Healthy Foods

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Green Tea, Weight Loss and You

An ever increasing number of people are choosing to add green tea to their weight loss program. This affordable product packs a punch you'll appreciate. Green tea is a great beverage to drink if you are on a weight loss program because it can help you live a healthier life. Some common beverage choices for people are:

  • coffee and cream which are high in calories - Some of the specialty coffees are very high in calories; caffeine or both and these little vises or pleasures can quickly add up and destroy your weight loss efforts.
  • soda - either diet or regular - Regular sodas add about 120 empty calories to your intake for every 12 ounce can you consume. Diet sodas are sweet and make your body think it is being given sugar which it gears up to digest but nothing is encountered but a chemical compound it does not know how to handle. The debate still rages on about the long term effects of diet soda but many believe this artificial concoction does not help with weight loss and may actually promote weight gain because your body was geared up for sugar it cannot find.
  • sports drinks - These beverages DO add electrolytes and vital fluid replacement but they are also very high in sugar and other alternatives might serve the average person better.

  • Green tea is a beverage substitute that helps you avoid unwanted calories and it also contains healthful substances like polyphenols and flavonoids. Green tea also contains a small amount of caffeine which may help you lose weight because it serves as a mild appetite suppressant.

    If you regularly drink green tea or take green tea supplements, you will be helping your body's thermogenesis process (increase your metabolic rate). This is the process by which the body burns fat and releases calories. The thermogenesis process is activated by the interaction of the caffeine and catechin polyphenols present in this tea. The standard advice of burning more calories than you consume still applies but this tea has been extensively studied and used and has proven that it can help increase your metabolic rate without increasing you heart rate as other plant based products can. No beverage or supplement is going to be a magic pill when it comes to weight loss. There is several thousand years of use and many scientific studies that show your overall health and your weight loss program may benefit from green tea.

    The article Green Tea and Weight Loss offers a little more information on this topic and Natural Remedies Products has other weight loss articles you may enjoy.

    Is Hoodia the Natural Key to Weight Loss

    Hunger and the desire to eat is a great disadvantage if you are trying to lose weight! Cream cakes, sweets, biscuits and all other delicious wonderful foods seem to be everywhere when you are trying to forget about the pleasure of eating.

    Wouldn't it be great to take a pill or potion that stops that craving for food in it's tracks and enable you to shed those pounds. There are many weight loss pills on the market that claim to help you lose weight but the one that's being talked about most for it's astounding effects is hoodia.

    Hoodia is a succulent cactus type plant and can grow up to a meter in height. There are many different species but the one that has the appetite suppressant qualities is the gordonii species.

    It was used hundreds of years ago in the Kalahari desert region of South Africa by tribesmen as a thirst quencher and natural appetite suppressant during long hunting trips. It keeps you feeling full after a meal for longer and also gives you a feeling of wellbeing.

    The active ingredient in gordonii hoodia is a molecule called p57. It works by sending signals to the part of the brain that controls appetite and cravings that you are full. It does this by mimicking the effects of glucose which gives energy and a feeling of satisfied fullness, so even after a small meal you will feel full for much longer.

    The desire to snack between meals which is often habit will disappear. You won't need that mid morning bar of chocolate or afternoon cake any more while you take hoodia. However you may need to take it for a couple of days before you start to experience it's benefits.

    Some hoodia products are mixed with green tea. This is fine as not only is green tea a powerful antioxidant but it has the added effect of increasing initial weight loss due to the caffeine. Tea is a diuretic and causes you to lose water in the body by urinating more often. Water stored in the body adds extra weight.

    The greater the ratio of green tea to hoodia the cheaper it is. The best mix of hoodia to green tea is 20:1

    This can be purchased in tablet or liquid form, but you will find it more beneficial to take it in liquid form as not only is it easier to swallow but it's also much more readily absorbed into the body and you will notice it's effects almost straight away.

    Only about 20% of ingredients are absorbed in tablet form, the remainder is wasted as it's passed through the body.

