Natural Healing discussion

goji berriesWhat is A Balanced Diet For Losing Weight and Good Health?

The total calories that you should be consuming depend on whether you are a women or a man. It depends on your body structure and your activity level. So you need to make some adjustment on the numbers I present.

If you have been eating around 1800 calories per day you can slowly move your intake down to 1600. Work down from this level over a month's period to 1400 calories. Don't go below 1200 calories per day. Otherwise you can over stress your body.

If you have just started out and are eating 2400 calories, decrease your calories to 2000 or 2100. If you don't lose weight in 2-3 weeks reduce your calories lower. Over a month's time you can move down to 1600 calories and see if you start to lose weight. If you do, stay at this level.

It's not a good idea to make a drastic shift in your consumption of food since your body can react and get into a "starving mode." In this mode your body will store more fat making it difficult for you to lose weight.

Remember not to eat junk food. When you eat quality food, it takes less food for you to become satisfied as compared to eating junk food.

Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat

There are many ideas about what combination or percentages you should eat of the various nutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fat. I don't believe that exact percentages exist, which will provide weight loss and good health for all individuals. Each one of you will require different percentages depending on your weight, health, body structure, emotional make-up and a variety of other conditions. For this reason some diet programs work with some people and not with others.

One of best eating habit programs that will help you to lose weight is to eat:

* quality protein

* low glycemic carbohydrates

* quality fats

* high fiber

* high water consumption

Quality Protein - is essential for the body to survive. There 8 essential amino acids and 14 non-essential. Protein is used to regulate certain body processes by contributing to various chemical reactions and by creating a number of body chemicals.

Eating excess protein results in an acid body, which favors disease. Protein eaten alone causes a 25% increase in your metabolism. When combined with fat and carbohydrates there is only a 10% increase. What this means is that eating more protein and less fat and carbohydrates gives you a boost in metabolism.

It is recommended that around 30% - 35% of your eating habits consist of protein.

Carbohydrates - consist of simple and complex sugars. When carbohydrates are eaten they are broken down into sucrose, which is readily accepted by your cells. Sucrose is converted into energy in your cells. If you eat a lot of high glycemic carbohydrates, your bloodstream becomes overwhelm with sucrose. The excess sucrose in your cells will be converted to fat and stored.

Because most people have been adding weight eating high glycemic carbohydrates, it best to change your eating habits and decrease your intake of these carbohydrates. In general people have been eating 80% high glycemic foods (HighGF) and 20% low glycemic foods (LowGF.) You need to change that to 80% LowGF and 20% HighGF.

This means that you should limit eating foods like potatoes, bread, corn, pasta, muffins, and any flour products. HighGF encourages the storage of fat since the more sucrose you have in your blood, the more sucrose is escorted into your cells by insulin.

You need to concentrate on foods, which are LowGF. Many of these foods are vegetables with small amounts of carbohydrates and high fiber content.

LowGF discourages the storage of fat since less sucrose is in the blood and less is escorted into your cells.

Quality Fats - which are eaten with your meals, prevent sugars from moving quickly into your blood stream.

You need to eat more of the good fats. It's these fats that will help you lose weight. The good fats are omega 3, omega 6, and medium chain fatty acids, MCFA.

Here is the breakdown on the quantity of each type of fat that you should be eating. These percentages are what you should be working towards so that fats provide you with good health and help you keep your weight down.

* saturated fats 10%

* polyunsaturated fats 20%

* monounsaturated fats 60%

There you have it, the numbers and percentages of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that give you a balanced diet so that you can lose weight.

Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He writes a newsletter call �Natural Remedies Thatwork.com.� For more information the on the essential fatty acids, visit his web site at http://www.fatty-acid-remedies.for--you.info

Are You Hiding Your Head in the Sand by Not Watching What You Eat?

Back in my college kid days, my idea of a seven course meal was a six pack of beer and a hot dog. Well, I'm much older and wiser now, for the most part anyway, and I've had to change my eating habits. It's not so hard to do and once you get used to life without junky and bad food, in fact when you do slip once in a while, that junk food that you loved so much will become far less palatable than before.

