Five common weight loss mistakes

Posted on February 28, 2009 by admin

Not changing your calorie plan as you lose weight. The fallacy of the “1200 calorie diet” plans and the like.

Most people fix their calorie intake to a given number and expect to lose weight at the same constant rate over a period of weeks. Hence, dieters look for 1000 calorie or 1800 calorie diet plans on the internet. The fixed calorie diet plans don’t work. If you burn 3000 calories a day at the start of a diet, after a week or two of losing some weight, you are no longer burning 3000 calories. Now you might be burning 2800 calories. If you fix your calorie intake in the face of a decreasing calorie expenditure, your weight loss will slow down more and more as you lose weight.

If you want to lose weight at a constant rate, you must repeatedly:

* decrease your calorie intake to accommodate the calorie expenditure drop
* increase your calorie output by exercising more
* do both

I would like to note that you must set realistic slow weight loss goals. If you go for fast weight loss you would not be able to sustain it for a long period unless you go extreme in the calorie reduction and exercise a lot. For people who have to lose more than 20 pounds (10kgs), the goal should be a loss of no more than 2 pounds or 1 kg per week. People who need to lose just a bit of weight should go for weight loss of 1 pound or half a kilogram per week.

Why does my calorie expenditure drop as I lose weight? The most important factors are:

* You weigh less. A smaller body burns less calories both at rest and while active
* You may involuntarily burn fewer calories. Dieters often lack energy and move less
* Calorie restriction suppresses the metabolic rate
* You have less body fat, which may further suppress your metabolic rate

These major factors contribute to an ever-decreasing energy expenditure as one loses weight. The more a dieter cuts calories, the bigger the calorie expenditure drop. The leaner the dieter, the greater the calorie expenditure drop.

Now you must understand that if you want to succeed in losing weight, you have to make changes in your nutrition plan. I recommend burning more calories, because being more active facilitates smaller calorie restriction and milder calorie expenditure drop.

It is very difficult to estimate the rate of the metabolic drop. Here is the general rule: the bigger you are, the smaller the rate of the metabolic drop. The more weight you lose, the more you have to cut calories or increase exercise. If you are overweight you might need to cut just 10 more calories for every lost pound, while if you are lean you might have to cut 60 calories for every pound lost. I picked these numbers just as an example.

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The true affects of Caffeine on our bodies

Posted on February 28, 2009 by admin

Caffeine is found in everything from face creams to coffee. But its effects aren’t yet fully known, reports Joanna Bounds.

We’re a nation of drug users. We take our first hit in the morning and many of us continue throughout our working day.

Addicts say they can’t function without their daily dose of caffeine. Globally, we consume 120,000 tonnes of the stuff each year, making it the most widely-consumed psychoactive substance in the world. And most of our caffeine intake comes in the form of a cup of coffee or can of cola.

And while caffeine consumption is deeply-entrenched in society, the “good” versus “bad” debate has been going on for centuries. This may be because caffeine has the same pharmacological effects on the body as many substances deemed harmful – although that doesn’t stop nine out of 10 people throughout the world using it regularly, say Alan Weinberg and Bonnie Bealer, authors of The World Of Caffeine (Routledge). high times There are many ways of ingesting our drug of choice. Besides coffee, tea and chocolate we can get our kicks from “energy” drinks and over-the-counter medicines. In the US there are caffeine tablets, caffeinated waters, and even lickable caffeine-infused lipsticks from US cosmetics company Hard Candy. Yet the effects of caffeine still aren’t fully understood.

“Caffeine’s effects on the body are complex,” says John Miners, professor in clinical pharmacology at the Flinders University of South Australia. “It affects the nervous system, the brain, the bodily organs, respiratory system and metabolic activity. But there’s still a fair amount of work left to be done on caffeine.” What is known for sure is that caffeine causes the body to release adrenaline, resulting in the “fight or flight” response, which enabled our hairy ancestors to run from sabre-tooth tigers. And, of course, gives you that morning buzz.

