Category: Nutrition

Laxatives and Weight Loss

 

The rate of obesity in the United States is at an all time high. People are searching for the magic pill to make the process of losing weight simple, easy and painless. You may not want to hear this but there is no magic pill. Weight goes ‘on’ the same way it comes off. If you eat more calories than you burn off then its simple- you gain weight. If you eat less than you burn off then you lose weight. Simple. (1)

But while this concept is simple, the practice is not. In this high stress  fast-paced world of ours many of us leave out exercise in order to spend time going to the movies with their children or sitting passively  on the sidelines watching their children play sports. Grabbing a quick hamburger at the local fast food restaurant has taken over from sit down dinners  with vegetables and salad. Do we actually wonder why obesity is at an all time high!

Some of us  in desperation turn to laxatives. Let me start by saying -Laxatives and weight loss are not synonymous….read that again. Laxatives and weight loss are also not healthy or safe. The majority of weight that is lost when we use laxatives is from fluid and the health dangers are significant. (2)

The use of laxatives in an attempt to lose weight is often abused and seems to be common with people who have an eating disorder.

So to understand why it is a bad idea to use laxatives Let’s look at what happens in your body when you take them. After the pill is ingested, the active ingredients in the tablet target the cells of the large intestines. They then irritate the cells and encourage the large intestines to empty, often earlier than the body is ready.

 One of the main functions of the large intestine is to reabsorb water  from the food so that it is not lost from the body as waste.  If you evacuate your bowels too soon you run the risk of dehydration.

The calories from the food you eat are  absorbed in the small intestines and laxatives don’t affect the small intestines. This means that while the intent behind taking laxatives is to decrease the amount of calories absorbed by the food, the only thing that these medications will do is cause the large intestines to evacuate the waste AFTER the small intestines has extracted all of the necessary calories.

After losing fluid from the early bowel movement the body then compensates by retaining fluid. This means laxatives will cause an initial dehydration which makes the person ‘feel’ thin, but within a few hours the body will compensate by retaining the remaining fluid and consequently making the person ‘feel’ bigger.

The body needs fluid to remove the wastes and toxins in the large intestine so retaining fluids will make you feel bad because you can’t get rid of all of the waste products normally evacuated.

Now at this point you might be tempted to take more laxatives to get rid of the full feeling again and so It’s a vicious cycle that sets you up for irritable bowel syndrome and colon tumors. The Prolonged use of laxatives can  lead to cramping, bloating, water retention and the added problem of withdrawal.

Believe me …..the use of laxatives to promote weight loss is just not an option!

All you are doing is  endangering your health and definitely won’t be moving toward achieving your goal.

Ok… so how do you stop using laxatives?

You can stop the abuse of laxatives using several steps.

Unless you have been prescribed by a doctor you should stop using laxatives immediately. This can be easier said than done and may require the help of a mental health professional.

Drink at least 6-10 eight oz glasses of water each day. Do Not have caffeine drinks or alcohol or juices, only water. Get some physical activity each day to encourage regular bowel function.

Make sure you Eat regularly and spread it out over at least 3 meals maybe more. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, which will immediately improve your chances of weight loss and improve normal bowel function. Keep a record every day of your bowel movements so they can be monitored and you can see a pattern. If you find you are constipated for more than 3 days call your doctor – do not treat yourself!

Your colon will react differently than a normal colon after it has been abused by a laxative regimen and of course it depends how long you were on laxatives

Laxatives and weight loss don’t mix. They don’t work.  You can stop the vicious cycle and move on to a more healthy and fit way of losing weight for life!

References

(1) Centers for Disease Control: Adult Obesity Facts
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

(2) Columbia University Health; Go Ask Alice: Laxative Abuse – Any Side Effects?
http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/laxative-abuse-any-side-effects

Is this Normal or do I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

 

Unfortunately, there are probably millions of people who have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and do not know it or will not admit it. It could go either way because there is no medical test that can lead to a diagnosis of IBS, like tests for diabetes or high cholesterol.

In addition, everyone experiences digestion problems at times or episodes of diarrhea or constipation. It is the day you realize that these episodes are happening with regularity or that the quality of your life is declining because of digestive issues that it is time to ask:…..

Is it possible I have IBS?  …. read more

Related Articles

Love your body by treating IBS without Medications

IBS Stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Not I’ve-Been-Sick

IBS Relief using natural products

Using Hoodia to Lose Weight

 

Hoodia is a weight loss supplement that is a  newcomer to North America and the weight loss industry. It is another one of the over the counter supplements that  is sold to make the journey to thinness “theoretically” easier and painless.

