Weight Loss Tip : Don't Let them Profit from You!

When you buy food you are a target - a target for the profiteering of the giant food manufacturers who try and persuade you to part with your hard-earned cash in exchange for their products. Shop for food which will make you feel great rather than filling the pockets of the junk-food pushers.

Food can be wonderful or plain awful. At its best, it nourishes us, gives us energy and delights our taste buds. At its worst it clogs up our arteries, fills our bodies with unwanted toxins and makes us fat.

The secret of losing weight is to choose the delicious natural healthy kind and to eat just enough of it so you feel great.

But with so much awful food on offer out there, it's easier said than done.

No one is paying huge sums to advertise fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and organic lean meat.

Instead we have major food manufacturers with big budgets pushing snacks we can do without and products loaded with thickeners, sweeteners, salt, corn syrup, mechanically recovered meat, preservatives and every other semi-edible chemical known to man.

Sure, the food tastes Ok - after all it's full of sugars (or artificial sweeteners) and salt for that very reason. Food manufacturers aim to bring you palatable food otherwise you wouldn't buy it. But it has to turn in a huge profit too so they pile in preservatives to give it a long shelf life and use the cheapest ingredients they can get away with, padding them out with fillers. But is that really how you want to nourish your body?

If you buy cakes and cookies, snacks and processed foods without thinking about what you are really putting into your body, you are doing your health a huge disservice and playing right into the hands of the food manufacturers. You are paying good money for food which has no value to your health and questionable ingredients which you really don't want to feed anyone you care about (including you!)

Now there are some good processed foods out there - but you do have to seek them out - they are not the major profit producers of the big advertisers. Most of the advertising money goes into persuading us to purchase vast quantities of worthless soft drinks, chocolate bars and salty snacks.

Read the label on any product you're considering buying to check that the ingredients include only those items you would use if you were making the product at home. If there's anything that sounds like it belongs in a chemical laboratory leave it on the shelf and choose something else.

And whatever you choose make sure that you accompany it with ample fresh vegetables or salad - very few processed foods will contain adequate amounts of these. After your meal, if you need anything else, swap sugar and sweetener-laden profit-making desserts and cakes for fresh fruit.

Even better than being highly selective in the processed food you buy, get a good cook book full of healthy delicious recipes and learn to make fantastic food for you and your family. Enjoy the whole process of nourishing yourself and the ones you love from fresh basic good quality ingredients. Taste the difference and you'll never look back.

Our health is precious. Be super critical about what you put into your body and don't let the food manufacturers profit from feeding you and your family junk food.

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

About the Author

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Get her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

5 Tips For Weight Loss

Are you ready to lose some weight? Perhaps you’re surfing for the magic pill that will vanish your weight away. Maybe you’re simply searching for the right information to help you lose and keep the weight off. Whatever the case, here’s some surefire tips to help you with your weight loss.

1. Do your homework. As you start your weight loss plan, take the time to carefully evaluate your situation. What caused the weight gain? Pregnancy? Inactivity? Overeating and binging? Emotions? There are many triggers in our lives that will cause us to gain weight. Some can be prevented or eliminated, some can’t. It’s important as you begin your weight loss to understand and come to grips with the cause of your weight. Be honest with yourself. Don’t cheat on this one. Obviously, you want to have your weight loss become permanent.

In order to keep off the weight in the future, you may have to make some lifestyle changes to stay slim. Don’t give up before you start. There’s usually more than one solution to any weight gain reason. Just remain open-minded, and be willing to change to get the results you desire. Don’t hesitate to read and learn as much as you can about weight gain. It’s really easy to understand, and you may be surprised at what you learn.

2. Avoid Hidden Calories. Here’s an over simplified version of weight loss and weight maintenance… if you eat more than your body needs, you gain weight. If you eat less (reduce calories) than your body needs, you lose weight! While it sounds simple enough, just eat less ….Right? Basically that’s true. Yet, there are other things that come into play as one is trying to lose weight. One common mistake many people make as they diet is the fact they don’t really understand how much is provided by the food they are eating. This is especially true with eating out and eating snack foods and beverages.

