Posts Tagged ‘diet’

How to Lower Triglycerides Naturally

June 16th, 2010

Triglycerides are basically fat which is stored in the body. If you are searching for how to lower triglycerides, you will find there are a significant number of diets that you can follow to help you reach your goal. The first thing you need to do is eliminate foods such as sugars, cakes, cookies, crisps, ice cream and more. Any foods that are very high in colorings, sugar, salt and acid. All these wander into the blood stream and can cause many problems inside your body. A well-planned healthy cholesterol diet is necessary to keep your system clean.

Foods that increase blood glucose increase triglycerides and your focus should be on keeping your levels low. Start to lower your intake of carbohydrates. Many diets are all about low carbohydrates and many doctors recommended this when trying to loose weight or keep healthy. Carbohydrates increase glucose, which again leads to a higher level of triglycerides. So cut out the carbs instantly. Any foods or drinks that are heavy in sugar should be eliminated. Exchange soft drinks and alcohol for some natural fruit drinks or preferably water. Water is the most important ingredient in a healthy diet. Drink as many glasses a day as possible.

Fish is a good option to choose over other meats. The secret in how to lower triglycerides is all in the diet and exercise. Salmon and sardines are very natural and good for the heart. Mix and match so your meals will not become uninteresting. Even though you are following a diet, you can still make it interesting. Vegetables and fruits are both good. The best way to cook your vegetables is to steam them; however on occasion boiling or straining them is acceptable. If you enjoy your break then whole grain is your best choice. It is very tasty but avoid excess butter.

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The Blood Type Diet

November 13th, 2009

Peter D’Adamo is the naturopath physician who advocates the use of a diet based around your blood type for weight loss. The blood type diet involves first determining what your blood type is, then basing a healthy diet distinctly around that blood type. He ascertains that the human body has the ability to differentiate between itself and not itself. It makes sense in a certain way because everybody reacts to different stimulants in different ways. People’s tastes for food are very different and can change radically over a person’s lifetime. Also, some foods will cause allergic reactions in some people while everyone else is fine.

The Blood type diet is aimed at increasing the amount of foods that are good for your metabolism while it aims to decrease the amount of foods which are poisonous to your blood. These bad types of food can actually give you diseases and can bring about obesity. The four different blood types are A, B, O, and AB. Once you find out which type of blood you have, you can start to search out the different kinds of food that will suit you. Below are a couple of the blood types and the general types of food that they should eat.

The blood type A diet involves vegetarian dishes. Blood type A’s are prone to cancer, diabetes, and hats disease. These people should try and get their vegetables as fresh, organic, and pure as possible. This type of diet will make you lose weight really fast, at least in the initial stages, and as your body is trying to rid itself of the toxins which will have been present in your food in the past. When type A’s eat meat they find that they have a very difficult time digesting it, normally making them feel sluggish and tired. The kind of proteins which are found in pulses and beans are great for the type A.

The blood type O diet is the opposite. They actually thrive on animal proteins which are found in meats. They also love intense physical exercise. Their digestive system will effectively deal with any meat because the contents of their stomachs tend to be very high in acid. Although, type O’s often cannot tolerate milk or dairy products.  All you need to do is find the right diet for your blood type, stick to it for a while and see if you notice the changes. If the blood type diet is working for you then you should stick to it long term.  Over a period of time you will lose significant weight and not have to turn to appetite suppressants or diet pills which are not very good for your body.

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Do Negative Calorie Foods Really Work?

November 13th, 2009

 

Negative calorie foods are foods which provide fewer calories than they take to burn. Everything that you eat  takes energy to burn it up.  Your body needs to break it down, and move it to the different parts of your body. A calorie negative food is a food which your body finds difficult to digestive. This means that when you eat any food from a negative calorie foods list, your body will extend more calories going through the digestive process than the calories that the food is providing for you.

Many people would say that this is pure nonsense, that this is a negative calorie foods myth. But, there are certain foods whose calorie content is so low that it would take more energy to burn these foods. Granted, there are not very many foods in this group, but there are some.  Negative calories food can really help somebody who is trying to diet. This is especially true if you are still maintaining your required amount of nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and anything else that you need to keep yourself healthy.

Negative calorie diet foods are purported to include vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, marrow, aubergine, cauliflower, spinach, radish, tomato, turnip, and cucumber. There are also some foods on this list including cantaloupe melon, peaches, plums, raspberries, grapefruit, rhubarb, strawberry, tangerines, watermelons, mandarin oranges, blackberries, black currants, clementines, and damsons. If you do a search through Google you will find a complete list of negative calorie food.

