The Truth About Low Carb Dieting
 by: Gary Matthews

Every day you walk down the street it is becoming more and more apparent that the average person is becoming larger and this trend has escalated over recent years. Why are they getting fatter? Here are some reasons…

Being overweight, or obese, has now moved from a social nuisance and domestic embarrassment to an official disease. The American Heart Association has announced obesity is a major risk for heart disease.

Obesity itself has become a major and dangerous epidemic. More than 70% of US adults are overweight and that figure is rapidly increasing.

What do most people do to rid their body of unwanted fat? They diet! Dieting is now a trillion dollar industry and just about every month a new diet is announced. If you do have weight problems how do you find a diet that is safe, effective and sustainable?

What you do is try to find a diet that includes a variety of foods that you can live with comfortably. You have to take a long-term view and include plenty of exercise. A good diet is one that supplies all of the essential vitamins and minerals, and is not high in fat or protein.

Research on people, who have successfully lost a lot of weight and kept it off long term, shows that the vast majority succeeded by consuming a low fat diet high in fibre coupled with strength training and cardiovascular activity.

Be wary of diets that

Ban a specific food group
Promise a quick fix
Replace a balanced meal with a drink or a snack bar
Make recommendations based on single studies
Make recommendations to help sell a single product

Excess weight does not appear overnight and nor will it disappear overnight! In fact the faster you lose weight, the more likely you are to pile the pounds back on. Seek out a program that will help you maintain long-term body fat losses by providing attainable solutions such as a program that promotes lifestyle changes, healthy eating and regular exercise.

Regular exercise is important (i.e. strength training) as it burns fat, boosts your metabolism and also increases your energy levels. Dietary changes can lead to initial weight loss, but this is only for the short term. Exercise is essential for maintaining weight loss for the long term.

Now let’s take a closer look at what food is made up of and then you will have a good idea of what to look for in your daily eating plan. Firstly we need a wide range of nutrients to perform various functions for a healthy life.

These nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins and fat and are all present in the food we eat on a daily basis.

The foods containing these nutrients are cereals, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fruits, milk products and flesh foods (fish, meat and poultry).

We need all these nutrients to live and thrive and since we receive them through the food we eat, our food must be well balanced and in the proper proportions. Food is a fuel; the body requires this fuel for energy, which is measured in fats, carbohydrate and protein.

Each of these nutrients provides different amounts of energy and these are measured in calories.

Nutrient Calories per Gram

Carbohydrate 4

Protein 4

Fat 9

Let’s look at carbohydrates first, carbohydrates supply energy for our body, they provide fibre for the prevention of disease and taste and texture to food. They are found in cereals, potatoes, fruits and vegetables.

They come in two basic forms, simple and complex. Simple carbs are easily identified by their taste and are sweet. Complex carbs, such as potatoes are pleasant to the taste buds, but are not sweet.

They are then divided into two groups, high fibre and low fibre.

High-fibre foods are the healthiest choices for nutrition and the intake of these foods is associated with a lower incidence of cancer and diabetes. Carbohydrates supply the sort of calories easily burned during cardiovascular exercise.

They are often wrongly feared and considered fattening, but the most important factor in weight control is balancing the energy (calories) consumed.

Please remember:

Energy In is more than Energy Out = Weight gain

Energy In is equal to Energy Out = Weight maintenance

Energy In is less than Energy Out = Weight loss

Different foods affect the ability to exercise at different levels. High levels of exercise (cardio and strength training) require carbohydrate as a fuel source; at lower levels it is fat.

A lack of carbohydrate in the diet will lead to fatigue, the inability to exercise effectively, and excess fat consumption. When our food is digested, carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars.

These sugars are absorbed by the body and used by the muscles or stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. As our glycogen storage capacity is limited, carbohydrate needs to be continually topped up by the foods we eat.

But the Body has an Unlimited Storage Capacity for Fat!

The average person is extremely vulnerable to fad diets and extreme dieting behaviours. The low carbohydrate diet is one of the latest eating plans to hit the streets. This current diet craze is very popular but there are safer and more effective methods based on scientific research, to reduce body fat levels.

Low Carbohydrate Dieting is Simply Wrong

Why is this? Just as a car runs better on a certain fuel, so does the human body.

Unfortunately the latest low-carbohydrate fad diets are not the fuel mix the human body was designed to run on.

Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, whereas fats contain 9 calories per gram. For weight loss, the priority is to decrease total calorie intake. Reducing the amount of fat in the diet will make the biggest difference in reducing total daily calorie intake and hence weight loss.

