Weight loss really does begin in your head. Every successful athlete understands that his thinking process is either working for him or against him. The same holds true with weight loss. If your internal dialogue is negative, your results will eventually manifest the same result! You can’t degrade yourself to a healthy new you! You must change your thinking to work for you, to build your resolve, and to maintain that all important motivational factor.

Writing is an exercise that will help your mind change its thinking! It allows you to process the negative emotions and helps to instill the positive changes. Start with these simple exercises:

1. The Negative Emotions Daily Dump: Many success coaches advocate writing out your negative thinking on a daily basis. Simply spend approximately 15 minutes writing out all the frustrations, bad feelings, and discouragement. This helps you to process these bad feelings out of your system so that you can make room for positive affirmations. Do not reread the entries and do not keep them. Write it out, and then throw it out. We call this the Negative Emotions Daily Dump.

2. Affirm Your Goals: Prepare a list of affirmations that will help your subconscious work with your conscious brain to make those all important behavioral changes. Then write your affirmations at least twice a day. Write them once after you have written your Negative Emotions Daily Dump. Don’t do the Negative Dump without filling it with the positive affirmations. You should always end with this. Write the second set of affirmations either right before you go to bed or first thing in the morning. Read your affirmations several times a day.

3. Understand your Motivations: In order to stay motivated you must understand your real reasons for losing weight. In other words, understand why YOU want to lose weight. Not why your spouse or friends want you to lose weight but why losing the weight is important to you. Do you really want more energy? Do you just love skinny clothes? Do you want to participate in an activity that would be easier if you were slim and healthy? Write these motivations out in detail so that you can solidify them in your head and they can continue to motivate you through the entire weight loss journey.

4. Accountability: Keep a food diary. Keeping a food diary has been proven time and time again to increase your weight loss success by as much as 50%! A food log is your accountability factor. It keeps you honest with yourself.

5. Visualize: Visualize yourself enjoying the portions of your weight loss program that you are currently struggling to do. For instance if you hate the cardio portion of your day, start seeing yourself loving it. See it as “”your time”. It can be your time to read while you’re on the stationary bike. Or your time to watch all those movies you feel guilty watching any other time. Once you begin to visualize positive feelings about a certain activity the easier that activity will become.

6. The Pat-On-The-Back: Keep a written log of your weight loss success. By writing down your weight loss on a weekly basis you are validating your efforts and giving yourself a pat-on-the-back. This will go a long way to keeping you on track.

Keep in mind that if you are utilizing the assistance of a personal fitness trainer or weight loss professional that they may use techniques to help you face your self-defeating habits. This might feel harsh and negative, however it isn’t. Honesty is necessary to motivate change and this is different than running yourself down! Sometimes we have to hear the hard words to make the hard changes. Keep in mind that these professionals are seeking your ultimate success. Your success is their success. Let’s face it, the weight gain started with you and to change that behavior you may have to deal with some uncomfortable feelings. A good trainer will help you feel cared about while still insisting that you deal with your bad habits. It’s a good thing to be pushed past your comfort zone to becoming a better you!

Writing is the new “exercise” that can make all the rest of your weight loss efforts including good nutrition, exercise, and resistance training work for you because you will be working with these principles instead of against them. You will start seeing these weight loss techniques as a positive and permanent part of your life, instead of a temporary device. That will result in faster results that last forever!

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How Overweight Is America?

How serious is obesity in America? According to Kathleen Donnelly for MSN Health & Fitness, statistics show that “…60 percent of adult Americans weigh too much, and 17 percent of American children and teens are overweight.”
And the problem continues to escalate. In the past thirty years, children in the USA are increasingly tipping the scales. The rise of obesity among children between the ages of 6 and 11 has gone from 4% to 13 % in three decades. Obesity in US children ages 12 to 19 has gone from 5% to 14%. And if a child is obese at the age of 6, it has a 50/50 chance of being obese for life. Obese thirteen year olds have a 75% likelihood of being obese for the rest of their lives. This problem is even more severe among blacks and Hispanics.

To remedy their plight, 103,000 morbidly obese Americans living in the United States had gastric bypass surgery in 2003. The complication rate was 7%.

What causes obesity?

Several causes for obesity have been suggested, including heredity, social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise. Since we can’t control who our parents are, let’s focus on social-economic conditions, diet, and exercise.
Obesity & Social-economic conditions
Numerous studies have concluded that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between a person’s level of education and their odds of being overweight. The greater their level of learning is, the slimmer their odds of obesity are.

Dysfunctional Diets, Inadequate Exercise, and Bulging Belt-lines

Of course, two obvious causes of obesity are dysfunctional diets and a lack of proper exercise. Americans are exercising less and less while simultaneously consuming too much junk food. The average US woman is now consuming 335 more calories per day than the average woman in 1971. Calorie intake among men has increased to an additional 168 calories per day. Is it any wonder that America is increasingly becoming an obese nation?

Health Risks Associated with Obesity

Discomfort about one’s appearance, however, is not the only downside to obesity. There are numerous health risks associated with being overweight. Obese individuals have a higher-than-normal rate of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high lipids, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, strokes, respiratory disease, some types of cancers, heart disease, and other chronic and deadly conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts obesity will soon be America’s number one killer. In 2000, tobacco was linked to 435,000 deaths while obesity was close behind at 400,000 deaths.

What to Do About Obesity

There are primarily three things that most experts recommend to help maintain a healthy weight level: 1) Getting the proper amount of exercise, 2) eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, and 3) supplementing one’s diet with nutritional products.

The Value of Exercise

If you’re considering going on a diet to lose weight, remember that the important thing is not just to lose weight, but to keep it off. In order to lose weight and keep it off, there is no substitute for exercise. One study reported by The National Weight Control Registry shows that out of 3,000 individuals who lost a minimum of 30 pounds and kept it off for more than a year, only 9 percent lost weight without exercising.

How much exercise should an individual get?

The proper amount of exercise that an individual should get of course varies from individual to individual. To make certain you are getting the proper amount of exercise, consult your family physician.

Melissa Tennen, HealthAtoZ writer, says: “Get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days. To prevent weight gain, 60 minutes a day may be necessary.”

What is a Healthy Diet?

The short answer to the question, “What is a healthy diet?” is to eat a well-balanced diet that is as close as possible to the way nature intended. Fast foods and highly-processed foodless foods have been proven to have ill-effects on one’s health. Many are high in calories and low in nutritional value.
Yet not everyone has the time, the money, or the ability to eat “The Perfect Diet.” So what’s the solution?

The Importance of Supplementing Your Diet

No doubt, in a perfect world, we would not need vitamin pills, diet pills, and other nutritional supplements. We’d simply get everything our body needs from our food. But let’s get a reality check: This is not Eden. And getting everything your body needs from your diet alone is almost impossible. Plus, if you are overweight, you need extra help.

What to look for in a Weight-Loss Pill

If you’re looking for “The Perfect Weight Loss Pill,” there are a number of things to consider. Here are just a few:

Does the product’s formula utilize nutrients in the most absorbable and potent form available?

Most companies compromise on their nutrients. They use poorly absorbed forms or synthetically derived fractions of nutrients.

Does the product use ephedra stimulants or dangerous fat blockers?

For accelerated fat-loss support and increased performance, you need help with reducing hunger, utilizing fat, enhancing metabolism, and increasing true energy levels. Insist on a weight loss product that delivers all natural support for healthy weight loss, without using ephedra stimulants.
Also, avoid dangerous fat blockers. The perfect solution is to find a weight loss pill that works by helping support healthy digestion of stored fat and a healthy metabolism. Lipase is the enzyme responsible for breaking down fat, making it available for utilization as energy. Without lipase, fat is stored as excess body fat.

Does the product contain Citrin K™ and CLA?

Research shows Citrin K™ and CLA as two powerful ingredients in helping maintain healthy fat burning. Also important are Guggul lipids and chelated minerals. They help maintain a healthy thyroid and will reduce cravings. Weight loss pills containing these ingredients make for a healthier, safer and more effective body fat reduction formula.
Don’t forget the importance of fiber

Special types of fiber will expand in your stomach and will reduce your hunger without stimulation and drug-like effects. This, in turn, will help to nutritionally support healthy body fat levels.

Your body needs energy to burn fat

Finally, the most needed factor in losing body fat is keeping your energy levels up so you have the energy burn more fat.

Are there really any nutrients available today that help promote healthy and safe fat reduction? YES! Although there are many supplements today containing herbs like Guarana, MaHuang and Ephedra that can have potentially harmful side effects, there are still many that safely help the body reduce its fat stores.

Here are just a few of the most powerful nutrients which have been well-documented:

CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)

A study published in The Journal of Nutrition (December 2000, V12) established that the natural dietary supplement conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) reduces body fat. Jan Wadstein, MD, PhD, associate professor at Lund University in Sweden states, “CLA may be a valuable weight management supplement to any diet regimen. Keeping lean body mass and speeding up fat loss are the keys to a successful weight program.”

Garcinia Cambogia

Another supplement essential for weight loss is natural organic acid extract from the rind of the Malabar tamarind called Garcinia Cambogia. This compound has been associated with gradual decrease in body fat, nutritionally supporting healthy cholesterol levels, and suppressing hunger cravings frequently. A study performed by Katts, et al, concluded the administration of Garcinia Cambogia reduced deposition of body fat and promoted increased weight loss in human subjects. Citrin K is a proprietary formula proven to suppress appetite. The best and most researched form of Garcinia Cambogia can be found in our proprietary blend called Citrin K. Citrin K also supplies potassium, which plays a major role in maintaining the body’s fluid balance. There are other forms of Garcinia Cambogia on the market, but they don’t have the potency guarantee that Citrin K does.

Other micronutrients needed to support body fat metabolism include vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C and Zinc and Chromium. Look for a weight-loss supplement that will supply you with the highest quality of whole food vitamins and amino acid chelated minerals. This will help to nutritionally support a healthy metabolism, further enhancing your results.

Theobromine

Theobromine is an extraordinary nutrient found in chocolate. It helps maintain healthy levels of stress, giving you a confident and powerful feeling of health. This is a vital component to look for in a weight control product because it nutritiously supports the body in appetite suppression and provides an energetic, euphoric effect. This is very important, as many people scrap weight loss programs because of irritability and their inability to curb cravings.

