Posts Tagged ‘weight control’

Hoodia, The Wonder Drug

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Hoodia Gordonii is a flowering plant that belongs to the family Apocynaceae. It is a plant that reaches up to 1 meter in height. It has large purple or tan color flowers with strong smell. It is also called locally xhooba, Ghaap and khoba. It is also known as ‘Queen of the Namib’ and ‘Bushman’s Hat’. Hoodia is found naturally in Southern Africa in the semi-deserts of the countries of Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Angloa. It is particular to the Namib Desert.

Hoodia is traditionally eaten by the San Bushmen who live in the Kalahari desert. These nomadic people eat the Hoodia stem to suppress their hunger when they are out on long hunting trips. The plant was also used by them for hemorrhoids, severe abdominal cramps, indigestion, tuberculosis, diabetes and hypertension. There are some twenty varieties of Hoodia. Of them, it is only the Hoodia Gordonii variety that suppresses natural appetite. Hoodia plants flowers in about five years after which it can be harvested.

The fact that the San Bushmen used Hoodia was first noted and reported to the outside world by a Dutch anthropologist in 1937. A scientific examination of the plant of its reported benefits however commenced only in 1963 when the national laboratory of South Africa, CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) began to study the plant. Along with the scientists of a British company, Phytopharm, they isolated the active ingredient of Hoodia. This ingredient, a steroidal glycoside, was named p57. It soon began to be commercially exploited and sold worldwide through the health food stores. Sold in the capsule and liquid form, much has been written about it in h57 hoodia reviews. Hoodia is marketed as an appetite killer for those who wish to lose weight and control obesity. Hoodia is found to send signals to the brain than makes you feel that you are full.

The extensive harvesting of Hoodia has led Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to include it in the list in Appendix II. This means that Hoodia stands the risk of it being declared as an endangered species if its trade is not effectively controlled. It was listed in 2008 by the Botanic Gardens Conservation International as being threatened with extinction due to over-extraction. Hoodia is now cultivated in the government controlled farms in the Kalahari Desert. Royalty is also now shared with the San Bushmen.

Almost everything that we need is provided by nature. Thus, we should never abuse nature, instead we take care of it.

Other Tips: Try to make tasks on yourself, look at http://SPINNINGBIKES.US and discover help and advice all about (a) spinning bikes for sale.

5 Little Things to Easily Take Control of Your Diet

Friday, November 6th, 2009

If you’re serious about being healthy, the best way for you to do this is through a proper diet. Although nearly all of us tend to cheat from time to time because of our busy lifestyle, it’s best if you’re able to stick to some specific routines on a daily basis.

Should you deviate from your perfect healthy diet, these 5 steps will prevent your body from going too far from your ideal weight and get you back on track.

1. Organic fruit. At least 2 servings of fruit should be consumed daily. You can also eat fruits by making a smoothie and breaking it into 2 parts, so you have one already made for later. Not only is it delicious, it will help you stay on track.

2. Organic veggies. We all need to consume veggies on a daily basis. Fiber is taken in from vegetables so this helps your body in lots of other areas.

If you have trouble eating veggies, a good way to get them into your diet is to use some leafy green veggies, add them to your smoothie as usual. You’d be amazed how tasty this really is.

3. Sprouting is a very simple process. Just get some seeds which you can germinate, like wheat berries or lentils, place them in a jar to soak for several hours, then drain the water off.

Lightly wet them 2 times per day and they will germinate fairly quickly. Get some of these whenever you feel hungry for their marvelous health benefits.

4. Aside from fish and meat, taking flaxseed oil on a daily basis is a great way to get Omega 3 fatty acids. When this becomes a part of your daily life, you will be amazed to note that it makes so much difference in the way you feel and your health.

5. Water. While not a food, it’s something we all need and a lot of us don’t get enough. Consume half of your body weight everyday in ounces along with a pinch of sea salt for every 16 ounces.

You would be surprised at the difference this makes in your overall health. Try it for just one week and see what it can do for you.

Thong M. Dao is a fitness enthusiast who has been working out since 2005 and is experienced in weight management. Visit him and get your fat loss information and diet plans information for free.

Low Calorie Diets are Not the Way to Go

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Before you start your low calorie diets, I would recommend you to stop and read this article. I hate seeing folks start a low calorie diet plan to lose weight fast, just to come to a conclusion that it does not work.

I have heard from many individuals who have tried at one time or another, a popular low calorie diet plan for weeks, give 100% effort only to lose a couple of pounds. Can you imagine how upset, frustrated or defeated they became?

The number one reason why low-calorie diet plans don’t work is: when you eat low-calorie foods, your body basically remains malnourished. You feel sick and tired at all times. Forget about exercises, you don’t have enough energy to complete even your regular activities.

The reason for this is their metabolic rate was too low. If you wish to lose weight successfully, you must keep a couple of things in mind.

