lowcarbtv.com

11/30/2005

Diets Don’t Work - 4 Ways To Lose Weight Naturally and Effectively

Filed under: — wordpress @ 9:15 pm

Diets Don’t Work - 4 Ways To Lose Weight Naturally and Effectively

Author: Mark Idzik

Any doctor worth their salt will tell you diets don’t work.
Plain and simple. Surprised?

Well you might be. You can’t get away from all the talk about
South Beach, Atkins, Low Carb, Zone … you name it, they’re
talking about it. It’s on TV, in magazines… everywhere you
look.

And of course there are the pills, drugs and other expensive
methods to lose weight. While they may be appropriate in certain
cases, by and large they aren’t necessary. Some can actually
be dangerous to your health.

What does work, what’s been proven to work time and time again
is something very simple… a lifestyle change. You may not
want to hear it, but it’s true.

You can’t eat thousands of calories, rich desserts, sugary
snacks, excess fat and tons of carbs, get little or no
activity and expect to lose weight with a pill!

You’ll be surprised to know that you don’t need to stop eating
or have to exercise for hours every day to lose weight. Just a
few simple lifestyle changes added daily can turn your life
around quickly. You will start to lose weight within days
and feel better as well.

Here are 4 tips you can use to get started today:

- Drink water.

Drinking lots of water is probably the single most important
thing you can do for your health. You lose over 2.5 liters
of water daily through normal body functions and since it
can’t be stored efficiently, needs to be replaced daily.
Water nourishes your body, it is essential for digestion and
flushes toxins out of your system - vital when you’re
working on losing weight. There is no replacement for
water.

When you get up in the morning, drink a full glass of
water before you start your day. Add a lemon slice if you
like. Then get and additional 10-12 glasses of water in
throughout the day.

- Eat slowly.

Chew your food 10-12 times before swallowing. Your saliva
starts the digestion process, and if you don’t chew enough,
your stomach has to work twice as hard and many times you
don’t get much out of the foods you eat – except maybe some
indigestion :).

- Split your entree.

When eating out, split your entree with your dining
companion. Most restaurants now serve portions that are
up to 8 times the recommended serving size. Supplement
with a salad, soup or vegetable to complete your meal.

- Avoid sodas.

Did you know that an average soda has 14 teaspoons of
sugar? Not only are these empty calories and carbs that take
you on a blood sugar roller coaster and add pounds, the sugar
also can also cripple your immune system for up to 5 hours
leaving your body working overtime and open to infections,
viruses and the effects of stress. Drinking one soda a day
can pack on an average of 16 lbs of unwanted weight! Cutting
out soda alone will take off at least 16 lbs a year or more.

Additionally, recent studies have linked increased soda
consumption with certain cancers and a loss of essential
minerals.

About the Author

Mark Idzik is a health coach with a national clientele who helps
his clients lose weight and make better health choices. His new
report, Permanent Weight Loss Now, offers a principled and
proven way to lose weight naturally, effectively and for life.
You can get more information at:
http://www.Everyday-Weight-Loss.com

11/10/2005

Food Intolerance And Low Carb Diets

Filed under: — wordpress @ 12:14 am

Food Intolerance And Low Carb Diets

Author: Benji Paras

Food intolerance is a pharmacological reaction to the consumption of certain foods. In many cases, food intolerance may appear to be the side-effect of pharmacological drugs, but in fact, it is generally caused by the consumption of natural foods products, additives, or the combination of both.

The majority of food products that commonly cause food intolerance are high-protein.

As a low carb dieter, you will have abnormally- high exposure to high-protein food, including dairy products and meats, which means your chance of experiencing food intolerances (if you have any) will increase.

In contrast to food allergies, which are easily identifiable because they affect an almost instantaneous reaction of hives, shock, and a range of other symptoms, food intolerances are somewhat harder to identify.

Food intolerance generally has milder affects, such as minor headaches, general irritation, upset stomach, restlessness, and a loss of sleep. This makes it much harder to identify and treat.