So if you want to lose weight and keep it off, get the proper amount of exercise, eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, and supplement your diet with a weigh loss pill that meets the aforementioned criteria. The final word on diet pills is this: “The Perfect Weight Loss Pill” should contain the most powerful and safest nutrients available to help you nutritionally support healthy fat burning metabolism without harmful stimulants.

NOTES:

1. OBESITY in America. http://health.msn.com/reports/obesity/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100133520 .

2. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1999.

3. Moran R. Evaluation and treatment of childhood obesity. Am Fam Physician. 1999;59:758, 761-762.

4. Hedley AA, Ogden CL, Johnson CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Flegal KF. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999-2002. JAMA. 2004;291:2847-2850.

5. Newman C. Why Are We So Fat? National Geographic. August 2004.

6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity: what you can do; 2001.

7. Newman C. Why Are We So Fat? National Geographic. August 2004.

8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity: what you can do; 2001.

9. Obesity Swallowing America http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/dc/caz/nutr/obes/alert08032004.jsp

10. The Journal of Nutrition. Vol 130, No 12, Dec 2000.

11. Kaats GR. Reduction of body fat as a function of taking a dietary supplement containing garcinia cambogia extract, chromium picolinate and L-carnitine: A randomized double blind placebo controlled study. 3rd International Conference on Anti-aging Medicine and Bio-medical Technology. Las Vegas, NV., Dec. 7-11, 1995.

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When we diet, by decreasing our calorie intake too drastically, we cause our metabolism to slow down, making it progressively more difficult for us to lose weight. Most diets fail, yet we continue to try one after another, always hoping that each new regime will provide the ‘magic’ solution. If this sounds like your problem, there may be a simple answer. Let’s look at why most diets fail, and how strength training, combined with a healthy food intake can speed up your metabolism, making it easy for you to lose weight.

By drastically cutting our food intake, our body’s natural instinct is to switch to a ‘starvation response.’ The fewer calories we consume, the more our bodies become efficient at using these calories – leading to slower weight loss. This was once a useful mechanism for our ancestors when food supplies were less predictable, but this ’vicious circle’ can make life almost impossible for the modern dieter.

When the body is persistently kept short of calories, it breaks down muscle tissue to use as fuel. Our body, using water from our tissue cells, quickly washes this away causing an instant reduction in weight through water loss. However, this weight loss will be short lived, and will quickly be regained when we take in water and the muscle we have lost will slow down our metabolism in the long term.

The reason for this is that each pound of muscle requires a certain number of calories each day just to maintain it. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you’re doing nothing, even sleeping! If you lose muscle, then your daily calorie requirement becomes less. For example, imagine a dieter loses 10 pounds of muscle (along with maybe 20 lbs. of fat) on a strict diet. Now suppose that each pound of muscle had been burning 50 calories a day. Together, those 10 pounds of muscle had been burning 500 calories a day. With this muscle tissue gone, the dieter must now consume 500 less calories a day in order to maintain that weight-loss!

However, of course people do not stick to their diets for ever and when they return to their old eating habits, the weight that they have lost, invariably comes piling back on. Unfortunately, whilst they lost both muscle and fat during the diet, all the weight they regained was fat. So, even though they may weigh the same as they did when they started, they now have a lot more fat and a lot less muscle than they did before the diet. Therefore, their metabolism is slower and their calorie requirements are less. Even if they return to their pre-diet eating habits, they still require 500 fewer calories a day due to the muscle loss. That’s one reason dieters are prone to regaining all of the lost weight, and conversely sometimes even gain weight afterwards.

A good solution is an active lifestyle that includes aerobic exercise, a good weight-training program, and a healthy diet containing fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain cereals and plenty of lean protein. It is a good idea to eat ‘little and often’ – keeping your metabolism in high gear by eating 4 to 6 small meals a day, rather than one or two larger ones. No food is forbidden, but sweets and high fat junk food are eaten less often, and in smaller quantities. A healthy diet is a realistic and permanent way of eating – not a diet that you suffer through for a week or two and then give up!

The goal is to consume as many calories as you can, while still losing body fat and maintaining or adding lean muscle at the same time. If your calories are already below normal, don’t restrict them further. Instead, maintain your current amount and instead try to become stronger and more active, so you can gradually increase your calories to a normal healthy level. If your calorie intake is already in a healthy range, decrease it only slightly, if necessary. A small reduction of about 250 calories a day, or 10-15 percent less than usual, is more likely to protect your lean muscle, and less likely to trigger a go-slow in your metabolism.

If you follow this type of routine, it’s possible to gain about one pound of muscle per week and lose about one pound of fat per week. The end result is that the number on the scale might not move much at all, it may even go up. Your clothes will feel looser, and you’ll feel great. Yet the numbers on the scale won’t move!! It’s at this point that a lot of people give up the weight training because they don’t understand what’s happening.

The truth is that when you’re strength training it’s possible to get smaller and heavier at the same time, as muscle is a much denser tissue than fat. The fat takes up more space on your body. At this point, it’s best to ignore the bathroom scales and rely on the way you look and the way your clothes fit.

The conventional way of dieting can lead to a weak, tired body, exhausted by the constant cycle of starvation and weight gain, unable to enjoy food. However, by following these easy steps above, you can easily reach your goal – the slim, strong, healthy body of a naturally lean person who can enjoy their food without guilt, for life!

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These are more than another set of statistics — they predict things that can and will affect you, your family, your health, and your pocketbook. If you are among the two thirds of adult Americans struggling to escape escalating weight gain, (or even if you’re teetering on the edge with ten persistent pounds you can’t seem to lose), as a physician, I recommend that you take action to lose weight and protect your future health.

And I have good news for you. I’ve developed a simple plan to help you lose weight automatically based on a new scientific breakthrough.

Despite the abysmal failure of conventional medical approaches, this plan is different because it’s based on recent, groundbreaking scientific research, research that I predict will totally revolutionize weight loss and change the landscape of medicine as we know it.

Many of the answers to our weight and health problems are buried in thousands of research papers. With the aid of a number of very brilliant thinkers and scientists, I’ve gathered and synthesized the greatest advances in medical science over the last 20 years — advances that usually take decades to get incorporated into medical practice. Translated into a simple program that has brought easy, sustainable weight loss to thousands of people, you can access them today.

In the recent past, many pundits theorized that society-wide weight gain was due to our genes. In a sense, they were right, but genes only tell half the story. We share the same genes as our hunter- gatherer forebears who foraged in the woods and hunted wild game 20,000 years ago. What’s changed is the environment within which our genes operate.

Up until modern times, man’s natural environment supplied the foods we were genetically programmed to eat. But with the advent of industrialized agriculture and food production, we began eating mass-produced and processed foods that genetically program us to add pounds.

Here’s how:

Food is information — not just calories — and food information speaks to our genes, turning some genes ON and other genes OFF. That’s why it’s genes, not calories, that count.

Until recently, scientists believed that the critical mechanism for weight loss was caloric intake and expenditure — you eat little and exercise hard to lose each pound. But that’s hard to do and harder to maintain, recent scientific studies reveal (and no doubt not surprising to anyone who has tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to lose weight).

Using the caloric mechanism for weight loss is a bit like manually cranking a lever to open your garage door inch-by-inch and then having to hold the door open. Wouldn’t you rather push the button that activates the circuitry to open your garage door automatically?

To do that for weight loss, you have to access the master biological mechanisms controlling weight loss and weight gain. Using those mechanisms opens the door to automatic weight loss. The recent scientific discoveries I’ve assembled decode the instruction manual of our basic biology. At last, we can control the master mechanisms: our genes themselves.

The new genetic science (called Functional Medicine) teaches that our genes interact intimately with our environment. Every bite of food we eat, every thought we think, every stress we experience, or toxin we inhale carries a specific message to our genes, turning them on (or off), and telling them how to behave.

As a result, our genes are programmed moment-by-moment to actively create either weight loss or weight gain. Scientists have tracked exactly how all the different foods trigger the messages sent to your genes. With that knowledge, you can give your body the foods that work in your favor — and avoid ones that don’t.

For instance, for decades, people were warned to avoid fats at all costs, but now we know that the type of fat you eat is more important than the amount of fat you eat. The new science traces the biological impact of good fats, like the omega-3 fatty acids (contained in fish, fish oils, certain nuts and many other foods) and bad fats like the trans-fats contained in many processed foods.

What researchers found is that good fats turn on your body’s fat burning genes and bad fats turn off the fat burning genes. When you consume EPA or DHA, both omega-3 fatty acids, they access a metabolic gateway called the PPAR receptor, to activate genes that increase your metabolism, help you burn fat, and assist you in processing bodily glucose more effectively so that foods won’t get stored as fat.

It’s as if the EPA and DHA opens up an extra lane on your hormonal superhighway, making for a smooth and easy route towards slimness and health. That’s why, for automatic weight loss, I recommend adding EPA and DHA (both found in fish oil) to your diet, beginning today. On the other hand, unhealthy transfats (such as found in many processed and fast foods) act as a metabolic roadblock to weight loss, and if you eat them, you may find yourself crawling along at a snail’s pace, going nowhere.

These are just two of the hundreds of ways that you’ll learn to awaken the fat-burning code hidden in your DNA. In my new book, UltraMetabolism, due out in March, 2006, you’ll discover a wide range of foods that tell your genes to shed pounds, while learning to avoid the many other foods that tell your genes to pack on the pounds. Eating the foods right for your genes allows you to literally program your body to lose weight automatically, even as you sleep!

And that is the key: be simply learning to eat the foods that ignite your body’s fat burning engines, and avoiding the foods that snuff out these engines, you finally begin the process of working WITH your body, instead of against it — something that all fad diets fail to do, which is why they all fail in the long-run.

But, because UltraMetabolism teaches a simple plan to harness your body’s own powerful fat burning forces — ones that have evolved over millions of years — you are actually programming your body to lose weight, automatically.