The reason why negative calorie foods are going to help you in your dieting is not because you are going to only eat these negative foods, it is that they are going to take the place of positive calorie foods. So, you take the free list of negative calorie foods that you have found on the Internet and you see which ones you like the most, or at least the ones that you are more comfortable eating. Once you have done this you can start to piece together a routine of including these foods into your daily diet. There are plenty of negative calorie foods recipes that you can find over the Internet. Just pick one of the items from your list of negative calorie foods, go to Google and search for recipes on that particular type of food and you are golden. This is just one more weapon that you can use in your fight against flab.

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The Lemon Juice Diet

November 12th, 2009

Do you hope to lose a few pounds in a relatively short space of time? Have you had difficulty with conventional dieting? Your answer could be in the humble lemon. The lemon juice diet is a diet which helps the digestive system  start working properly. The process involved in conventional dieting tends to only exacerbate the problem of bad digestion. The lemon juice cleanse uses almost all of the lemon to try and help you to lose weight.

Lemon juice detox boosts the digestive juices in the body systems which the body uses to detox itself. If the digestive system is not working properly it will make it almost impossible for you to lose weight. There has been plenty of research into this. Poor digestion will prevent the body from receiving all the nutrients  it needs to not only be healthy, but to go into fat burning mode. Toxic buildup can also leave a person feeling sluggish and tired.  Depression is often only a step away.

Lemons are the solution. These natural powerhouses boost the detox systems, the digestive systems, and the whole health of the person’s body. The benefits of lemon juice are immeasurable. The pectin from lemons turns into a gel when it is digested and prevents any sugars from being absorbed into your system too  quickly. Organic lemon juice contains citric acid in abundance, about 8%, enzymes and Athens form complex interactions and can stimulate the juices in the stomach thereby promote problem free and healthy digestion. Vitamin C is great for getting rid of colds and flus but the main factor is that vitamin C has immense benefits for those who are trying to lose weight.

The lemon juice diet is a very simple plan to help you achieve sustainable weight loss. It involves drinking lemon juice throughout the day which is diluted in warm water. This helps to kick start your digestive processes. Water consumption is also essential for weight loss; it aids digestion and helps to eliminate all the toxins from your body. With this diet you must also eat plenty of vegetables and fruit. Most fruits, and indeed all vegetables, are low in calories and high in fiber. They will make you feel full, give you the vitamins and nutrients that you need, and definitely benefit you in the long term of  your weight loss program. The lemon juice diet is only recommended as part of a sustainable long-term approach to weight loss.

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Do Crash Diets Work?

November 12th, 2009

 

Some experts believe that there is great value in crash diets despite nutritionists and doctors rallying against them for years. It all depends on which crash diet is used, how much weight is expected to be lost, and the overall health of the person who is trying to lose the weight. If crash dieting is approached in a manner which is sensible, better results can be yielded than the more conventional and slower dieting approaches. The essential key is being healthy, there are far too many approaches to dieting which put the dieter at tremendous risk.

Sustainability is the key to any diet. And for any crash diet that works, the person most still consume enough calories in order to maintain their health. It is a sign of a bad crash diet if the person cannot keep up. There have been studies done and comparisons have been made between small cuts in calorie intake and large cuts in calorie intake … 10% cuts as against 30% cuts. Half of those who took the 10% cuts in calorie intake did really well on the whole; the other half just couldn’t keep up the pace. The findings were that it was much more difficult to stick to  calorie cuts which were small and were much more difficult to stick to then calorie cuts which were much larger.

The best crash diets are those which can be sustained for more than a few days. This really rules out some of the real find diets which last for only one week. If the dieter can lower their calorie intake every day to around 1200 cal, maintain a high protein, low GI healthy diet which includes plenty of fruit and vegetables, fiber, soups, lean meats and fish, they could have a weight loss of about 2 and a half pounds during a seven-day period. This is the safe amount of fat that anybody should try to lose. Over a couple of months, this could mean as much as 20 pounds.

The human body is only capable of doing so much and the wrong type of crash diet can be seriously harmful. There is so much advertising for diets which promise results that are quite miraculous. Overweight people are seduced by stories of celebrities who have gone through crash diets with results that are truly magical. Crash diets can be a kick start to any long-term diet. But common sense has to be used and a long-term approach is the only way to sustainably lose weight.