    Hoodia should be taken as part of a healthy diet which includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Exercise should also be a major part of your weight loss regime. Don't rely on hoodia as a quick fix for losing weight as it's vital that you get plenty of essential vitamins and minerals from a healthy diet to remain fit and healthy.

    Kathy Joyce can help you to find a new slimmer, fitter and healthier you with valuable tips and resources on weight loss, fitness and nutrition.
    http://www.weightlossdietingtips.com

    Belly Fat Weight Loss Tips For Building Flat Abs

    These belly fat weight loss tips will help you shrink that stubborn belly fat and keep it off. We all want lean looking abs but if you look around it seems that few people are reaching this goal. There are many myths in existence on how to lose belly fat.

    Most of these myths lead to lost money and time instead of lost inches in the waist. In fact you could even add to your belly fat problem if you follow some of these fallacies. If you will avoid these myths and follow some sound, time-proven principles you can reach your goal of reducing your belly fat and having flat abs.

    Here are two extremely dangerous myths you must avoid:

    1. You will lose belly fat fast.

    2. You will lose belly fat doing abdominal exercises.

    You should avoid all weight-loss programs that promote either of these.

    These belly fat weight loss tips will help you reach your goal of lean and flat abs:

    • Plan on losing 1-2 pounds of body fat each week. You can starve off more pounds each week but it won't be from fat loss. This is typically water loss and is eventually regained. If you remain on one of these diets for a prolonged time you will ultimately start losing muscle tissue. This will reduce your body's ability to burn calories. It will also lower your body's metabolism and make it even more difficult to burn fat.
    • Plan on eating a lean protein and complex carbohydrate within one hour of waking in the morning. Don't start your day by putting your body in the starvation mode. This de-stabilizes your blood sugar and slows your metabolism. The result is you spend the day trying to get back on track. Many times you are still hungry in the evening and overeat before going to bed.
    • Limit the amount of saturated fat you eat each day. Limit your intake to 10-20% of your total calories each day. Most people eat entirely too much saturated fat each day. Taking this one simple step will greatly help you lose body fat more quickly.
    • Monitor the add-ons. These are those items that often get mindlessly added to our foods. For example, you can completely negate the benefits of a healthy salad by adding a high-fat and high-calorie salad dressing. The same goes for foods like broccoli and chicken when you add cheese and other unhealthy sauces.
    • Do some form of aerobic exercise in the morning. There are two reasons for doing this. First, it is easier to maintain a consistent and long-term exercise program if it is implemented at the beginning of your day. This helps you prevent having your exercise time squeezed from your schedule by other daily activities. Second, there is some evidence that there is an enhanced fat-burning effect when aerobic exercise is performed in the morning.
    • Push some weight 2-3 times per week. You can use free weights, weight machines, or even your own bodyweight. Work your major muscle groups at least once and no more than twice each week. The additional muscle will increase your body's ability to burn calories and lose belly fat.

    Avoid the myths and follow these belly fat weight loss tips to reach your goal of flat abs and less belly fat.

    Dr. Steve Tuggle is a practicing dentist, certified personal trainer (ACE, ACSM), certified wellness coach, and life coach. You can learn more about belly fat and how it affects your health and wellness at http://www.elite-wellness-coaching.com

    For the lates updates on Belly Fat Weight Loss Tips visit http://www.elite-wellness-coaching.com/belly-fat-weight-loss-tips.html

    Worst Weight Loss Mistakes

    All of us are eager to lose weight one way or another. Many people around the world gain weight because of the lifestyle they are living in. Weight control is a problem for which there are hundreds or thousands of weight losing methods and techniques available in the market nowadays. Many of the people around the world use such methods to lose their weight but sometimes such techniques are useless. You can easily lose weight if you avoid these worst mistakes that people often make in their weight loss methods. Then you will see a profound change in your weight.