If you are new to your low carb diet, you may have already experienced some of these symptoms, but attributed them to something other than food intolerance.

If you have been exhibiting these symptoms for less than three days into your low carb diet, they are more than likely related to withdrawals from caffeine or carbohydrates. They could also be related to dehydration. Conversely, if you have been exhibiting them for more than three days, they are more than likely the result of a food intolerance.

You should immediately start the process of weeding out foods that could be causing the intolerance.

The following is a list of foods you may be consuming on your low carb diet that are likely perpetrators: eggs, nuts, milk, fish, shellfish, pork, bacon, chicken, cheese, and tomatoes.

You should try to remove one of these from your low carb diet at a time. If you cannot solve your intolerance problem within a week, it would be wise to get off of your low carb diet and contact a physician to determine the source of your intolerance.

This article is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as substitute for medical advice. Before embarking on any diet or fitness program, consult your physician.

About the Author

Benji Paras runs http://www.list-of-low-carb-food.com, specializing in the benefits of the low-carb lifestyle. The site contains a treasure trove of information for losing weight, and includes a list of low carb foods along with informative articles and the latest low-carb headlines.

11/4/2005

Glycemic Index,a magic weight loss solution or a soap bubble ready to burst?

Filed under: — wordpress @ 12:07 am

Glycemic Index,a magic weight loss solution or a soap bubble ready to burst?

Author: Rajesh Shetty.

Glycemic index ranks different carbohydrate foods depending on their potential to raise blood glucose levels.

The ranking is on a scale from 0 to 100.Higher the Glycemic index, higher is the particular carbohydrates ability to effect a spike(rise) in blood glucose levels.

Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have benefits for health.

Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2).

This is as far as it goes about the use of glycemic index for weight loss.

Popular diet books like the south beach diet are founded on the premise that the spike in blood glucose levels leads to more hunger and subsequent weight gain, whereas the foods with low GI have a tendency to delay the haunger or lower appetite, leading to weight loss, which is too simplistic, but ,not quite supported by scientific evidence.

Read this excerpt taken from WebMD:

Experts Take On the Glycemic Index

It sounds like a magic formula for dieters –but experts have long been saying there’s no such thing. “If you don’t have peaks and valleys in your glucose level then hunger should be kept at bay,” says Kathleen Zellman, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). “However, it’s not that simple. It’s also affected by meal size, whether there’s any fat in the meal, and overall health status.”

“Glycemic index looks at individual foods – not how that food might interact with another,” says Connie Diekman, RD, an ADA spokesperson in St. Louis, Missouri. “If you eat a high glycemic index food with a protein, for example, it might be absorbed more slowly. … That’s the hang-up with glycemic index. Very few people will sit down and eat one high glycemic index food and then another. It’s meals that we eat.”

Michael Jensen, MD, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says it’s never been proven that high insulin levels – which result when a high glycemic index food is eaten – mean increased hunger. “When [you] work with patients who get real hungry between meals, you have to try a couple of different things. I’m not sure if it’s glycemic index, the bulk of food, the content of food that gives [the sense of fullness] … I also have them consider adding protein and modest amounts of fat to decrease overeating between meals.”

All the researchers are unanimous in that, it’s the fiber content of the diet that is more important for controlling diabetes and weight gain than the Glycemic Index.Read the exerpts of a new research document from WebMD,….

New research shows that when it comes to type 2 diabetes, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Tufts University researchers report that eating whole-grain foods, especially fiber-rich cereals, appears to improve insulin sensitivity and lower the risk of the metabolic syndrome.

Whole-grain foods have already been found to help protect against heart disease and certain cancers, and the newly published study is one of several that indicates there is a protective role for whole grains against a constellation of major risk factors that lead to metabolic syndrome – a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the development of type 2 diabetes.

“Unless you’re a diabetic, glycemic index may not be all that important,” says Jack Alhadeff, PhD, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. , who adds that since most of us eat a variety of foods in a meal, the accuracy of the index can be questionable.

But what about the notion that glucose from high-index foods is more likely to be stored as fat?