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The Cabbage Soup Diet

November 11th, 2009
Cabbage from Bulgaria

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The cabbage soup diet is a popular diet which gives the overweight person an opportunity to lose weight and improve their overall system. Obesity is a big problem in the western world these days. The reasons for weight gain are many. Some people blame the pace of life, everybody needs a lot more hours in the day, and most people just don’t have the time to cook properly. While this may be true, the implications of being overweight mean that there is a much higher risk of heart problems, liver and kidney problems, and blood problems, to name but a few. Using the cabbage soup diet is a good method of starting off your weight loss plan.

Soup diets are highly recommended for people who are trying to lose weight. The cabbage soup diet plan involves making cabbage soup. You prepare the soup and eat only the soup three times a day for a period of seven days. One week is sufficient for this diet. The reason that this diet works is because it contains negligible amounts of calories. There are many other health benefits to eating a cabbage soup diet recipe. There are many recipes and some of them involve eating some combinations of food which can at times be quite bizarre. Some forms of this diet will allow the dieter to only consume water, as much of the soup as they can handle, and a selective number of other foods. Other forms of the cabbage soup diet allow for a wider range of other foods. The thing that a lot of dieters like about this dieting plan is that they can eat as much of this type of food as they want. Most cabbage soup diet recipes involve the addition of other low-calorie vegetables as well. The whole mixture can be flavored with an onion soup mix, tomato juice, and/or vegetable bouillon. Beef is even allowed on the first day with some of the recipes.

The 7 day cabbage soup diet is also good for helping with urinary dysfunction. Other common health issues that can be helped with this diet are headaches, digestive disorders, and insomnia. Drinking plenty of water with this diet also helps a lot. The cabbage soup makes people want to urinate more. This has an enormous impact on a person’s body during the diet is because of the high level of toxins which are released during weight loss.

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Why do rapid weight loss diets fail?

November 5th, 2009

People who are in a situation that need to lose weight quickly should keep in mind that sometimes quick weight loss can create the opposite results. I have personally experienced such a case and I can definitely tell you that although at the beginning the results were promising at the end I ended up with more weight than I had at the start. In the next few paragraphs I will explain why.

I had to attend a wedding ceremony and I urgently needed to lose some weight. The first thing I did was to search the internet on “how to lose weight in 2 weeks“. The results let me to a web site that was promoting a quick weight loss diet promising that you can lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Due to my urgency to lose weight I started the diet. Basically what the diet suggested is that for 2 weeks I should only drink juices and workout excessively. I was not used to working out at all but I thought I should give it a try.

The first few days were ok. I tried not to eat anything during the day besides drinking fresh fruit juices. I also started running for 20 minutes per day. At the end of the second day, when I woke up in the morning I felt dizzy, tired and felt weak. I soon realized that it was because of the strict diet I was following. I realized this hard core, crash way of losing weight does not work for me. I started eating as usual. In a couple of days I used the scale. I didn’t lose any weight and I gained 1.5 pounds more!

The bottom line from the above story is that when you want to lose weight you should not be in a hurry but be willing to do this step by step and gradually. Rapid actions do not bring rapid results. This is a lifestyle change. Your body gets use to a certain lifestyle and eating schedule and these cannot change from one day to the next. You need to plan your actions and start doing small things one at a time. First you can start by eating less food than you are used to, and start a bit of exercise. By rushing into strict diets and exhausting workouts -you force your body and self into something that is not used to do and it will suffer. This can either be in the form of terrible headaches, tiredness and tendency to faint or even worse it can be the start of more serious health problems. At the end of the day it does not worth risking your health for fast weight loss. Better to do it slow but healthy. Think about it this way, if you try to do something fast and you fail at the end you do not win anything while on the other hand, if you do it slowly at some point in time (maybe 2 months, 6 months, a year) you will achieve your goals. So, why take the risk when there is a safe way to go.

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Raw Food Diet

September 15th, 2009

What exactly is the raw food detox diet, and how can it really benefit me? I mean, eating nothing but raw foods seems like it isn’t going to fulfill my nutritional needs, how can eating just vegetables really help my body? First, you have to understand how your body functions in order to properly understand the benefits of eating vegetables, and working them more and more into your daily diet as you progress to meeting your fitness goals. Vegetables have long been a staple of the Chinese and Tibetan diets, and they claim to have a big part in why they are able to live so long.

The way your internal systems work together develops over time, and with that, you end up storing toxins from food that hasn’t been completely digested, and plaque from fats that haven’t been passed through your bloodstream properly. When this happens, you usually end up suffering from a heart attack, or kidney and liver problems. The way to solve this though, is by getting the natural antioxidants, and chemicals found in the raw food diet that help your body to push the toxins out. This is why it is considered a detox diet, when in reality, it is just a natural diet that helps your body function the way it is supposed to. When you don’t have all of these leftover toxins stored up, you are going to feel better, look better, and generally have a better outlook on life all together.

When you are beginning the raw foods diet you probably aren’t going to notice much of a change, but as you gradually insert more and more of this diet plan into your life, you are going to notice that your hair is shinier, your face glows, your teeth feel whiter, there are so many benefits to eating natural foods, instead of man processed meats and frozen vegetables. The same goes for your animals as well, the dog raw food diet is great to keep their skin and coat healthy, remove that odor that follows them around, along with getting rid of bad breath. To top all of this off, eating natural vegetables is going to clear the enzymes and free radicals that build up in your blood stream, allowing both of you to live longer, happier healthier lives. If you haven’t taken a look at the raw food detox diet, what are you waiting on? There are some great raw foods diet recipes available where you won’t even believe you are eating raw food!  You can also incorporate the benfits of raw food throught drinking wheatgrass everyay.  Wheatgrass benefits are a great addition to a regular diet if you don’t want to go completely raw.   Either way, incorporate raw food into your diet as much as you can for a healthier body.

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Diet Foods

September 2nd, 2009

Beware any food that calls itself “diet foods”.  Often it is a low-fat, sugar-free or low-sugar, pre-packaged food that may be low in calories, but also low in any  nutritional value.  Many of these diet foods are sweetened with aspartame which is a known neuro-toxin that can wreak havoc on your body.  Aspartame poisoning is known to mimic the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Splenda is another sweetener that was promised to be the next best thing, but is now coming under scrutiny for its safety concerns.  Splenda is suppose to be as sweet as sugar with none of the calories.  Unfortunately, long term studies of Splenda have never been conducted and evidence against its good benefits is mounting.  Artificial sweeteners as food additives are not subject to the same strict regulations as pharmaceutical drugs by the FDA.  Most testing of artificial sweeteners are funded by the food industry which obviously has quite a vested interest in it’s success.  Foods with these artificial sweeteners also spike your blood sugar and deliver empty calories which leave you hungry soon after you have eaten them.

The best diet foods for weight  loss  are whole, healthy foods. When you eat whole foods, you are not always hungry because you are not eating chemicals and high fructose corn syrup that keeps you addicted and hungry.  Whole healthy foods are like mother nature’s appetite suppressant.   Whole foods are also a benefit to diabetics.  Foods that are grown in the earth, not manufactured in a factory.  Many good diet foods include fresh fruits and vegetables that you can eat as much as you want.  They are loaded in fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals that your body needs to burn and break down fat cells.  A whole food diet consists of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat pasta, and lean proteins like turkey, chicken or lean cuts of beef.  Substituting heavy creams and oils with applesauce, riccotta cheese and yougurt is also a great way to lighten foods up.  I like to visit my friend’s  site to learn tips on lightening up Italian food - my favorite!   A good rule of thumb to follow is if mother nature didn’t make it, don’t eat it.  A whole food diet will give you energy, vitality and all the nutrients you need to get you through the day in top form.

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Fat Burning Foods

September 2nd, 2009

Beyond counting calories, eating the correct foods can really help speed up weight loss.  Here is a list of foods that when eaten regularly will aid your body to burn fat faster for quick weight loss.

Dairy

The calcium in dairy make it one of the best foods that burn fat, especially dangerous belly fat.  Studies have shown that if you eat yogurt 3 times daily, you could lose up to 60% more fat than those who don’t.  Low-fat yogurt, cheese or milk are all great choices when it comes to eating your dairy.  For those that are lactose intolerant, collard and turnip greens, broccoli, tofu and calcium fortified orange juice are also  excellent sources of calcium.

Eggs

Eggs have always gotten a bad rap, but they are one of the world’s most perfect food and one of the best fat burning foods.   Not only are eggs a great source of lean protein, but the yolk is shock full of most vitamins and minerals, except for vitamin C.  Because it is a  lean protein, eggs will fill you up and keep you full for a long time. Eggs are loaded with vitamin B12 that breaks down fat cells- so they are a natural fat burning food.

Grapefruit

Grapefruits have a 90% water content which helps to boost metabolism.  Grapefruit has fat burning enzymes and is also known to help lower insulin which is a hormone that stores fat.  Eating 1/2 a grapefruit, or a 2 ounce glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice before every meal can help you lose up to a pound a week. Grapefruit is also very alkalizing to the body which helps to neutralize toxins. Some believe fat is accumulated to protect the body from acidic toxins that can be harmful.  Grapefruit helps to neutralize these toxins and flush them out of the body. It also aids in hunger control.  Eaten before meals grapefruit will cut caloric consumption.  It is a great fat burning food.

