Dieting to Speed Up Metabolism

June 14th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

Losing weight is simply the process of burning more calories than what you consume. A lot of weight loss plans fail to take note of this important, yet simple, detail. They usually focus more on the consumption part of dieting your way to a supposedly healthier and slimmer you.

A lot of people resort to skipping meals just to avoid consuming too many calories. Starving yourself is not the answer! This isn’t the wises thing to do because when trying to trim down, you shouldn’t deprive your body of nutrients. You starve your body when you do this and it actually slows down your metabolism or even stops it. This means you won’t be able to lose calories. The trick to this is coming up with a diet plan that speeds up your metabolism so you can burn calories faster.

When trying to speed up your metabolism, one of the most important steps is eating within half an hour after getting up in the morning. This jolts your metabolism into starting early. Having different kinds of foods that your body can burn throughout the rest of your day is also important. You should have at least a cup of complex carbs, 3 ounces of lean protein and of course, a glass of water.

You also have to remember to keep your metabolism going by munching on small meals every four hours. To maximize what you can burn it actually best to eat every couple of hours to three hours. This make you satisfy your hunger as soon as it sets in, which is a key trick to losing weight. Do no allow your body to feel starved or deprived of nutrition because it will slow your metabolism down - you don’t want to do that if you want to lose weight.

It also should be understood that the small meals you munch on through out the day should be healthy of course. The best forms of snacks are protein-filled snacks that force your metabolism to burn more than what you eat. You can also opt to eat granola bars and such, like healthy peanuts and different kinds of grains, that keep you energized for the rest of the time that you are up and about.

The main meals you have for the rest of your 24 hours should consist of a wide variety of healthy foods that can stimulate your metabolism to burn more and keep going at full speed. You can begin with at least 3 ounces of lean protein for every major meal. Eating one serving of a complex carb that takes longer to burn and leaves you satisfied longer is also a smart idea. You can use something like brown rice that is both delicious and healthy. You can also never go wrong with vegetables. Eat as much vegetables as you can. The upside to this is that you can pig out on vegetables and not gain weight at all.

This is basically all you have to do to lose weight. If you manage to “train” your metabolism to burn at full speed you will lose weight faster than you can notice. This will make your body burn at maximum efficiency and speed. You will be able to literally just feel and look leaner and lighter.

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Detox Supplements: The Vitamin Book by Harold M. Silverman, Joseph Romano, and Gary Elmer

The Vitamin Book51ME6P98K7L._SL160_ Detox Supplements: The Vitamin Book by Harold M. Silverman, Joseph Romano, and Gary Elmer

This updated edition is a comprehensive guide to vitamins.  Written by experts in the field of vitamins and pharmacology, it helps you determine which supplements you should be taking and why you need to take them.

The Vitamin Book features:

  • Full descriptions of vitamins, minerals, and other important elements like electrolytes
  • Information on recommended dosages
  • The most up-to-date research on supplements like Saint John’s Wort
  • Guide to brand name nutritional supplements you can find at your local drugstore
  • Warning information on megadoses, drug interactions, and taking supplements safely
  • Lists of nutrients found in common foods
  • Software programs that can help you monitor you dietary needs

This book is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants or needs to learn about vitamins and other nutritional supplements.  It provides all the information you will need to safely and effectively incorporate supplements into your daily routine.

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All About Juicing

May 17th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Health Research

Juice has been made by individuals for hundreds of years. Now, many people simply buy their fruit and vegetable juice from the grocery store. However, more and more people are worried about getting things they don’t want in the juice like pesticides and other chemicals so they are making their own juice.

Juicing is Good For You

When you do the juicing yourself, you are only putting in what you want in the juice. You can be sure you won’t have an allergic reaction to an ingredient and can even use home-grown produce to be extra sure you don’t get any pesticides or chemicals. The juice you make yourself will be 100% fresh and pure.

Freshly juiced fruit produces juice full of good things like minerals, amino acids and vitamins. The fact that they are naturally added to the juice by juicing fresh fruit instead of through a process in a factory means you are getting nutrients in a better form than from store bought juice.