Carbohydrate intake is not fattening.

Excess calorie intake is fattening.

If you aren’t having enough carbohydrates in your diet you will experience:

Fatigue due to low blood sugar levels inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals
Low fibre intake, which may affect bowel movements
‘Bad’ breath due to the breakdown products of fats (called ketones)

The bottom line for carbohydrates and weight loss is to:

Try to balance carbohydrate intake with activity levels
Maintain energy levels by eating carbohydrate rich foods on a regular basis
Carbohydrate rich foods are normally low in fat and nutrient-rich

A real weight loss program includes all the food groups, strength training, and low-level aerobics, a slight decrease in your daily calorie levels and a program that can be followed for life.

Above all try to achieve a balanced diet, eating a balanced variety of foods will help you to feel great every day, ensure better long-term health and improve weight control.

About The Author

Gary Matthews has been a gym instructor for over twenty years. He has trained people from athletes to bodybuilders. His professional career began in the Royal Australian Air Force where he was employed as a Fitness Instructor. His duties consisted of training recruits in various disciplines including strength training and conditioning techniques.

This trainer from “down under” believes in using scientific principles for training. Gary says that “as in life, in training: the simplest is always the best.” He believes in strength training programs that are short and simple, but with maximum intensity.

Gary is the author of several ebooks, including “Maximum Weight Loss in Ten Weeks” - the complete ebook and time-saving solution for burning away unwanted fat, and “Maximum Weight Gain in Ten Weeks” - easy-to-use and follow techniques that serve as a guide to muscle growth without having to “live in the gym”.

Visit Gary’s website at http://www.maximumfitness.com/

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Five Appetite Control Foods That Suppress Cravings Without Adding Calories
 by: Mike Adams

There is a reality about weight loss that people need to be aware of. Losing weight requires you to feel hungry from time to time. There is no way to lose weight without feeling some degree of hunger. Believe me, I have exhaustively explored this issue. I have tried appetite suppressants. I have tried food combinations. I have tried meal-timing strategies. I have tried just about everything natural under the sun to eliminate those hunger pangs and food cravings that you get when you are attempting to lose weight and there is nothing that completely eliminates those cravings. Hoodia gordonii helps, as I’ve stated in previous articles, but it by no means turns off your hunger like a light switch.

There are many strategies that help reduce hunger: avoiding refined carbohydrates, getting plenty of natural sunlight on your skin, drinking large amounts of water on a regular basis, and getting plenty of fiber in your diet. But there is nothing that absolutely eliminates hunger. The bottom line is that if you are going to lose weight, you are going to experience hunger at one time or another. This is especially true if you, like me, engage in strength training. Nothing gets your appetite whipped into a fury like the leg press.

The key in all this is realizing there’s nothing wrong with experiencing hunger from time to time. It’s a normal human response to a decrease in your consumption of calories. The problem that most people encounter when they feel hungry is they feel it’s some sort of emergency. It feels like they are dying or wasting away when, in fact, the body is just signaling that it doesn’t have enough calories to add new fat to the fat stores it’s already carrying around. The first feelings of hunger are really more of a false alarm than anything to be concerned about. At least from a logical point of view. (But when you feel like you’re starving, logic goes out the window, right?)

A person who is aiming for a low percentage of body fat learns to manage their hunger so that it becomes something they can live with. In my own experience with losing weight — and remember, I dropped 50 pounds of body fat using absolutely no drugs or pharmaceuticals of any kind — I found that there are several “lifesaving” foods and beverages you can turn to when you are feeling intense hunger pains but you don’t want to consume foods that add significant calories to your daily intake.

These foods and drinks are what I call emergency appetite control foods. What these foods and beverages have in common is that they make your stomach feel like it’s full of calorie-rich foods. But in reality, you are filling your stomach with foods that contain almost no calories or carbohydrates. This way, even though your stomach is full, you are not adding calories to your intake. But your body is temporarily fooled into thinking you’ve just woofed down a triple-plate buffet.

In other words, if you eat two cups of cashews versus two cups of cabbage, your body can’t really tell the difference for the first few minutes. Your stomach will turn off the hunger signals thinking you have eaten a large quantity of food regardless of whether you are eating cabbage or cashews, but in fact the cabbage may only contain 20 calories while the cashews contain as much as 900 or even 1000 calories. Two cups of cashews provides probably half the calories you need for the entire day, whereas two cups of cabbage provides virtually no calories whatsoever. You burn off the cabbage just digesting it. (Raw cabbage is, in fact, an outright cure for ulcers. But that’s another article…)

Emergency appetite control food #1 Fresh drinking water. That’s right: water is a powerful appetite suppressant and if you drink an 8-ounce glass of water when you first start feeling hungry, you will find that it suppresses your appetite in nearly every case. If you just drink a full glass of water and have the discipline to wait 10 minutes, you will find that your appetite is either completely gone or dramatically reduced.