A serving as defined by the scientific communities on weight loss and a serving that your local restaurant provides is most often very different. For example, one serving of bread is typically one slice. Yet, the average bun in a fast food restaurant is actually almost three servings. A single serving of French fries is 15 fries. Just take a guess at how many servings are in a “Biggie” French fry container.

Also, don’t be fooled into thinking just because a bag of popcorn is small, that it’s a single serving. The same thing goes for beverages. The bottle may contain16 oz. Yet, the serving size may be 4 ounces. Pay attention to actually how many servings of food and beverages you are actually consuming. The amount may surprise you.

I’ll give you an example, my son-in-law who’s 28 was had put on several pounds. His favorite cola is Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew has higher sugar content than most other cola’s. He didn’t have a clue as to how may calories he was consuming by drinking 3 or 4 24 oz bottles a day. When my daughter told him, he was amazed. He replaced the cola with water and went from a 38” waist to a 34” waist in about two months. Be careful, you may be consuming more than you think.

3. Consider Diet Pills Carefully. Maybe one of your diet buddies has decided to buy diet pills, or maybe you've seen or heard a commercial for diet supplements promising easy fast weight loss. If so, please evaluate CAREFULLY! Even the most natural-sounding diet pills or weight loss supplements can be useless for weight loss, or dangerous, or both. Diet pills are very tempting things if you want to lose weight, especially if you have tried several conventional weight loss plans without success. The side effects and dangers of some diet and weight loss pills can vary enormously because many of these pills contain a cocktail of ingredients and because dosage instructions may be inadequate. Possible side effects include: nervousness, tremor, diarrhea, bulging eyes, racing heartbeat, elevated blood pressure even heart failure.

There are some instances when diet pills can be helpful. Usually these are indicated in the truly obese person. For the person wanting to lose 5 or 10 pounds, they usually aren’t necessary. So you may ask, how does the diet pills work to cause weight loss, while I continue to eat the same amount? In recent years, it seems everyone has the PERFECT answer to help with your weight loss. There are almost as many weight loss methods and diet pills available as there are people who want to lose weight.

There are diet pills that stop your hunger so you eat less and burn more fat. There are diet pills that cause the body not to metabolize all the food you eat, so it’s passed out of your system and not stored as fat. There’s combination of these two. As you begin your search for the perfect diet pill, be careful as some can have harmful effects on your body.
Diet Pills work by shifting levels of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) that control satiety (fullness) and desire for food. Some also slightly increase your metabolic rate - the rate at which your body burns calories.

Examples of weight loss diet pills include:
Diethylpropion hydrochloride (eg. Tenuate)
Mazindol (eg. Mazanor, Sanorex)
Phendimetrazine tartrate (eg. Bontril)
Phentermine hydrochloride (eg. Adipex-P, Ionamin)

4. Monitor/Increase Your Activity - Regardless whether you’re taking diet pills or not to help with your weight loss, it’s still important to maintain a regular exercise program. This is beneficial not only for your weight loss, but also for your overall health. In many ways we in the developed country have a much more sedentary lifestyle than our bodies need. Obviously it’s easier for us than in the era when people had to be very active simply to survive, yet it’s not necessarily healthy for us not to be active. Start and maintain some sort of exercise plan no matter what your age. Especially for the middle-aged and older people exercise play a very, very important role in the quality of health and staying within normal weight ranges.

5. Develop a Plan for Maintenance. Even if you’re taking diet pills to help with your weight loss it’s important to keep in mind, that once you stop the pills, unless you maintain a balance between your activity level and the food you eat the weight will come back. While it may take some time to become accustomed to a change in diet and activity, the rewards are well worth the time and effort spent to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

About the Author
Hilda Maria is a freelance writer with 5 children who knows the importance of a balanced diet for them.
She enjoys providing useful knowledge about weight loss and regular exercise to her readers as well as to her children.

