it too long may actually stress the liver.
• Research suggests mixing Stevia with diabetes medication can cause a drop in blood sugar.
• Similarly, research suggests Stevia may cause a drop in blood pressure for people taking blood pressure medication.

Xylitol:

• A naturally occurring alcohol extracted from birch wood with a very low glycemic index.
• Doesn’t spike blood sugar or insulin.
• Tastes sweet, and unlike sugar, is not converted in the mouth to acids that cause tooth decay.
• Works to starve the bad bacteria in the mouth.
• Doesn’t have any known drug interactions.

Supplement Sibling Rivalry: Take Tocotrienols not Vitamin E
With so many vitamins to choose from, a consumer practically needs a GPS to navigate the supplements aisle in the health food store. Even more daunting are different options of the same vitamin! Bryce guides BT viewers to the best form of Vitamin E between rival “sister” choices.
Tocotrienols and Tocopherols belong to the Vitamin E family. Together, they are one of the most important phytonutrients in edible oils. But, studies show that one of them is more potent and better absorbed than the other.
Vitamin E is a powerful, fat-soluble antioxidant with a positive effect on immune health. In addition to helping protect cell membranes against damage caused by free radicals – it also protects against the oxidative damage that can lead to heart disease, has preventative effects against cancer, and helps relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
As the “parent”, Vitamin E consists of eight naturally occurring forms, a family of Tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and four Tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). Studies not only lean to Tocotrienols for better potency and absorbancy – the Tocotrienol form of Vitamin E has also been found to promote new artery formation after a stroke, lower homocysteine levels, improve insulin sensitivity, protect vital brain circuitry, and even prevent bone loss.
Power Activated – Take Curcumin not Turmeric
The rich, exotic tastes of India have reached far beyond its borders – bringing not only delicious food – but also significant health benefits. Bryce explains how the Turmeric spice’s double duty as a food enhancer and alternative healing ingredient is being usurped by one of its own active ingredients.
Curcumin has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is the most active constituent of Turmeric.
You would have to take far more of the whole turmeric powder to ever get the benefits of a small amount of curcumin.
Curcumin from turmeric works as a natural treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, acts as a weak phytoestrogen which may lend it some anti-cancer effects, and it induces programmed death of colon cancer cells leading to clinical trials which are investigating the use of curcumin in the treatment of colon cancer.
Curcumin can also suppresses inflammation in the GI tract associated with inflammatory bowel disease – and researchers speculate its anti-inflammatory effects may also influence lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease.
Less Pain More Gain – Take NEM not Glucosamine
Moving is one of the best things we can do for our health – but when movement is hindered by pain it’s a double health hazard. Our capacity for exercise reduces just as stress increases. Bryce hits the gym armed with the latest research on the relief of joint pain and stiffness.
The Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial analysis performed by the NIH to test the effects of the dietary supplements glucosamine hydrochloride (glucosamine) and sodium chondroitin sulfate (chondroitin sulfate) for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis revealed that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate together or alone did not provide statistically significant pain relief.
5 well conducted rigorous human clinical trials were performed using only 500 mg NEM (one capsule) once daily which resulted in significantly reduced joint pain and stiffness in less than 10 days.
NEM is Natural Egg Membrane and it comes from an egg. It’s a natural food source that that contains naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans and proteins essential (the same stuff found in your cartilage) for maintaining healthy joints and connective tissues in a small daily dose.
A key thing to note when comparing NEM to other common joint health formulas is the small dose and quick results. Glucosamine and chondroitin generally requires 3 or 4 pills a day and do not deliver any relief for two to three months.
Go for Gold:  Take Golden Flax not Brown Flax
Recipes utilizing flax seeds are proliferating daily from breakfast smoothies to pizza dough. Bryce steps into the kitchen to compare Golden Flax to Brown Flax thus saving the viewer time – and taste buds.
Both Golden Flax and Brown Flax deliver about the same amount of alpha-linolenic acid. There’s no big difference in the essential fatty acid contents of either.
Both are quite nutritious and are best consumed ground.
Golden Flax is more completely digested as the hull of the Brown Flaxseed is harder.
Ultimately, Golden Flax tastes better – and that will likely lead to its continued use more frequently – thus stimulating a healthy routine.