But, in the case of caffeine toxicity, it’s also been proven that it can be a killer. High doses of caffeine have resulted in roughly 20 deaths in Australia. The last fatality occurred a few years ago, when a 25-year-old woman collapsed in a bar after drinking a guarana-based tonic (which has since been taken off the shelves). Because the woman had a heart condition, she was careful to keep her caffeine intake low, yet the drink’s packaging did not indicate its high caffeine content.

“Some caffeine-based drinks are called “smart”, “happy” or “energy” drinks,” says Rebecca Smith, food policy officer for the Australian Consumers Association (ACA). “Others are marketed as a thirst quencher and are not the best way to rehydrate after exercise as caffeine inhibits the absorption of water.” The proliferation of such drinks has led to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Ministerial Council forming a policy stating that caffeine cannot be added to any other products besides cola and energy drinks and those that do contain caffeine must be labelled clearly.

“There is no doubt that the concentration of caffeine in soft drinks and energy drinks has a marked pharmacological effect, which people need to be aware of,” says Professor Miners. “People monitor the amount of caffeine they drink but are unaware of the concentration of caffeine in other products. Energy drinks are the main area of concern.”

Even though death by coffee isn’t a concern for most of us, kick-starting the day with a large latte can lead to a caffeine addiction.

“Caffeine has the same sort of mechanism as cocaine or heroin, but
obviously with much less effect. This is part of the reason why people become
addicted to it,” says naturopath Ilana Lamont.

If you’re trying to kick the habit she advises weaning yourself off caffeine, rather than going cold turkey, and says withdrawal symptoms can include headaches, fatigue and depression. And it doesn’t take long for withdrawal symptoms to kick in.
“A lot of people get tired and depressed when they are coming down from the effects of caffeine,” says Lamont. “And that can be as soon a couple of hours after they’ve drunk their last coffee. Which is when they reach for the next cup. So it’s a vicious cycle.”
addicted to mug And be aware, says Professor Miners, that caffeine ffects people differently.

“In terms of effects on the body, and the rate at which it is eliminated, individuals handle caffeine in different ways,” he says.

“It’s influenced by factors such as age (children eliminate caffeine more quickly) and whether you smoke or not. Smokers eliminate caffeine at twice the rate of non-smokers. That’s why some people get heart palpitations and others don’t, and why it keeps some people awake but not others.”

And caffeine-induced insomnia isn’t urprising when you think that, if you drink a large cup of coffee at 3pm, 50 per cent of the caffeine will still be in your body six hours later. The reason it keeps you awake, says Lamont, is because the caffeine is stimulating your brain at a period of time when it’s not meant to be active.

Some people should avoid caffeine more than others. Pregnant women are especially at risk, as revealed by a study by Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark earlier this year. It showed that women who drink more than eight cups of coffee a day triple their risk of having a stillborn baby compared with non-coffee drinkers. A report in the Lancet Medical Journal also revealed that women who drink more than one cup of coffee a day are half as likely to conceive as those who drink less than a cup a day, as caffeine stimulates the production of chemicals in the body that slow conception.

user friendly But it’s not all bad news – caffeine does have ome positive effects too. Researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered that giving prematurely-born babies minute amounts of caffeine, rather than the drugs that are currently used, is a safer option when it comes to treating breathing problems.

Caffeine is also useful when it comes to the morning-after. A hangover equals a headache because alcohol enlarges the blood vessels in your brain. Caffeine does the opposite and constricts blood vessels, hence its use in over-the-counter painkillers.

It’s been proven that drinking a cup of coffee before exercising enables you to work out for almost a third longer. Plus, researchers at the Australian Institute of Sport have discovered that caffeine triggers muscles to start using fat as an energy source instead of carbohydrates.

So, is caffeine good? Or is caffeine bad? The solution to the onundrum, says Lamont, is to carefully monitor how much you’re putting into your body.