Herbal Detox For Health

Detoxification is a way of assisting your body to rid itself of the toxins stored in your tissues.

How to detox for a healthier lifeDetoxification is a way of assisting your body to rid itself of the toxins stored in your tissues. Detoxification can clean the body of accumulated toxins helping us to regain energy and to function better; we need to remember that detoxification is not one single event but part of an ongoing process. Gradual change is better than a sharp short shock when it comes to detox. This involves eating more healthy, less processed foods, cutting down or eliminating fast foods, caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and drugs. An organic diet, drinking lots of water and getting regular exercise all help to facilitate the detox process. Herbs offer a short and reasonably gentle way to aid detoxification. Many herbs not only detox but also stimulate the metabolism and increase blood flow to vital tissue, for example, antifungal herbs prohibit the growth of yeasts that can cause candida, and anti-oxidants help protect against free radicals. People nearly always mention fasting when you detox. This is not always beneficial or needed. Fasting does not mean refraining from eating or drinking and it does not have to be depressing or austere. I would not recommend fasting for longer than 24 hours, and during this time you must drink as much fluid as possible. Anyone thinking of fasting must be in good health. It not recommended for young children, the elderly, the chronically ill, those suffering from a serious disease, anyone addicted to drugs or alcohol or who has been exposed to dangerous chemicals. In any of these cases consult a qualified health practitioner first - the same goes for pregnant or breast-feeding women. When we detoxify we need to take life more gently, it is a time to reflect about the emotional and physical reason that may have caused the toxins, it's a time to confront these reasons and make the changes necessary to stop future toxin build up. This is a time to treat your body and relax your mind. Take a massage, do yoga, have a sauna, mineral baths or an herbal wrap -all of these help with the detoxification process.

Herbs to use for detoxing Natural Laxatives and diuretics

While you are fasting it is important to keep your kidneys working well as they are extremely important in the process of eliminating toxins. Juniper berries (Juniperus communis) strengthen and detoxify the kidneys, bladder, and urinary tract. As a word of warning do not use juniper berries long term but from time to time and when you may have a kidney infection it works extremely well as a cleanser. Nettle (Urtica dioica) is an extremely good diuretic as is burdock root that is very similar to the nettle in its gentle diuretic actions. Psyllium husks and seeds (Plantago indica, P. ovata and P. psyllium) are good gentle natural laxative. It is also adaptogenic and makes a good treatment for Irritable Bowel syndrome. Liquorice root -"the great harmoniser" in Chinese medicine, is mildly laxative and good from nourishing the adrenal glands. Alfalfa sprouts are also a good all round laxative.

Detox the liver

Milk thistle (Carduus marianus syn. Silybum marianum) and dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) help to cleanse and strengthen the liver. Milk thistle contains silymarin, which is believed to help with liver regeneration as well as being an antioxidant, while Dandelion root also helps remove waste from both the liver and the gallbladder. Milk thistle is a natural antioxidant.

Lymphatic system

One function of the lymphatic system is to remove waste from cells, many people believe that cellulite is a symptom of inadequate lymphatic drainage. The following are the best herbs, in essential oil form, to stimulate the lymphatic system and draw toxins out from under the skin. Basil (Ocimum basilicum), thyme (Thymus vulgarus but use carefully as it can be irritating to the skin), celery (Apium graveolens), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), grapefruit (Citrus paradisi), and lemon (Citrus limon). Blend three of these different oils, for a total of fifteen to twenty drops, in one ounce of carrier oil and use for massage or skin brushing.