Your next choice, if water does not do the trick for you, is to purchase a 32-ounce quart of natural, organic vegetable broth. You can get organic vegetable broth from Trader Joe’s, health food stores, or even many of the finer grocery stores that have a natural health section. The key is to get organic vegetable broth that does not contain excitotoxins. These are ingredients that cause neurological disorders because they overexcite and harm nerve cells. Those ingredients are MSG, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, and other similar ingredients. Warning: watch out for broth products made by Kitchen Basics. They claim their products don’t contain MSG or yeast extract, but when I tried their product, I experienced a massive “MSG headache” that tells me it contains free glutamic acid that isn’t listed on the label. (I’m very sensitive to MSG.) The brand of broth I buy is Trade Joe’s house brand, which does not contain free glutamic acid.

You can also choose organic chicken broth if you prefer the flavor of chicken. Once you have that, simply empty the entire quart into a very large bowl, heat it up and eat it like soup. You will probably be unable to get through the entire bowl without feeling full. And how many calories have you consumed? Not 900 like you get in two cups of cashews or 1200 like in a big Mac, not even 300 calories like you get from a typical protein bar, instead you get 20 calories only. That’s right: you can feel full on 20 calories by drinking an entire quart of organic vegetable broth.

Emergency appetite control food #2 The next best strategy is to turn to green vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, bokchoy, and other leafy vegetables. They have so few calories that in my own diet, I don’t even count them. That’s right: I allow myself to eat an unlimited quantity of any green leafy vegetables without even recording the number of calories I have consumed. In my book, they are “free” foods.

It takes just as many calories for your body to digest them as you get out of the foods themselves. And yet at the same time, they fill your stomach and make you feel full, turning off the hunger signals in your brain. You may have also heard these called “negative calorie foods.”

You can consume these green leafy vegetables in a couple of ways. Most people don’t like to eat them plain. Instead, you can fill up a very large bowl (I am talking about something the size of a family dinner salad bowl) with lettuce and salad greens, then add only 100 calories worth of salad dressing. You will want to find some of the lower calorie salad dressings out there, and of course you want to avoid MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, and other ingredients in salad dressings. There are many very good salad dressings that only have 25 calories per tablespoon. Using those dressings, you can put four tablespoons of salad dressing on your salad and start munching away. In a few minutes, you will feel quite full and yet will have only consumed 100 calories that count. Remember the calories for the green leafy vegetables are free. You only count the calories of the salad dressing itself. This is an excellent way to fill your stomach and turn off your hunger signals while only giving yourself 100 calories.

Another strategy that uses green leafy vegetables is to stir fry them in a pan with no oils whatsoever. Just use water and flavoring such as onions, garlic and soy sauce. Simply stir fry all the green vegetables you want, add the spices and eat it. I do not count the calories in onions or garlic either, nor do I count the calories in soy sauce since none of these spices have very high calorie density. As a result, that entire meal goes in your stomach and counts for zero calories. Once again, it’s a great way to curb you appetite without consuming large quantities of calorie rich food.

Emergency appetite control food #3 This is one of my favorites: I call it my “instant banana pudding” recipe, but of course, it’s nothing at all like store-bought pudding. You’ll need a blender for this one.

Add a quart of soy milk to the blender, then a couple of scoops of unsweetened banana-flavored simply natural spirutein soy protein powder. (Sources are listed in the downloadable book, “Secret Sources.” Add stevia powder as the sweetener. I also toss in some supergreens powders, but you may want to avoid that at first, since it’s an acquired taste (and it turns your banana pudding green).

If you were to blend this up, you’d have a banana-flavored soy protein shake. But we’re not done yet: while the blender is running, put in about 1/2 tablespoon of guar gum powder, plus another 1/2 tablespoon of xanthan gum powder. These are thickeners. Within seconds, your blender will start whining and the whole mixture will attain the consistency of pudding. Now just pour it into a bowl and eat it like banana pudding! The mixture has near-zero carbs, no sugars, and is high in soy protein. Plus, it tastes great and fills you up fast. This is my favorite choice for a late-night appetite emergency.

You can get guar gum and xanthan gum at a health food store, or order online at a vitamin supplier.