Water

Water is the most essential food that our body needs.  Our bodies are over 95% water.  Many of us are walking around dehydrated and don’t even know it.  When you body doesn’t get enough water, it will hold on to fat and water.  Often times what you think of as hunger pains will be satisfied by drinking a glass of water.  Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.  It is after all, the ultimate lowest calorie foods you can eat!

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The Master Cleanse Diet

September 1st, 2009

The Master Cleanse Diet, also called the Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet,  is a full body cleanse which is divided into 3 phases.

1. The Ease In

2. The Lemonade Diet

3.  The Ease Out

The Ease In Phase

The Ease In is the start of the Master Cleansing diet.    For 3 days you begin to prepare your body for detox and less food.

Day 1:  Eat only fruits and vegetables.  Remove all meat, grain and processed foods from your diet.

Day2:  Drink only fruit and vegetable juice.  Here you start preparing your body for a liquid diet.    You may make soup broths if you do not have access to a juicer.

Day 3:  Mix  freshly squeezed orange juice with water and 2 tablespoons of real maple syrup to make 2 liters.  Drink all day.
 
The Lemonade Diet Phase
 
This phase  of the Master Cleanse diet is when you consume lemonade for at least 3 days minimum , hopefully 10 days if you can.  Some people do this diet for 40 days, even longer.  3 days gives plenty of benefit to your body, but it gets alot easier after the 3rd day, so you might as well go longer if you can. 
For the lemonade you’ll need the following:
2-3 large lemons
14 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 liter of water (alkaline of possible)
Be sure you make your lemonade fresh eash morning.  Whenever you get thirsty, drink your lemonade, but remember that’s all you get for the day so pace yourself.
Salt Water Flush
During the lemonade phase of the Diet, you will need to do daily salt flushes.  This is necessary because your body is removing alot of toxins and you want to flush them out of your system to detox.   For this add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to a liter of water, shake and drink .  An hour or so later you will be heading for the toilet and bring a book to read.  Most likely you’ll be in there a while.
The Ease Out Phase
 
The Ease Out phase is the same as the ease in only in reverse.
Day 1:  Mix freshly squeezed orange juice with water and 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup with water – enough to make 2 liters.  Drink all day.
Day 2:  Drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices all day.  Soup broths are okay too.
Day 3:  Eat only fresh fruits and vegetables.  Do not eat meat, grain or any processed foods. 
Try to maintain a healthy diet after your completion of the Master Clease diet.  Steer clear of all white and processed foods, sugars and anything that is not a whole food.

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Detox Diet

August 22nd, 2009

Every now and then it’s good  to detoxify the  body with a good cleanse. Physically and spiritually, I find cleanses to be extremely beneficial.  When I slow my digestive system down, I can feel a window open to the Divine.  I am able to just be.  It’s amazing.  I feel my presence expanded and I am more at one with the world .  I totally get why Jesus fasted for 40 days.  Yes, it’s hard, but only for the first 3 days.  That’s when the benefits start to come.  It’s also good to lose a few pounds with too!  It seems to be a natural appetite suppressant.

Detox diets are a great way to cleanse your organs.  When your liver is de-congested you’ll find it much easier to lose weight.  You’ll be happier too because the liver holds on to anger.   When it’s cleansed, it also releases pent up emotions. I always shed a few tears when I detox, but after they are released, I feel soooo much better.  My whole being feels much lighter and present.

There are many detox diet plans on the internet claiming to cure all kinds of ills.  The raw food detox diet, the 3 day detox diet, a maple syrup diet, the master cleanse, the fruit detox diet, to name a few.  How do you know which is the best detox diet to follow?

Pick the one you feel most guided to.  I do a juice detox plan I made up myself.  The important thing is you release the toxins and rest your organs.    I start my mornings with a warm glass of lemon water with maple syrup and a little cayenne pepper.  An hour later I drink fresh squeezed carrot juice. At 1 pm and 3pm  I have fresh  apple juice.  If needed, I will give my self an organic coffee enema.  Sounds gross, but it really helps detox headaches and gets things moving.  I continue this same routine for at least 5 days and hopefully 7.

I was told if you must have food, have an avocado or banana.  Drink Plenty of water.  After the initial 3 days of feeling achy, tired and sometimes sick as the toxins are leaving my body, I feel very clear and present.  Once I get to this point I can keep going pretty easy.  It’s best to do this when you don’t have a whole lot planned.  Rest as much as you can.
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