Weightloss Health Vitamin Insuranse Health, medical health weight loss

Weight Loss Simplicity: Don’t Diet

2009-11-30T10:21:00.001-08:00

Losing weight has become a favorite pastime in the West, and more and more of a preoccupation in the East also. The effects of the western diet and lifestyle have been devastating for the weight management and healthy living of almost all people touched by it. The ever increasing availability of instant, often over processed and nutrient deficient food, to the daily commutes we make from one location of idleness to another, all while sitting down in the comfort of a car have had huge impact on obesity and general lowered the amount of physical activity that a person is faced with.

Losing weight and being thin, in contrast to these norms, is still seen as the only way to be, and the pressure society places on this ideal is immense. Everywhere you look, in the media, and even in interpersonal expectation, thin is in. In a society that places heavy emphasis on weight control while at the same time places every obstacle possible in your way at the same time can be very frustrating, and is probably one of the main reasons diets fail.

There are many options out there for the person trying to lose weight. There are the usual options of a good diet and exercise, and then there are the extra provided options of binge diets, herbal supplements, drugs, and even surgery. The sad fact is that while many people opt for the instant options such as binging, drugs, or surgery, the duration of weight loss is usually short lived, though dramatic. The risks to health are much higher than if pursuing to lose weight with a healthy diet and exercise and the end effect is a diminished health, relapse into weight gain, loss of energy and resources put into the attempt, and a further shattered self esteem, making coming back from setback even harder than before on many different levels.

The best way to lose weight is to start a healthy and active lifestyle, not just go on a diet. If you make consistent, health improving changes to your life and stick with them, no matter how small, the accumulated effect will be healthy weight loss that sticks, instead of yo yo diet failure or added health risks with few positive results. Knowing what you put into your body is the first step to controlling your diet, and the first step in exercise is to find simple activities to replace inactivity, such as walking to the market instead of driving. Simple changes in lifestyle are more effective in weight loss than inconsistent workouts and dieting attempts of any level.

The Two Ingredients For Weight Loss Success: Persistence & Patience

2009-11-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

One of the most common mistake that people make that leads to weight loss failure is to chase fast weight loss solutions.

Whether it is in the supermarket in the magazine rack, or on late night television, everyone is talking about the best ways to loose weight at an extremely fast rate. They tell you tahat they personally lost 5-10 pounds a week for a total of over a hundred pounds with the use of the advertised product or technique solution. While they disclose the fact that the results that they discuss are not typical, the want of such a product to work for you can often get you to ignore this fact and palce your hopes on getting a miracle in return for your hard earned cash. What you are often overlooking is the fact that diet results are reliant on several variables, and the variables that contributed to the weight loss on the screen may not have even had anything to do with the drug or weight loss program that they are promoting. These testimonials are very good at getting desparate people to part with their money, but do very little to tell the average person what effect the use of the product shown will have on their weight loss success.

Healthy, permanent weight loss depends on a consistant and positive change to ap erson’s lifestyle over a prolonged period of time to be effective.

A large percentage of dieters will fail due to giving in to the slick sales messages of commercial powers that pry on laziness. By targeting consumers that they know have trouble with the two ingredients for dieting success, pesistance and patience, they can market differnet products to those wishing to lose weight while keeping them inoerpetual need of another solution, one that they will readily and eagerly provide.

Both history and medical science have shown that the only consistantly proven way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat the proper foods in the proper amounts, and to increase physical activity to burn calories and keep the body from storing excess enery as fat. Though some people might find extra support or metabolic advantage from taking herbal suppliments or following a specific dietary regimine, without these two factors, and the will power to control them on an ongoing basis, any fast weight loss solution will ultimately end up in temporary, minmal weight loss with the highest health risks.

3 Simple Steps to Kill Cocaine Addiction

2009-11-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, someone you love and care about has a Cocaine Addiction Problem. Now what?

At this point many thoughts will go through your mind. Most people actually follow a common series of thoughts, believe it or not. The first thought is denial. The addict actually goes through this several times as well.

When the actions of the Cocaine Addict make this impossible to consider further, the next thought is that there is only a minor problem, not a drug addiction. This is where the majority of Cocaine Addicts fail to get the help they really need. It is the extreme exception that someone is a true casual cocaine user. There are no casual crack users as this is clearly the most addictive drug known to man. So the answer is clearly acocaine addiction program. But how to you choose the right one?

Ultimately, you want your loved one back. You want that person free from drug addiction. You want that person to live a healthy and productive life. The answer is the right drug rehab program. But how do you find that one? The answer is actually much easier than most people think.

The majority of people do look into a number of drug rehab programs before making a selection. However, no one really knows the right questions to ask. In fact, because most people really have no understanding of effective drug rehabilitation, they actually eliminate the right program very early in their search. This is unfortunate simply because all that time and money invested then becomes a waste.

There are only 3 issues you need to address for any drug rehabilitation program to make sure your loved one is getting the best and you are getting not only your money’s worth, but your loved one off drugs for good.

#1. What is the Program Success Rate?

This is clearly the most obvious question to ask. What few people know is that the very best programs have a better than 75 success rate and try to convince you that this is somehow the best that can be done. Obviously, these programs are a waste of time and should be avoided. All you need to know is to look for the program with a 75% success rate or better.

#2. What is the Drug Detoxification Method?

Any Drug Rehab Program that you would choose simply must have some sort of drug detoxification method. This is an absolute requirement if there is to be any serious chance that the addict will really get off drugs for good. The single greatest cause of relapse was drug residuals remaining in the body. This is why a drug detox program is required.