Why struggle and suffer with ineffective diets when you can actually teach your body to be slim and healthy? With the simple two-step plan I’ve developed, you can program your body to lose weight automatically. In the first step, you eliminate all of the bad foods that slow your metabolism, make you feel lethargic and lead to disease; in the second step, you add the good foods that crank up your metabolism, boost your energy and revitalize your health.

Twenty-first century weight loss is easier than you’ve ever dreamed. And it’s something that I am confident about since I’ve treated over 2,000 patients, many of whom have experienced the very same automatic weight loss that I’ve described here.

My message to you is simple: If you want to fit into your jeans, you have to learn to fit into your genes!

Mark Hyman, M.D.

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Although the above would probably be the major mechanisms by which whey could help the dieter, there are several secondary effects of whey that may assist in weight loss. For example, whey’s effects on serotonin levels. Serotonin is probably the most studied neurotransmitter since it has been found to be involved in a wide range of psychological and biological functions. Serotonin ( also called 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) is involved with mood, anxiety, and appetite.

Elevated levels of serotonin can cause relaxation and reduced anxiety. Low serotonin levels are associated with low mood, increased anxiety (hence the current popularity of the SSRI drugs such as Prozac and others), and poor appetite control. This is an extremely abbreviated description of all the functions serotonin performs in the human body – many of which have yet to be fully elucidated – but a full explanation is beyond the scope of this article.

Needless to say, Increased brain serotonin levels are associated with an improved ability of people to cope with stress, whereas a decline in serotonin activity is associated with depression and anxiety. Elevated levels of serotonin in the body often result in the relief of depression, as well as substantial reduction in pain sensitivity, anxiety and stress. It has also been theorized that a diet-induced increase in tryptophan will increase brain serotonin levels, while a diet designed for weight loss (e.g., a diet that reduces calories) may lead to a reduction of brain serotonin levels due to reduced substrate for production and a reduction in carbohydrates.

Many people on a reduced calorie intake in an attempt to lose weight find they are often ill tempered and more anxious. Reductions in serotonin may be partially to blame here. One recent study (The bovine protein alpha-lactalbumin increases the plasma ratio of tryptophan to the other large neutral amino acids, and in vulnerable subjects raises brain serotonin activity, reduces cortisol concentration, and improves mood under stress. Am J Clin Nutr 2000 Jun;71(6):1536-1544) examined whether alpha-lactalbumin – a major sub fraction found in whey which has an especially high tryptophan content – would increase plasma Tryptophan levels as well reduce depression and cortisol concentrations in subjects under acute stress considered to be vulnerable to stress.

The researchers examined twenty-nine “highly stress-vulnerable subjects” and 29 “relatively stress-invulnerable” subjects using a double blind, placebo-controlled study design. The study participants were exposed to experimental stress after eating a diet enriched with either alpha-lactalbumin (found in whey) or sodium-caseinate, another milk based protein. They researchers looked at:

* Diet-induced changes in the plasma Tryptophan and its ratio to other large neutral amino acids.

* Prolactin levels.

* Changes in mood and pulse rate.

* Cortisol levels (which were assessed before and after the stressor).

Amazingly, the ratio of plasma Tryptophan to the other amino acids tested was 48% higher after the alpha-lactalbumin diet than after the casein diet! This was accompanied by a decrease in cortisol levels and higher prolactin concentration. Perhaps most important and relevant to the average person reading this article, they found “reduced depressive feelings” when test subjects were put under stress.

They concluded that the “Consumption of a dietary protein enriched in tryptophan increased the plasma Trp-LNAA ratio and, in stress-vulnerable subjects, improved coping ability, probably through alterations in brain serotonin.” This effect was not seen in the sodium-caseinate group. If other studies can confirm these findings, whey may turn out to be yet another safe and effective supplement in the battle against depression and stress, as well as reduced serotonin levels due to dieting.

Although there is a long list of hormones involved in appetite regulation, some of which have been mentioned above, serotonin appears to be a key player in the game. In general, experiments find increased serotonin availability or activity = reduced food consumption and decreased serotonin = increase food consumption. If whey can selectively increase serotonin levels above that of other proteins, it could be very helpful to the dieter.

Other possible advantages whey may confer to the dieter is improved blood sugar regulation (Frid AH, Nilsson M, Holst JJ, Bjorck IM. Effect of whey on blood glucose and insulin responses to composite breakfast and lunch meals in type 2 diabetic subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jul;82(1):69-75.) which is yet another key area in controlling appetite and metabolism.

Finally, calcium from dairy products has been found to be associated with a reduction in bodyweight and fat mass. Calcium is thought to influence energy metabolism as intracellular calcium regulates fat cell (adipocyte) lipid metabolism as well as triglyceride storage. It’s been demonstrated in several studies the superiority of dairy versus non-dairy sources of calcium for improving body composition, and the whey fraction of dairy maybe the key.

The mechanism responsible for increased fat loss found with dairy-based calcium versus nondairy calcium has not is not fully understood but researchers looking at the issue theorized “… dairy sources of calcium markedly attenuate weight and fat gain and accelerate fat loss to a greater degree than do supplemental sources of calcium. This augmented effect of dairy products relative to supplemental calcium is likely due to additional bioactive compounds, including the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and the rich concentration of branched-chain amino acids in whey, which act synergistically with calcium to attenuate adiposity.”

It appears components in whey – some of which have been mentioned above – are thought to act synergistically with calcium to improve body composition (Zemel MB. Role of calcium and dairy products in energy partitioning and weight management. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 May;79(5):907S-912S.).

Conclusion

Taken in isolation, none of these studies are so compelling that people should run out and use whey as some form of weight loss nirvana. However, taken as a total picture, the bulk of the research seems to conclude that whey may in fact have some unique effects for weight loss and should be of great use to the dieter. More studies are clearly needed however.

So what is the practical application of all this information and how does the dieter put it to good use? Being the appetite suppressing effects of whey appear to last approximately 2-3 hours, it would seem best to stagger the intake throughout the day. For example, breakfast might be 1-2 scoops of whey and a bowl of oatmeal, and perhaps a few scoops of whey taken between lunch and dinner.

If whey does what the data suggests it does in the above, that should be the most effective method for maximizing the effects of whey on food (calorie) intake on subsequent meals as well as the other metabolic effects covered. If working out, the schedule may be different however and people should follow the pre and post nutrition recommendations made in my ebook “Muscle Building Nutrition” or advice easily found on the ‘net via the many sports nutrition and bodybuilding related web sites.

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The answer is that there is no best way to do it. There is
no best book, and there is no right way or wrong way to do it.

The 5 Critical things you must do to achieve your health are
these

1. Continue to learn about health, fitness, nutrition and
weight loss from a wide variety of sources

The single most important thing to do right from the start is
to take action and begin learning about health, followed very
closely by putting what you learn into practice. We are a
very diversified bunch of people and what works for you may
not work for the next person. You have to find what works for
you from a wide variety of sources, expand your knowledge and
accept no one thing as being the best for your health. Keep
reading, keep learning and keep what works for you and discard
what doesn’t.

Knowledge isn’t power, but “knowledge in action is power!”

Some very simple things to keep in mind is that the body runs
on food and if you give it the best quality food, in whatever
manor that happens to be, then you’ll probably get some good
results in general. Keep the nutrition to a maximum by eating
as close to nature as possible, organic where possible and
eliminating processed foods and trans fats.

2. Find a mentor.

Someone who’s been there, done that and that you can model .

I realized at quite an early age that if we can model someone
who’s been there and done that and gotten results, then you
can “cut to the chase” as it were to find out what works for
your health and weight loss – what doesn’t and in doing so get
results faster.

Find a mentor, a role model for the things that you’re looking
for. If it’s weight loss or to improve your health, find
someone who’s walked in your footsteps and knows what you’re
going through. Model them. Do what they did, repeat their
process and contact them to ask what worked and what didn’t.
You can save yourself a lot of time and effort by doing what
works and skipping what doesn’t.

3. Apply the knowledge you learn about health on a daily
basis

This is where the taking action part comes in. You must begin
to apply the knowledge you’ve gained from what you’ve read
about health or watched and by talking with people who’ve been
there before you. If you do not put it into practice then
you’ve become an information junkie and not someone who
follows through on their knowledge. You must begin to work
the principles you’ve learned on a daily basis and keep at it.
Without the trial and error, you get nowhere fast and won’t
truly know what works and what doesn’t.

4. Repeat steps one, two and three

Remember, there is no right way or wrong way to lose weight,
improve your health or get what you want. You must continue
to learn and challenge what you’ve read. I’m told that what I
teach is wrong and I ask what were your results when you tried
it? Well, they didn’t try it and so I then ask “what right do
you have to tell me what I teach is wrong”. It may have
worked for me or for many people I coach including yourself,
but without trying it and challenging it, you won’t ever know.

Keep learning about health, keep reading, keep applying what
you’ve read and this new knowledge. Begin the process of
filtering for yourself what will and won’t work for you.
Remember this is about you, not me or the other guy, but what
will help you achieve your weight loss goals or your health.
This may very well be about applying certain fitness
principles that sound so controversy that you figure they
can’t possibly work. One of my favorite sayings is “believe
nothing I say, but I challenge you to prove me wrong”. My
intent is to have you try it.

When I first begun my journey to lose 300 pounds, I read one
book and I preached the principles like they were the gospel.
I was finally told to “shut up” and read something else, so I
took it upon myself to learn whatever I could about health and
weight loss. I began to apply my new knowledge daily, found
people who had used the info before and what they believed
about it, what worked for them for their health and then
discovered for myself what worked.

Finally, I discovered the ultimate secret to health and weight
loss.

5. Never give up.

It never ends. In the large scope of your life, the next 30,
40, 50 or more years, what is a few days if you happen to get
off track. Get right back on doing what you were doing, keep
learning, keep trying new things, go back to what worked when
it was working and keep up with your daily fitness routine.
Probably the single most important fact about exercise or
fitness is that our body is designed to move and we’ve gotten
away from that. We must do something on a daily basis to
exercise our body.

Never give up. Never lose sight of the health you want and
keep working towards your goal.

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When you use heat to cook your food (grill, fry, bake), the heating process removes some of your food’s beneficial nutrients. In addition, if you are plagued with stress or you if you are taking medication there’s a chance that you are losing a significant amount of vitamins and minerals that you consume. Taking vitamins on a regular basis can increase your chances of getting all the nutrients your body needs.

The benefits of taking vitamins go beyond meeting the recommended dietary allowances. How healthy you are depends on more than just diet and the amount of exercise you obtain. There are other outside factors that can predispose you to develop certain health issues. For example, how much of a risk you have for developing cancer of heart disease is largely dependent upon whether or not others in your family developed these conditions. For some time it was believed that an individual had very little recourse in these situations. Studies conducted by Harvard University researchers revealed that taking a multivitamin every day can reduce an individual’s risk to develop these conditions.

To determine your specific needs, you should visit your doctor for a complete evaluation of your dietary needs. Your doctor will be able to recommend the type of vitamins that are best for you. It may very well be the case that a common multivitamin is all that you need. If this is the case, you can visit any nutrition center or grocery store and find aisles of multivitamins. While these preparations will contain the same basic set of vitamins, the amount of each will differ. You can determine which preparation is for you by considering which nutrients you lack. For example, if you’re not a fan of milk products, you may want to choose a multivitamin that contains more calcium.

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“Where’s the Beef?”

“Where’s the Beef?” soon became a catchphrase in the arena of verbal combat. I still chuckle whenever I think back to an infamous moment during the 1984 presidential primaries. Walter Mondale separated himself from underdog Colorado Senator Gary Hart with a little humor.

Mondale borrowed the phrase “Where’s the Beef?” to criticize Hart’s lack of depth in policy statements. Everyone knew exactly what he meant. Those three powerful words cut swiftly and poignantly to the proverbial chase! Suddenly, Hart’s pompous pontifications were stripped of their aurora of omniscient omnipotence and simultaneously exposed as frivolous fluff. Reminiscent of the scene from The Wizard of Oz, the curtains parted and the spotlight shifted to an emperor who had no clothes.

Okay, so Mondale didn’t beat Reagan. But that’s another story.

My point is (and I do have one), although our supermarket shelves are stocked with a wide array of fancy foodstuffs in pretty packages, and even though your gleeful kiddies may make you feel like parent-of-the-month as you reward their consumption of Happy Meals with cool cartoon figurines, remember: “All that glitters ain’t gold!” Unless consumers become vigilantly alert, the food industry will continue to crank out an endless entourage of pre-packaged, foodless foods.

Does A Foodless Food Syndrome Really Exist?

My guess is, most people aren’t fully persuaded that a foodless food syndrome really exists. Or if this so-called syndrome does exist, it can’t possibly be all that serious, right? Granted, many people continuously feel sick and tired, but that’s natural, right? Though many people are sick and tired, most are simply not sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Furthermore, we fail to connect the dots. Sure, we’ve heard the reports. But “Sixty percent of Americans are overweight!” is no longer a newsflash. Complacent to reality, we tempt fate and continue to Super-size our fries. Sure, seventeen million Americans suffer from diabetes, but another gulp of soda pop couldn’t hurt. And so what if over 40 percent of the US population will die of a heart attack? I’m not giving up my cholesterol-rich diet. Forget about the fact that there is now irrefutable evidence that high cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. Forget about the fact that there is a direct relationship established between high cholesterol levels and high rates of heart attacks. Surely it’s just a coincidence that the high US death toll from heart failure corresponds with the high cholesterol level in The United States.

On the flip side of the coin, is it just a coincident that populations with much lower cholesterol levels also have much lower death tolls? Consider rural China, where the average cholesterol level is almost half that of the American cholesterol level. Less than five percent of their population dies from heart attacks. Hmm. Forty percent verses five percent is a HUMONGOUS difference, don’t you think? Oh well, maybe that too is just a coincidence.

And so what if The World Health Organization tells us yet another time that cancer is a leading cause of death? Who cares if an estimated 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005? It’s no longer shocking to learn that 84 million people will die in the next 10 years if action is not taken. Besides, what, in bloody blazes, does all this have to do with poor nutrition?

Everything. Numerous experts echo the alarm of the American Cancer Society, “Eating right, being active, and maintaining a healthy weight are important ways to reduce your risk of cancer – as well as heart disease and diabetes.”

The Problem with Processed Food

So why am I picking on the processed food industry? Here’s the problem in a nutshell.

First, we produce way more food than what is necessary for our consumption, which creates a surplus. So this surplus food needs to be highly refined and processed, otherwise it will spoil. During this process, essential vitamins and minerals are annihilated. The result is, foodless foods are being produced in massive quantities. These food products retain most of their calories, but they have little, if any, nutritional value.

These foodless foods do not nutritionally support your body properly to allow for the normal repair and growth of your tissues and cells. In fact, refined foods are so depleted that the government has laws which require artificial vitamins and minerals to be added in order to meet minimum standards. The very reason why foods are labeled “enriched” or “fortified” is because their natural nutrients have been robbed! As a consequence, over sixty percent of the typical American diet consists of refined foods and snacks.

The Importance of A Healthy Diet and Diet Supplementation

So what’s the solution?

The first step is to eat a healthy diet consisting largely of raw fruits and vegetables, preferably organic. Avoid refined sugar and processed bread. Instead, substitute natural sweeteners like honey. Also, eat whole-grain bread.

But let’s face it – we’re not living in the Garden of Eden. Life is a rat race and we’re in the fast lane. It can be cumbersome with our fast-paced lifestyles to get all the essential vitamins and minerals we need by relying on our diets alone. That’s why it is critically important to supplement your diet with a great high-quality All-Natural Multi-Vitamin made from Whole-Food sources. Unlike cheap synthetics, Whole-Food Vitamins are the greatest in the world when it comes to nutritionally supporting your body. Plus, they are much better utilized and absorbed by your body’s individual cells.

There’s the Beef!

[DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed herein are my own, although they have been compiled over the years from my research through books and articles. My opinions should not be considered as medical advice to treat or cure any diseases or illnesses. For these matters, consult a qualified professional.]

For more detailed information, please visit our website at:

http://www.TomsVitamins.com

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Oysters have the highest zinc content. However, meats, such as liver, chicken, and turkey are also excellent sources of zinc so that it is rare that people have a deficiency. Dairy products also contain significant levels of zinc. Vegetarians do not consume meat and are at greatest risk of zinc deficiency. In adults, an insufficient amount of zinc in the body can result in changes in the condition of the hair and skin, and a loss of appetite. Others who may have difficulty absorbing zinc include individuals in the hospital who receive nutrients through a feeding tube, alcoholics, and women who take birth control pills.

The recommended amount of zinc that individuals should consume is 15 milligrams. This amount is found in most multivitamins, so if you don’t consume the foods that are sources of zinc or it has been discovered that you have a zinc absorption problem, taking a multivitamin should be sufficient to obtain the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of zinc. The case for taking a multivitamin with zinc makes sense because zinc is not stored in the body and you need the minimum every day.

Zinc has been discovered to assist couples with fertility. High doses of zinc (50 milligrams) can result in an increase in semen. Zinc supplementation is particularly beneficial in men who have a low sperm count. In women, zinc supplementation can make conception more likely by affecting the levels of hormones in the body.

This method of fertility treatment is one that should not be undertaken without first consulting a medical doctor. High doses of zinc supplements can affect the body’s ability to absorb copper, a mineral that is necessary for a healthy immune system. High doses of zinc can also lower the amount of high-density (good cholesterol) in the blood. Zinc supplementation may not be a good idea if you are taking medication.

Why not check out our nutrition guide at http://www.nutritional-supplement-guides.com/nut-ebook.html

and also what supplement we personally use for our nutrition needs at http://www.nutritional-supplement-guides.com/what-we-use.html

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Finally, some of them will be totally unaware of this information and will be shocked when they read it. Basically, I fully expect this article to cause a sh*% storm that will reverberate throughout the supplement industry.

The only people who I know are going to be happy about this article is the consumer, but I am getting ahead of myself. As we all know, creatine is one of the best bodybuilding supplements ever discovered. It increases strength, lean body mass, and, to a lesser extent, endurance. If that were not enough, it’s relatively cheap to boot!

What more could we ask for from a supplement?

When creatine was first introduced it was sort of pricey, but no one really cared because it worked so well. As time went on and more companies began selling creatine, the inevitable price war began and prices came down.

At that point creatine was only being produced by a few companies, so creatine was basically creatine and the price was the only real consideration. As is typical of the market place, once creatine became big business, several new manufacturers popped up and it became no longer a price war as much as a quality war. The expression “creatine is creatine” no longer holds true. More on that shortly.

At this time there are probably four-five companies large enough to mass produce creatine for the sports nutrition market. These companies in turn sell their product in huge bulk amounts to various distributors around the world.

As far as the mass producers are concerned, there is a large German company, two companies out of China, and two in the United States. Though there are various other companies, for this article we will basically concern ourselves with these five major producers which probably comprise 80-90% of the creatine production market.

Why I had to write this article

The supplement industry in the United States is by and large a self-regulated industry. Unlike other countries, we (the USA) don’t have government constantly telling us what we can and cannot do with our supplements. Though they have been trying to discredit supplements for decades, the FDA and pharmaceutical/ medical industrial complex have largely failed to do so.

As a self-regulated industry, we must do just that. Let me state here and now, I am all for self-regulation and totally against government regulation when it comes to supplements. When we find gross problems, we have to expose them no matter what the cost. Any supplement that is found to be potentially dangerous, terribly misleading, or otherwise a total scam, must be exposed as such.

If we don’t do it, then we allow the “powers that be” (who have an interest in discrediting the supplement industry) to get one step closer to the Orwellian scenario of other countries. I thought long and hard as to whether or not I should write this article, but in the end, as a person of good conscience and ethics, I knew I had to.

In the end, it will cost the entire supplement industry far more than any one loss could ever cost a single company if problems with a certain product are not exposed.

As far as I am concerned, this is us airing out or own dirty inter-industry laundry and policing our own, instead of waiting for the “don’t confuse us with the facts” popular media or other groups to come after the supplement industry.

I know it must sound like I am almost apologizing for writing this article, and in a way I am. It could potentially cost certain people a great deal of money. On the other hand, it could also make some other person a great deal of money, depending on where they fall (this will make more sense to the reader as you read along).

In the end, the truth can never been denied, it can only be delayed. With each day of delay, the cost to everyone goes up. Nuff said.

Are you getting more than you paid for?

Most of us are always happy when we get more than we paid for, but in some instances, it’s not such a good idea. If we are buying say vitamin C and the label says “500mg per capsule” and laboratory analysis reveals it contains 600mg, then that is a great thing.

However, if we test a product and not only does it contain what the label claims, but several other compounds we did not know were in there and had no place being in there, then that’s a completely different story.

For example, when the amino acid L-Tryptophan was taken off the market for the death of several people, it was not because of the L-Tryptophan itself, but because of a chemical contaminant found in a batch of the L-tryptophan that was not supposed to be there. This was a perfect example of getting more than you paid for in the worst possible scenario.

What I am going to write about in this article certainly is not as bad as the L-tryptophan fiasco, but it could be a potential health concern.

So after that long, cryptic, and bizarre introduction, what am I getting at? Recently, a company tested the five largest creatine manufacturers products and tested the products of various distributors from the USA, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries.

At this time, the company who did the testing wishes to remain anonymous, lest they be accused of throwing stones at the supplement industry. However, this is a very large and reputable company and they stand behind their test results.

Also, I know this company to be one of the worlds most reputable companies, so I had no problems with their testing results or methods. The test results came to me through the back door so to speak. So what was tested for and what did it reveal? The creatine products were tested for: Dicyandiamide, Creatinine, Dihydrotriazine, and sodium content.

What did the tests reveal? It revealed that there is a wide range of differences between creatine products from different manufacturers. The purity level of all the creatine products were also tested and they generally fell between 88 and 92%.

Now before you go off yelling “but my creatine says 99% pure creatine monohydrate on the bottle,” you have to remember there is a small amount of water in creatine monohydrate.

Before we bother with the results, we need to take a look at the chemicals that were tested for-and subsequently found- in these samples. What really bothered me was the fact that there is little safety research on some of these chemicals, most notably the dihydrotriazine.

I did Med-line searches, looked through various chemical data related books (i.e. the Merck Index and other publications), made many phone calls to chemists, spent hours on the internet, and was amazed to find so little real safety data on some of these materials.

Considering the fact that some creatine products contain fairly high amounts of these chemicals, the lack of solid safety data did not make me feel very comfortable. The major point of this is really the amount of creatine ingested in relation to the amount of contaminant present. It’s not that a compound has a small amount of some contaminant per se, but the levels of the contaminant is found in relation to how much of the product is consumed is the real question.

In the December issue of Health and Nutrition Breakthroughs (p12, 1997) Dr. Podell addressed the same concern regarding creatine as I have when he stated “…there is the potentially important issue of product purity. Given the high doses of creatine most people take, even a minute toxic impurity could have a dangerous effect. Unfortunately we cannot be sure of a manufacturers’ quality controls.”

As we all know, people don’t just take 500mg (1/2 a gram) of creatine, they take 10,000mg (10g), 20,000mg (20g), or even 30,000mg (30g) of creatine per day, so even a small amount of a contaminant (such as the dihydrotriazine) can add up quickly.

For example, one creatine product contained as much as 18,000 parts per million (PPM) of Dicyandiamide. If a person is taking in ten grams per day of creatine, that’s 180 mg of this chemical a day. If you are taking in 30g a day of creatine-as is often the case during the loading phase-you would be getting a whopping 540mg a day of dicyandiamide!

The Chemicals

Dicyandiamide (DC):

DC is actually a derivative of one of the starting chemicals (cyanamide) used in creatine production. DC is formed during the production of creatine products, and large amounts found in a product are considered the result of an incomplete or inefficient process. A quality creatine product will contain very small amounts, less than 20-50ppm. At this time, DC does not appear to be a particularly toxic chemical. Oral studies with animals (rats and dogs) lasting up to 90 days have not shown serious toxicity or carcinogenic effects, and acute poisoning also takes very high amounts.

DC appears to have many uses in the chemical industry. Some of the more interesting is the use of DC in the production of fertilizers, explosives, fire proofing compounds, cleaning compounds, soldering compounds, stabilizer in detergents, modifier for starch products, and a catalyst for epoxy resins.

At the concentrations found in some of the creatine products (see below), it’s a good thing this stuff does not appear to be particularly toxic. However, as far as I am concerned, I don’t want to be eating the stuff. One interesting point as it relates to DC and toxicity is, if one looks at the safety sheet on the stuff it states that DC breaks down into hydrogen cyanide gas when exposed to a strong acid. Hydrogen cyanide gas is very toxic and has been used as a chemical warfare agent!

As Bruce Kneller points out (see side bar), stomach acid, which has a PH of 2, is a very strong acid. Is even a tiny amount of hydrogen cyanide gas produced from the intake of large amounts of DC? The chemist I spoke to did not seem to think so and the safety data with animals would tend to support this, but who knows. Bruce might be overreacting a bit on this, but it’s better to lean on the cautious side with such things. Bottom line, it’s best not to be eating large amounts of DC in this writer’s opinion.

Dihydrotriazine (DT):

DT appears to be the real mystery chemical as far as potentially toxic contaminants found in some creatine products. One company had it listed as “…Dihydrotriazine is often found in various creatine products. This substance is a byproduct of non-optimized creatine productions and consequently widely spread over creatine products. Dihydrotriazine is a compound with unknown pharmaceutical and toxicological properties.” It was virtually impossible to find any useful safety data on this chemical.

However, DT is part of a large family of chemicals known as the “triazines.” It is an organic base with many derivatives. Some of these derivatives are toxic while others are known to be non-toxic, so it is very difficult to come to any real solid opinion regarding the potential toxicity of this chemical.

One chemist I spoke to from a major pharmaceutical supply company said to me on the phone “it’s safe to say that there will be major differences in toxicity between derivatives since ‘triazine’ simply means possessing three C=N-H groups. Some derivatives are highly toxic.”

Bill Roberts, a medicinal Chemist and writer for Dan Duchaine’s Dirty Dieting news letter commented after I sent him over this information: “There really is no way to say just how high a chronic intake of this chemical [these chemicals] is safe in humans from the information given. If the amounts were very small, say a few milligrams per week, it’s a reasonable guess that there would probably be no problem.

But if a creatine brand has say 1% of this impurity [these impurities] then people are going to be consuming thousands of milligrams of this compound [these compounds] over time. I think we have to be concerned about taking so much of something that really isn’t well studied in humans for safety. It would certainly be unwise to assume thattoxicity is not an issue.

If the consumer has a choice between a creatine brand that contains this impurity [these impurities] in significant amounts, and one that is more pure, I’d certainly recommend spending the extra money and obtaining the purer product.”

So as you can see, we are left with a major question mark regarding DT. For me, the less I know about a chemical the less of it I want to find in any product I am ingesting.

Though this chemical might turn out to be perfectly harmless, I think it should not be found in any amount and thus should be non-detectable (n.d.) in the ppm range until we know more about this chemical. As you can see from the tests, some companies have n.d. amounts while others have far more than that. I find this unacceptable, and so should you.

Creatinine:

Creatinine is one of the easy compounds to discuss on this list. Creatinine is actually a natural byproduct of creatine metabolism in the human body and of creatine production. A small amount can be found in every creatine product. However, in some products large amounts can be found, as high as 7700 ppm in one case (see chart). It is probably safe to say that the ingestion of creatinine is a safe endeavor.

There is some research that links the ingestion of creatinine from meats with increased colon cancer incidence, but in all honesty I would not put much stock in that or get all worked up about it. The point is, when I buy creatine I want to eat creatine, not creatinine.

Though a natural byproduct of creatine metabolism, it does not have any ergogenic effects and therefore I don’t want large amounts of it in my creatine, period. A high quality creatine product should contain less than 100ppm of creatinine in my opinion.

Sodium:

Like the aforementioned creatinine, sodium is an easy one to talk about. Also, like creatinine, it is a generally safe thing to ingest at normal intakes. At the levels found in these creatine products, the amount of sodium added to the diet is very small and should pose no problems, even to the most sodium phobic person. However, like I said before, when I pay for creatine I want creatine, not sodium. The lowest sodium content was 20ppm and the highest was 500ppm. I leave it to the reader to decide what is a tolerable sodium content to them.

Conclusion

Believe it or not, the company who did the testing told me that although those were the main chemicals they tested for, some creatine products read like a who’s who of different chemical compounds, though they admitted that they are usually found in trace amounts. As for the consumer, if it were me, I would demand the HPLC test results from whom ever I was buying my creatine from regarding the chemicals listed in this article.

If you don’t care, that’s OK also. As for me, I will make sure my creatine comes only from companies and distributors who sell creatine made by the large German company, or other companies, who clearly have their collective act together when it comes to producing an ultra pure creatine product.

Bottom line?

The expression “creatine is creatine” no longer holds true. However, a high quality creatine product it still the best thing going in bodybuilding/sports supplements.

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While Vitamin C intake is fairly simple to accomplish today with either foods rich in this vitamin or Vitamin C supplements, that hasn’t always been the case. Scurvy was once a real health concern, associated with low levels of Vitamin C in the body. The problem was rampant in areas of the world where fruits and vegetables high in Vitamin C content were rare, or where people couldn’t afford to have those vegetables as part of their daily menu.

Oranges and other citrus fruits are among the more common food sources of Vitamin C. The papaya is probably the fruit with the single highest natural Vitamin C content. A medium papaya provides more than the daily recommended allowance for Vitamin C for any normal, healthy person.

Because most people associate Vitamin C with citrus fruits, you may not realize that there are some other non-citrus sources of Vitamin C. If you simply don’t like oranges or grapefruit, you can still find fruits that are high in Vitamin C to add to your diet. Strawberries and cantaloupe are among those fruits. There are some other foods that are also good sources of Vitamin C, such as peppers.

