4 Tips for Effective Weight Loss

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Posted by admin | Posted in Weight Loss | Posted on 17-06-2011

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The problem of obesity seems to be a highly debated issue in modern society. Special surgery and liposuction, cellulite creams, dietary supplements, natural homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy, all promise an efficient combat excess fat in our body. Some of these products contain and disadvantages related to budget, time or overall health.

Whatever your reasons are some tips that will help you live a healthy life without excess pounds.

1. Fiber, an important element in our daily diet. These help reduce the fat intake and prevent starvation state. If you eat whole grains at breakfast and plenty of vegetables and fruits during the day then you can say that you reached recommended intakes of fiber.

2. Replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats. Bad fats are found in a number of harmful processed foods. Do not go shopping hungry because you’ll be tempted to buy too much food, pure and simple. What you need to do is keep your eye on them. They increase the risk of cancer and heart disease. Unsaturated fats have a very beneficial effect on our metabolism. This reduces the risk of heart disease. In addition, it accelerates the combustion process in your body. Foods high in unsaturated fats include nuts, meat, salmon, sardines and soy.

3. Opt for fresh fruit and vegetables, that are complex carbohydrates. They are slowly releasing glucose into the blood which maintain stable insulin levels and thus significantly reducing the risk of weight gain.

4. The most serious problem with people who want to lose is reducing the number of meals per day. Eating little and often you can find the energy for the entire period of the day, and starvation will be held at bay.

The advantage of this diet is that there is a varied list of food with which you complete your entire weight loss plan. Everything depends on the correct dosage of food allowed. Not overcome more than four meals per day consisting of medium servings.

Foods Allowed

There is a list of foods allowed. Let’s see what is involved: should eat asparagus, a delicious vegetable full of vitamins and

# Vegetables: asparagus, green beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, parsley, radishes, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, zucchini, pepper, spinach, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce, mustard, onion, pumpkin, tomatoes;
# Drinks: mineral water, tea, coffee, sugar-free lemonade, sugar free fizzy drinks, soups, meat beverages for diabetics;
# Other foods: saccharin, salt, vinegar, flavorings.

Foods not allowed

# Sweeteners: sugar, glucose, sorbitol, syrup, molasses;
# Sweets: candy, chocolate, jam, honey, candied fruits, dried fruits, dates, puddings, rich desserts, chocolate biscuits, condensed milk and powder, cream, gelatin; dishes: mayonnaise, sauces, fried foods, fatty meats, sausages, fatty fish;
# Drinks: fruit juice sweetened

Fitness: the Importance of Physical Fitness

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Posted by admin | Posted in General | Posted on 13-05-2011

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One of the simplest and most effective ways to bring down blood glucose levels, cut the risk of cardiovascular disease, and improve overall health and well-being is physical fitness and exercise. Yet, in our increasingly sedentary world, where almost every essential task can be performed online, from the driver’s seat, or with a phone call, exercising and being physically fit can be tough case to sell.

In reality, everyone should exercise, yet survey shows that only 30% of the United States adult population gets the recommended thirty minutes of daily physical activity, and 25% are not active at all.

Inactivity is thought to be one of the key reasons for the surge of type 2 diabetes in America, because inactivity and obesity promote insulin resistance and other factors that trigger other kinds of diseases.

The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling the onset of any kinds of diseases. For people who are already candidates for some serious diseases like diabetes and heart failure, exercise and physical fitness can improve the condition of some parts of the body like insulin sensitivity, lower the risk of heart disease, and promote weight loss.

In 2003, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism had published an issue regarding the result of their study and found out that lack of exercise and physical fitness were the key factors behind obesity and other serious diseases like diabetes.

Hence, it is extremely important for a person to stay healthy and be physically fit in order to avoid such illnesses.

Getting Started

The first order of business with any exercise plan, especially if you are a “dyed-in-the-wool” couch potato, is to consult with your health care provider.

If you have cardiac factors, your doctor may want to perform a stress test to establish a safe level of exercise for you.

Certain complications of some diseases will also dictate what type of exercise program you can take on. Activities like weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics can possibly pose a risk for people with diabetic retinopathy due to the risk for further blood vessel damage and possible “retinal detachment.”

Health experts also contend that patients with sever peripheral neuropathology or PN should avoid foot-intensive weight-bearing exercises such as long-distance walking, jogging, or step aerobics and opt instead for low-impact activities like swimming, biking, and rowing.

If you have conditions that make exercise and physical fitness a challenge, your provider may refer you to an exercise physiologist who can design a fitness program for your specific needs.

If you are already active in sports or work out regularly, it will still benefit you to discuss your regular routine with your doctor.

The bottom line is that physical fitness and exercise should not have to be a rigid activity and should not come off strong. Your exercise routine can be as simple as a brisk nightly neighborhood walk, walking the dog, or simply taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The important thing is that you keep on moving. Every little bit really helps a lot.

In the end, you will realize that the many things that good food can bring you are equally the same as what physical fitness can do for you.

How Soy Isoflavones Increase Women’s Health

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Posted by admin | Posted in Women's Health | Posted on 12-05-2011

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Soybeans, containing various phytochemicals, are one of richest source of isoflavones, also known as phytoestrogens. They contain about 36% protein, 18% fat, 30% carbohydrates, isoflavones and other minerals and vitamins.

Soy Isoflavones are similar to natural estrogens. They show both estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects. Soy isoflavones also act as antioxidant agent. Major constituents of soy isoflavones are genistein, daidzein, and glycitein.