All drug detox methods are not the same. There are many detox methods that are very expensive, but no better for the addict. There are several hospital monitored detox methods that are not only very expensive but may also put your loved one into a coma-like state for a day or more. You want a simple, risk freedrug detox program and the best of this is the time-tested sauna based detox method. This is not only the lowest cost method, but offers nearly zero risk to the addict. The drug rehab program that uses this approach is more concerned about getting your loved one off drugs permanently than trying to make a profit from you.

#3. What Guarantee do you offer with your Program?

Only the best programs will offer a rehabilitation result guarantee. Most people have never heard of this simply because so few programs actually offer it. You know that a program that will offer not only a medically safe drug detox, but extensive life skills training plus a long term follow-up program really cares about addicts. But a program that offers all this and a guarantee where the relapsing addict is re-treated at no additional cost really has the best interests of your loved one in mind. This is a program that is more concerned about the full rehabilitation of your family member back into the family and society than making profits.

If you simply use the above three questions in your rehabilitation program search, you will find the right program for your loved one, simply, easily and quickly.

What is arthritis?

2009-11-30T10:08:00.001-08:00

Arthritis describes a set of conditions associated with inflammation of the joints and associated muscles. Arthritis is mainly characterized by swelling and pain in the affected joints. Individuals who suffer from arthritis commonly complain from joint pain, stiffness (particularly in the mornings), limited mobility and swelling. It is a long term condition and lasts for a lifetime and gradually worsens the movements of the affected joints. Degeneration of joints occurs with aging and many individuals aged above 50 typically have arthritic signs.

Worldwide, 350 million people are afflicted with arthritis and this disease is prevalent in both genders. Individuals of all age groups including children are affected by this disorder. Joints are normally protected by a covering called cartilage which on repeated use gets damaged or degenerated. A specialized fluid known as synovial fluid is present between the joints which help in lubricating the joints thus preventing the wear and tear. In people with arthritis, this fluid might be present in inadequate amounts. This can cause damage to the cartilage covering the bones. The degeneration of the cartilage can affect the fluidity of movements in the joints. Identifying the cause for arthritis is very difficult as multiple factors are implicated like bad genes, age, overweight, previous injuries and stress.

Weight loss basics

2009-11-30T10:07:00.001-08:00

Your weight is a balancing act and calories are part of that equation. Fad diets may promise you that counting carbs or eating a mountain of grapefruit will make the pounds drop off. But when it comes to weight loss, it's calories that count. Weight loss comes down to reducing extra calories from food and beverages and increasing calories burned through physical activity.

Once you understand that equation, you're ready to set your weight-loss goals and make a plan for reaching them. Remember, you don't have to do it alone. Talk to your doctor, family and friends for support. Also, plan smart: Anticipate how you'll handle situations that challenge your resolve and the inevitable minor setbacks.

If you have serious health problems because of your weight, your doctor may suggest weight-loss surgery or medications for you. In this case, you and your doctor will need to thoroughly discuss the potential benefits and the possible risks.

But don't forget the bottom line: The key to successful weight loss is a commitment to making permanent changes in your diet and exercise habits.

Healthy Eating Tips

2009-11-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days when counting calories could be a measure of a healthy diet. Healthy diets on the longer about counting calories measuring portions or cutting your carbohydrate intake. We are in an age where are we to start minding our own business, looking after the diets and well-being of our families, our children, and ourselves. We have all been sold on the idea that fast and easy belongs to the pro active, energetic and active lifestyle of people who of moving places.

It is time to opt out of that lie and start being responsible for the health and fitness of our bodies in order to live a prolonged delay void of disease or illnesses related to obesity , malnutrition and bad diets. We only have two look at our fellow man peers and people roaming streets malls and avenues to know that we are living a lie in the name of and for the sake of convenience.

The best thing we can do for ourselves and our families is to eat a healthy diet, not only when we want to lose weight but as a matter of habit all the time everyday and continuously as we live our lives focused on a healthy lifestyle. Remember that a healthy lifestyle is ears a choice and for some the skill to make part of your life and that you stick with for a lifetime.

So what exactly is this a healthy diet and lifestyle we are talking about? We have all been led to believe throughout our lives that these myths included enough milk for calcium, lean beef for muscle growth and veggies, which can take the form of canned or frozen if desired. This certainly sounds like a diet that will put most Americans to shame, living on fast food and takeout, bud sadly this still remains a poor excuse for a diet and a bad diet in itself.

The best foods are foods that are the closest to its natural form whether unrefined or uncooked and variations of that. Examples of this would be whole grains freshly ground, fresh fruits and vegetables needing little or no cooking or processing. What we are after are the vitamins and minerals that help us stay healthy and maintain excellent life giving health. The whole idea behind food is not to feel full after eating, but to retain the most amounts of natural goodness and nutritional value.

Lean meats and fish are essential from good muscle building amino acids to omega 3 fatty acids that help sustain a healthy body, skeletal structure and provide the building blocks that most American foods lack, especially the fast variety. We have forgotten about the purpose of food as a nutritional value and have become accustomed to food being a fun factor. If we feel full, we have eaten and are well fed. This is unfortunately untrue and a new term has come to light calling most Americans obese starving people, pumped up on carbs but lacking in nutrition.

Stay away from all processed foods, especially the meat variety. You will find that processed meats in all forms, whether lunch meat, bacon, hot dogs or various sausages which all contain saturated animal fats and nitrates which are toxic to your body and the cause of many diseases detected and undetected.

Make sure your foods are balanced into a good ratio of healthy carbohydrates, protein and good fats which can be obtained through lean unprocessed meats, vegetables as raw as possible and healthy nuts, olive oil in the cold pressed form on your fresh salads. These habits 6 days a week will lead to unbelievable health benefits such as weight control and fighting off dreaded diseases and illnesses.