1. Calories are not our enemies. Believe it or not calories are our friends, they supply the necessary nutrition and energy our body needs. This helps maintain our metabolic rate, which allows us to burn unwanted fat.

The bad calories are those available in junk foods. So while you won’t accumulate fat by eating 10 apples per day (even though a single apple contains almost 100 calories), you will surely get fat by eating 10 burgers!

You have to stay away from empty calories foods (i.e. junk food) and stick to negative calories, like fruits and vegetables.

Now negative calorie doesn’t mean that there is no calorie in these foods; it only means that in order to digest themselves, these foods will force your body to burn more calories than what they provide. This results in calorie deficit which will ultimately result in weight loss.

2. Muscle building is a must. Do you know that in order to maintain themselves, muscles burn a lot of your calories? This means the more lean muscles you have, the faster you will be able to lose weight.

Eating protein-rich foods is a good way to build lean muscles, working out regularly in the gym is another. There’s another yet advantage of eating protein-rich foods: you won’t feel hungry too often and the possibility of overeating is slim to none.

By following a low-calorie food diet, you do not have enough energy to build muscle. Instead you lose muscle and your body can not burn fat since your metabolism remains lower than normal. This is one of the reasons why low-calorie diets are not effective.

Most low-calorie diets will only assist you to lose water and muscles. Unfortunately, you may think you have lost a lot of pounds, however you have not lost the most important of all: fat. If you can’t lose fat, you can’t get fit!

About the Author:

How to Easily Supplement Your Way to a Fit Body

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

It’s always a sound idea for us to train in one way or another but we can also enjoy a level of health and physical fitness as a result of the supplements that we consume. Not all supplements are the same, thus, using the good ones goes a long way to keep our bodies healthy and balanced.

Let’s consider for a minute or two about the foods we eat which can help us here. You might be surprised to find out that one of them will work for you as well.

There are supplements in the marketplace that will perk up your metabolism naturally and lead to weight reduction. You may also wish to select something which will reduce your hunger in a natural way.

Green tea is a metabolism booster and can help you burn fat more easily. Hoodia Gordonii cactus is a wonderful plant found in South African Kalahari desert region. It comprises beneficial components to curb appetite and has a medicinal value. This plant will make your brain believe that you’re not empty anymore.

It may likewise be necessary for you to equalise your body out in one way or another with the use of supplements. Most of us are having vitamin inadequacies unless we have been using supplements for a period of time.

Vitamin B and C are 2 things that you should always have in your daily nutrition plan. They will assist you to achieve your fitness goals and keep your body under control. You should take vitamin supplements your whole life to ward off a vitamin imbalance.

By removing free radicals from the body, supplements offer another vital benefit for your system. Free radicals in the body result from environmental exposure and poor dietary selections.

Your body can be pushed out of balance and tissue damage can be caused by those radicals. Super antioxidants (ex. green tea) can give you a hand to keep your body fit and healthy, together with exercise.

About the Author:

The Do’s and Don’ts Of Quick Weight Loss

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

For people that need a Quick Weight Loss method, the bad news is that no system is perfect; losing those unwanted pounds is a good way to reduce those health risks associated with being overweight. There is more harm caused to an overweight person than just pride as many serious medical conditions are as a result of obesity.

Personal commitment to achieving a desired result is no different for people using a Quick Weight Loss system as it is for anything a person tries to achieve. The reason you want to lose weight is paramount in how successful you will be and if it is because you wish to be healthy then you are more likely to succeed than if it is for someone else’s benefit.

There are a number of things to consider which will help make your weight loss program easier including; the time of day you eat, how often, what you in fact eat and of course what physical activity you carry out. Some people are of the opinion that losing weight quickly is the best way but this often causes other medical problems like heartburn or even anemia and creates unrealistic targets.

Considering that one pound represents 3500 calories which can be burned or lost in a week, it means you need to get rid of 500 calories a day either through exercise or proper diet. Eating is a complex issue and although we all eat to many foods that have no health benefits, in fact quite the opposite, it is not a good idea to cut out every type of food we enjoy.

Another more subtle factor is the emotional reaction to stress and problems as many people simply start eating when they feel insecure or depressed. It is nonsense to believe that continued eating and weight gain will not have serious consequences to your health as we now see in the increase of conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart conditions and cancer. The psychology behind each persons weight gain is as important as the method of Quick Weight Loss used because if this is not addressed, there is nothing to stop the weight being piled back on faster than it was before.

All that said it has been shown that it is actually beneficial for the person using a weight loss program to be light-hearted about it as the mental attitude makes losing weight more likely. This type of attitude is good for a person in all walks of life as it provides the person with a positive mind frame. Together with the loss of extra pounds comes a boost in energy and vitality as well as a sense of well being that is directly related to an improving self-esteem.

Many Quick Weight Loss programs are far from it as they actually test the person using them but the pain barrier does not last long and once through it, the whole system becomes more pleasant.

About the Author: