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Archive for August, 2007

All You Need To Know About Carbs

August 31st, 2007

Carbs are a part of nearly every dieter’s vocabulary. A number of diets are famous for fighting carb consumption. But you should know that not every carbohydrate is created alike. While it is true that you can lose weight by cutting carbs, carbs are also necessary for a good diet.

To begin with, we should define our terms. Carbs are derived from a number of different sources. They are present in bread, pasta, fruits, and vegetables. There are also a number of different types of carbs. For instance, carbs come in the form of sugars, starches, and fiber.

For the most part, the digestive system divides carbs into sugar molecules which can be taken into the bloodstream. The majority of carbs are transformed into glucose or blood sugar. In this way, carbs provide energy for our bodies. Those who lack sufficient carbs in their diet may suffer from fatigue.

Carbs can be filled with nutrients. For instance, fruit contains vitamins A and C, fiber, and folate. Vegetables are also a good vitamin and fiber source; in fact, they usually contain a greater variety of minerals than other foods do. Whole grains can provide you with fiber, protein, and B vitamins. Legumes can provide you with protein, iron, and potassium.

But carbs can also be potentially bad for your health. For instance, cookies, potato chips, and soft drinks also contain carbs in the form of sugar and flour. You should know that refined carbohydrates have been linked with diabetes and heart diseases, making these carbs a dangerous choice. There are a number of good reasons to ban these carbs from your diet. For instance, they are extremely high in calories and offer little in the way of nutrients. Because they contain no fiber, they will not keep you satiated. In fact, such carbs offer you zero nutrients, but plenty of fat.

Therefore, you should avoid processed grains and sugars. Instead, eat whole grains, fruits, and vegetables to maximize your nutritional intake. Instead of eliminating carbs completely from your diet, simply ban those that increase the size of your waistline.

There is another way to think about carbs. You can generally divide them into two categories: simple and complex. A simple carb, such as sugar, promotes weight gain. As a result, you should select low-sugar foods, especially low-sugar beverages. In contrast, complex carbohydrates promote weight loss. Health experts recommend that dieters consume between 55 and 65 percent of their calories from these types of carbs. Such carbs include fruits and vegetables and a number of other natural foods.

But it isn’t enough to simply eat fruits and vegetables. You also need to avoid fattening sauces and condiments such as mayonnaise and butter. By adding butter to your broccoli or mayonnaise to your potatoes, you can raise the calorie amount exponentially, sabotaging your diet.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes a food pyramid that recommends as many as eleven servings of bread, pasta, and cereal. However, a number of dieticians are suggesting that Americans should cut the carbs–period. In one poll, 81 percent of the respondents said they were abiding by a low-carb diet.

It is interesting to point out that neither the American Heart Association nor the American Diabetes Association believes that the glycemic index should be considered when following a weight loss plan. While the Diabetes Association concedes that various foods offer different glycemic responses, the Association’s leaders believe the most critical factor is the number of carbs rather than the form of the carbs consumed.

Granted, dietary information about carbs can be confusing. However, a number of dieticians say that, while you might not want to cut carbs out of your diet entirely, you should eat carbs only in moderation. Health experts also say that you should limit your carb intake to good carbs and pass up the bad ones. By following such a plan, you should have energy–but you shouldn’t pack on the weight. It may be difficult at first to follow such a diet plan, since many of us are conditioned to eat bad carbs in order to elevate our moods. In time, however, you may find that you enjoy the fruits and vegetables you’re eating, and you may not even miss those tortilla chips.

About the author:

Arnel Ricafranca is the President and Founder of Fitness VIP. He is the creator of the NEW amazing e-book called “The Ultimate Weight Loss Success Strategies for Busy Men and Women over 40. He is available for seminars, fitness training, and online personal training. Visit his websites to claim your free fitness gift ($50 real value) http://www.officialfitnessguide.com http://www.fitness-vip.com http://www.elitefitnessexperts.com

Written By: Arnel Ricafranca – http://www.fitness-vip.com

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: American Diabetes Association American Heart Association Arnel Ricafranca diabetes energy fatigue heart diseases low-carb diet potato chips tortilla chips U.S. Department of Agriculture

Atkins Declares Bankruptcy – Is Low Carb Dead?

August 27th, 2007

As many of you have already heard, Atkins Nutritionals Inc. the company that turned low carb eating into a worldwide diet craze has filed for bankruptcy court protection.

Does this mean that people did not lose weight on the Atkins diet?

Of course not, carbohydrate restriction has been proven to accelerate weight loss in the short term. Notice the last two words…short term. There is a simple reason why Atkins filed bankruptcy, people love to jump on the latest diet craze and then jump off just as quickly as they jumped on. When buyer demand slows, so do revenues.