Foods to avoid will be anything passing through human processing, e.g. sugar, soft drinks, oil in fried foods, processed foods, chips, deep fried foods, snacks, white processed flour foods, most canned pastas, cereals that are sugar coated etc.

Among the healthy foods would be fresh fruits, berries and vegetables, leafy greens and lettuce, bright colored vegetables and fruits, nuts and dried fruits, organic beef, cold water fish, legumes, whole grains and lean turkey or chicken etc.

Healthy Living - The Quality Of Life

2009-11-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

The importance of dieting to healthy living depends on what you mean when you think diet. Do you want to feel healthy as you grow older each day? Living healthy means more than keeping away from junk food. There are four crucial components to healthy and balanced living: eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly and daily meditation.

Your best approach to healthy living involves both watching your diet and getting adequate exercise, rather than trying to control one at the expense of the other. Exercise, a healthy diet and avoiding stress are the three most important ways you can ensure you are living a healthy lifestyle. Here are some suggestions for living a healthy lifestyle consistently, easily and permanently. Applying these simple tips for living a healthy improve your health and consequently the way you feel.

As you continue with your healthy living program, check in with yourself from time to time. If one wishes to achieve fitness and healthy living, he should go for holistic approach.

Three aspects of life hold your keys to healthy living: Love, Creativity, and Play. The third basic component of a healthy life is an adequate level of physical and mental activity.

Take the time to plan and prepare each day and commit to healthy eating and preparing healthy recipes. Eating healthy and watching your weight are not the only things you need to consider in having a healthy lifestyle. Diet and exercise are integral parts of a healthy lifestyle, it’s true.

But as with any other pill you might be considering adding to your body’s system, use common sense, consult with your doctor, and don’t forget that if you want to live healthy and look fantastic while doing it, you have to eat a balanced diet. Eat well - Set yourself up for success by only buying healthy food and by bringing your lunch if possible to work with you. De-stress with Exercise - Even if it is a brisk walk during lunch or a few minutes of silent meditation and breathing at your desk, simple stress relief can do wonders for all aspects of your life.

In the same way, good foods like fruits and vegetables, proteins in the form of lean meat and nuts will serve your body much better than a diet of highly processed, chemically treated foods that are loaded with sugar. If you forget to put oil in a car engine or top up with Diesel instead of gasoline it will break down eventually, the same principle applies to the human body.

If you don’t really have the time or money for the gym, or prefer to spend your mornings/nights at home, then try an exercise bike or walker, an exercise bike is a convenient machine, as it requires very little space.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a person entering the second half of your life, younger or older, the quality of life and priorities are something you should all be thinking about. Fitness and healthy living cannot be attained without the exercise of one’s will.

A Diet Primer for Health Food and Vitamins

2009-11-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

Quite often, we want to eat healthier but don’t know exactly how to start. Sometimes food you think might be good may in fact not be right for you, and vice-versa. This article looks at some simple diet changes you can start to make right away that will improve your overall health.

Whole Wheat Products

One of the simplest changes you can make is to start eating more whole grain foods instead of those made with white processed flour. Why is this? The whole grain variety has retained more of the nutrients and it breaks down much more slowly in your body. This avoids sudden spikes in your blood sugar level, which can lead to diabetes in the long run.

Heart Healthy Foods

Heart disease is one of the biggest health problems we face. Frequently caused by blood clots in you arteries, this can be alleviated by eating some of the right foods. Try eating things like oatmeal, blueberries, and soy products like tofu. Even a daily glass of red wine or some dark chocolate has been found to be good for your heart.

Drink More Water

We’ve often been told we should drink 8 glasses of water each day, but how many of us actually do? Drinking water is a great way to help you lose weight. Water helps the body metabolize stored fat. Water is also great for your skin – it helps to keep it clear and healthy-looking. Start drinking more water today!

Eat More Vegetables

Common vegetables like carrots, broccoli and spinach contain carotenoids, which are thought to protect against cancer. Vegetables generally provide excellent health food and vitamins essential to your well-being. A simple way to increase your intake is to serve more than one vegetable with your meals.

Fruits Are Fine!

Like vegetables, fruit is an excellent source of vitamins and other nutrients. Eating fruit can help you lose weight and also prevent illness. Apples, bananas and melons are particularly good for you. Try introducing some of these fruits at meal times. Bananas go well with your cereal in the morning, and fruit in general can make a great dessert at the end of your meals.

Fish Is Good For You

Cold water fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines contain omega-3 fats. These fats are essential but they cannot be produced by the body, and must be obtained from foods. Fish is also a good source of protein low in calories and saturated fat. Try a tuna sandwich next time you have lunch!

Spare the Meat

Red meat like beef is very popular in many of our diets, and it is high in protein and essential amino acids. However it can contain a lot of saturated fat. This doesn’t mean we have to give up this summertime BBQ favorite. Simply look for the lean cuts and stay away from the fatty ones like rib-eye.

There is much more we could say on the topic of health food and vitamins. But just by following these simple suggestions you will be well on you way to a healthier diet. The many benefits you will see from increasing your intake of health food and vitamins include weight control, more energy and a reduced risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Vitamins

2009-11-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Vitamins are micronutrients that are essential to life and healthy living. And, as everyone is aware, failing to get the necessary amounts of specific vitamins can cause deficiency states that are unhealthy and even dangerous.

However, vitamins can play a much larger dietary role in our ongoing quest for health than the FDA's Reference Daily Intakes (formerly known as recommended daily allowances, or RDA's) might suggest.