Emergency appetite control food #4 The next food is pickles. That’s right, pickles. But I am not talking about the pickles you find at a regular grocery store. Nearly all pickles you find in grocery stores contain artificial food coloring. They have a yellowish tint to them that has been added through the use of chemical colors. This is not a natural ingredient and so it is something you want to avoid purchasing. Instead, you want to buy completely natural pickles like the ones you get at Trader Joe’s that are made without artificial colors or flavors and that have an extremely low calorie count as well. An entire jar of pickles may give you only 50 calories or so and yet they can be quite satisfying and take up a considerable amount of space in your stomach, thereby turning off your appetite cravings.

Just don’t buy pickles containing any added sugars or artificial colors. Some pickles are, believe it or not, loaded with sugar. They’re more like candied cucumbers than pickles. Read the ingredients labels to be sure what you’re getting.

By the way, while you’re eating pickles, it’s an excellent time to take some calcium and mineral supplements, too. The acidity of the pickles will accelerate the absorption of calcium.

Emergency appetite control food #5 Here’s an easy one: apples. Yep, apples. Eat the largest apple you can find. Sure, you’ll get some calories and some carbs, but the apple will fill you up for quite a while, and that will stop you from eating far more calorie-dense foods.

Let me explain why this is such an effective strategy. If you’re crazy hungry, it’s very easy to reach for some processed foods (bag of chips, for example) and start munching away until you’ve consumed 1000 calories or more. And that’s about half the total calories you need for the entire day!

But I dare you to try to eat 1000 calories worth of apples. It’s impossible. You’ll fill up even before reaching 400 calories, probably. Apples are great appetite suppressing foods because the bulky fiber fills up your stomach and turns off your appetite control hormones before you overeat. Plus, apples contain various phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals. They’re even a decent source of folic acid.

How to further suppress your appetite One more supplementary strategy to all of this is that you can multiply the appetite suppressing effects of all foods by swallowing a couple of fiber tablets before you begin eating. Fiber tablets or capsules would include psyllium husk, glucomannan, oat bran fiber, apple pectin fiber, or other natural fibers. You can find fiber supplements at any health food store. Be careful to watch the dosage of the fiber and drink plenty of water as you take these pills because without adequate water, they can gum up in your digestive tract and in extreme cases, they can block your digestive tract. So, you want to drink plenty of water with them.

By consuming both the fiber and the water before you start eating, you’ve already significantly turned off your appetite. Then by consuming these extremely low caloric density foods and beverages, you will further suppress your appetite. You can get an entire meal into your stomach for 100 calories or less and you can trick your brain into thinking you consumed an all-you-can-eat buffet.

But there’s a catch to all this: in about an hour or so, your body will figure out that there isn’t much energy in the food you’ve consumed. Your hunger will begin to return, but at least you delayed the onset of that hunger by an hour or more. If you combine this with physical exercise, you can delay it even further because the very act of exercising releases stored body fat and converts it back into blood sugar, which raises your blood sugar level and suppresses your appetite cravings.

You can also extend the effect of this by taking appetite suppressant supplements. Hoodia gordonii is one I’ve reviewed quite extensively, and it is currently increasing in popularity. My own experience is that hoodia tincture can help, but even hoodia doesn’t shut off appetite completely.

Also, you don’t want to starve yourself by eating these 100-calorie meals all day long. Remember, starvation is the fastest way to train your body to hold on to body fat. These are just items to get you past a difficult time when your appetite is unbearably intense.

Each day, you still need to get nutrition into your body in the form of whole foods and whole food supplements. The kind of meals I consume are soups made with quinoa, salads with low-calorie dressing, raw fruits and nuts, or avocado shakes made by blending avocado with soy milk and stevia. Of course, I also consume my superfood shakes on a regular basis. They are made from superfoods green powders such as Berry Green or The Ultimate Meal.

Overall, keep in mind that weight loss takes effort. You will experience moments of intense hunger, and these low-calorie, filling foods are one excellent way to get through a difficult time without packing on the pounds.

Copyright 2006 Truth Publishing

About The Author

Mike Adams, “The Health Ranger,” is chief contributor and editor of the NewsTarget Network, a leading independent news source for natural health, nutrition, medicine and other wellness topics. NewsTarget and Webseed.com are leading information resources for consumers seeking non-corrupted information on natural health and nutrition. Other articles can be found easily at http://www.newstarget.com.

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The truth of the substance is that Hoodia mass loss craze is enchanting the earth by blizzard. Hoodia is greatly more than a mass loss key. This editorial will disclose some appealing truths regarding the Hoodia Gordonii aromatic plant that is a stake you do not make out.