According to the top nutritionists, the following food stuffs are nutritionally deplete as well as toxic in the extreme as well as host to a huge list of diseases and ills. Hydrogenated fats should be shunned as a major cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and a host of other chronic health issues. Examples are margarine, potato and other chips, many mass produced bakery goods and snacks. Hydrogenated fats don't have to be listed on the labels as saturated fats do, but the Center for Science in the Public Interest is campaigning hard for the FDA to require it. If you're not sure, then assume that hydrogenated fats are lurking in the background.

Soda pop is, and we all know this, liquid poison if consumed on a regular basis. It's loaded with high glycemic indexed sugars as well as artificial sweeteners, flavors, preservatives and other chemicals that serve no other purpose than taste. Plus, soda pop is fattening and can cause your blood sugar to soar which after a brief energy boost will lead to a sugar crash, leaving you tired and lethargic.

Any food that is deep fried just became nutritionally bankrupt. Doughnuts are first of all usually fried, loaded with trans fats, lots of sugar, white flour, no fiber, vitamins or minerals. What more could you ask from a worst food? Hey, we love them but we can at least cut back and remember what we're eating. Chips and fries contain ample levels of something called acrylamide, a compound suspected to be a possible cause of some cancers. Deep frying destroys even the healthiest foods as well as loading us up with trans fats, a major cause of heart disease. The heat from deep frying destroys most all of the food nutrients, which you could say that you're starving yourself on a full stomach. Sorry, there are no exceptions.

Actually, there's a list of 101 worst foods to eat, but the above foods are definitely on the top of the worst of the worst. Hey, it's not realistic to completely stop eating these foods, most Americans consume something from this group on a daily basis. But, we can sure cut back and over time these foods will lose their appeal. I've learned to never shop for food when I'm hungry. I have much more food common sense and am far less likely to buy these bad foods. Besides, if you don't have this stuff on hand, you can't eat it. Thanks for reading.

I specialize in general interest short article content, especially for my own content sites. I love to write and I look forward to contributing many many more submissions, hoping people will find some useful or entertaining info. http://www.healthcontentsite.com

Getting A Great Body Requires Water And Electrolytes

Most of us know that drinking water is important for staying in good shape. However, I know a lot of people that worry about drinking too much water and eliminating excess natural salt from their body when they have to rush to the washroom every 30 minutes.

Now it is possible to drink too much water, if you consume gallons per day and cut all the salt out of your diet, though this is not a likely situation for most people. All things considered then, what exactly is the right amount of water, how do we keep our electrolyte levels balanced in the process and what are the benefits of all this? Here are a few answers:

Hydration

The following formula is intended to show how many 8oz glasses of water are needed to ensure the body is optimally hydrated:

Current Weight (in lbs) X 0.66oz = Number of Ounces Daily
Divide Daily Ounces by 8 = Number of 8oz Glasses of Water Needed A Day

Add one more 8oz glass of water for every cup of coffee or alcoholic beverage consumed.

Example: I weigh 200lbs. The following would be my daily water consumption needs:

200lbs X 0.66oz = 132oz
132oz divided by 8oz = 16.5 cups of water a day
I have two cups of coffee a day; therefore my daily water needs must increase by the same
amount. The total number of 8oz glasses I should consume is 18.5.

Increase your water intake gradually, by adding a couple of cups a day, until you are at your target level. This will reduce the need for frequent urination, as the kidneys will have time to adjust.

Fruit juices and other sweetened drinks do not count as water sources in this formula.

Why Hydrate?

o Without adequate hydration your body will not effectively metabolize or absorb food nutrients. Water is what carries the majority of food-based nutrients into the blood stream.

o Optimal physical and mental processes are impaired due to lack of oxygen when the body is in any state of dehydration. This is to say that water tends to be the delivery system for oxygen carried in the blood stream. When hydration is not at its peak the body will have a decreased capacity for oxygen transport, resulting in diminished performance.

o Optimal muscle recovery is impaired due to hydration levels that are below the ideal level. Protein synthesis resulting in post activity muscle repair and growth is impaired by the oxygen and nutrients lacking during a state of diminished hydration.

o If you dehydrate a muscle by as little as 3%, you can cause a loss in contractile strength of about 10%, not to mention an 8% loss in speed.