May help prevent cancer

Soy Isoflavones are helpful in preventing various types of cancers – breast, lung and mouth cancer. They also find use in reducing risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. Soy isoflavones also help in increasing bone density.

Pregnant women and men with prostate cancer should avoid the use of soy isoflavone supplements. However since the preventative effects of isoflavones are particularly important for young women soy products should be included daily to increase the prevention of breast cancer. The low incidence of breast cancer in Asian women primarily from Japan and China could be explained by the high intake of soy isoflavones.[1]

Additionally a new study suggests isoflavones may prevent DNA damage to the immune system in postmenapausal women: Soy isoflavones [http://www.my-antioxidants-guide.com/isoflavones.html] from supplements and soymilk benefit the immune system of postmenopausal women. The recommended serving contains 40-50 mg per day of soy isoflavones. Providing about 25 mg of genistin, 19 mg of daidzin and about 6 mg of glycitin.

More Information

One of the most comprehensive no-fluff sites of information on soy isoflavones is Isoflavones.info. If you are a women or young lady please take time to review that site for a better understanding of how isoflavones can keep you living long and healthy. Additionally be sure to review my site listed below for more information on using a high quality broad-spectrum vitamin supplement.

[1] Biological effects of a diet of soy protein rich in isoflavones on the menstrual cycle of premenopausal women. Cassidy A, Bingham S, Setchell KD. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Sep;60(3):333-40

Ambien is being overprescribed

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Posted by admin | Posted in Articles | Posted on 11-04-2010

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Once a drug is on the market, we are all supposed to be interested in something else. We should just assume the drug has solved whatever the problem was. There’s no need to follow up by measuring how well the drug is actually performing. Except that’s the kind of thinking that delayed the recall of the Cox-2 Inhibitors when there should have been better safety monitoring to show this class of drugs caused heart problems. Worse, this type of resistance to research runs through most different industries as the delayed recall of Toyotas aptly demonstrates. Which brings us to 2010 Sleep in America, a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation. This is a regular snapshot of sleeping habits across America. It’s good this research is done, but it’s on the margin with only a thousand or so participants. There should be significantly more participants if the scaling up of the numbers across the general population is to be reliable. As it is, we should not generalize too much from the results. The first finding is that, we seem to be sleeping about two hours less than we did forty years ago. For some reason not properly explained, the study assumes we should all aim for about eight-and-a-half hours of sleep every night. The current crop of respondents reports sleeping between six and seven hours a night. To keep the accuracy of this report in perspective, there’s good medical evidence that lack of sleep undermines the body’s immune system making us more prone to illness, encourages obesity, increases blood pressure, and raises the risk of heart disease. What is less clear is the point at which these adverse health consequences kick in. It could be between six and seven hours a night, but there is no evidence to support this proposition. About a quarter of the respondents admit to missing work or appointments because they felt too tired. The same percentage admitted they were too tired to have regular sex. When asked to explain why sleep was more difficult, many referred to increased financial worries during the recession. Personal stress levels were higher with relationship problems. There were also lifestyle choices like watching TV in bed which disturbed sleep. In racial terms, Asians have the longest sleep patterns and blacks sleep less than whites and Hispanics. Overall, the report makes interesting reading but, until more people are included in the poll, it is difficult to generalize to the population at large. That said, some of the conclusions are intuitively correct. If about 25% of people are finding their lives adversely affected by insomnia, it helps explain why ambien is such a popular drug. As the sleeping pill with the best reputation for safety and effectiveness, it seems to be the drug of choice to get enough sleep. But it does remain something of a mystery why people make it difficult for themselves. About three-quarters of the respondents watched TV immediately before attempting sleep and then expressed surprise they did not immediately fall asleep. The reality is that, unless you resort to ambien, it’s better to relax the mind, say, by listening to gentle music. Moving the TV out of the bedroom and avoiding exciting late-night programs is basic common sense. Going to sleep at the same time every night is a good habit. Living your life around the TV schedule is a bad habit.

Is red meat unhealthy?

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Posted by admin | Posted in Red Meat | Posted on 25-01-2010

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Large amounts of red meat have always been strongly forbidden for people who have a risk of heart disease. But doctors never said how much meat is considered to be too much.

Recent researches show that you don’t have to cut out red meat from your diet. Having red meat once a day is quite okay, and be sure this reduces risk of suffering from a heart disease. If you replace red meat with other products rich for proteins (nuts, low aft kinds of meat), this will reduce risk of having heart disease even faster.

Women who eat red meat twice a day have 30% increased risk of having a heart disease comparing to women who eat red meat 3-4 times a week. That’s a “pretty dramatic increase,” says the lead researcher, Dr. Adam Bernstein. Adam says he expects results among men to be the same.

The director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in NY says: “This (research) gives you an understanding of what moderation means. It gives you something to grab on to”.

About 85,000 of women took part in the experiment. The results proved that replacing red meat with healthier sources of protein really helps to reduce the risk of a heart disease. Plus, regular exercising in combination with a diet will lead to stronger and faster results.

If you replace daily serving of red meat with nuts (30%), poultry (19%), low fat dairy (13%), you will reduce risk of heart disease.

“We know that red meat is not as good as other protein sources,” says Karen Congro, a registered dietitian at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in New York City.

“Now we actually have the numbers to put next to them.”

It doesn’t mean red meat is awful, it just means that those who eat it often should reduce the amount of this product in their diet.