Vitamin C has also been found to be a natural antioxidant, meaning that it helps the body fight off specific health problems and diseases and may even slow some of the signs of aging. Some people think that Vitamin C will keep you from getting a cold, but the vitamin’s natural aid to the immune system is the only real aid when it comes to colds. Instead of taking Vitamin C after you’re coming down with a cold, the best course is to be sure you have sufficient levels of Vitamin C all the time.

An important fact about Vitamin C is that the body doesn’t store this vitamin as is the case with some vitamins. That means that you need to give your body new sources of Vitamin C daily to be sure the body maintains a sufficient Vitamin C level.

Most professionals seem to agree that getting Vitamin C naturally is best. But if you’re not getting sufficient amounts of this important vitamin, vitamin supplements are a good idea. Manufacturers have met the demand for more options when it comes to vitamins, including Vitamin C. You’ll find tablets, drinks and chewables, all packed with enough Vitamin C to keep your body ready to fight off the infections that naturally come your way.

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There are two types of vitamins- the water soluble vitamins and the fat soluble vitamins. Fat soluble vitamins are also called hormones. All the commonly known vitamins are water soluble vitamins, of which vitamin C or ascorbic acid is the most common. Earlier it was believed that all these vitamins belong to one group called B complex as they were all found in the same source. Later they were categorized as different vitamins.

Vitamin A, B1, B3, B5, B9, D, E, H, K, P, Choline and Inositol are some of the other vitamins. Few of these vitamins are known by their biological names, like vitamin B1 is known as thiamine and vitamin H, Biotin.

Vitamins form an essential component of the balanced diet that we eat. People with chronic illnesses are advised to take vitamin supplements by their doctors. Pregnant women and people suffering from bowel disorders need to watch out their vitamin intake. Bowel disorder retards the absorption of fat soluble vitamin. Folic acid is prescribed for a person suffering from thalassaemia. Patients with pernicious anemia have to be given injections of vitamin B12 because of its acute deficiency in their body.

We need small amounts of these vitamins on regular basis to help the body function smoothly and remain healthy. These vitamins help the organs to carry out their individual functions. In the absence of these vitamins, our body falls sick and suffers from vitamin deficiency diseases. There are enough vitamins present in our foods but if we don’t eat a balanced diet the external supplements will do the needful.

Vitamins are useful and mandatory for the body, but excess of everything is bad. Even vitamins taken in excess can cause severe damage to the body. For instance, the body needs only 400 to 800 units of vitamin D in a day. If this amount is exceeded, too much calcium gets absorbed by the bloodstream, which can damage the kidneys. Moreover, supplements can never replace the healthy diets, so it’s better to take vitamin-rich diet than take supplements.

Last word of caution: Do not take vitamins by gathering information from here and there. Consult your doctor. Remember, little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

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Before you grab up the latest, cutest, most expensive or cheapest vitamins you can find, take a minute to evaluate what it is that you expect to accomplish. Start by carefully evaluating your typical daily food intake.

Take a count of the foods you eat over a period of a few days. You may find that you’re getting sufficient amounts of most vitamins simply through your diet. Even a less-than-healthy diet overall may be offset by certain habits – drinking significant quantities of Vitamin D fortified milk, for example. If you typically drink at least two cups of milk each day, you’re probably getting the Vitamin D recommended for a normal, healthy adult.

But what if you realize that you really aren’t getting the vitamins you need? Then it’s time to add a vitamin supplement, but you should be smart about it. For most children and adults who aren’t getting the recommended daily allowances of vitamins, a very general vitamin is probably your best bet. There are plenty of options out there and it really becomes a matter of personal choice. If the kids like some particular brand better than others, that brand is probably fine. Just be sure that it’s providing recommended daily allowances of the top vitamins needed by children.

The same is true of adults, though it tends to be the claims of the manufacturer that grabs the attention rather than the fact that the vitamins are in the shape of a cartoon character. Be wary of any vitamin brand when the manufacturer makes incredible claims. There’s no doubt that having sufficient vitamin intake on a daily basis will make you feel better, but there’s also no doubt that vitamins aren’t going to turn back the clock, give you the vitality of a toddler and make all your aches and pains go away. Be smart about it. Read the back of the bottle to find out what vitamins are actually packed into that little pill. You may be surprised to find the ingredients of the cheapest store brand and those incredibly expensive vitamins are exactly the same.

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The first thing to keep in mind is that several vitamins have toxic levels. In other words, there is a point at which consuming more vitamins is not only unhelpful, it can be dangerous.

Vitamin K helps the body clot blood. If you get a cut, your blood’s natural tendency to clot will keep you from bleeding to death. But there are some people who have blood that clots too readily, or who have health issues that require thinner blood. Some people with specific types of heart problems may actually be on medication designed to thin the blood. Doctors may also prescribe a blood thinner for a patient getting ready for some types of surgeries. If thinning the blood is your doctor’s goal, taking a Vitamin K supplement or eating foods that are particularly rich in Vitamin K may be dangerous.

If you’re taking an aspirin each day, your body may be experiencing a Vitamin C deficiency. Studies have indicated that Vitamin C is typically absorbed by blood cells, but aspirin in the system may block this normal absorption action.

If you need more iron in your body, you may want to consider increasing the amount of Vitamin C in your daily food intake. It seems that having enough Vitamin C in your system makes your body more readily absorb iron, tackling that anemia problem more quickly than taking iron alone.

If you’re taking antibiotics, particularly over a long period of time, your body may have trouble absorbing sufficient amounts of Vitamin A. If you’re taking drugs to lower your cholesterol, you may also experience Vitamin A deficiency.

Vitamin E and Zinc work hand-in-hand. If your body has lower-than-normal levels of Zinc, you may also have a Vitamin E deficiency, even if you’re eating healthy. Vitamins C and E also work together.

There are a number of other interactions that can occur between vitamins, or between vitamins and other conditions, minerals and drugs. Remember that it is possible to overdose on some vitamins, and some can cause serious problems with medication, diet and existing health problems. It’s best to talk to a health care professional before you start or alter your daily diet or vitamin intake.

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Proper nutrients through diet and vitamin supplements help to build a strong immunity system and thus less illness. In contrast, people with low immunity levels tend to contract many illnesses and often suffer for a longer duration than healthy individuals.

In November 2005, the DSEA (Dietary Supplement Education Alliance) found in a study that seniors live longer and more independent lives when taking vitamin supplements. In addition, further evidence of dietary supplements are acknowledged by the DSIB (Dietary Supplement Information Bureau) who also reported that vitamin supplements help people live longer, healthier lives.

As healthcare costs and health insurance skyrocket, preventive self-care seems to be more widely accepted. Many individuals can benefit from the use of dietary supplements and vitamins. Vitamins can help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars. Better health is attained and maintained by dietary supplements thus less illness.

The following dietary supplements may be of value to the immune system:

· Vitamin C provides antioxidant to cells, and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.

· Vitamin E may reduce free radical damage and cut the risk of diabetes, and cancer.

· Vitamin A helps support mucous membranes, and the skin.

· Selenium may help protect against prostate cancer and is known as an anti-aging nutrient.

· Coenzyme Q10 may help generate energy for metabolism.

· Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart and the nervous system.

Remember, you still have to eat healthy. Get as many vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in your diet as possible. In addition, you can also consider taking a dietary supplement to make-up for what is lacking. Taking dietary supplements is a good way to make sure that you get all the nutrients that you may need.

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An interesting and curious fact about Riboflavin is that it is naturally produced by the bacteria in your gut. Although it may not be produced in sufficient quantities to prevent deficiencies. Intestinal production, however, can reduce the symptoms of a deficient state.

Some experts claim that B-2 deficiency is the most prominent nutrient deficiency in North America. Those who eat a diet largely constructed of refined and fast foods may be at risk. And of course, alcoholics are at higher risk of B vitamin deficiencies. Low-income individuals may also tend to be at higher risk due to diet.

Problems with blood proteins may lead to deficiency. And states that block or reduce the uptake of riboflavin into the cell can also be responsible for a deficient state. Therefore, just having an adequate supply of Riboflavin in your food does not necessarily preclude deficiency.

Brewer’s yeast and organ meats are sources that are high in Riboflavin. Lower amounts may be found in milk, eggs, green leafy vegetables and some fruits.

As a side note, I once had a biochemistry teacher whom offered two pieces of advice to his students. He told us to drink a gallon of water per day and to take some brewer’s yeast every day. As I remember it, he talked about how brewer’s yeast was excellent food for the cellular processes of the body. That was probably due to the fact that brewer’s yeast is an excellent source of the b vitamins.

Drinking a gallon of water per day was slightly unusual advice as most experts and nutritionists agree that 2 liters is an adequate intake. This biochemistry teacher was recommending twice that amount. Remember to consult with a physician before changing your diet, supplement or water intake.

Riboflavin is very important in cellular metabolism, the process by which your body produces usable energy. It is important in forming the coenzymes that are necessary to make ATP, which is the energy currency of the cells.

A partial list of deficiency symptoms include fatigue, sensitivity to light and dermatitis. Nerve tissue damage and retarded growth in infants and children can result from a deficiency.

More detailed and technical information about Riboflavin can be found at emedicine.com. If you have any doubts about your health as it relates to Riboflavin, ask your doctor for a proper diagnoses and treatment. Each human body is different with different needs and contraindications, that is why it is important to consult your physician.

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to prevent, treat or diagnose any health issue. If you have or think you might have a health condition or issue, please contact your primary care physician for proper diagnoses and treatment. The statements in this article have not been evaluated by the US FDA as far as I know.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included and any hyperlinks are left active on web pages. You may make minor editorial corrections only.

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Vitamin B12 deficiencies tend to be more common in older adults. The chronic weakness and tendency to sleep more hours than normal, though sometimes considered a normal sign of aging, may actually be attributed to a lack of sufficient B12 being absorbed and utilized by the body.

One important point to remember about B12 is that you may be getting enough of this important vitamin in your daily diet, but your body may not absorb it properly. The release of Vitamin B12 is part of the function of stomach acids. Health issues that include gastric problems may mean the B12 is not being released as it should be. The result of this situation is that you still have a B12 deficiency, even though you’re eating all the right foods.

There are a few foods that are simply rich in Vitamin B12, though those foods are likely not on the daily menu of most people. Mollusks, for example, provide more than 1,000 percent the daily recommended intake of this vitamin. Though many people don’t like liver, a single slice of beef liver will give you more than 700 percent of your body’s daily need for B12. Salmon, trout and tuna are also good sources of B12.

This is one of the most important vitamins for infants, and babies with a B12 deficiency may simply fail to develop normally. There is some question about the amount of B12 an infant needs on a daily basis. If you are concerned, talk to you pediatrician.

Many of the foods high in B12 content are meats, therefore are avoided by vegetarians. If you are a vegetarian (and especially if you are pregnant or nursing a baby), you should talk to your doctor about adding a B12 supplement to your daily routine. Since babies in the womb and nursing infants get only those vitamins their mothers have to offer, B12 could be an issue for babies if the mom is a strict vegetarian.

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Not only will it affect the usefulness of the vitamins being consumed, it will also result in either no benefits or many benefits.

As we have heard many times now, liquid vitamins claim there products are the best because people who take tablet form just excrete them. This is good marketing, and comes down to a little bit of hype; however, it is partly true.

Let’s delve a little deeper in to some facts.

Many tablet vitamins are very cheap, mass produced and sold in supermarkets across the world. You’ve probably seen them time and time again. When you go shopping to your local store you will likely come across them in multivitamins etc. They are also made with the cheapest excipients – This is what puts the ingredients together, resulting in tablet form.

Because of this, the nutrients are mostly released in the stomach and destroyed by stomach acids.

In the case of these types of supplements, a large percentage will simply be wasted when you go to the toilet.

On the other hand however, some quality companies dedicated to optimising health use highly sophisticated supplements. Sometimes known as nutraceuticals. These companies will use very expensive all natural potent ingredients and exciients.

Some of these supplements have highly sophisticated delivery systems. This allows the nutrients to enter the blood stream for the most effective consumption.
The best delivery system for vitamin absorption and the other nutrients in the tablet is called enteric coating.

What makes this so effective?

Many powerful nutrients cannot be taken as supplements without being destroyed by the stomach acids; enteric coating protects the tablet and therefore the nutrients from being destroyed by stomach acids.

So it’s not just about vitamin absorption, it’s about all the nutrients you may take in a supplement. Especially the more sophisticated ones that have nutrients much more powerful and expensive than just vit

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My approach to weight loss was in gaining my health. Losing
300 pounds was not the first thing that occurred to me, but
rather “what could I do to get healthy and eat right”. It was
a very strange approach given that I was obviously clinically
obese and immediately needed some quick weight loss.

I had no idea that our body used food in a very specific manor
and that we could improve our energy levels by working with
the body, not against it. There were some very specific rules
to follow, so being the good student I followed them. It
became a religion for me and as I preached it, I made many
people quite crazy. I became an outcast because I had to
prepare my food differently and would not eat with the gang at
meal times. My food was prepared differently, eaten
differently and eventually I even came to ask food servers to
use different spatulas to flip my “veggie burger” from the
grill.

I followed the rules and I increased my energy. I began eating
better and my energy levels increased enough that my weight
loss began and I started to become lean and healthy.

Then the stuff hit the fan

Well, it hit their fan, not mine.

Friends began to talk behind my back about wanting the old Rob
back. In one instance, I was held down on a couch while cola
was poured into my mouth against my will. They wanted their
old funny, fat, life of the party friend back, not this health
nut with all these food rules.

I think I first became aware of being stressed about food at a
birthday party I was asked to attend. It was a time of
celebration, but do you want to know what I was thinking?

“Do I or don’t I have a piece of cake?”

“This is totally processed, unnatural food. No fiber, no
wholeness and it contained sugars, lard and all kinds of other
crap”.

I had a whole bunch of thoughts about how this would affect my
weight loss goals, my health and my eating habits.

I was weighing the thoughts of being socially acceptable
against the health choice of having this one little piece of
cake. I thought about losing them as friends if I did not
accept the cake and weighed it against the impact this poor
food choice was going to have on my body. I had already lost
friends because of my food choices and I really did not want
to lose more.

I’m sure you’ve been there yourself, having to make a decision
based on your social status vs your health. It’s a very quick
thought process, but you notice that your blood pressure goes
up, your heart begins to beat faster, you begin to sweat… you
know what I mean?

I ate the cake.

I felt like crap.

I felt like crap on many levels and I was stressing about this
excessively. I felt bad that I had to make that choice in this
manner. I felt bad because the sugar was surging into my
blood and I felt bad because I “thought about this way too
much”

At some point, you need to let go of it all.

There is energy in food; in the love and people around you
that prepared the food and the circumstances in which it’s
eaten. Never eat a meal when you are upset or sad because you
should be enjoying the meal and taking in all the goodness in
what the earth has brought to your body. Take in all that
goodness and let go of all the stress.

Eat naturally as much as you can and increase the amount of
whole foods in your diet. Make a choice to remove processed
foods and beverages such as cola’s, fruit juices, coffee and
traditional teas. Eat with a smile on your face and give
thanks to everyone involved in bringing the meal, the
nutrition and that energy into your body.

Then when the time is right, have fun and enjoy the health
you’ve created.

There was a very dramatic shift in my life, my health and my
weight loss when I made the choice to enjoy some foods again.
I began to break my own rules and live my life. I began to
have fun with food and fun came back into my life.

Let go.

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The reality in the world today is that there are many people hoping to transform their lives. Wishing. Most people in the Western world are overweight, and the zap required to change it seems to be missing. Every year we just get fatter, and more indolent. Oh, some get obsessed with dieting and losing weight, but others don’t seem to care. And neither will achieve what they want.

If that seems a little harsh, consider this one fact: we were born to live a life of joy and vitality. If you are obsessed by pain or a void, how can you possibly enjoy life? It’s just not possible. Yet, if you bring pleasure to yourself, you stand a good chance of bringing joy to those around you as well. The aim is to feel good … inside, and outside.

Just shedding a few pounds can be enough to add years to your life and make those years much more enjoyable. Just acknowledging that excess weight reduces stamina, stresses joints, and causes illnesses – including heart disease and diabetes – is a great first step. If you decide to start each day with the intention of eating better and getting just a little exercise – one day at a time – you will find life becoming much easier than you ever expected.

These five steps are simple changes, but they can add up to a virtual cattle prod with the power to change your life:

1. Turn on your biological engines in the morning with a big glass of cold water. Whenever you feel like it during the day, have another. Water really is a wonder-fluid. It can also help to reduce hunger pangs!

2. This one is remarkably powerful for those who tend to potter about first thing – eat your breakfast within an hour of getting out of bed. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but a lot of overweight people wait until they get really hungry before eating breakfast – which means that they probably then eat too much. So eat early, and eat small.

3. Eat at least two pieces of fresh fruit each day – that’s two pieces about the size of an apple, not two grapes! Fruit is a great source of nutrition and fiber. Try for at least two different fruits so you get a variety of benefits.

4. Try to eat a salad every day, and try for at least five servings of vegetables. When you feel the urge to snack, switch to celery or carrot, or some other appealing veggie.

5. Fried foods and sweet things should also be put out of reach whenever possible. Even if the oil is drained away from fried food, there is still a lot of hidden oil to add fat and calories. And sweet means sugar, which means calories… and many other nasties as well.

So it’s really just a matter of changing a few habits. Yes, I know, easier said than done! But try this: start keeping a food diary. Write down what you eat when you eat it – and check the result at the end of the day. You may be shocked! It’s often just the incentive to get back on track!

A full program to turn your life around also has to include how you spend your day. By definition, couch potatoes are fat – so get up and go for a walk. The latest dietary and exercise advice is that you should enjoy at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. That can include the physical version of activities you normally do in a day anyway – bike riding instead of bus riding, stair-climbing instead of climbing into an elevator etc. Just think about your own day, and you’ll soon find lots of ways you can replace ‘easy’ with ‘healthy’ ways of doing your normal tasks.

Perhaps the most important part of the entire deal of putting a cattle prod to your life and regaining the vitality you deserve, is simply to make the decision to do so. Start with small goals, stick to them, and delight in how much easier it gets every day.

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• B1 is also thiamin
• B2 is also riboflavin
• B3 is also niacin
• B5 is also pantothenic acid
• B6 is also pyridoxine
• B7 is also biotin
• B9 is also folic acid
• B12 is also cobalamin

You should note that there are four additional substances in the B complex group, though they are not known as vitamins because they are not necessary for normal body function. They are choline, lipoic acid, PABA and inositol. When you purchase B complex vitamins, these four will not be included, and at least one or two of the recognized B vitamins may also be omitted. B5 and B7 are so widely available in food that most people simply get enough of these vitamins, even if they aren’t eating a healthy diet.

Arguably one of the most commonly recognized uses of the B vitamins is an energy booster. Some health care professionals tout the advantages of taking B12 in large doses to combat tiredness, but most seem to agree that starting a regimen of B vitamins is only advisable in severe cases.

More recently, research suggests that some Vitamin B deficiencies may aggravate certain health issues or health risks, and that an increase of those vitamins will help relieve symptoms or lessen the risk. Notably, Alzheimer’s is one of those diseases and sufferers of this disease sometimes show improvement from added Vitamin B on a daily basis. Vitamin B2 has also been used to help some migraine patients.

The correlation between certain health issues and vitamin deficiencies is certain, though finding the right treatment may be tricky. One of the most common problems with using vitamins from the B complex group to treat health issues is the fact that many diseases and health issues have overlapping symptoms. Treating those symptoms may ultimately cause more problems than it cures. Talk to your health care professional before taking extraordinary steps toward a vitamin regimen, including those that include complex B vitamins.

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“Clinically proven”
“Patented”
“Doctor recommended”
“All natural”
“Scientifically formulated”
“Research proven”
“Used for thousands of years”

Readers interested in understanding why the above terms can be so misleading, can read my write-up on each of those terms.

In a nut shell, I went onto cover each of these common marketing terms that are used to sell supplements to unwitting consumers and explained each in detail as to what I view as their common misuse within the market place.

However, one term I didn’t cover, was “proprietary blend? which in many cases is the most potentially misleading term of them all, though not a term always seen in ads per se, but at the side of the bottle.