Drinking fresh juice actually gives you more vitamins and nutrients than eating the fruit whole by itself. A glass of carrot juice will consist of about 16 ounces of carrots so it is very concentrated. Who eats that many carrots in a single day?

How to Start Juicing

The essential tool for juicing is a quality juicer. You can find different kinds of juicers and each is good in its own way. Here is some information about your options:

  • Centrifugal juicers - These juicers make juice by shredding or grating the fruit at a fast speed. The juice comes out of the fruits and vegetables as they are torn apart. The juice goes into a container and the vegetable pulp is kept separate. The cons of these juicers are they are not easy to keep clean and that oxidation can occur and make nutrients less effective.
  • Masticating juicers - These juicers work by slowly grating or shredding the fruit or vegetables, which releases the juice as the pulp is pressed down. They are a little more complicated to operate but oxidation is not a problem with these juicers.
  • Press juicers - The way these juicers work is by shredding or crushing the fruit or vegetables and the pulp is pressed, which releases the juice. These produce juice very high in nutrients.

After you decide on a juicer, you are ready to try to make some fresh juice. It is best to keep it simple at first and use something like an apple or an orange that will produce tasty juice on its own. You want to get the operation of the juicer down before you try juice with too many ingredients.

After you have some practice, you can find recipes for all kinds of different juices you want to try. You can find juices specifically geared towards helping with medical problems like heart disease or digestive problems and juices that help your brain function improve. Your juicer may have a recipe book that came with the machine that you can work from or you can search online for juice recipes. You can even make up your own as you go.

Fresh juice is something your whole family will enjoy with any meal. You can give them a tasty drink that also provides a ton of nutrients. You won’t want to go back to juice from the store once you try juicing.

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Detox Supplements: Prevention’s Healing with Vitamins by The Editors of Prevention Health Books and Alice Feinstein

The Most Effective Vitamin And Mineral Treatments For Everyday Health Problems And Serious Disease

Prevention’s Healing with Vitamins: The Most Effective Vitamin And Mineral Treatments For Everyday Health Problems And Serious Disease51KJ4QDW52L._SL160_ Detox Supplements: Preventions Healing with Vitamins by The Editors of Prevention Health Books and Alice Feinstein

From the makers of Prevention Magazine, this guide combines the popular publications tips on using nutritional supplements into a single, comprehensive resource.  It includes:

  • The four nutrients that will keep you young
  • Nine vitamins and minerals that can help you lose pounds
  • Four important supplements to take for fatigue
  • Information on combating high blood pressure without eliminating salt from your diet
  • The vitamin that lowers cholesterol
  • How to treat your allergies with supplements
  • Three great vitamins for the treatment of wrinkles
  • Eight nutrients that strengthen your immune system
  • Important supplements to take before surgery
  • Five supplements that help your body cope with smog
  • Supplements that counteract PMS
  • An important vitamin that helps prevent birth defects when taken by pregnant mothers
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Detox Supplements: Vitamins Can Kill Cancer by Raegan Houston

Vitamins Can Kill Cancer51WGYF6AZXL._SL160_ Detox Supplements: Vitamins Can Kill Cancer by Raegan Houston

This book explains how vitamins, when used in conjunction with conventional therapies, can help cancer patients live longer.  It cites the work of Abram Hoffer, Ph.D., which delineated the best dosages for vitamins such as B, D, E, and zinc.  In Hoffer’s studies, cancer patients were administered doses of these nutrients in addition to their regular therapies.  The vitamin regimen was recommended along with a diet low in fat and sugar.  The patients who elected to take the vitamin route lived an average of 45 months, whereas those who chose not to take supplements lived an average of only 2.6 months.  This book illustrates how vitamins can effectively fight cancer and helps readers learn how to safely use vitamins to live and longer, healthier life.

About the Author

Raegan Houston is a professional engineer who developed prostate cancer in 1997.  After researching the disease, he chose to use vitamin and hormone therapies as an alternative to surgery and radiation.  He is now in remission and facilitates a cancer support group.