About the Author
I work with the Green Directory http://www.guidemegreen.com and the Ethical Directory http://www.getethical.com to promote a greener and healthier lifestyle. I also promote eco friendly Jobs and Employers at http://www.jobs.guidemegreen.com

What Are Phytonutrients? - by: Mary Desaulniers

Folk wisdom has always singled out fruits and vegetables as being indispensable for health, but it has only been within the last thirty years that we know why. Science and technology have isolated compounds in plants and vegetables that have literally been our life-savers. These are phytonutrients which all fruits and vegetables produce because their means of survival in the environment is through the release of disease-fighting phytochemicals. Phytochemicals stimulate the production of protective self-repairing cells in plants. They also produce the same kinds of responses in humans. For example, they release protective enzymes that inhibit cancer-producing substances, thus reducing our susceptibility to disease. It makes sense for us to harness the powers of plants in our diets. Four sources of phytonutrients that cannot be ignored if we want to remain healthy and cancer free are berries, cruciferous and dark, leafy vegetables, soy and red wine.

Berries, such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries offer the highest sources of phytonutrients. They all produce a natural substance called ellagic acid which has been shown to be a good defense against carcinogens because they suppress tumor development. Blueberries have the highest antioxidant content. High in flavonoids, they also provide powerful protection against prostate cancer. Two and a half cups of fresh strawberries a day can supply enough vitamin C to help restore sperm production in men. Cranberries have been known to prevent cystisis, a painful and often recurring urinary tract infection in women. A study involving 72 postmenopausal women found that 10 ounces of cranberry juice every day reduced the likelihood of bladder infection by 58%. Cranberries have also been shown to reduce stomach ulcers and lower LDL cholesterol levels.

Cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower) and dark leafy vegetables (like swiss chard, spinach) also have high levels of antioxidant phytonutrients. In a study conducted by New York's Strang-Cornell Cancer Research Laboratory, women who consumed a diet high in cruciferous vegetables experienced a dramatic drop in estrogen levels, which means that these vegetable are definitely powerful tools for fighting against breast cancer. The assumption is that the phytochemicals in these vegetables deactivate potent estrogens, thus preventing estrogen-sensitive cells, particularly in the breast , from developing tumors. Sulforaphane, another phytochemical in cruciferous vegetables, triggers a self-defense system in the body that acts to detoxify carcinogens. Spinach contains four times more beta carotene than broccoli and is a good source of vitamins C and E. It also has high levels of photosynthetic proteins which convert sunlight into energy. Researchers at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology are harnessing the power of spinach in a new direction--creating highly cost-effective solar panels.

Soy is another phytonutrient rich food. Soy products contain genestein, which has been shown to have strong anti-cancer properties. It contains as well phytoestrogen, which has been shown to reduce the risk and spread of prostate cancer. Researchers suggest that the phytonutrient isoflavones, like phytoestrogen, may reduce the risk of breast cancer. Another isoflavone compound in soy called daidzein has also been found to improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels in women. A study conducted at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has uncovered evidence that this estrogen-like compound is the main reason for soy's healthy effects. Women with low estrogen levels seemed to have benefited most from daidzein, which reduced LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels, leading researchers to recommend that women include soy food products as part of their cardiovascular risk reduction strategies.

And last but not least is the phytonutrient, resveratrol, found in red wine, that literally makes wine drinking a cancer-fighting measure. Resveratrol is present in the leaves, twigs and bark of the grape vines. And red wine, which is fermented from grape skins, seeds and twigs tends to have large quantities of these cancer-fighting substances. Resveratrol has also been demonstrated to be a potent antioxidant (more potent than vitamin C alone) which can act synergistically with vitamin C, thus enhancing the effects of each. It also prevents the formation of blood clots and promotes the formation of new dendrites in the brain.

Let us put all these phytonutrients to good use. Why not sit down to a hearty soy burger, broccoli spears and cauliflower salad, warm berry compote and a glass of red wine? Yummy! Life cannot be better!

About The Author
Mary Desaulniers
A runner for 27 years, retired schoolteacher and writer, Mary is helping people reclaim their bodies. Nutrition, exercise, positive vision and purposeful engagement are the tools used to turn their bodies into creative selves. You can visit her at http://www.GreatBodyat50.com or learn how she lost her weight at http://greatbodyproteinpower.com