Electrolyte Balance

The term electrolyte refers to the various salts in the body, which are comprised of cations (positively charged) and anions (negatively charged), collectively known as ions. These ions are distributed throughout the fluid compartments of the body, where they regulate the electrical functions of the body, such as the central nervous system, cardiac muscle contraction, skeletal muscle contraction and neural function etc.

Sodium Chloride and Potassium Bicarbonate are examples of two of the most common salts used by your body to regulate your electrolyte balance. The following is a breakdown of how these salts are separated within the body for electrical function.

Sodium Chloride - (This Salt Is An Electrolyte That Is Mainly Extra Cellular)
Sodium = Positively Charged Extra Cellular Ion (Cation)
Chloride = Negatively Charged Extra Cellular Ion (Anion)

Potassium Bicarbonate - (This Salt Is An Electrolyte That Is Mainly Intra Cellular)
Potassium = Positively Charged Intra Cellular Ion (Cation)
Bicarbonate = Negatively Charged Intra Cellular Ion (Anion)

Extreme examples of what can happen with an imbalance of electrolytes include cardiac arrhythmia (due to elevated potassium levels) or paralysis (in the case of decreased intra cellular potassium levels), while excessive extra cellular sodium levels can lead to nausea and fluid retention.

Maintaining An Electrolyte Balance

As your body eliminates fluids, through processes like sweating and urination, it looses electrolytes, essential to muscle function. Although your body works to replenish and balance depleted electrolyte levels, what you ingest is an essential part of replenishing depleted stores of electrolytes.

How About Salt Tablets?

Consuming salt tablets is not typically a good idea when attempting to restore your electrolyte levels. Most foods consumed in North America tend to provide more than enough sodium chloride (typical of salt tablets) for your body to store and replenish, when necessary, its own levels. The kidneys serve to alert the body of any drastic drop in electrolyte imbalance and any athletic diet consisting of 500mg or more of daily sodium intake should provide adequate sodium reserves. Taking salt tablets can overwhelm your body's hormonal reaction to sodium depletion and cause excessive fluid retention, through the release a hormone called vasopressin.

What Should I Consume?

Maintaining and restoring electrolyte balance is best done through consuming unprocessed foods, with natural salt levels, and high potassium foods, such as bananas, kiwi, oranges, peaches, potatoes, dried beans, tomatoes, and wheat bran.

Sebastian MacLean is a, national level, natural bodybuilder who has been featured in the globally distributed documentary Facing Goliath. He is also the author of two books on physical transformation, titled Naturally Massive and The Fat Burn Truth. Sebastian currently co-owns a weight los company called INCHES Weight Loss and a production company by the name of PixaTale Media. Check out his personal website at http://www.sebastianmaclean.com for information on him or either of his books.

Hemp Protein Shake Updates

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:21:55 EDT
. . . #160; goji berries, maca, cacao, coconut butter, açai, or hemp protein....

Goji berry stops skin cancer - Sydney University study - NEWS.com.au

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:06:22 GMT

NEWS.com.au

Goji berry stops skin cancer - Sydney University study NEWS.com.au, Australia - Nov 17, 2008 Tiny goji berries have prevented skin cancer in mice, Sydney University researchers found. A TINY red berry celebrated for its antioxidant qualities may ... More erection pills for cancer patients Sky News Australia all 19 news articles

Tobacco - It's one of the healthiest things for you? - San Francisco Examiner

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:08:00 GMT
I'm going rogue here, but just follow my impeccable logic before you start stoning me with goji berries and golden flaxseed. Moderate amounts of natural tobacco or nicotine will ...

goji berry recipe | goji berry tea