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Treating Dry Skin with the Help of Home Remedies

February 1st, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

Winter is especially hard on skin. You are much more likely to have dry skin in the winter months because you are inside with the heat on, the humidity levels are low and then you get exposed to cold air when you go outside. This dries out the natural oils in the skin causing it to itch, crack and become scaly.

You probably have a shelf full of moisturizers you pull out to treat your dry skin. These may help sometimes but some of the moisturizers are actually making your skin worse. They may contain alcohol, which can dry out your skin even more. There are some things you can do to treat dry skin ; here are some home remedies you can try.

Take supplements if you think that your diet is lacking in vitamins and nutrients.

Drink a lot of water, preferably at least eight glasses a day. You skin needs to be hydrated to look its best.

Alcohol and caffeine will dry out your skin so stay away from both of them as much as possible.

Be careful what sort of soaps and lotions you use on your skin. Some of them may be contributing to your dry skin situation. If you think your soap or lotion is drying your skin out, use a different one for awhile and see if you notice a difference.

You can make a homemade mask out of pureed banana and papaya. Spread on your face and leave it on for about a half an hour. Use warm water to rinse it off. Your dead skin cells will be gone and your face will be softer.

After every bath or shower, apply aloe vera gel on your skin. Aloe vera is one of the most moisturizing plants you can use.

Keep a bottle of mineral water in your bathroom to wash your face with instead of water from the sink. This way you avoid any chemicals that may be bad for your skin that could be in the tap water.

Make a peanut facial mask by blending a few tablespoons of peanuts, adding milk until it is pasty and then adding 1/4 cup of honey. Spread on your face and leave on until it is dry. Then remove with warm water.

Instead of a regular bath, try a milk bath or an oatmeal bath once in awhile. This will be great for your skin. You don’t have to live with dry skin. We all experience it but you can treat it with things you have in your home. It may seem like a lot of work but your skin is worth it.

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Cleansing Your Colon with Herbs: Learn How!

January 21st, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Health Research

People are just starting to discover all the benefits of colon cleansing including weight loss, increased energy and the ability to decrease the chances of getting certain diseases including cancer.

The food you eat is digested and the waste is excreted from the colon. Not all the waste you take in is excreted, though. This means there is waste in your colon for long periods of time. The chemicals from this waste can affect all your organs, not just your colon.

The most common symptoms you will experience are a lack of energy and abdominal and stomach problems. Sometimes, more serious medical conditions can occur. The toxins in the waste that is left to build up on your colon can increase your risks of colon cancer as well as other problems like heart disease, allergy and immune deficiencies since the toxins spread throughout your body.

Colon cleansing is a great way to treat these symptoms by getting all of the built up waste and any parasites out of your body. You will have increased energy and feel healthier once this waste is gone. Also, with the waste build up gone, your body will process food more efficiently and absorb more nutrients.

Herbal remedies can be found in most health food stores to clean your colon. You want to make sure you find an herbal program, not just an herb, so that your colon will be fully cleansed. Depending on which you prefer, you can take these herbs as a pill, liquid or powder. Look for a combination system that will work on your whole body.

The negative information out there about colon cleansing doesn’t have much to do with herbal colon cleansing. It refers instead to using a colon cleansing device, something that can be dangerous. Herbal colon cleansers just help your body remove the toxins more effectively.

You’ll want to do a lot of research before you decide on a colon cleansing product or system. There are many companies out there selling products on TV, on the radio and on the Internet that claim to cleanse your colon. Not all these products are equally effective so don’t just buy the first one you see. Look at your local health store or do some online research to find a safe, effective colon cleansing product. A good rule of thumb to remember is that the better a colon cleansing product tastes, the less it will work because adding flavor means taking out effective ingredients.

Once you start improving your health by doing a colon cleansing, you’ll want to start doing other healthy things for your body too! Other toxins in your body might be causing you problems and can be treated with herbs and special diets. The healthier you eat and live, the less build up you will get after you cleanse your colon.