Truth one: even though public say this aromatic plant is a cactus it is, in truth, a tender.

Truth two: various citizens consider that Hoodia is in fact a medicine but it is merely an aromatic plant.

Truth three: Only creations from this herb comprise craving suppressant potentials.

Truth four: It exertions to create your mind inform you that you sense complete though you have not consumed.

Truth five: It will labor rapidly with several people but sluggish mass loss outcomes with other persons.

Truth six: It is entirely secure without having a reactions & side effects.

Truth seven: It has been used as a craving suppressant for years by Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert to fight dehydration and starvation when hunting.

Truth eight: Some populace the craving suppressant potential of Hoodia with twenty min of captivating it.

Truth nine: Hoodia is as well a great frame of mind enhancer.

As happens with numerous produces that are well established in the market, there are simulations obtainable on net so be certain that it produces, that you are purchasing are unadulterated Hoodia and not fake Hoodia simulation produces.

Along with that peoples have some ordinary fallacy that Hoodia Gordonii is an aromatic plant, Hoodia Gordonii is in fact a plant. It is division of the cactus family unit of luscious. Fraction of the awareness that it is an aromatic plant is as the enhancement is usually vended in stores that vend natural enhancements.

There are about thirty kinds of aromatic plants in the planet; Hoodia aromatic plants are very widespread in Mexico. This supplement is inhabitant to S.Africa is the solitary selection that holds the particle P57; this is the lively component that organizes craving. There are several corporations vending Hoodia manufactured goods. These manufactured goods are substandard in class and will not offer you the preferred results you seem for. The top upshots arrive from produces from the unadulterated Hoodia extort. Hoodia extort is awfully costly and this is the cause several corporations attempt to unite it with other inexpensive aromatic plants. You must merely think buying hundred percent unadulterated Hoodia produces.

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Weight Loss Exercise - A Great Start
 by: Audrey Overman

I realize this sounds like a broken record, but if you want to loose weight and keep it off then you need weight loss exercise as part of your routine! Whether you think “but I don’t want to exercise, I hate exercise, I don’t need to exercise”… or whatever other excuse you might have, the fact is weight loss exercise is the key to success.

The bottom line is you can join whatever fad diet you want.. if you do not start a weight loss exercise routine then your chances of successful weight loss will be dropped dramatically. Sure you will loose some weight, after all that is achieved simply by consuming less calories then your body requires to function. The problem is simply starving your body causes it to go into a fasting state. This is a defensive move that your body takes to help you survive, what happens is your metabolism slows down which in turn gives you a felling a fatigue plus it tries to store up extra fat reserves.

This is why weight loss exercise is so important!

Now you might be thinking, will not my body do that even if I am working out?

Think about this for a second, say you consume 3000 calories a day and your body burns 2200 with your everyday activities, if you suddenly cut those calories to below 2200 and do not start any weight loss exercise program then your body simply resorts to a fasting state and tries to protect your body from starvation. Now you will loose fat, however your body will also loose muscle as it tries to fill in those calories that you are not taking in… and worse of all you will feel hungry, lethargic and miserable. Your mouth will be drooling for food and you will feel like crap

Ok so what does weight loss exercise have to do with this?

Exercise causes your body to burn calories; it also increases your energy levels. So instead of starving yourself thin, keep eating the same amount of calories you are currently eating and instead increase your calorie burning to overtake your consuming. Now that might sound hypocritical because would you not still be starving yourself. Simply no… your muscles will be getting worked, your heart will be pumping and your body will become an efficient calorie burning machine. Once you start exercising you will find that you will want to start eating healthier and you will start eating foods that are not empty calories… that is foods with high calories and fill the gap for only short periods of time.

However, this is not a completely true statement… the reason is because everyone is different. So if you start an exercise routine and still feel you are ravenous for junk food, then intervention is needed. For some this could be as simple as taking a fiber supplement that expands and fills the gap others might try different appetite suppressants that fool the body into not feeling hungry. The point is, start a weight loss exercise program and listen to your body. If supplements are needed in conjunction with a weight loss exercise routine, then try them, but please don’t try just starving yourself thin.

About The Author

Audrey Overman

Stop Spending Your Money on Products that just Do Not Work! Discover Hoodia Gordonii, an Amazing Herbal Appetite Suppressant that Kills Your Appetite, Ups Your Mood and Gives You Waves Upon Waves of Energy! http://www.pure-hoodia-diet-pills.info

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Once people start thinking of losing weight, they usually try to search through the internet. And it is really overwhelming to know that there are lots of hoodia gordonii diet pills that are really effective. As you start searching you will be surprised that there are hundreds of hoodia supplements that are readily available out in the market and online.