People did lose weight, and lot’s of it on the Atkins diet. The problem is that diets like the Atkins diet are hard to stick with long term. In fact, there has been little solid evidence to show that carbohydrate restriction can lead to permanent weight loss. What then is the key to permanent weight loss?

The key to permanent weight loss is to change your lifestyle. Your lifestyle is made up of the habits and routines that you have made a part of your life.You can achieve permanent weight loss by simply acquiring new “Positive Habits” that provide weight loss as a benefit.

What is a positive habit? A positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make a part of your lifestyle. Why are positive habits so powerful. Because habits, by their very nature, are automatic. After a period of time they can become permanent.

So how do we go about adding new positive habits to our life? Its really quite easy. You simply begin repeating an action, attitude or thought process every day for at least 21 days. Research has shown that an action that is repeated for a minimum of 21 days is likely to become a permanent habit.

Remember that positive habits have positive benefits and you will reap those benefits for as long as you maintain that habit. So now that we know what positive habits are, and how to acquire them, lets look at some simple positive habits that will help you achieve permanent weight loss.

Habit #1 – When Dining Out, Control Food Preparation and Lose Weight

When you eat out, make it a habit to request how your food is prepared. You should never feel like you have to accept food items exactly as they are described on the menu. Most restaurants will happily prepare your meal in different ways if you just request it. You can ask that they bake or broil items which are usually fried.

Always remember to ask for salad dressing on the side. Salad dressing can be one of the biggest sources of fat in a persons diet. Studies have shown that females gets most of their fat from dairy products, margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressing. By making it a habit to order salad dressing on the side, you can control the amount and type of dressing your put on your salads and reduce the amount of fat and calories that you consume. Try substituting olive oil or a low fat alternative like balsamic vinegar for bottled dressings. Olive oil contains healthy monosaturated fat and is a key ingredient in the healthy heart Mediterranean diet.

Remember that sometimes, small changes in your lifestyle can result in big changes to your life. According to the Encyclopedia of Foods: A Guide To Healthy Nutrition, simple changes to your food order as described above you can save 10 to 30 grams of fat and 100 to 300 calories per entree!

Think about how this positive habit can help you achieve a trim and fit body automatically! Remember, your new positive habits will result in a change in your lifestyle. The cumulative effects of these lifestyle changes are considerable, they hold the keys to achieving a permanent weight loss and a trim and fit body.

Habit #2 – Drink Green Tea …Burn Fat! Boost Your Metabolism!

If you want some help achieving that trim and fit body, make it a positive habit to drink green tea daily. Here are just of few of the benefits you will receive from this positive habit: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published research demonstrating that a substance found in green tea called catechin polyphenols increases your metabolism and also increases the rate at which your body burns calories. Burning more calories is your ticket to a leaner body.

Green tea is also loaded with antioxidants, which have been shown to protect you from cancer and many other diseases. Other studies have shown that green tea may help you control your appetite. Green tea is available in many restaurants and most grocery stores.

About The Author

Dan Robey is the author of the Best-Selling book “The Power of Positive Habits” now published in 22 countries worldwide. To learn more and subscribe to a complementary e-course on Positive Habits go to: http://www.thepowerofpositivehabits.com

Written By: Dan Robey

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: Atkins Diet cancer dairy products food food items food order Mediterranean Mediterranean diet olive oil The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Just Say No to Carb Phobia

August 23rd, 2007

Anyone who has been in a grocery store recently knows that food companies are tripping over themselves in the rush to introduce low carb versions of everything from bread to candy to soda to cereal. Do not think for a minute that these companies are motivated by the health interests of consumers. The reality is that they are mainly concerned with the wallets of consumers and will market anything that they think a gullible public will buy. Low carb junk food is still junk food.

I know some of you reading this may already be raising your defenses because you have lost weight by cutting your carb consumption. Let me first congratulate you on your weight loss, and secondly say that this is not an anti-Atkins or anti-South Beach piece. This article is simply meant to educate readers on the reality of carbohydrates, good carb choices vs. bad carb choices, what they do, why your body needs them, and how to make better nutrition choices than food company marketing efforts want you to.

The first thing to understand is that carbohydrates provide the body with its main source of fuel, glucose (blood sugar), which is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen. Any muscle contraction, whether during exercise, getting out of bed, or blinking an eye, is fueled primarily by glycogen. So, for those of you engaging in resistance training, this should immediately point out the fact that you need carbs for fuel in order to maximize your efforts in your resistance program. The next fact to understand is that your brain (which burns more calories than any organ in the body) and nervous system can only use glucose for energy. This is why, especially in the early or induction phases of carb restricted diets, dieters often feel sluggish and less alert than normal. By cutting out carbs, you are cutting off your brains main source of fuel.