“The scientific literature is very clear that eating carbohydrates that are embedded in plant cellulose – complex carbohydrates – is always better,” says Nagi Kumar, PhD, director of clinical nutrition at the Moffitt Cancer Center and professor of human nutrition at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “But the reasons it is better are not because it somehow lessens or alters fat storage.”

All this leads one to conclude that the importance of fiber is far more that Glycemic index for dieters. The weight loss programs like many low carb diets and the popular south beach diet are only trying to exploit the limited scientific data on Glycemic Index to sell their diet wares.

A diet rich in fibre has many advantages like:

Fiber can help you avoid overeating. It has been found that fiber can bind with cholesterol in the digestive tract, thus lowering blood cholesterol.

Another important point about fiber-rich foods is that they tend to be loaded with phytochemicals that appear to have anticancer functions,along with these benefits and its role in weight maintenance, fiber helps prevent the following:

Constipation Hemorrhoids Appendicitis Diverticulosis – an intestinal disease where pockets, which can become infected, develop in the intestinal lining.

A diet program which recommends fiber rich foods and is loaded with healthy and natural weight loss alternatives to the foods recommended by the fad diets is the only alternative to safe and sure weight loss.

You can get more cutting edge fat burning secrets in my Free 5day email ecourse by subscribing to my newsletter at: www.eweightlosstips.com/weightlossltr.htm

About the Author

Expert in weight loss principles of Ayurveda Medical Science
and Author of the Best selling book,
“Proven weight loss secrets revealed".
http://www.eweightlosstips.com/weightlossltr.htm

11/2/2005

Can I Eat Sugar Alcohols On My Low Carb Diet?

Filed under: — wordpress @ 1:17 am

Can I Eat Sugar Alcohols On My Low Carb Diet?

Author: Benji Paras

“Polyols” or sugar alcohols are a number of different carbohydrates that are neither sugars nor alcohols–and are commonly used as artificial sweeteners in a range of products, from ice cream to chewing gum.

While these tasty sweeteners appear to be the perfect solution for both low-carb dieters and low-carb food producers, recent studies of sugar alcohols have painted a somewhat different picture.

To begin with, sugar alcohols are not entirely carb-free. Most studies have indicated that sugar alcohols contain approximately 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of calories as sugar–and in the form of carbohydrates.

In addition, studies have shown that sugar alcohols are absorbed by the small intestine, but the process is slower and fractured. This affects a rise in blood sugar, but again is smaller and more gradual than with sugar–and the rise tends to vary from person to person.

Sugar alcohols also have a laxative effect on some consumers. Since they are only partially absorbed, they bring water into the bowel–and undigested carbs into the colon, creating gas and bloating as the carbs are acted on by bacteria.

Over-consumption of sugar alcohols can often have an adverse effect on low carb dieters, even when they can digest them properly. Sugar alcohols can trigger cravings in low carb dieters, causing them to deviate from dietary restrictions.

In addition, sugar alcohols can often cause low carb dieters to choose an unhealthy diet of sweets, which appear to be carb-free, over a varied diet that includes essential nutrients.

If you are currently on a low carb diet and want to mix sugar alcohol products into your diet, it is very important that you monitor your total sugar alcohol intake–and keep it at a minimum while consuming a healthy diet.

One easy way to do this is to determine the total amount of carbs in sugar alcohol products you are consuming. You can do this by subtracting the amount of fat and protein calories per serving from the total amount of calories per serving. Simply multiply the grams of protein by four and the grams of fat by nine. Now subtract the sum of the two from the total amount of calories per serving.

Using these figures, you can determine whether or not carbs are being “hidden” in “carb free” sugar alcohol products you consume, allowing you to make a better-informed decision that fits the prescriptions of your low-carb diet.

About the Author

Benji Paras runs http://www.list-of-low-carb-food.com, specializing in the benefits of the low-carb lifestyle. The site contains a treasure trove of information for losing weight, and includes a list of low carb foods along with informative articles and the latest low-carb headlines.

Powered by WordPress