    One of the worst mistakes that almost every person makes is that their planning is poor. All your methods of losing weight fail if you don't have a good planning. First of all you must create a special list for your diet, exercise and an activity list that you must follow in order to lose extra weight in your body. After making the list you must stick to it, no deviations can be accepted once the list is made. Another mistake is people run from exercise, because they think it is a fatigue of some kind. However, that is not true. To lose weight exercise is very important. You can easily find a number of plans that would help you concentrate on less exercise but in fact you need to exercise daily so that you can burn calories in body. There is no use of a good diet plan unless you put your exercising list in action.

    Some people make a mistake about the kind of exercise done. Many potential weight losers use aerobic style of exercise to lose weight. There is no doubt that aerobic exercise would help you but it is not enough in order to lose weight. You need to exercise in a way that your metabolism in the body is increased, quickly. By increasing the muscles, you can increase the rate of metabolism in your body. It is put in a way that more muscles you have in your body faster will be your metabolism rate. The increase in your metabolism rate is directly proportional to your calories burning in the body. Many people who want to lose weight avoid the exercise, which involves weight lifting or provides any type of resistance to your body. The concept is very wrong. You need to practice resistance exercise in order to increase your muscles so that you lose weight quickly.

    Most of the people think that by starving themselves they can lose weight very quickly but this idea is wrong too because once you start starving yourself you are helping your body to expand more. They think they can burn more calories like this but in fact the opposite is happening. There are some other problems too like drinking too much alcohol can cause you to gain weight, too much exercise and by comparing your weight with others will not be beneficial as it will cause you to lose a physiological edge over others.

    Gary Grewal is the founder of http://www.101weightloss.com; a site featuring many articles on weight loss diets, pills, eating right, exercises etc. Visit his site for many more tips on healthy weight loss.

    Herbal Weight Loss

    Demand for weight loss information, tips, help, products, pills, and more is ever increasing - more people are getting more and more conscious about the way they look - which includes their physical well-being. People want to look lean, fit and not forgetting sexy.

    Along with the demands comes the answers - there are also lots of weight loss programs, pills, exercise programs, machines, dietary supplements, and even dietary "soaps" available out there in the market that promises to allow you to shed a certain amount of weight in a short span of time.

    There's one more option available on the market which hardly people are talking about is - herbal weight loss solution.

    Herbal weight loss solution is great for people who are looking to lose weight the natural way. But one thing you have to take note is that herbal solutions do not allow you to lose weight overnight but, rather, it will be a gradual process.

    Here are some herbal weight loss solutions you may want to consider:

    1. Herbal Weight Loss Products

    There are lots of herbal weight loss products available on the market now - simply do a search on "Herbal Weight Loss Products" in the Google search engines and you'll find many websites selling these herbal weight loss products.

    A word of caution though - before you whip out your credit card to purchase any of these herbal products, do check the ingredients and chemicals used properly as some of these herbal weight loss products contain ingredients and chemicals which are harmful to your body, and here are some of them:

    a. Senna - Senna is a herbal laxative. It is the main ingredient in weight loss teas, and it works by stimulating your body's colon. The side-effect of this is dehydration. Senna can also lead to colon problems and can become addictive as some people, without taking Senna, will experience bowel movement problems.

    b. Chromium Picolinate - This is a synthetic compound found in weight loss products. Chromium is a nutrient that helps to regulate your blood-sugar level. Overdosage of Chromium may lead to the damage of chromosomes in your body. It can also lead to dehydration.

    c. St. John's Wort - If weight loss products containing St. John's Wort is not used correctly, it may lead to eye and skin sensitivity, cause mild gastrointestinal distress, fatigue, as well as itching.

    2. Organic Food

    More and more people are starting to consume organic food, as they believe that by doing so, it will keep their body healthier, and also organic food is known to be "kinder" to your weight compared to chemically-processed food products.

    3. Green Tea

    Studies have shown that green tea helps to burn extra calories, and people who drank green tea were found to lose 2 to 3 times more weight than those who did not. Therefore, green tea is a good option for those who want to lose weight.