As many scientific studies now indicate, vitamins, when taken in amounts greater than the RDIs, may reduce the occurrence of certain illnesses and degenerative disorders, improve the functioning of the immune system, and, perhaps, even allow us to live longer and healthier lives.

This section of Vitamin Stuff will attempt to answer many of the questions that are commonly asked about vitamin supplementation. For information on specific vitamins, please refer to the menu column.

Improving your health with a serving of nuts?

2009-11-30T09:58:00.001-08:00

You can definitely improve your health with a serving of nuts. Studies have shown they can help decrease risk of diabetes and heart disease, and they are chocked full of healthy vitamins and minerals. They are also fiber rich, helping to reduce cholesterol. The reason many people shy away from these nutritional powerhouses is because of their fat content. Many dismiss the notion that high-fat could be good for you, but the heart-healthy fats in nuts are the very reason they are heart-healthy. One study showed that eating an ounce of nuts a day could reduce the risk of heart disease by nearly 30 percent.

The key to nuts is portion control. Think of nuts the way you think of chocolate. Dark chocolate, in small amounts, is very healthy and high in antioxidants. It’s healthy to have an ounce or two of chocolate and some people do so every day. Nuts are the same; it’s great to have one or two ounces a day. Unfortunately, many people think of nuts more like potato chips and want to eat the whole bag. Nuts, wine, and dark chocolate are all healthy in small amounts.

Nuts, although each one is different in content, are rich in phytochemicals, fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, copper, folic acid and antioxidants; some nuts even offer Omega-3 fatty acids. If you’re worried about the fat content, lower your intake of calories or unhealthy fats to make some extra room for nuts as a nutritious snack.

Organic food is no healthier, study finds

2009-11-30T09:52:00.002-08:00

- Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour, one of the report's authors.

"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon Jessop)
End from Reuters

Junk food and Obesity

2009-11-30T09:52:00.001-08:00

In the United States, over 60 percent of adults are overweight, and one-quarter are classified as obese. These figures represent an increase by over 50 percent in the last ten years alone. Approximately 48 percent of Canadian adults carry excess poundage and 15 percent are obese, according to the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health Survey.

Who's to blame? Junk food and Mcdonald as a leading company? I think the answer is WE ARE. Because we choose what we eat and we are getting more lazy and does not focus on our own health.

While I agreed in principle that unhealthy foods contributing to our obesity, we need to look at the root of the problem and not blame on the other people for our overweight. Point your finger at the food manufacturers will not help you to find the real reasons.

What’s wrong with Junk Food?
Processed food and Fast foods are tends to be high in calories from sugar, saturated fat and salt but very low in nutritional value.

By eating too much junk food you are starving your body of essential vitamins and minerals and giving it too much sugar, salt, additives and saturated animal fats.

Saturated fat contributes to build up and deposits in your arteries and may lead to a heart attack or stroke. The high levels of salt can raise your blood pressure, the sugar can contribute to the development of diabetes.

Meals consisting of junk food don’t fill you up for long. Because they are lacking in fiber, and are made of processed foods, they tend to rate high on the glycaemic index, which means they provide a quick rise in blood sugar, but this also falls quickly, and giving rise to hunger.

Super size meal packets can contain more calories than the average person should consume in an entire day. Our bodies store all the excess calories as fat, and you gain weight.

Unfortunately, this food is usually convenient, tasty, and extremely addictive.

If we want to lose weight, just don’t buy the junk food or reserve them as a special treat ( for your families and yourself ).

Calcium and weight loss

2009-11-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

Calcium is primarily a bone and teeth builder, and can be found around every cell of our body (mostly in tissue fluid outside cells) as an electrolyte. Calcium is also important minerals for the growth, maintenance, and reproduction of the human body. The most recent research shows that most Americans are deficient in calcium in foods and supplements.

Too much calcium intake for a long period of time can cause kidney stones.
And calcium deficiency can leads you to osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, hypertension, and any other disorders. The recommended daily allowance for calcium is about 1,200 mg (in general for adults). Recommendations vary depending on several other factors, such as age and special needs caused by other medical disorders.

The best calcium foods are milk products. Because our body looks like more easily absorbs the calcium in milk and dairy products than from the other food. A glass of milk (about eight ounce) is equal to 300 mg of calcium. Two ounce sardines (with cooked bones) is equal to 240mg of calcium You can find further data published on the internet about the content of calcium in each food.

Calcium and weight loss

Professor Angelo Tremblay, Canada Research Chair in Environment and Energy Balance, and his team have studied the link between calcium and obesity for several years.

Their first findings, published in 2003, revealed that women who consumed diets poor in calcium had more body fat, bigger waistlines, and higher bad cholesterol levels than those who consumed moderate or large amounts of calcium.

A second study showed that the more people reduced their consumption of dairy products over the six-year period examined, the more weight and body fat they gained and the bigger their waistlines grew.

Another data from Science News 2000 Vol.157 No.18 show that women consuming the least calcium weighed the most.

The studied at Oregon Health & Science University shown that subjects placed on a weight-loss diet enriched with dietary calcium lose more body weight than those who eat the same amount of calories but with less calcium.

As a conclusion is as follows, calcium is very important for our bodies. Not only for the people who want to lose weight, but also for people who want to live healthy. Avoid calcium deficiency as it can be bad for your overall health. And just make sure your diet is healthy and contains the right amount of vitamins, minerals and calories.

Benefits of exercise differ by sex and race

2009-11-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

How much health benefit you get from physical exercise might depend on your gender, and your race, new research suggests.