With this you will feel a little bit confused in deciding which one really gives you the best result. You need to be guided properly in order to choose the right and effective diet pills to arrive as the desirable outcome.

Hoodia comes from hoodia gordonii cactus plant in south Africa. It has been used by African tribesmen to help them suppressed their appetite when they are in hunting. It is usually found in the Kalahari Desert.

The gordonii thing about this hoodia gordonii diet pill is that it comes from herb and natural re4sources unlike those other diet pills that are purely chemicals. This is why there are a lot of pharmaceuticals who invest millions of dollars to turn it into a product. And since it is natural supplement, it is perfectly too safe and there are no adverse side effects compared to other type of diet pills.

The gordonii variation of the hoodia plant extract has appetite suppressant capabilities. It tricks the brain in thinking that you are full and therefore it will not send signal to the stomach to let it know that you are hungry. The overall effect of this is that you will have a reduced in interest in food and you will be easily full.

But there are still people who doubt about the affectivity of the hoodia gordonii diet pills. But as you hear other saying it is really effective for as long as you know which one to take. There are lots of hoodia gordonii diet pills out in the market. You just have to know which one will give you the best effect. But you have to keep in mind that results may vary so you have to be sure that you are using the one that is right for your body chemistry.

You have to keep in mind that you should not depend on Hoodia Gordonii diet pills alone in order to lose weight. You have to pair it with proper exercise to ensure your body well-being. Exercise plus the right diet pills can help you a lot in losing weight.

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Hoodia Gordonni is gaining popularity as a natural appetite suppressant due to the fact that it has proven effective to suppress hunger and the desire to eat. There are so many manufacturers and online distributor of Hoodia Gordonni nowadays that you will have difficulties in distinguishing who are the companies that are legitimate and who are the companies that are selling fake products.

The existence of Hoodia Gordonni in the market gave chance to the people to have an access to this native herb from Africa. It is proven effective by the indigenous people there, as they have been using this herb for a long time. But due to the exploitation of different companies to this plant, the government of South Africa had already passed a law declaring this plant as an endangered plant, giving permission only to certain companies to grow and cultivate this plant.

By using Hoodia Gordonni, you will see that your desire to eat will be lessen therefore in effect, you will lose some weight in the long run. This is proven effective as there are many people around the world are already using it and already saw the miracles of this genius herb. No doubt that the reason why it already gained popularity is due to the fact that people already saw its potentials and its effect to our body.

Other research had concluded that it has positive effects on our body. It also strengthens our cardio vascular health making our heart stronger and healthier. This is a great additional benefit of this herb because while you are losing some weight, you are sure that you will still have a healthy body.

Hoodia Gordonni is considered nowadays as a genius herb that can give you the body that you want. Try it now for you to see the amazing effects of this plant!

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Because people in the weight loss niche are fond of making comparisons, the acai berry diet has already had more than its fair share of comparisons to some of the other majorly popular products in the online weight loss world.

 

An example of such a product is Hoodia. In fact, the disappointment that some have felt with Hoodia have made them far more wary of the acai diet, in some cases to the point of not even being willing to try the product out.

 

While there is nothing wrong with a health sense of suspicion when it comes to new products, thinking that the acai berry and Hoodia are anything alike is just a sign of not knowing either one. The only thing they share in common is their popularity.

 

For example, the acai berry diet is one of the most respected online weight loss diets around. It has peer-reviewed scientific literature backing it up and it has the goodwill of many people that have tried the product out as well. Hoodia has worked for some people, but it has not worked for many as well. It also lacks a body of mainstream scientific literature to back it up, which puts the advantage squarely in the court of the acai diet as far as such things are concerned.

 

Another difference between the two has to do with the presentation. When Hoodia is presented, it is as a miracle drug that can cure everything. The original presentation of the acai diet was through the consumption of fruit berries. This, just through common sense, should be enough to illustrate how different the two approaches to weight loss actually are.

 

In the end, the acai berry is nothing like the Hoodia diet. The former is a serious diet plan that can help you achieve your weight loss goals now and the latter is a hyped up diet that seems to fail as often as it works. Results in both categories speak for the product in question and the acai berry diet has some amazing results to back up all of the claims that are made about the product.

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When we say Hoodia Products, the implied understanding is of Hoodia Gordonii as an aid in weight-loss programs as an appetite suppressant. But none of the Hoodia Products on the market today can be labeled as an appetite suppressant. If they do so, they will be liable for legal action for patent violation by the only company that can make that claim-Phytopharm. So they just print 100% Hoodia and trust that customers will understand.

CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) of South Africa did a 30-year study of Hoodia, after it found that the San tribe, living on the fringes of Kalahari Desert, used the plant as a hunger suppressant. They isolated the active molecule and named it P 57. CSIR licensed British company Phytopharm to test, develop and market P 57 as a weight loss aid. Phytopharm failed in its attempt to produce P57 synthetically while working with American MNC Pfizer. Most of the new farms to grow Hoodia are tied up by Phytopharm. Phytopharm also has an agreement with Unilever, a 50-billion-dollar company, to test and market it as a dietary supplement. They expect Hoodia shakes or bars to be put on the supermarket shelf by 2008.

Dieting being a 40-billion-dollar industry, and Hoodia being viewed as a sure thing without any side effects, several companies have got into the act. Some may be genuine while others may be spurious. It is a difficult call. They all claim that their suppliers of the plant are approved by the South African government.

Pure Hoodia produces 400mg capsules and advises customers to take 1-2 capsules prior to every meal. Hoodoba Company markets Hoodia Gordonii in different sizes. They include Hoododa diet pills, Hoodoba pure, Hoodoba hunger block plus, Super Slim 400 Hoodia burn –750mg tablet and Hoodoba Tincture.

Another product is Hoodia Trim-Fast, which makes the claim that it is the purest Hoodia Gordonii in the market. There is the 50 mg ‘Hoodia diet gum,” which claims to stop the between-meals snacking habit. This is marketed by Pure Herbal, which also sells “Chia Bat Blaster plus” and “Hoodia One Shot.” ‘Hoodia Products’ supplies capsules named Power Slim 500.

But discerning customers may have to wait until 2008.

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Cybill Shepherd and the Irritable Bowel
 by: Sophie Lee

Cybill Shepherd has revealed that she suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The star of Moonlighting and Taxi Driver says that she has struggled with her symptoms for many years, and is now hoping to raise awareness of IBS and encourage sufferers to talk more openly with their doctors.

She says: “For years I have been battling recurring constipation, abdominal pain and bloating. Go ahead and laugh. We laugh because we’re embarrassed. In order for us to get relief, we have to talk about our symptoms and stop suffering in silence.

“I have tried nearly everything: changing my diet and watching what I ate. I exercised regularly. I even tried taking fiber supplements and over-the-counter laxatives, but nothing helped with all of my symptoms.

“My doctor used to tell me it was all emotional and psychological. So I got a new doctor. And a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. It was a huge relief to find out that my IBS with constipation was not all in my head and that it was a treatable medical condition. My doctor prescribed Zelnorm and it has provided me with relief for all my symptoms. In a lot of ways, I feel like my old self again.”

And good for her! I think that many IBS sufferers will identify with what she says: from embarrassing, unmentionable symptoms to doctors who insist that our bowel problems are really in our heads.

We may identify less with her relief from one drug alone (although the new drugs Zelnorm and Lotronex have had a good success rate in America), but we could all benefit from talking more openly with our doctors and looking for more solutions rather than accepting that IBS will rule our lives.

What Cybill Shepherd has done, though, is more than just draw attention to the fact that IBS sufferers need more help. Just by revealing that she is an IBS sufferer she has shown that IBS can affect anyone. Here is a glamorous, successful actress, someone who has kissed Bruce Willis and won three Golden Globes, saying that she has trouble with her bowels.

The power of celebrity

In these celebrity-soaked times it can be easy to forget that famous people sometimes achieve genuinely selfless and compassionate things just by using their fame. The greatest power that they have is the ability to shine the light of their stardom on an issue which would otherwise have been ignored.

And yes, the issue may sometimes be whatever cause is most fashionable at the time - “Gay whales against racism” as one satirist put it – or the one which helps the star more than the people (or whales) who are suffering. But sometimes there is no doubt that the celeb has really stuck their neck out to help others who are dealing with an issue that is considered untouchable.

And I can’t thing of a more untouchable issue than IBS, something that no-one in the public eye would readily admit to. Can you imagine Julia Roberts standing up and saying “Diarrhea is the blight of my life and hemorrhoids have driven me to drink”? No, of course not, because anything remotely digestive is considered highly embarrassing and distinctly unglamorous.

Cybill Shepherd’s admission, therefore, is to be applauded.

Dare not speak its name

Before Cybill Shepherd ‘came out’, the only famous person I knew of who had IBS was Kelsey Grammar’s wife (Kelsey Grammar used to play Frasier in the eponymous sitcom and Cheers).