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Understanding Your Food Cravings

January 17th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

We all start a diet with the best intentions. Unfortunately, our plans are often derailed by our cravings. We start longing for a salty or sweet snack that we know isn’t good for us and eventually, we just give in to the cravings and eat that fattening food. If you understand your food cravings, you can resist them so that you’ll finally be on your way to losing those unwanted pounds and becoming  the healthy person you’ve always wanted to be.

Sometimes, your food cravings is your body’s way of telling you that it needs a nutrient that it is lacking. You can give your body the nutrients it is craving for in a healthy form or in an unhealthy for full of fat and calories. It is important to give your body the best foods and these are not always the ones that taste the best and that we crave. Understanding what nutrients your body is missing can help you replace them in the best way possible. You can take a supplement or you can made some changes in your diet.

You can often figure out for yourself what nutrients your body is missing. It doesn’t hurt, though, to see your doctor for regular check ups and blood work. Your doctor can tell you what nutrients you might need more of and how you can best replenish them. Your doctor can also make sure you don’t have any underlying health problems.

Sometimes when you think you are hungry, you are actually thirsty and your body is getting dehydrated. It is easy to mistake the craving for hydration for a craving for food. Before you give into that craving, try hydrating yourself with a glass of water and see if the hunger feeling goes away.

You shouldn’t have too many cravings if you eat good, healthy food everyday. Sometimes, your cravings might be all in your head, not your stomach. Sometimes you crave food not because you don’t have enough nutrients but because of psychological or emotional triggers. Maybe being around a certain group of people or in a certain place or just being in a bad mood is causing your cravings. You need to figure out in what situations your cravings occur to help you resist them. Avoiding situations or people that trigger cravings will help you lose weight since you can make more sound decisions.

It may be helpful to write down where you are when your cravings occur, what you are doing and who is around you. This way you can look for patterns that stand out and will help you recognize triggers. If you are going into a situation where you know you will have cravings, prepare ahead of time by having a small, healthy snack. It’s hard, but you can resist your cravings. You can also give in once in awhile to give your self a treat, just not too often.

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Colon Cleansing, Weight Loss & You!

January 7th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Health Research

Many people swear by colon cleansing to feel better, lose weight and stay healthy. It is becoming more and more accepted as a health treatment. Here is some information about colon cleansing and how it can help you lose weight.

The colon’s purpose is to remove waste from the food that we eat. Most people’s diets these days include a lot of processed foods. These foods make it much more difficult for the colon to do its job. Much of the toxins and waste products accumulate in the colon; they petrify and eventually cause health problems. What colon cleansing does is get rid of the leftover waste and toxins from the colon so it can work more efficiently, encouraging the body to process food in a more efficient manner.

Most people notice an immediate weight loss when they start with colon cleansing. This is because colon cleansing is able to flush out most of the waste matter that as accumulated in the colon.  After you have been on a colon cleansing routine for a while, you will continue to lose weight because you will be absorbing more nutrients and less waste will be left in the colon. A colon that is working well helps with weight loss.

Most people don’t think about their digestive system as it relates to weight control; we often associate weight control with exercise and diet.  A typical diet where you eat less and exercise more doesn’t take into consideration that your metabolism will usually decrease to make up the difference. Treating your digestive system so it is at its healthiest is a good way to lose weight.

One of the benefits of colon cleansing is increased stamina and energy. If you want to work on shedding off those unwanted pounds, you can take that extra energy and turn it into exercise. You will wake up feeling better every day and have a better outlook on life when you are not feeling tired and sluggish. Also, some of the added energy comes from your body being able to get more nutrients out of the food you eat.

Colon cleansing is a great tool for improving your health and even losing weight. It is just one tool in the toolbox, though! You need to have a well balanced diet and exercise in order to feel your best. You also need to make sure you cut back on processed foods and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits.

Like any medical treatment, you need to do some research about colon cleansing and make sure you know what you are doing and that you use a safe product or program. Also, talk to your doctor about your plans and get his or her advice.

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