Thus, why I felt it was a separate topic to be covered at a later date as it does not fit under the classic definition of a commonly used marketing term found in ads. I also decided to cover this term in a separate article as it requires much more space dedicated to it then the other terms needed for reasons that will be apparent shortly.

Proprietary blends are not inherently a negative for the consumer, though they are inherently confusing for the buyer in most cases.

A supplement that lists a “proprietary blend” on the bottle can be there for one of two reasons:

(a) to prevent the competition from knowing exactly what ratios and amounts of each ingredient present in the formula to prevent the competition from copying their formula exactly (commonly referred to as a “knock off”) or

(b) to hide the fact that the formula contains very little of the active ingredients listed on the bottle in an attempt to fool consumers.

Sadly, the latter use is far more common then the former. They see a long list of seemingly impressive ingredients listed in the “proprietary blend” none of which there is amounts that will have any effects. This is commonly referred to as “label decoration” by industry insiders. The former use of the term is a legitimate way for a company of a quality formula from having the competition copy or “knock off” their formula and the latter use of the term is to scam people.

So how does the consumer tell the difference?

They can’t, or at least they can’t without some research and knowledge, which the scam artists know few people have the time and energy to dedicate in finding the answers. Although there are a few tips the consumer can use to decide if a product with a “proprietary blend” is worth trying, no one, not even me, can figure out exactly how much of each ingredient is in the blend or in what ratio of each is contained within the formula, hence why the honest and not-so-honest companies employ “proprietary blends” so often.

Thus, we have something of a conundrum here and conflict between a company making a quality formula attempting to protect that formula from other companies vs. the company simply looking to baffle buyers with BS.

There are at least some basic tips or food for thought here regarding this problem. A formula that contains say 10 ingredients in a “proprietary blend” is by no means defacto superior then one with three ingredients in it. It’s the dose that matters. Clearly, it’s better to have higher amounts of ingredients that will have some effects vs. a long list of ingredients in doses too low to have any effects.

Sometimes it helps to look at both — what’s in the blend and how much of the blend actually exists. As an example, if say the blend is 300mg total and contains ten ingredients, that’s only 30mg per ingredient, assuming (and you know what they say about assuming!) that each is found in equal amounts. Clearly, for most compounds out there, 30mg wont do jack sh*&.

On the other hand, if say the blend is 3000mg (3 grams) and contains three or four ingredients, there is at least a better chance that the formula contains enough of each (and remember, we can’t tell how much of each is in there as that information is “proprietary”) to have some effects you are looking for such as an increase in strength, or a decrease in bodyfat, etc.

Unfortunately, the above examples are so vague as to be close to worthless as it’s easy enough to formulate a 3000mg blend where all the ingredients are worthless to begin with or a 300mg blend that contains compounds that only require small doses to have an effect and or can be toxic at higher doses.

For example, the mineral zinc tends to be no more then 30mg in most formulas and no more is needed nor recommended. Much of this comes down to the consumer knowing what the various ingredients are and how they work (to decide if they are even worth using in the first place) then deciding if the said blend appears to at least contain a dose that would have the desired effects, which just brings us back to my prior comment: most people have neither the time or inclination to research all that info just to decide if they want to use a product and thus the many “proprietary blends” on the market that are no more than a long list of under-dosed ingredients.

Wish I could be of more help giving specific advice to readers of this here article as to what makes a good blend and what constitutes a poorly made blend, but the above advice is the best I can do under the circumstances. Although a “proprietary blend” is not by default a negative to the consumer, it is by all means the poster child for the well-known Latin term Caveat emptor which translates into English as “let the buyer beware”.

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We all know what we should be doing, but let’s be honest: very few of us eat a balanced diet all of the time. Many of us make the choice to take the elevator rather than the stairs and we try to find a parking place that’s as close as possible to our destination rather than taking the opportunity to walk a little further. We also tend to let stress, work, social gatherings and more interfere with the amount of sleep that we’re able to get each night.

When we don’t go the extra mile to take care of ourselves, and when our immune systems start to falter because of it, we may not feel it right away. Soon, sluggishness starts creeping in. This sluggishness not only slows us down, it also ages us prematurely.

Fortunately, there’s something that we can do in order to maintain our young living. We can maintain our youth simply by adding antioxidants to our diet.

What are antioxidants? The simplest answer is that antioxidants are the vitamins and minerals found in foods that serve to fight off disease. The more complex answer is that antioxidants like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium, Vitamin A that are found in fruits and vegetables. By making an effort to add antioxidants to our diet, we can keep our young living going; we can keep ourselves healthier longer.

Antioxidants are, in effect, sponges that soak up the free radicals in our systems. By fighting the free radicals in our bodies – free radicals that are the result of less healthy foods that we eat, alcohol that we drink and smoke that we’re exposed to (whether we smoke cigarettes ourselves or are exposed to second hand smoke from friends, family members who smoke, neighbors in our apartment buildings or co-workers at the office) – by adding more fruits and vegetables to our diet and by adding young living essential oils, we are better able to maintain our good health and reduce the risk of developing some cancers and even heart disease and stroke.

Young living oils take the essential oils from lemons and oranges and combine them with Ningxia wolfberries, juices from blueberries and pomegranate, along with other nutrient sources. Those who add antioxidants in this way will find that they:

* have increased energy; that they have regained a sense of young living that doesn’t come from caffeine or other stimulants that effect you for a short while and then wear off leaving you to crash even harder, feeling more tired than you had before, and,

* help you to protect your body from the effects of a weakened immune system that comes from a lack of adequate self care.

However, increased energy and a sense of better health aren’t the only reasons why young living oils are beneficial to your body. The other reason is that the antioxidants serve to help your body to work more effectively. From boosting your immune function to helping your liver to better filter out toxins, from improving your cardiovascular function to maintaining the health of your eyes, you’ll find that antioxidants along with you living oils just help you to feel better.

While you may not always be able to make the time to eat balanced meals, you may not always be able to make time for a run or for time at the gym, you’ll find that increasing the antioxidants in your body with young living oils doesn’t take much time but still offers many of the same benefits. You’ll also find that, because the energy rush young living essential oils is all natural and without stimulants, not only won’t you crash out but also your sleep cycle is less likely to be disrupted.

Are these essential oils the magic bullet to good health? Not necessarily, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t the key to young living.

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There are three main types of vegetarians. Lacto vegetarians do not consume any meat, but instead live on fruits, vegetables and dairy. The lacto-ovo vegetarian diet is similar to the lacto vegetarian, with the exception that individuals who follow this diet consume eggs. As the name implies, fruitarians follow a diet restricted to fruits, but they may also eat nuts and seeds. Considered the most strict vegetarian diet, vegans do not eat meat, eggs, or dairy.

The only negative aspect of the vegetarian lifestyle is the high probability of vitamin deficiency. Depending on the type of vegetarian diet followed, an individual may not obtain the proper nutrients their body needs to function properly. One vitamin that is absent in most vegetarian diets is B-12. Vitamin B-12, which exists in meat, dairy, eggs, and poultry and is essential in the development of red blood cells and a healthy central nervous system. The common symptoms of B-12 deficiency include dementia, fatigue, hallucinations, balance problems, and vision disturbances.

People who have followed a vegetarian diet most of their life are more at risk of B-12 deficiency. Since B-12 can be reabsorbed, people who become a vegetarian later in life will typically do not display any symptoms of deficiency for as many as five years. It is a good idea to prevent deficiency from occurring because it is relatively difficult to reverse the effects of vitamin B-12 deficiency.

Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also result in increased levels of homocysteine in the body. Homocysteine is an antioxidant that when in high levels can have a toxic effect on the body. This is an important issue because as many as 20% of the people diagnosed with heart disease have elevated levels of homocysteine in their blood.

The recommended dosage of vitamin B-12 is 10 micrograms. If you follow a vegetarian lifestyle, it is recommended that you have your blood checked to check for deficiency. If your doctor detects that you have a B-12 deficiency, they will provide additional information about the amount of B-12 you should take.

Why not check out our nutrition guide at http://www.nutritional-supplement-guides.com/nut-ebook.html

and also what supplement we personally use for our nutrition needs at http://www.nutritional-supplement-guides.com/what-we-use.html

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Alfalfa is believed to support the immune system, help in normalizing blood clotting, assist with the absorption of nutrients, alleviate hot flushes, cleanse the blood, and promote heart health.

New research also found that alfalfa sprouts and other sprouted vegetables (like broccoli and clover sprouts), may help protect new cells from DNA damage. In the trial conducted on human cells in vitro, researchers at the University of Ulster’s School of Biomedical Sciences found that whilst sprouts didn’t improve the health of already damaged DNA, it did protect cells from new damage. DNA damage is a biochemical indicator of cancer.

However, there are a few things to consider before adding a lot of sprouts to your diet, or supplementing with alfalfa.

Sprouts can harbor bacteria that leads to food poisoning. This is particularly of issue for children, the elderly, and people with immune related illnesses, like Aids. The problem can be eliminated if sprouts are cooked, but then you don’t get the benefit of all the enzymes in them, and some vitamins may be lost. There was an outbreak of salmonella in 2002 in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, and the FDA recommends that sprouts be cooked first.

And in 1995, alfalfa sprouts were associated with an outbreak of salmonella in Chicago. 17 people experienced symptoms ranging from diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and headaches, and 4 people had to be hospitalized. Many organic growers, however, feel their seeds are safe, and the risk is exaggerated. Washing sprouts well can minimize the risk of bacterial poisoning like salmonella. Thorough washing also removes mold, another possible problem.

One potential issue intrinsic to alfalfa is that it has been associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in animal studies (as opposed to human trials or cases). Alfalfa supplements have been associated with the activation of dormant SLE as well. SLE is an autoimmune disease, which can damage the kidneys and other organs.

Alfalfa can also interfere with the way the body uses vitamin E, and has been linked to abnormalities in the blood. These possible issues make taking alfalfa supplements long term a bit risky.

References:
1. nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=52995
2. nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=34189
3. Dr Kenneth Cooper, Advanced Nutritional Therapies

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