Hoodia Gordonii was first discovered in 1937 by a Dutch anthropologist. He descovered that African Bushman were usin the flowering plant to suppress their appetite and thirst, when they travelled across the desert.

South African scientists, working with  a British pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm, isolated the active ingredient – P57 in 1995. Then in 1998 another Pharmaceutical company Pfizer spent $21 million to sub-license the patent from Phytopharm. After the initial research Pfizer decided to  return the license. (1) Then, in 2010 Phytopharm also let the patent lease expire. (2)

Hoodia weight loss supplements must contain the P57 from the Hoodia Gordonii plant to be advertised as Hoodia. There are over 13 different Hoodia plants and only one has been found to have the active ingredient that causes the appetite and thirst suppression.

Hoodia weight loss supplements work on your central nervous system and trick the body into thinking it’s full. This will avoid the nagging feelings of hunger. It also tricks the body into losing the trigger for thirst which is worrying as it can potentially cause problems with dehydration, especially on hot  days.

People with diabetes should be especially  careful using the supplement since it tricks the body into thinking that there is sufficient blood sugar. Without the proper feedback mechanism, people suffering from diabetes can suffer dangerously low blood sugar drops that can lead to hypos and death if not treated immediately.

Before using any product including this one, you should always check with your doctor to determine if there may be any interactions with medications you may already be taking or any underlying medical conditions that which you may be suffering. Your pharmacist can also help  with interactions with any over the counter medications you be thinking of buying

Just like any other herbal supplement, Hoodia supplements must be used with caution. The manufacture of Hoodia products are not regulated by any agency. The only real way to know if what is labeled on the bottle is really in the bottle is by an evaluation in an independent laboratory.

Sometimes herbal supplements contain products that are not listed on the label. They are included in the manufacturing process and they are not processed out. Some of these substances in Hoodia weight loss supplements can cause liver dysfunction and damage, which was the reason that Pfizer had backed out of the patent. These side effects on the liver were too much of a liability to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer who was weighing the cost of risk vs. benefit. To the average user the benefit is weight loss. However, the pharmaceutical company was weighing the potential cost of law suits and manufacturing process to reduce the risk of liver damage, against the financial benefit of the sale of the product.

Typical side effects of this supplement are not well documented since there have been no reliable studies using humans since it was introduced in North America.

Although Hoodia Gordonii has been shown through case studies to be effective in weight loss supplementation there have also not been enough studies to show the safety of using this supplement. The choice is always yours. (3)

 

(1) Rebirth Africa: From Hoodia Gordonii to P57
http://www.rebirth.co.za/hoodia/p57_pfizer.htm
(2) NutraIngredients.com: Phytopharm CEO Insists Hoodia Still “Interesting” Despite Patent Disposal
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Industry/Phytopharm-CEO-insists-Hoodia-still-interesting-despite-patent-disposal

(3) Natural News: Hoodia Gornonii is No Miracle Weight Loss Pill, Health Investigation Reveals
http://www.naturalnews.com/002713.html

Using Green Tea to Lose Weight

 

Green tea weight loss supplements are becoming more popular because they reportedly assist people with their weight loss goals. Most experts agree that supplements can significantly help to curb appetite and decrease intake, both of which are needed to lose weight.

Obesity is a significant problem in Western civilization where the Standard Western Diet is full of too much protein, too many fats, too many sugars and not enough fruits and vegetables. Most people don’t have an accurate understanding of an appropriate serving size. A serving of meat is usually 3 oz of lean meat. Measure 3 oz of lean meat. It’s pretty small, about the size of a deck of cards.

The three most commonly used supplements for weight loss are green tea, ephedra and protein. Weight loss products that are purchased over the counter usually contain at least one of these supplements. Protein is used to increase the protein intake of a person and stop using carbohydrates. This puts the body into ketoacidosis which increases the metabolism but places a strain on the kidneys.

Increased protein diets are also fad diets and shouldn’t be maintained for any length of time as they can cause damage to the kidneys and cannot be prolonged for a lifetime.

Ephedra is a common supplement that has been proven to speed metabolism and decrease appetite but it also is linked to significant side effects. Patients have suffered heart attacks and strokes resulting in death using this supplement.

Green tea weight loss supplements have both caffeine and the chemical EGCG. When these two chemicals (part of the production of the supplement) react to each other the metabolism in the body will increase.

There have not been long-term studies using green tea weight loss supplements to document the effectiveness and side effects. Whenever you take any supplements you should consult your doctor to ensure that the supplement will not interfere with any other medications, over the counter medications or health issues you might have.