    4. Caffeine

    Coffee provides an energy boost in your body to help increase the rate at which your body burns fats.

    5. Immortality Herb

    This herb, which is also scientifically known as "Gymnostemna Pentaphyllum", is know to have the following benefits.

    a. Increases your body's healthy blood flow.

    b. Reduces artery blocks.

    c. Aids healthy blood pressure.

    d. Increase the rate of fat burning in your body.

    5. Apple Cider Vinegar

    Some of the weight loss pills and food supplements contain Apple Cider Vinegar as its main ingredient. Here's some of its benefits:

    a. Helps in weight loss.

    b. Improves your body's cholesterol level.

    c. Improves your body's blood pressure.

    d. Helps prevent Rheumatoid Arthritis.

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    5 Easy Ways To Exercise That Will Help You Lose Weight Fast

    Quite often when people are looking to lose weight fast, all they really think about doing is going on a diet. While it is important for you to reduce your caloric intake to lose weight, regular exercise will help you to attain the figure that you desire faster.

    It is a fact that no weight loss program is complete with a proper exercise regime. Almost all diet programs recommend that you exercise for a minimum of twenty minutes, three times a week, and if you are serious about losing weight fast, you will need to up that to at least five times a week.

    But while most people consider exercise to consist of aerobics, jogging, running, or weight lifting, there are other forms of exercise that you can perform on a daily basis that will help you to lose weight fast without putting too much stress on your body, especially if you are significantly overweight.

    Here are some simple ways you can start exercising to help you lose weight fast.

    Housework

    While not a big calorie burner, doing housework such as sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting will burn, on average, two to three calories per minute. Now you can think of doing housework as something that is good for you, because technically it is.

    Walking

    Regardless of your age or body type, walking is one of the easiest things that you can do to lose weight fast. Walking will also help you to burn a large portion of the stored fat that most people put on during the winter. Taking a brisk walk for fifteen to twenty minutes a day can help you burn those extra calories fast.

    Swimming

    Swimming is one of the best low impact ways of getting your heart rate up and burning calories. The natural resistance and buoyancy of the water not only help to support you, but also help you by strengthing your arms and legs. Plus it can be a lot of fun! Taking a few laps across the pool, or even just playing with your kids in the pool is an easy way to lose weight fast.

    Biking

    Whether you ride a bike around your neighborhood or use a stationary bike, biking is one of the easiest ways to burn calories and lose weight fast. Biking will definitely get your heart rate up, and as a side benefit, will help to build tone and muscle in your legs and arms.

    Low Impact Aerobics

    Just about every gym in the country has some form of low impact aerobics. While aerobic exercise is important for the health of your heart and lungs, not to mention your body's overall muscle tone, the best way to start an aerobic exercise program is to start with low impact aerobics. This will give your body the time it needs to get used to performing aerobic exercise without tiring you out too much. Talk to the professionals at your local gym to determine your specific needs.

    It is important for you to remember to keep your body type and lifestyle in mind when starting any weight loss and exercise regime, since doing too much, too fast can put a significant strain on your body. If you have any questions or serious medical conditions, it would be smart for you to contact your doctor prior to starting any exercise program.

    If you're ready to learn more about how to lose weight fast, then visit Darryl's blog at MyDietHelp.com to find other helpful and interesting articles on losing weight fast, health, nutrition, fitness, and dieting.

    Healthy Natural Weight Loss

    Healthy natural weight loss is not about dieting. It is about changing your eating habits to those that are healthy for you and helps your body to re-establish it's natural rhythm. Everyone has a natural metabolism that is clocked inside themselves. When we mess up the body's metabolism by eating the wrong foods and gaining weight, we have changed this natural process we all have to one that is out of sync with us. In other words, we fooled mother nature on ourselves.