Some of you are probably thinking, Thats exactly what I want, because now my body will need to burn fat for energy! Yes and no. Yes, your body will burn some fat for energy; however it will also generate glucose by breaking down protein stores in the muscles, organs and other tissues. This will severely compromise tissue growth, repair, and maintenance, and as discussed in previous articles, slow down your metabolism. Certainly, that is not the result you are looking for.
As I said, this is not an anti-(insert your favorite low-carb guru here) piece. But, the truth is, carbohydrates are a nutrient, and a nutrient is defined as a substance that an organism must obtain from its surroundings for growth and the sustainment of life. So, does it make sense to follow a program that calls for the wholesale abandonment of vital nutrient? Of course not. What is needed is an understanding of the difference between supportive, quality carbohydrates that provide essential nutrients and fuel, and overly processed and refined carbohydrates that provide empty calories and support fat storage.

What do I mean by overly processed and refined carbs? Think about white bread, donuts, muffins, pastries, white rice, candy, sugary breakfast cereals, white pasta, potato chips, crackers, soda. Foods like these digest very quickly and give your body a rapid spike in blood sugar, which, when fat loss is the goal, is something we want to avoid. After your body takes the blood sugar it needs to replenish muscle glycogen, whatever is left over from that spike will get stored as fat.

What makes supportive, quality carbs different? They digest more slowly, producing a more gradual rise in blood sugar and providing a more even source of fuel. Look for breads and cereals made from whole grains, pasta made from whole wheat flour, brown rice instead of white rice, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, fruits in moderation and vegetables in abundance. Whole grain carbs will keep you feeling satisfied longer, and not looking to devour a bag of chips within an hour of eating your plain bagel.

So, the lesson is to not get taken over by carb phobia and fill your shopping cart up with all of the new low carb products. Just like in the early 80s when the food manufacturers were frantically trying to come up with low fat versions of every product under the sun, they are doing the same now in order to sell more products, not because they are concerned with your health. Back then, consumers were tanking up on SnackWell cookies. They are low fat, so they must be okay right? Well, since the low fat boom of the 80s, the obesity rate in this country has skyrocketed. That is not because the true culprit is now carbs. No, the reason is because junk food, whether low fat, low carb, or low whatever, is still junk food.

About the Author

Dave Soucy, Fitness Consultant and Certified Personal Trainer, is the owner of Perfect Fit, LLC.

Dave can be reached at (603) 641-8297, via email at news@perfectfitonline.com, or through www.perfectfitonline.com

Written By: Dave Soucy

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: energy food Food manufacturers junk food Low carb junk food low carb products obesity phobia potato chips

Low Carb Does Not Mean No Carbs

August 19th, 2007

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given everything they needed to be healthy and happy. They had plenty of vegetables, fruits, fish, and meats. The garden was a buffet of all you can eat healthy foods.

Now when I say all you can eat, I am not talking about your local pizza buffet or the greasy spoon buffet. I am talking about an abundance of healthy carbs and lean meats.

Yes, they probably had potatoes but without a deep fryer or butter and sour cream, those potatoes were not a problem. There were no chocolate trees, no potato chip factories, no sweet soft drinks, and definitely no ice cream.

They were provided with the nutrients that their bodies were created to need and nothing more. Unfortunately, when they were thrown out of the Garden, the road to unhealthy eating had begun.

As with everything in history, as man progresses, he regresses.

The first warrior’s weapon of choice was a stone. Look how far we have come from that stone that was used for the first murder. Now we have bombs that can blow up whole countries.

Progress? — maybe not.

In terms of food, we have more choices than ever before in history, but one truth has survived since the beginning of time. If you consume more calories than you utilize, you will gain weight. Every diet, no matter which one you look at, still runs on this principal.

Eating a balanced diet of Adam and Eve’s fruits, vegetables, and lean meat will allow anyone to lose weight.

Add exercise and you will lose more weight. Even a twenty minute walk will help you lose weight. How many of you ride around a parking lot five or ten minutes to find the closest parking space rather than walk a few extra steps.

Don’t deny it; I know you are out there because I have seen you.

I have lived in the South my whole life. Yes, we love fried foods, bountiful tables of food, and a good dessert and yes even bread.

For centuries our Southern ancestors ate this way and created our tradition of fabulous Southern cooking. We cooked our vegetables in meat and couldn’t imagine a meal without biscuits or cornbread. My grandmother cooked that way and to this day I remember her meals. My mother cooked that way and I can still taste her fried chicken.