Green tea weight loss supplements are also full of anti-oxidants that cause an increase energy use in the body, thus burning more calories. Green tea weight loss supplements also stimulate the body to burn fats faster. People who use these supplements in studies will loose approximately 2 ½ pounds per month. (1,2)

Green tea weight loss supplements can also help us to stay healthy by fighting free radicals – oxygen containing molecules that are a by-product of digestion. Free radicals can damage cells, DNA and lead to diseases such as heart disease and cancer. (3)

Although green tea supplements also contain caffeine this does not seem to have the negative effects found in other products with caffeine. Green tea supplements do not usually cause the jitters or speed the heart rate.

Green tea weight loss supplements also contain catechins, an anti-oxidant. These catechins are unfermented in green tea and in their natural state and are believed to suppress fat absorption from the diet. (1)

Theanine is the main amino acid in green tea supplements. Theanine is able to induce relaxation and the release of dopamine which helps to provide a feeling of well-being. Theanine minimizes the effect of caffeine. This might be why green tea doesn’t cause the jitters and increased heart rate.

Green tea weight loss supplements are an option to help people suppress their appetite and eat less while trying to loose weight. Although people who take supplements to lose weight have a higher success rate than those who don’t, people who receive support also have a higher rate of success. The decision to take supplements is yours. Be sure you have all your facts straight before using any supplement.

(1) The Journal of Nutrition: Green Tea Catechin Consumption Enhances Exercise-Induced Abdominal Fat Loss in Overweight and Obese Adults
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/139/2/264.full.pdf

(2) The University of Chicago Medicine: Green Tea Derivative Causes Loss of Appetite, Weight Loss in Rats
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2000/20000223-tea.html

(3) University of Maryland Medical Center: Green Tea
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm

Cooking up a storm: The rise of African superfoods

(CNN)An apple a day keeps the doctor away — but is that enough to keep us fit and strong?

From kale to quinoa to goji berries, more and more of us are constantly on the lookout for ways to eat ourselves healthy.
But as the search for the so-called “superfoods” intensifies, many health food fanatics are now increasingly turning to nutrient-packed products originating from Africa.
 

 

 

 

 

Drinks

“I process some of these indigenous crops, herbs and spices into something that we already know,” says Baatuolkuu, who is constantly researching the medicinal properties of her ingredients and incorporating them into her recipes. “I’m looking at these vegetables that we have one way of eating and I am reprocessing them into another way.”
Baatuolkuu has found success supplying her line of health-conscious juices, syrups and marinades to the hospitality industry — her biggest client, she says, is a local bar that has started incorporating her syrups in to cocktails.
Looking ahead, Baatuolkuu hopes to soon introduce other fruits and vegetables like the baobab to her line.

Moringa and baobab

Rising in popularity, African superfoods are not just staying inside the continent’s borders. Shrewd business minds are taking them out of Africa and putting them in supermarkets across the world. Across the North Atlantic, former Peace Corps volunteer Lisa Curtis has established her business, Kuli Kuli, named after a popular Hausa snack.
Several years ago, while in Niger volunteering, she began to suffer from the effects of malnutrition and soon learned first-hand about the medicinal properties of the local plant, moringa. Following her return to the U.S., the plucky entrepreneur decided to set up a business to offer moringa products at home, while providing a financial avenue for women back in West Africa.

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup wholemeal plain biscuits
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baobab fruit powder
1 tablespoon Amarula cream
Juice of half a lemon
9-inch springform pan

METHOD

  1. Melt the butter over a low heat. Crush the biscuits to crumbs and add to melted butter. Once blended, press the mixture into the base of springform pan.
  2. Mix cream cheese, sugar, baobab powder and Amarula cream until consistency is smooth. Squeeze in lemon juice and combine.
  3. Spoon the mixture onto the pressed breadcrumbs and spread evenly across the dish.
  4. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. (Optional finish with a thinly layer of passion fruit)

For more of Riley’s recipes, go here.

Meanwhile over in the UK, Malcolm Riley, a Zambia-born chef is introducing his beloved homeland’s tastes and traditions to far flung foodies by bringing baobab to British shores. In 2008, he founded his line of African-inspired health products, The African Chef.
Riley says: “The African Chef ethos stems from using fruits such as the baobab fruit … which has twice as many antioxidants as goji berries, blueberries or pomegranates, and it is a sustainable resource. There is also moringa, which is very rich in protein — about 24 antioxidants in it. It’s fantastic for helping malnourished children across Africa.
“And then you’ve got Shea butter which we are also trying to pioneer as an edible food. And I’m also trying to pioneer pumpkin leaves, both cooked and dried, (where) you’ve got very low sodium, a good amount of iron and B-vitamins.”
As well as offering up some of his country’s delicious products, Riley’s passion also extends to a desire to help people back in Zambia, while “trying to create something that had the potential to double their income.”
“Baobab is a phenomenal resource for the African continent,” he says.

