Atkins Diet Basics

The Atkins diet is not a new phenomenon. The diet first appeared in the late 1970s and has grown popularity in recent years in response to the low-fat diet craze. As dieters had trouble with low-fat plans, they searched for a new solution and Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution book found a new audience.

A lot of people have jumped on the Atkins bandwagon and there has been a lot of hype as a result. But what are the basic principles of the Atkins diet?

The Atkins diet is based on a theory of why we get fat. According to Dr. Atkins, the over-consumption of carbohydrates and simple sugars leads to weight gain. The way your body processes the carbohydrates you eat have more to do with your waistline than the amount of fat or calories that you consume. In his book, Atkins outlines a phenomenon called “insulin resistance.” He theorizes that many overweight people have cells that do not work correctly.

When you eat excess carbohydrates and sugar, your body notices that sugar levels are elevated. Insulin is released from the pancreas in order to store sugar as glycogen in the liver and muscle cells for extra energy later on. However, your body can only store so much glycogen at once. As soon as your body reaches its limit for glycogen storage, the excess carbohydrates are stored as fat. This happens to everyone who eats too many carbohydrates.

However, insulin resistant individuals have an even harder time of using and storing excess carbohydrates. The more insulin that your body is exposed to, the more resistant it becomes. Overtime, the pancreas releases more insulin and cells become insulin resistant. The cells are trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin. They create less glycogen and more fat.

As a result, insulin resistant individuals gain extra weight. The carbohydrates get converted into fat instead of energy. Other side effects include fatigue, brain “fog” (the inability to focus, poor memory, loss of creativity), low blood sugar (which can leads to hypoglycemia), intestinal bloating, sleepiness, depression and increased blood sugar. There is much more than weight at stake when you are insulin resistant.

The remedy for people who are insulin resistant is a diet restricted in carbohydrates. The crux of the Atkins diet is a limitation of carbohydrates in all of its forms. The foods restricted on the Atkins plan include simple sugars (like cookies, sodas and sweets) and complex carbohydrates (like bread, rice and grains). Even carbohydrates that are considered healthy, such as oatmeal, brown rice and whole wheat bread, are restricted on the program.

The diet has you restrict your carbohydrate intake to less than 40 grams a day. This will put your body in a state of ketosis. While in ketosis, your body will burn fat as fuel. According to Dr. Atkins’ research, the ketosis state will also affect insulin production and it will prevent more fat from being formed. Your body will begin using your stored fat as an efficient form of fuel, and you’ll lose weight.

Another benefit of the Atkins plan is that ketosis will end your cravings for carbohydrates. If you’ve been living on a carb-heavy diet, you may have found that you simply cannot get enough carbohydrates. With carbohydrate restriction and ketosis comes a reduction in carbohydrate cravings. People who have been on the Atkins diet for some time report that they do not crave carbohydrates as they once did.

Although the initial phases of the Atkins diet are rather strict, the program teaches you to restore balance to your diet in the long run. People who use the diet slowly reintroduce minimal amounts of carbohydrate into their eating until they find a comfortable balance between their health and carbohydrate use.

The basic principles of the Atkins diet have been adapted to many other low-carb diet plans. However, Atkins popularity still remains strong as one of the most effective low-carbohydrate solutions for those who are insulin resistant.

Diet and your health

In recent years, we have heard about how diet affect our health , especially in relation to the production of cancers. Research has shown that our diet contains an enormous variety of natural mutagens and carcinogens. It is also apparent that we are ingesting vastly greater qualities of these substances than was previously suspected.

Perhaps this natural chemical product should be primary concern rather than the mutagenicity of industrial chemicals, food additives and pollutants in our environment. For example, in 1989 the United States had a big publicity –generated scare concerning the plant growth regulator Alar, which is used to delay ripening of apples so that they do not drop prematurely.

Alar was said to be carcinogenic, but when put in perspective with chemicals in our daily diets , it does not to be so bad. For instance, the hydrazines in a helping of mushrooms are 60 times more carcinogenic than the Alar consumed in a glass of apple juice or 20 times greater than a daily peanut butter sandwich, which frequently contains aflatoxin B. Our diets contain literally millions of natural chemicals; intact it is not practical to test them all for carcinogenicity.

Animal tests and the and the Ames test have been used to evaluate cooked foods for their potential for inducing cancers; and it has been found that browed sugars or breads contains a variety of mutagens. In addition, caffeine and its close relative theobromine found in coffee, tea, cocoa, and some soft drinks may increase the risk of tumors by inhibiting DNA repair enzymes.

Plants synthesize many carcinogenic or teratogenic chemicals as delense mechanism to ward off the animals that want to consume them. Examples of plants plant carcinogens include psoralen and its derivatives, which are widespread in plants and have been used as sunscreen in France; solanine and chaconine are teratogens and are found in greened potatoes.