    The real truth about dieting is that it does not work for the long haul. Dieting is all about getting the weight off, then gaining it back in time. This is because the diets either have you crashing your system to avoid a lot of foods, or else they were not realistically designed for you to follow for the rest of your life. Overall, dieting is not permanent, it is something people try to do over a set time limit.

    The most important step you can take toward healthy natural weight loss is making up your mind to change your eating habits. This is a goal that has to be internalized within you. A commitment to act on this commitment you make with yourself and stay with it.

    Once you are firm with this goal of changing your eating habits and truly committed to following through with it, it becomes a mindset you have created. More than half of your weight loss battle is won here. This mindset action will be so forceful that it will begin to take the place of your automatic bad eating habits that are in place now.

    Realizing that food is not your enemy might sound a little crazy, but this is true. Without food, we could not sustain for very long. It is what you were eating and how much of it that led you to gain the weight you are now seeking to lose. Healthy natural weight loss is not giving up as much as you might expect.

    The reason some crash diets worked for others for awhile but never worked at all for you is because everyone is different. Some people love to eat yogurt, others hate the taste of it.

    Healthy natural weight loss is a lifestyle change that is forever. It was your present lifestyle that allowed you to gain the weight and keep it. Do the homework and find out more about the healthy foods to eat.

    Find exercise programs fit you. You cannot have healthy natural weight loss without proper exercise to burn calories. Whether it is walking, jogging, running, cycling, working out at a gym, playing an active sport or bouncing on a trampoline exercise burns calories. Your weight loss program needs to include exercise. Proper exercise is a part of the lifestyle change you will need to include. You will feel better, and more alive for it.

    Remember to do the homework. Plenty of resource material for healthy natural weight loss is available. Stay committed because this is ongoing and will not happen overnight. In the end, your attitude will be more positive, you will feel much better inside and out. Your inner reflection will begin to show the outer new you.

    Kathryn Soloff is the mother of 8 children and a natural foods cook for over 30 years. She is co-publisher of
    http://www.natural-remedy-dot-com.com/
    where she provides additional advice, tips and hard to find information on Weight Loss.

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    Easy Weight Loss Tips

    Excessive weight is definitely a top concern for many people as our culture has become very sedentary and much of our food is packaged with empty calories, so we are prone to obesity or excessive weight problems. Readers and consumers are always interested in weight loss regimens because it is estimated that as many as eight in every ten people experience health and fashion problems linked to obesity or excess weight. Here are some weight loss tips that will surely work for you if you decide it's time to get your own weight issues under control:

    Consume about five servings of vegetables and fruits at a minimum each day. Such foods are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber which provides you with a sense of fullness that can help to keep you from over-indulging. Fruits and vegetables also naturally have lower calorie counts.

    You may have thought that skipping meals would help lower weight. Think again. Skipping meals isn't a good idea because firstly, it can lead to ulcers, and secondly, you'll tend to eat more because of over-hunger during your next meal, so it basically defeats the purpose of skipping a meal in the first place. Instead, you should have about five to six very small meals throughout the whole day, instead of the usual three large meals. Eating more frequently will actually help balance calorie intake, regulate your blood sugar levels and keep your metabolism chugging along at a steady pace all day.

    Take the time to learn how to read and interpret product labels especially on packaged food products that claim to be healthy. You'll often find that they are actually a lot less healthy than they claim because the food serving listed is much smaller than most reasonable people would eat. Or maybe an item is low fat, but has a ton of sugar in it.

    Start fitting some regular exercise into your day. You'll keep your metabolism pumping away, actively working to burn calories and stored fats in the body. Such rigorous activities would also help you excrete toxins from the body through sweat. Enrolling to a gym and getting involved in physical sports are sure ways that the body can effectively and beneficially sweat it out. About 30 to 60 minutes of overall physical activity three to four times a week is what you want to strive for. If you are too busy to go the gym or get involved with sports, a half hour walk a few times a week would also do the trick. The idea is to get up and move and keep your body working efficiently.

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