“Keep a log of how much chocolate, ola, coffee and tea you’re having each day,” she says. “Have a couple of cups of coffee a day, but not eight or nine, and drink lots of water to counteract its diuretic effect. Keep your intake to a minimum and you won’t be doing your body as much harm.”

beauty buzz As well as putting affeine into your body, the latest innovation is rubbing it into your skin. Facial toners, cellulite creams and body-contouring products now often contain caffeine, with companies claiming that it helps to firm and tighten.

French cosmetics company Clarins uses caffeine in some of its products, including face creams such as Contouring Facial Lift, and Shiseido’s celebrated anti-cellulite Body Creator also contains caffeine. The Fuji Spinning Company in Japan has even manufactured caffeine-infused underwear which, it claims, helps activate fat-dissolving enzymes.

Beauty insiders claim that caffeine-based creams work as diuretics, draining fatty cells of fluid resulting in firmer skin. But health professionals are dubious about the beauty benefits of the drug.

“It’s difficult to see the reason for including caffeine in beauty products,” says Professor John Miners.

And naturopath Ilana Lamont thinks it may just be another in a long ine of wonder compounds touted by cosmetics companies. “I can see no viable way that caffeine does anything,” she says. “I think it’s little more than the latest trend in the beauty world.”

South America’s Yerba Mate Gives All-Natural Energy Boost

Posted on February 27, 2009 by admin

Millions of Americans rely on coffee and sugary drinks filled with calories to get them started in the morning; but thanks to a movement that started in South America, Americans may soon be singing the praises of a different all-natural pick-me-up. Yerba maté, a tea-like beverage that has been popular in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Southern Brazil for generations, is starting to catch on in the United States.“I like it because it wakes me up without the nervousness and jitters I got from drinking coffee,” says Jamie Rosen, 39, a hairdresser from Scottsdale, Ariz., who was recently the focus of a feature Woman’s World story on yerba maté. Rosen discovered the tea “from a friend who recommended it for my health. After having my son I was not able to drop the weight I had gained and I was not accustomed to the extra weight.”Clinical studies have shown that caffeine-sensitive individuals generally have very positive results with yerba maté, made from the dried leaves of the “Ilex Paraguariensis” — an indigenous holly-like plant that grows wild in South America. Unlike coffee, yerba maté comes equipped with a wealth of nutrients to provide a broad range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to the body. Since pre-Colombian times, the native people of Paraguay have gathered the leaves to use them in their folk remedies and as a stimulant and restorative tonic. Yerba maté is widely regarded as an excellent appetite suppressor when consumed 15 to 20 minutes before meals which makes it an effective drink for weight loss. Yerba maté is also credited with improving energy levels and supporting the immune system.

“I have more energy and I’m more alert but without the negative side affects that I get when I use some other energy drinks,” says Rosen. “Then of course there’s the weight loss which has just been wonderful. I’ve gotten creative in preparing my yerba maté. The directions say to serve it hot or cold. In the summer I would put ice and a couple of scoops of the instant tea into a blender and make my own version of specialty blended coffee. I call it Blended Yerba Maté Royale.”Maté is most often consumed in tea bags that come in flavors including chai, vanilla, and mandarin orange. The most flavorful maté is sweetened with stevia, a natural sweetener. Instant dissolving maté is also a convenient and easy way to drink maté.

Traditionally, maté has been prepared in a gourd or mug and sipped through a bombilla (a filtering straw which extracts the most nutrients by pulling the water across the leaves) nestled into the herb. Hot — never boiled — water is poured to the top. The water will cause the leaves to swell and the water at the top of the gourd will look frothy and green, indicating its nutrient-rich properties. The gourd can be refilled five or six times until the green froth is gone, which means the leaves are depleted, and it’s time to refresh the infusion. Yerba maté can also be served cold as a refreshing sun tea.“I drink at least 16 ounces of yerba maté a day and I just love it,” adds Rosen.One of the main distributors of yerba maté tea in the United States is Wisdom Natural Brands, the distributor of Wisdom of the Ancients and La Merced, two major brands of maté. For a free sample call (800) 899-9908 or go to www.wisdomnaturalbrands.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content