Other food that contains natural cicargens includes banana, basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, horseradish, mustard turnips, and black pepper. In addition, red wines are believed to be responsible for the high incidence of stomach cancers among the French people, although red wine also seems to decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease. It seems that nothing can be consumed that does not contain mutagen!

Another big problem with American diet is the consumption of excess quantities of fats. The average American consumes 40% of her/ his calories in the form of fat. Comparisons of cancer death rates in different national populations have provided important clues to the nutrational causes of cancer.

Very different types of cancers appear in the United States than appear in Japan. In United States, colon, breast, and prostate cancer are most prevalent, whereas stomach cancers are in excess in Japan. When the amount of dietary fat intake is plotted against the number of death by breast cancer, the results are striking; the more fat in the diet, the more higher the rate of breast cancer. How might fat intake cause cancer? It may be caused by rancid fat because it represents a sizable percentage of the fat are very prone to oxidation, which produces a variety of carcinogenic compounds. Another likely explanation is that may carcinogens are soluble in fats and accumulate in the fat of the animals we eat.

Food Health Vitamin

Good Food Health Vitamin Intake
Taking vitamins is an easy way to start being healthy. It is important to be aware of what constitutes good food health vitamin intake. If you are looking to improve your health, you’ll need to at many different vitamin supplements to find which ones are the best for you. Federal drug administration produces a recommended daily allowance for the majority of vitamins which it regards as a good food health vitamin intake. These figures vary according to a person’s age, sex and some other factors so that the good food health vitamin intake for a young woman, pregnant woman are different to that of a man in his seventies.

The food health vitamin intake amounts of certain foods are included in the nutritional labeling. It is important for a person to consider and helps ensure that they are receiving the correct food health vitamin intake from the foods that they eat. The nutritional information is often represented as a percentage of the recommended daily allowance of each vitamin and mineral and can help assess the value of the foods in the quest for good food health vitamin intake.

There are also a number of items that a person may want to restrict in their diet as part of their good food health vitamin intake. Nutritional labeling can help us to see how high a product is in these undesirable contents. Salt and fat, for example, may be items that a person wants to consider limiting as part of their good food health vitamin intake even though they are not strictly vitamins. The majority of people actually refer to nutrients when they use the word vitamin and food manufacturers are aware that a person is looking at minerals and other items when they are considering their good food health vitamin intake. Fiber is another element that many people are more aware of as forming an essential part of a balanced diet and is necessary for good food health vitamin intake.

Even though there are many vitamins that you can benefit from, one of the most important is vitamin B12, which can raise your energy levels and help with your immune system. Some other vitamins you’ll need to include in your normal diet are vitamin A, C, D, and E. These vitamins are very important to your body, as they help with many different functions. Vitamins C and E are among the most important, as they help with your skin, hair growth, and the way your body functions.

If a person is on a restricted diet for any reason then they need to pay even more attention to their good food health vitamin intake. Obviously, some foods contain different nutrients to others and this is applicable to vitamins as well and it may be more difficult for a person to achieve their good food health vitamin intake if they are unable to eat certain foods. Vitamin supplements can form an essential part of a good food health vitamin intake for people who are unable to obtain their vitamins from their normal diet. It is also worth remembering that the good food health vitamin intake for a person varies throughout their life depending on their general health.

Exercise is also important to your diet and your health. Although supplements and vitamins will go a long way, exercise will do a lot for your body. If you exercise on a regular basis, and take the right supplements and vitamins with your diet, you’ll notice that you have more energy and you feel better than you ever have in your life.

Before you start with your new diet or rush out and buy your new vitamin supplements, you should always check with your doctor first to see if he has any recommendations. You should also tell him what type of exercise you are planning on doing, and see if there are any complications with your health. Getting a healthy lifestyle is always a great thing, although you should always consult with your doctor. This way, you’ll know the best way to start and how to go about getting in the best shape of your life.

Weight Loss Diet Pill

What is in a Weight Loss Diet Pill?

With all the strenuous activities and sweat-generating regimens that most weight lost programs have, more and more people are enticed to opt for a better alternative, without the trouble of exerting too much effort.

With the advent of diet pills that promote weight loss, people go mad over the appealing advertisements of most manufacturers claiming that their product can easily “melt away” those fats and cellulites.

With these pills dominating the market today, who needs to tone those abs and biceps and do some dieting if there is an easier way to lose weight?

Now, the questions are: is there any truth regarding the manufacturers’ claims that these diet pills can ultimately promote healthy weight loss? Are they really effective in helping people lose weight? And if that is the case, do these pills also help those people maintain their healthy diet, ideal weight and curb any fat accumulation in the body?

In reality, there are diet pills that can really make a person shed off those extra pounds. These diet pills contain certain substances that were already clinically and scientifically proven to be very effective.