Whoever you are, whatever your gender or problems or pain, it is vital that you find someone with whom you can identify. If you watch TV and never see a reflection of yourself, if you are a black man and only ever see white faces on screen, then you will start to feel alienated – and the same goes for people who are ill.

If you constantly hear about diabetes sufferers and asthma sufferers but never hear a word about bowels then you begin to learn that your illness is far less important than these other worthy causes.

We need more people in the public eye standing up and saying “Me too”, so that everyone can start to realise just how widespread a problem this is.

Don’t suffer in silence

But it’s not just about how other people perceive us, and how we perceive ourselves. It’s also about making sure that anyone who has bowel symptoms seeks help, and at the moment that just doesn’t happen.

There are still many people with bowel problems who are too ashamed or embarrassed to go to the doctor, and just soldier on through their lives when they could be receiving treatment. And there’s always the risk, of course, that their symptoms could actually be the result of something other than IBS that may get progressively worse if it is left alone.

IBS often goes undiagnosed for years, and even when we pluck up the courage to visit the doctor we can be so tongue-tied that we don’t properly describe our symptoms. If we could leave our embarrassment in the waiting room it would be so much better for our health.

Cybill Shepherd says: “My goal is to urge all women to get over their embarrassment, to stop suffering in silence the way I did, and to talk to their doctors. Although it may be uncomfortable, it is very important for you to be open and honest with your doctor about all your symptoms”.

And things can change. Just think about breast cancer, which is now regularly discussed on TV and radio, but 20 years ago was stuck behind a wall of silence where breasts were not to be mentioned, cancerous or not.

If we can just get a few more Cybill Shepherds to speak out for IBS then the celebrities of this world might start wearing ribbons for you and me, and leave the gay whales to fight for themselves.

About The Author

Sophie Lee has had IBS for 15 years and runs the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment website at http://www.irritable-bowel-syndrome.ws where you can read about all kinds of different IBS treatments.

sophie@ibstales.com

Technorati Tags: Hoodia

A lot of people are concerned about their weight and have tried several weight loss systems to no avail. Nowadays, there is an herb that is gaining popularity as an effective and safe way to lose weight. Hoodia Gordonii Plus is the herb that is gaining popularity and known to be an effective start in the weight loss program of many people.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus is known for its appetite suppressing properties. It also contains metabolism boosting properties which allow a person to lose weight safely. There are no reports of the herb containing harmful ingredients based on research. A lot of diet pills nowadays contain Hoodia Gordonii but not all of them have the Hoodia gordonii plus. The plus indicates that the herb is 100% pure South African Hoodia extracted from the Kalahari desert, where it was first observed to show its appetite suppressing properties.

Not all diet pills in the market contain Hoodia Gordonii Plus so if you are planning to buy one which contains pure Hoodia gordonii, ask for the C.I.T.E.S certificate and the Analytical report since these documents certify that indeed the hoodia found in their products are of the plus variety. Major pharmaceutical companies are unsuccessful in developing hoodia gordonii plus due to the contested claims from the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa. Thus, you will only be able to buy Hoodia from independent distributors.

Basically Hoodia gordonii works by tricking the brain that there is enough energy or blood sugar so that it won’t feel the need to eat. This will eventually shut down the hunger mechanism. To experience the full effect of the herb, it will normally take two weeks for it to kick in. But people who have been taking it notice the appetite suppressing properties within a day of taking it. However, when you take this supplement make sure that you drink a lot of water because it will also shut off the thirst mechanism as well.

Apart from Hoodia gordonii, effective weight loss pills also have magnesium, Garcinia Cambogia extract, and Green Tea as their ingredients. Magnesium is an important nutrient that is needed by the body for blood clotting, muscle relaxation and adenosine triphosphate manufacturing. Garcinia Cambogia is a natural extract known to prevent conversion of excess calories to body fat. It also suppresses appetite by synthesizing glycogen and signal’s the brain’s hunger center that an adequate amount of food has been eaten. This extract is indeed very effective in controlling obesity and lowering cholesterol levels. Green tea, on the other hand, is a power antioxidant which lowers cholesterol levels and prevents the abnormal formation of blood clots.

It is a great discovery for medicine that such herb exists but it shouldn’t be treated as a wonder pill. Its purpose is to aid those who have trouble losing weight but effective weight loss is generally a combination of exercise and good diet. As a reminder, you should consult your doctor before taking this supplement or any other supplement for that matter.

Technorati Tags: Hoodia