The work is based on data from more than 15,000 middle-aged African American and Caucasian men and women who have been participating since the late 1980s in the large Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

According to a report in the Journal of Lipid Research, people who added about an hour of mild exercise per week or half an hour of moderate exercise had increased levels of heart-healthy HDL.

In the study, "mild exercise" included such activities as walking for pleasure, bowling, or weight lifting. "Moderate exercise" could have been a more strenuous activity such as basketball, hiking, or modern dance.

The research team, led by Dr. Keri Monda at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, also found that increased exercise generally produced significant decreases in harmful triglycerides, but only in Caucasians.

Similar beneficial effects of exercise on HDL cholesterol and triglycerides have been found in other studies.

Monda's team also discovered, however, that increased activity improved levels of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol in women, but not in men. Also, they found, added exercise brought total cholesterol levels down, but only in Black women.

These variations in response, the research team says, "are for the most part" new.

What's behind these differences? The researchers aren't sure, but they speculate that hormonal differences between men and women and genetic differences between races account for at least some of their findings.

Also, they admit, some of their information on the study participants was gathered by questionnaire, and while this is a standard technique in long-term studies, it's not guaranteed to be 100 percent accurate.

Nevertheless, Monda and her colleagues point out, their work provides additional evidence that exercise has a beneficial effect on HDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

"Overall, our results highlight the importance of physical activity on plasma lipid profiles," they wrote.

Do High-fat Diets Make Us Stupid And Lazy?

2009-11-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

Do High-fat Diets Make Us Stupid And Lazy? Physical And Memory Abilities Of Rats Affected After 9 Days

ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2009) - Rats fed a high-fat diet show a stark reduction in their physical endurance and a decline in their cognitive ability after just nine days, a study by Oxford University researchers has shown.

The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the FASEB Journal, may have implications not only for those eating lots of high-fat foods, but also athletes looking for the optimal diet for training and patients with metabolic disorders.

"We found that rats, when switched to a high-fat diet from their standard low-fat feed, showed a surprisingly quick reduction in their physical performance," says Dr Andrew Murray, who led the work at Oxford University and has now moved to the University of Cambridge. "After just nine days, they were only able to run 50 per cent as far on a treadmill as those that remained on the low-fat feed."

High-fat diets, such as those that are prevalent in Western countries, are known to be harmful in the long term and can lead to problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart failure. They are also known to be associated with a decline in cognitive ability over long time spans. But little attention has been paid to the effect of high-fat diets in the short term.

Physical endurance – how long we can keep exercising – depends on how much oxygen can be supplied to our muscles and how efficiently our muscles release energy by burning up the fuel we get from the food we eat. In particular, using fat as a fuel is less efficient than using glucose from carbohydrates, but the metabolic changes induced by different diets are complex and it has been controversial whether high-fat feeding for a short time would increase or decrease physical performance.

The Oxford team set out to investigate whether rats fed a high-fat diet for just a few days showed any change in their physical and cognitive abilities.

All 42 rats were initially fed a standard feed with a low fat content of 7.5 per cent. Their physical endurance was measured by how long they could run on a treadmill and their short-term or 'working' memory was measured in a maze task. Half of the rats were then switched to a high-fat diet where 55 per cent of the calories came from fat. After four days of getting used to the new diet, the endurance and cognitive performance of the rats on the low- and high-fat diets was compared for another five days.

"With the standard feed, 7.5 per cent of the calories come from fat. That's a pretty low-fat diet, much like humans eating nothing but muesli," says Dr Murray. "The high-fat diet, in which 55 per cent of the calories came from fat, sounds high but it's actually not extraordinarily high by human standards. A junk food diet would come close to that."

"Some high-fat, low-carb diets for weight loss can even have fat contents as high as 60 per cent. However, it's not clear how many direct conclusions can be drawn from our work for these diets, as the high-fat diet we used was not particularly low in carbs," he adds.

On the fifth day of the high-fat diet (the first day back on the treadmill), the rats were already running 30 per cent less far than those remaining on the low-fat diet. By the ninth day, the last of the experiment, they were running 50 per cent less far.

The rats on the high-fat diet were also making mistakes sooner in the maze task, suggesting that their cognitive abilities were also being affected by their diet. The number of correct decisions before making a mistake dropped from over six to an average of 5 to 5.5.

The researchers also investigated what metabolic changes the high-fat diet was inducing in the rats. They found increased levels of a specific protein called the 'uncoupling protein' in the muscle and heart cells of rats on the high-fat diet. This protein 'uncouples' the process of burning food stuffs for energy in the cells, reducing the efficiency of the heart and muscles. This could at least partly explain the reduction in treadmill running seen in the rats.

The rats that were fed a high fat diet and had to run on the treadmill also had a significantly bigger heart after nine days, suggesting the heart had to increase in size to pump more blood around the body and get more oxygen to the muscles.

While this research has been done in rats, the Oxford team and Andrew Murray's new group in Cambridge are now carrying out similar studies in humans, looking at the effect of a short term high-fat diet on exercise and cognitive ability.

The results will be important not only in informing athletes of the best diets to help their training routine, but also in developing ideal diets for patients with metabolic disorders such as diabetes, insulin resistance or obesity. People with such conditions can have high levels of fat in the blood and show poor exercise tolerance, some cognitive decline, and can even develop dementia over time.

"These are startling results," says Professor Kieran Clarke, head of the research team at Oxford University. "It shows that high-fat feeding even over short periods of time can markedly affect gene expression, metabolism and physical performance. By optimising diets appropriately we should be able to increase athletes' endurance and help patients with metabolic abnormalities improve their ability to exercise and do more."