These diet pills are effective in increasing the metabolism of the body, thereby, initiating weight loss. Plus, these diet pills contain certain substances that suppress one’s appetite.

However, with so many diet pills saturating the market today, trying to find the best and most effective diet pill can be very tedious. Chances are, you may end up choosing the wrong diet pill when your energy to find diet pills wanes down.

Actually, there are only five factors to consider when choosing diet pills that are effective at the same time safe to use. Here is a list of the factors that you need to consider in order to come up with a diet pill that is right and appropriate.

1. The metabolism-boosting ability

In choosing diet pills that will effectively promote weight loss, it is best to look for pills that have the ingredients that will enhance your body’s metabolism, or the ability of the body to burn excess fats.

Choose those diet pills that contain alpha lipoic acid, green tea extracts, and “L-Canitine” because these ingredients had been clinically proven to be effective in promoting weight loss through increased metabolic rate.

2. The appetite suppressants

Find diet pills that effectively suppress your appetite. It does not necessarily mean that you will skip meals but you will not just feel hungry every now and then. This is because obesity usually happens to people who are fond of in-between meals, which actually initiates excessive calorie intake.

3. The calorie stopper

Because obesity is usually due to excess intake of calories in the body, which is more than the recommended amount, it is best to choose diet pills that have the special ingredients that will curb the entry of calories into the body.

These substances are known as “phaseolus vulgaris.” This is known to create an enzyme that will efficiently control any excess calories in the body. The enzyme responsible for this wonderful job is known as “alpha-amylase.”

4. The metabolic enhancers

It is best to choose diet pills that have the so-called “lipotropic elements” that are effective in eliminating fats from the body. It functions like a sweeper that effectively sweeps excess fats outside the body.

These lipotropic elements are found in vitamin C, chitosan, alpha lipoic acid, and green tea extracts.

5. The water-retention breaker

Effective diet pills are those that contain diuretics. These are elements that avert the retention of water in the body during the weight loss regimen.

All of these factors are, indeed, clinically proven and effective in losing weight. Though, it must be kept in mind that diet pills alone are not sufficient to provide optimum weight loss. Hence, it is still important to do some exercises.

Therefore, with exercise and the right diet pills, you are definitely on your way to a healthier, slimmer you.

Healthy Diet

Healthy Diet - A Guide to Weight Loss

If you want to do healthy diet, here are some weight lost diet tips that can be followed anywhere, everyday:

1. Make a delicious low fat mayonnaise by combining one teaspoon of Dijon mustard or satay sauce with a low fat yogurt.

2. Do not skip meals.
Skipping meals slicks the body into slowing down the metabolism, attempting to conserve calories during a period where limited fats and fuel are available. Remember that eating increases the metabolism.

3. Stuff vegetables like capsicum and zucchini with flavored fillings or minced chicken, white meat or fish. These are healthy and contain low fat.

4. Take pita bread roll ups or wraps with salad fillings.

5. Eight hours after waking up, our metabolism slows down that is why 30 minutes of exercise before dinner will increase the metabolism for about two to three hours. This produces an increase in burned fat even hours after the work out is over.

6. Add alfalfa or mung beans to salad to get extra iron.

7. Good cooking and healthy eating begins with learning about nutrition and how to prepare healthy recipes.

8. Learn how to make the family favorite recipes and make sure that fats, salt, and sugar are cut out. Substitute non-fat yogurt for cream, stir-fry without oil and use herbs and spices instead of salt to taste.

9. Consult the doctor before beginning an exercise or weight loss program.

10. Slowly eat and chew each bite during meals as this would decrease one's appetite.

11. Complete three small meals and two snacks everyday instead of one or two huge meals.

12. Use chicken stock when stir-frying. This will cut down on hidden fat.

13. Buy non-toasted muesli instead of the toasted ones. A plate of toasted muesli contains more fat than a plate of bacon and eggs.

14. As much as possible do not remove the skins of fruits and vegetables since most of the nutrients are concentrated under the skin.

15. Warm water with just a squeeze of lemon juice before breakfast get the metabolism going for the day, this also help preventing constipation and is excellent for the skin.

16. One of the best sources of vegetable protein is from soya beans or tofu. All legumes provide some protein, so include lentils, lima beans etc into casseroles and soups.

17. Look for a weight loss "buddy," club, or support mates. This will motivate you to stay and enjoy your weight loss program.

18. Though it's hard at first, try not eating 3 hours or more before bedtime.

19. Make pasta a fast food choice - preparing a pasta meal or salad will only take 10-12 minutes.

20. Chilli helps to speed up metabolism - even the milder varieties.

21. Try making omelettes without adding the yolks! A dramatic decrease in fat.

22. Substitute baking soda, baking powder, MSG and soya sauce in cooking.

23. Remove fat by dropping ice cubes into the baking tray. Fat will stick to the ice cubes.

24. Drinking hot water instead of cold water in the morning can increase the speed of your metabolism and burn more calories.