Mapping local delicacies

It’s this wealth of food, and the tantalizing tastes, that prompted British/Ghanaian filmmaker Tuleka Prah to start documenting popular plates across the continent and offer them up to the world through her online series, “My African Food Map.”
It’s a job most would dream of — eating your way across Africa. The 33-year-old food lover decided to embark on her self-funded culinary adventure after wanting to cook a dish her Ghanaian father used to serve up — kontomire, a coco yam leaf-based stew or soup.
Looking online, she was confronted with unappetizing lumps of green mush.
“I thought it’s a good thing I know what this tastes like,” she says. “I used to take a lot of photos of my food — like everybody does — but then I thought why don’t I try and find (a way) to archive these recipes properly with good pictures to try and transport the flavor of the food to someone who doesn’t know what it is but might want to try it.”
Starting in Ghana, where she had family to stay with, Prah then went to Kenya before traveling down to South Africa. As she heads to each gastronomic destination, she talks to local food enthusiasts searching for the most favored dishes which she then highlights through recipe videos she produces herself.
While Prah’s mission is to make beloved African dishes accessible to foodies around the world, local market sellers also provide her with the products’ medicinal attributes which she confirms before adding them to her blog.
“They are trying to sell it to me so they would say ‘Do you know this is good for you?’ or ‘This vegetable is good if you have hypertension’ and this market seller is giving me health advice!” she laughs. “Then I’d ask the host (I was staying with), or taxi driver more about it and follow up with research online.”
She adds: “(The medicinal aspects) are also more sort of passed down information through generations and then I try corroborate it with other research methods.”
 

The Top Five Worst Foods For your Joints

Every day, millions of people have a hard time exercising because of shoulder, knee, back and elbow pain.

What most people — and even most doctors — don’t know is that one of the major causes of pain is actually… food.

Here’s what you should focus on removing from your diet if you want to double your recovery process and get pain-free faster than with just pills:

1) Sugar. This one is obvious. Nothing damages the digestive track like sugar.

The medical community is starting to agree on the fact that chronic inflammation often starts in your gut, the biggest part of your immune system.

2) Alcohol. I also like my Friday night drink-out, but keep in mind that beer or any other alcoholic beverage damages your gut flora and liver when consumed in excess.

3) Grains. Refined or not, grains are inflammatory. That’s even worse if you’re gluten sensitive, like 10-15 % (depending on the sources) of the world’s population.

The phytic acid and lecithins in grains are a problem for most people, even without allergies or intolerance.

4) Refined vegetable oil. Canola, soy, safflower, corn, sunflower, you name it.

Even though these oils are advertised as healthy and trans-fat free, turns out the heavy refining which they go through destroy the healthy fats and turn them into highly inflammatory by-products.

5) Pasteurized dairy. 75% of the world’s population is intolerant to lactose.

That’s because the pasteurization process destroys the healthy bacteria and enzymes in raw milk, and make this popular beverage very hard to digest.

In my experience, most people feel like a million bucks when drinking less pasteurized milk or ditching it altogether.

===========================

These are just some of the inflammatory foods most people are consuming on a daily basis.

But there are also a ton of superfoods that can REDUCE your pain and help you heal your joints.

 

So, if you suffer from any kind of joint or muscle pain, then make sure you check out the best resource on the subject:

==> 101 Superfoods That Stop Your Joint Pain And Inflammation

6 So called “Health Foods”

 

One of the modules I teach in college is Nutrition. In the teaching class we have many interesting discussions on the different food groups and we also do a dietary analysis on what we eat each day. When we start  analysing foods it becomes obvious  that many foods out there marketed as “healthy” are anything but healthy.

Here are 6 foods that fall into that category

  1. Organic Crackers

According to food researchers from the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, organic crackers deserve a place as a  top offender.  When we see the name “organic” we kind of assume the food would contain fewer calories and have less fat than the non-organic boxed crackers at your local grocery store.

Well that is not the case.  Processed foods are just that—processed and that means They means they usually contain a lot of sodium to make up the difference, and we usually end up eating twice as much because of that fact.

  1. Organic Cookies

These have all the right words that spell healthy and they may not have chemicals and artificial sugars  but they have natural sugars and these will add the pounds

  1. Diet Soda

This is a debate that has gone on for a while .Are diet soda any good  and are they better for you over regular sodas . the truth lies that neither are good for us. Diet sodas are full of artificial sweeteners which have the effect of making us want to drink more. They also contain aspartame which is a poison and over time can result in symptoms like those of Multiple sclerosis.

  1. Bottled Juice

These are marketed as green juices and health smoothies. Some of them can contain as much as 50 grams of sugar ..about 10 spoonfuls!

Drinking these drinks on a regular basis can lead to all sorts of problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

.

  1. Granola

This is my favourite. So many people think that this is a healthy muesli but  let me assure you that Granola is full of sugar and fat.

Some people will argue that it contains nuts and seeds and also oats which give us fibre but the problem comes from the fact that the recommended amount is a quarter cup and most of us would eat an awful lot more.

  1. Lean Frozen Cuisine

This are easy to pop into the oven when you get home after a days work. The servings are small and so sometimes one is not enough .To preserve frozen meals they are packed with chemicals and artificial ingredients like sugar and MSG  [Monosodium glutamate]

Both of these 2 badies effect the hypothalamus,the message centre which tells the body it is full

 

Menopause Belly

One of the hardest things for a woman over 35 is the changes that happen to your body when you go through menopause. I know what I am talking about here as I have experienced this myself and i know it is due to a hormonal shift that happens in women after 35.

The good news is…

There is a way to get rid of your menopause belly by avoiding these 3 belly fat triggers…

=> AVOID These 3 Belly Fat Triggers And Get Rid Of Your Menopause Belly…

And just in case this sounds too good to be true, check out all the women on the website who are over 35 and have turned off their menopause switch, melting their belly fat fast…

Kathy

 

The TRUTH about Potatoes, Glycemic Index, and “White Foods”

I lecture on Nutrition in a college and constantly read lots of nonsense online about certain foods. One example is where many health and fitness professionals trash potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

Now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I don’t agree with avoiding any and all “white carbohydrates”

They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.

“White Foods” aren’t necessarily always the enemy

It’s true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere.

Here are examples that will surprise you !

IBS Relief using natural products

Because IBS is a digestive condition and results in symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping, gas, and constipation — many people will find relief by changing their diet.

  Others may find symptom relief with the following natural products.

1. Peppermint Oil

Therapeutic-grade peppermint oil is easy enough to find, and could offer significant benefits to people with IBS.

Existing research in Phytomedicine looked at 16 clinical trials that tested the use of peppermint oil as an IBS treatment. The research found that success rates for peppermint oil average at 58 percent, double that of placebos.

Any Side effects of peppermint oil were mild and temporary, including heartburn and discomfort. When compared to other solutions, the researchers said that peppermint oil should be viewed as the first natural  treatment if you have general IBS symptoms.

2. Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland, but it is also available in capsule form as a supplement.

It is important for both sleep regulation and digestion. When treating IBS, melatonin works to regulate intestinal motility (the movement of intestinal muscles). According to recent research reviews,  clinical studies have found there to be an improvement of IBS symptoms when you take melatonin supplements. Capsules are given in the evening at a dose of 3 mg.

Melatonin can be bought  online and at local drugstores. it is often marketed as a sleep aid because of its wide use in the treatment of insomnia.

3. Probiotics

Probiotics are the so-called “good bacteria” found in our digestive system. These are Available as supplements as well as in food and are used to keep digestive systems healthy and symptom-free. In people with IBS, they may work by restoring the balance in  troubled intestines. According to recent findings, several problems associated with IBS can be aided by probiotics. Those include: bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, inflammation, motility, and hypersensitivity. Research into which probiotics are best is ongoing

4. Slippery Elm

Slippery elm powder is known for aiding digestive health. It can be made into a tea, stirred into food, or put in capsules. You can find slippery elm powder supplements online and in healthstores. In the treatment of IBS, slippery elm is said to be useful in treating diarrhea, constipation, and digestive discomfort. One study found that supplements containing slippery elm also aid in gas, bloating, stool consistency and frequency, and abdominal pain.

5. Chinese Herbs

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may offer relief from IBS symptoms, too. TCM uses herbs to treat medical conditions, and those that could provide relief for IBS symptoms include peony powder, citrus, and licorice. One study that treated people with IBS symptoms using Chinese herbal preparations — including herbs like Dang Shen, bupleurum, and magnolia bark — saw significant improvements compared to control groups.

ATTENTION! Using This Powerful Secret Information here, Thousands of IBS Sufferers Have Been Successful in Getting Relief From Their IBS Immediately and Getting Rid of Their IBS Within 2 Months, Naturally and Permanently!

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