"In little more than a week, a change in diet appears to have made the rats' hearts much less efficient," says Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, who funded the research. "We look forward to the results of the equivalent studies in human volunteers, which should tell us more about the short-term effects of high-fat foods on our hearts. We already know that to protect our heart health in the long-term, we should cut down on foods high in saturated fat."

Obesity and hormonal imbalance

2009-11-30T09:48:00.001-08:00

You must constantly battle your weight while other people seem to stay thin effortlessly. They don’t exercise, they eat anything they want, but they don’t get fat. Hmm, …unfair isn’t it?

Sometimes there are situations where overeating and lack of exercise are not the cause. It is a matter of Hormones.

In recent years, scientists who study body chemistry have discovered several hormones that regulate body weight. Excesses or deficits of hormones can lead to obesity. Here are a few examples:

Thyroid gland makes a hormone called thyroxin, which helps regulate how fast your body burns calories. Thyroid gland, which is shaped like a butterfly and is located right below the Adam’s apple, outputs crucial hormones that essentially regulate the body’s metabolism. People may develop low thyroid function at some point in their lives and that weight gain is a feature of hypothyroid illness.
Since the thyroid produces hormones that manage your metabolism, anything that affects your thyroid will ultimately affect your metabolism.

Stomach secretes ghrelin to stimulate your appetite when your stomach is empty. People with high levels of ghrelin in their bodies will not only feel hungrier than those with low levels, but may burn fat more slowly as well. "It would be interesting to know what would happen if we could block the rise of ghrelin," said Dr. David Cummings, the first author of the new study and an endocrinologist at the University of Washington and the Department of Veterans Affairs in Seattle. "Would it facilitate weight loss, or make it easier to lose weight through dieting or exercise?"

Intestines produce peptide YY to curb your appetite when your intestine has enough food to work on. The gut hormone peptide YY (PYY) is a 36-amino acid peptide that is synthesized and released from specialized enteroendocrine cells called L-cells found predominantly within the distal GI tract. There is increasing evidence that, in addition to regulating food intake, PYY3–36 has additional metabolic beneficial effects on energy expenditure and fuel partitioning.

Fat cells secrete leptin to reduce your appetite when your fat stores have been replenished. Leptin is a hormone secreted by our fat cell, regulates our appetite and metabolism. Leptin is helpful in suppressing the hunger and burning stored fat. Low levels of leptin in the body have been associated with low metabolism and more hunger cravings. The relation between leptin and obesity is strong as low levels of Leptin would mean increased risk of obesity.

You need an approach that doesn’t rely on willpower, because you can’t ignore those instincts. There are dozens of ways to lose weight, but consult to your doctor first.

Fat caused 124,000 cancer cases in Europe: experts

2009-11-30T09:47:00.002-08:00

BERLIN (Reuters) - More than 124,000 people in Europe developed cancer last year because they are overweight, and rising body fat levels threaten to add tens of thousands more to their ranks, experts said on Thursday.

A study of cancer among overweight people in Europe showed the proportion of new cases of the disease caused by people being fat was highest in women and in central European countries like the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

The most common cancers linked to excess body weight were endometrial, breast and colorectal cancers.

"It is possible that obesity may become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women within the next decade," lead researcher Andrew Renehan, of Cardiff University in Britain, told the ECCO-ESMO European cancer congress in Berlin.

Renehan used data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer to estimate that in 2002 some 70,0000 new cases of cancer in 30 European countries were caused by people being overweight or obese.

The study used WHO definitions, classing overweight as having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, and obese as having a BMI of 30 or more.

They then projected the figures forward to 2008, taking into account the steep decline in women's use of hormone replacement therapy from 2002 after it was linked to increased risk of breast cancer, and the wider use of prostate cancer screening.

They found that the number of cancers that could be attributed to excess body weight increased to 124,050 in 2008.

In men, 3.2 percent of new cancers were attributed to being overweight or obese and in women it was 8.6 percent, and at a country level, obesity-related cancer is a greater problem for central European countries like the Czech Republic, but less of a problem in France and Denmark.

The largest number of obesity-related new cancers was for endometrial cancer (33,421), post-menopausal breast cancer (27,770) and colorectal cancer (23,730). Together, they accounted for 65 percent of all cancers attributable to fat.

Renehan stressed that his numbers were "very conservative estimates" and urged health authorities to take note.

"In the face of an unabating obesity epidemic, and apparent failure of public health policies to control weight gain, there is a need to look at alternative strategies, including pharmacological approaches," he said.

Obesity has long been known to raise the risk of cancer, and the evidence continues to mount. Swedish researchers said in June that women who had weight-loss surgery were 42 percent less likely to develop cancer during a 10-year study.

Although European countries are taking some steps to tackle the obesity epidemic, the study emphasized the "urgency of the task and the scale of the problems" caused by fat, Renehan said.
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)

Omega-3s Can Reduce Appetite

2009-11-30T09:47:00.001-08:00

Omega-3 fatty acids can help dieters feel full longer and eat less, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Navarra, University of Iceland and University College Cork and published in the journal Appetite.

"[Omega-3s] could improve the patients' compliance to changes in dietary habits required for weight loss and weight loss maintenance," the researchers wrote.

Researchers placed 232 overweight or obese volunteers onto a lower calorie, balanced diet that was supplemented with either a low or high dose of omega-3s for eight weeks. The average age of participants was 31, and their average body mass index was 28.3 kg per square meter. The low omega-3 dose was 260 milligrams per day, while participants in the high-dose group were given 1,300 milligrams per day.

During the last two weeks of the experiments, researchers assessed the appetites of participants and found that those in the high dose group tended to feel hungry less frequently than those in the low dose group, when measurements were taken either immediately after or two hours following a meal.