25. Eat before you go food shopping and always prepare a shopping list. Only buy food which relates to your weekly menu plan and don't be tempted to buy goodies.

Make sure that the right discipline is still practiced to promote consistency on the diet plan. This will lead eventually to a healthy life-style and a more fruitful living without the extra fat and extra pounds on the side.

Diet Fitness

A Look on Diet Fitness

Nowadays a lot of people are very much conscious about their own health and fitness and want to know about diet fitness. In addition to that, these people, and many others as well, are now having that desire to sculpt their bodies to ahieve that magazine-cover look. As a result, gyms, health spas and other fitness centers have proliferated all over to cater to the needs of the fitness buffs and afficionados.

Even on television exercise machines, weight loss products, and other paraphernalia to improve fitness have more or less gained control over the airwaves and made their way into the households. But exerise is not the only way to build that body beautiful. It also entails certain amount of responsibility on the foods one chooses to eat. Being healthy and fit requires one to observe diet fitness.

Diet fitness is as essential as exercise itself. Diet for fitness provides the essential nutrition one needs to restore worn-out muscles and for healthy growth. Diet fitness should never be taken for granted. With the popularity of keeping fit, many different views, methods, programs and dieting strategies have been formulated by many professionals. Among these are high carb diets and high fat diets. Which one is more effective and which one should one choose to follow?

First thing to know would be the fundamental differences between these two diet approaches. As the name implies, high carb diets concentrates on taking in carbohydrate-rich foods while high fat diets endorses fat-rich foods. High carb diets are utilized to glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is a glucose complex that provides large amounts of energy ready for use in anaerobic exercises.

Fats, on the other hand, is well-nown for being the richest source of calories. It actually contains 2.5 times more calories than carbohydrates and proteins alike. Studies also show that it takes the body 24 calories to metabolize carbohydrates while it only takes 3 to burn down fat. So which one to follow? A person can follow a high carb and low fat fitness diet or the other way around. It is absolutely not recommended to follow both at the same time; unless of course if you want to gain body fat.

But then diet fitness is not all about losing fat, one must also consider his diet in order to keep fat away. Research shows that sustainable loss of weight can only be achieved on a diet which suits the individual food preferences, lifestyle, medical profile and satiety signals.

Diet programs all over can help you shed off excess pounds, but only one diet can help you stay sexy, and it is the one that satisfies you most. Other important aspects of having a fit diet are moderation, balance and variation. One must be careful not to leave out important nutrients and other substances necessary for healthy body functioning. health organizations are clear about the amounts of nutrients an individual should have in the body.

Low fat high carbs, high carbs low fat; the question is not which diet program will work out but which is it that will work for you. Striving for a healthy body does not have to burden an individual, diet fitness does not have to mean sticking to the same kind of food for life. One may even try to be adventurous and try out new foods out there.

Health Fitness

Health and Fitness

People go fitness for health because being active makes a person healthy and strong. It is not just for people who have a weight problem but for everyone who likes to stay fit.

There is a lot a person who jogging or walking every morning, playing basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, then one can sign up and workout fitness in a gym.

People workout fitness for 3 reasons:

The first is that the person is overweight and the only way to lose those extra pounds will be to reduce ones calorie intake and at the same time workout in the gym.

The second is that the person is underweight and the only way to add extra pounds is to have more calories in ones diet and workout.

The third is just for fun and to keep that person in shape.

The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and gain or lose weight.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Here are some benefits of exercising:

1. It is the easiest way to maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death.

2. Studies have shown that it makes a person feels happier and increases ones self esteem preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety.

3. An active lifestyle makes a person live longer than a person who doesn’t.

Working out for someone who has not done it before should be done gradually. Endurance will not be built in a day and doing it repeatedly will surely be beneficial to the person.

It is advisable to workout regularly with a reasonable diet. A person can consult with a dietitian or a health professional to really help plan a good diet program. It starts by evaluating the lifestyle and the health of the patient before any program can be made.

Afterwards, this is thoroughly discussed and recommended to the person which usually consists of an eating plan and an exercise program that does not require the use of supplements or one to purchase any expensive fitness equipment.

A good diet should have food from all the food groups. This is made up by 2 things. The first is carbohydrates. The food that a person consumes should have vitamins, minerals and fiber. A lot of this can come from oats, rice, potatoes and cereals. The best still come from vegetables and fruits since these have phytochemicals, enzymes and micronutrients that are essential for a healthy diet.

The second is fat which can come from mono and poly saturated food sources rather than animal fats. Since fat contains more than double the number of calories in food, this should be taken in small quantities to gain or lose weight.

Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has also shown to do the same.

For people who don’t smoke, it is best to stay away from people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.