The researchers also found that participants with higher blood levels of omega-3s and a healthier omega-3 to omega-6 ratio were also less likely to report being hungry after eating.

"The most important finding of this study is that subjects who eat a dinner rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids feel less hunger and more full directly after and two hours after than their counterparts fed with the low long chain omega-3 fatty acids diet," the researchers wrote. "This observation indicates that long chain omega-3 fatty acids modulate hunger signals."

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in high concentrations in certain fish oils, flaxseeds and other seeds and nuts, and certain varieties of algae. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in high concentrations in vegetable oils. Recent research is suggested that omega-3s are essential for the healthy development of the central nervous system, and the higher ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s is important for cardiovascular health.

"Good" dietary fats trim body fat in diabetic women

2009-11-30T09:46:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating certain kinds of fats may actually help obese women with diabetes trim some body fat, a small study suggests.

The study, of 35 older women with type 2 diabetes, found that supplements containing two types of fats -- conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) or safflower oil -- led to healthy changes in body composition over four months.

With CLA, the women saw a dip in body mass index (BMI) -- a measure of weight in relation to height -- and in their total level of body fat.

With safflower oil, the women's BMI did not change, but they typically shed a couple pounds of fat from the trunk area; they also showed improvements in their blood sugar levels, which signals better diabetes control.

CLA is an unsaturated fatty acid found in beef, lamb and dairy products. Animal research has found that CLA can help melt away body fat, and some studies have suggested the same may hold true in humans.

Safflower oil is rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, but exactly how it might affect body fat and blood sugar is unknown, said Dr. Martha Belury, an author of the study and a professor of nutrition at Ohio State University in Columbus.

She explained that she and her colleagues were simply using safflower oil as a comparison substance to gauge the effects of CLA. The former, it turned out, had its own unique benefits.
It is too soon to recommend that overweight women with diabetes buy CLA or safflower oil supplements. But they can try to fit more polyunsaturated fats into their diet, Belury told Reuters Health.

"Don't get rid of the healthy fats in your diet when you get rid of the bad ones," she advised.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, included 35 obese women with an average age of 60. Each took either 8 grams of the safflower oil supplement or 8 grams of the CLA supplement every day for 16 weeks; after a one-month break, the women then switched to the other supplement.

Overall, Belury's team found, the women showed a small decline in BMI and shed a couple pounds of body fat while on CLA. There was no change in their blood sugar levels or muscle mass.

In contrast, while on safflower oil, the women lost body fat in the trunk area and gained some muscle mass, while their blood sugar levels showed a general decline.
"These fats seem to work very differently from each other," Belury said.
More research is needed to understand why that is, according to the researchers. Studies suggest that CLA affects enzymes involved in body-fat storage, which may explain its benefits for body composition -- but its potential effects on diabetes are unclear. The supplement did not affect blood-sugar control in this study, and a previous study of diabetic adults found that CLA actually raised blood-sugar levels.

For now, Belury recommended that people try to work polyunsaturated oils into their diets -- eating salads with oil-and-vinegar dressing, for instance, or cooking vegetables with the oils instead of butter.

She noted that the amount of safflower oil used in this study was equivalent to just under two teaspoons a day, which is easy to get through food. A number of other oils, like sunflower and corn oils, are also high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats.

On the other hand, the amount of CLA used in the study would be tough to get through the diet. A liter of full-fat milk, for example, contains only about 1 gram of CLA.

Smoking as a Weight Loss Plan

2009-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

Is it true that smoking can help you lose weight? Check frightening new trend of teenagers who smoke just to lose weight. Did wisely chose this way? How big are the side effects?

Nowadays, where losing weight has become a passion, mainly among women, we are ready to do almost anything to lose weight.

I’m sure that almost all women think smoking is a bad habit, but many say smoking helps them lose weight and relieve stress. Some of them said this: “When I used to smoke, I almost not ate. As soon as I stopped smoking, I ate all the time.” while another girl remarked that smoking “makes me not want to eat”.

Smoking does increase the metabolic rate by about 10 percent and decreases the desire for sweet foods. And studies suggest that nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant. Therefore, the more you smoke the less hungry you feel and the less you are likely to eat.

But if the teenagers are smoking with these reasons, it will be very difficult to stop (fear of gaining weight). What if later they were married and pregnant? Smoking will damage their health, and in pregnancy the innocent babies in their womb would be affected. Everyone knows the dangers of smoking for the baby who was conceived by the mother. Women who smoke have a greater chance of certain pregnancy problems or having a baby die from SIDS.

Smoking causes cancers in parts of the body, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers, chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, etc.

Smoking may be able to fix weight problem, but in the long term, the detriments that it brings to our health is not really worth it. Moreover, if bad for the people we love.

Success story of a vegetarian weight loss

2009-11-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

Vegetarian women indeed have a lower risk of obesity, but that does not mean vegetarians can not be overweight. This time I wanted to share a success story of a vegetarian woman who became overweight but finally succeed to lose weight. I get this from women's health magazine November 2008 edition. It's an old edition but I think the experience of others can give us a valuable lesson.

The woman named Brandi Lemburg, height 5’8”, aged 26 years, came from Merysville, WA. She took 2 years 5 months to lose weight initially 230 pounds to 148 pounds. Please read the following full story…..

The Gain
Brandi Lemburg had been a vegetarian since age 9, but she was no fan of greens. ”I had potatoes with every meal,” she says. In her twenties, Lemburg worked her way up to three sodas a day and hot fudge sundaes every night. At 22 and 170 pounds, she stopped weighing herself. “I didn’t want to know,” she says.

The Change
In February 2006, Lemburg’s size-18 leans were cutting into her waist. She forced herself onto a scale and saw that she had gained 60 pounds. “When I read the number 230, my heart sank,” she says. “I had never weighed that much.”
Realizing that she could easily top 300 pounds in another year, she took action.

The Lifestyle
Lemburg knew she needed a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. Dhe went vegan, which forced her to get protein from soy, beans, nuts, and veggies instead of fattening dairy products. Sweet snap peas and organic apple slices with vegan peanut butter replaced cookies and Little Debbie’s cakes. “I gave up soda completely,” she says. She logged half-hour sessions on a treadmill three times a week. For the first two months, Lemburg lost five pounds a week. Eager for more, she started walking everywhere-to work, to school, to run errands-and practiced yoga five nights a week. “I do squats when I’m blow-drying my hair. When I watch television, I do lunges,” Lemburg says. By last July, her scale was down to 148.

The Reward
At her lowest weight since she was a teenager, Lemburg has lifted more than just a physical burden. “My weight was really bringing me down,” she says. “I had zero energy and I was self conscious. Now I wake up and I’m ready to take on the day.”

At the end of the story, Lemburg want to share her success tips to all of us. This may also be useful for us all. So try to think about it.

Eat in
“I try healthy meat and dairy-free recipes at home.
Have a shoe fetish
“I leave my shoes on after work so I’m ready to pull weeds or do some aerobic cleaning.”
Be positive
“I never let discouraging thoughts take over.”

Hoodia Gordonii Plus

2009-11-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hoodia Gordonii On November 21, 2004 CBS correspondent, Lesley Stahl reported on 60 Minutes that a strange little plant, Hoodia Gordonii, "... is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away." According to CBS, "Scientists say that it fools the brain by making you think you're full, even if you've eaten just a morsel." Now, word of this amazing plant is spreading like wildfire across the country and taking the consumer market by storm. Many are calling the discovery of Hoodia Gordonii the breakthrough of the decade.

IF ONLY YOU WEREN'T SO DARNED HUNGRY ALL THE TIME... It's true that you eat for a lot of different reasons, but feeling hungry can drive you to distraction. You know you should stick to your diet (what ever the current one is), and you know when you're eating more than you need. But, what can you do about always feeling hungry? It's just not fair. Hoodia Gordonii Plus might just be the answer you're looking for. Combined with a sensible food program, exercise routine, and drinking plenty of water, the ingredients in Hoodia Gordonii Plus will help you to regain your slim body easier and faster. If you weren't hungry all the time, you wouldn't be tempted to snack between meals. You could easily say "No," to second helpings. You would find it easy to push away from the table feeling satisfied. A great deal of research is being conducted into the effects of satiety (the feeling of being full) on overeating. Hormones circulating through the body convey messages to the brain to indicate hunger of "fullness."

WHAT IS HOODIA GORDONII? If you missed the 60 Minutes program, the program described Hoodia as a small, succulent plant that grows only in the remote region of the South African Kalahari Desert. There, the indigenous San Bushmen have eaten the plan for centuries, to stave off hunger during their long and arduous hunting trips. This small plant looks like a dill pickle with spines on it. It grows slowly in its harsh environment, and takes four or five years, or more, before it is ready to harvest. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, joined forces with the South African San Council. They agreed to work together on the usage of indigenous plants for the benefit of both parties. They also committed themselves to the conservation of natural resources. Because of tremendous worldwide demand for the Hoodia plant, it has become endangered by over-harvesting. Now, certification is required to prove that the product is authentic Hoodia Gordonii. Real Hoodia Gordonii only grows in the semi-arid desert of South Africa - not in China, or Mexico, or the United States. With Hoodia Gordonii Plus you can be assured of getting the real, organic Hoodia ingredient. That's because our Hoodia is approved by the Western Cape Conservation Authority of South Africa, and is certified to be 100% authentic.

2009-11-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

Alli Weight Loss Pill

Alli™ weight loss pill Time is ticking on the miracle diets, the untested, the untrue. Now you can look at weight loss differently. alli™ is the only FDA approved, over-the-counter weight loss product. But it's more than just a pill. It's an innovative weight loss program. The pill works by preventing your body from absorbing some of the fat you eat. And the program includes an¬†individually tailored, online action plan to help you lose weight safely and gradually.

What makes alli different? FDA approval makes alli different. And the customized plan was designed for use with alli™ capsules to give you the support you need to succeed with weight loss. With your hard work and alli™, you can lose about 50% more weight than with just dieting alone. That means if you could lose 10 pounds through dieting, you could lose 15 with alli. So what's myalliplan™? Losing weight is easier with support. That's why the alli program includes an individually tailored action plan called myalliplan. When you purchase alli and register online, you'll get a free customized action plan. When you check in online, you'll receive immediate feedback and specific guidance, developed by weight management experts. When you're not online, you can still partner with alli when you use the portable reference guides inside the alli starter pack.

They include the "Read Me First" Guide, Welcome Guide, Companion Guide, Calorie & Fat Counter, Healthy Eating Guide, Daily Journal, and Quick Facts Cards -- the tools you need to be successful with alli. Can I do this? Absolutely. If you're willing to challenge yourself, to do things differently, then you can experience weight loss success. But if you aren't committed to limiting your fat intake¬†and calories as part of the program, then you shouldn't buy alli. Not right now. If the timing isn't right for you, come back to myalli.com in the future to learn more about alli. Before you begin, be sure You don't just try alli to see what happens. You have to commit to a plan. There are six key questions to help you decide if you're ready. View those questions now in the alli weight loss readiness quiz.