The difference is that in those days people didn’t have to run on a treadmill or use exercise equipment. Exercise came from hard work. My mother picked cotton when she was young. My grandmother never had inside plumbing. She worked hard all of her life. She expended those calories she was eating by years of cleaning, cooking from scratch, walking to the out house, using a wringer washing machine, and carrying heavy pans of boiling water for baths and dish washing.

Yes, in short they could eat what they wanted because they expended more calories than they took in each day. Today, we simply do not work as hard. With all of our appliances that make work easier and non manual labor jobs, we simply cannot eat the way our ancestors did. We can’t eat the fried everything, the greasy vegetables, bread at every meal, and the desserts our forbearers ate. Of course, we can, but we will pay the price by gaining weight.

My blog is all about finding ways to eat healthy without feeling deprived or hungry. I include recipes that I have created for my husband and myself that follow the guidelines for low carb eating but are delicious and easy to prepare.

I don’t know about you, but if a recipe has more than five ingredients, I move on. Learning to stay home and cook simple, delicious meals will also help you to stay away from restaurants where the chef piles your plate with enough food for not only you but the whole table.

Restaurants are definitely a place where you can eat low carb, but take a look at the calorie count. When I did, I was horrified. The slightly boring meal that I thought was low carb and, therefore, low calorie was a disaster. I could have had something really tasty for the calories contained in that mediocre meal.

Low carb has become my life and I have never felt better or healthier. Remember; when you have that desire for bad foods, ask yourself what would Adam and Eve have done. On second thought maybe that’s not such a good idea. It’s their fault we have all these problems in the first place. If it weren’t for them, we’d still be in the Garden of Eden eating the way we were created to eat and we would all be slim as super models without all the air brushing.

About the author:

After years as an educator and more degrees than she can count, Frances Coleman now writes professionally. She is a prolific reader with an advanced degree in research techniques. Read her daily blog about Free Low Carb Recipes and Tips.

Written By: Frances Coleman

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: chef food Garden of Eden use exercise equipment

Low Carb Recipes – Surprisingly Doable

August 15th, 2007

The low carb diet movement has taken the world by storm. Nearly everyone has heard of it – who could avoid doing so? Variations of this reducing diet have been endorsed by celebrities and other popular figures. Advertisements for low carb food products and low carb recipes have been portrayed prominently in magazines and television, with the promise that you WILL lose weight even if you eat large food portions; you just have to make sure that the food you are eating has little or no carbohydrate content.

Perhaps one of the most surprising things is that low carb recipes are doable and once your system has gotten used to them, they are easy to follow. People are of the apprehension that it will be hard to make dishes because of the scarcity of ingredients. After all, we have become accustomed to using things like sugar, flour, bread, potatoes, etc. – all of which are a no-no for low carb dieters – in the dishes we eat.

But as the low carb diet movement started to become more popular and as the clamor for appropriate ingredients increased, the food industry rose up to the occasion and started introducing products to meet demand. Take for instance, sugar. Normal sugar is known to trigger certain mechanisms in the body that would make a person feel hungrier more often. Add this to the fact that sugar is full of empty calories that will only add to the ones that your body already is trying to burn. Now, however, dieters can take comfort in the fact that they can use artificial sweeteners – such as Splenda – that do not have the same effect on the body as sugar, but still impart the sweetness that so many of us want and crave.

Entrees or main dishes pose no problem since low carb diets usually promote the consumption of high-protein food products, such as meat. It is those appetizers, desserts, snack foods – and even beverages – that pose a problem. But with the introduction of substitute products, a dieter need not look at dishes like breaded chicken or chocolate cake with vain longing. Just look at the variety of low carb recipes online and offline, and you will see that there is a plethora of ingredients with the label “low carb” attached to them.

Want to make some brownies? No problem, just use low carb chocolate. Breaded pork chops or chicken can be enjoyed guilt-free if you use bread crumbs derived from low carb bread. Are you a pasta lover who cringes at the thought of having to give up lasagna and spaghetti? Then you will appreciate the fact that there are low carb pastas out on the market, enabling you to continue enjoying your favorite dishes – just make sure that the sauces and other ingredients you use are not laden with carbohydrates.

Low carb reducing diets, such as Atkins and South Beach, do not ask the dieter to totally give up food items that have carbohydrate content. The key is to control one’s carb intake in order to promote faster metabolism: burn more calories faster to lose weight faster. Fruits and vegetables are still an essential part of the diet, but it is important to know which types of fruits to avoid and to enjoy, especially if you are just starting your diet. For instance, you can enjoy grapefruit, peach or strawberry shakes, smoothies or juices without compunction; the same cannot be said for dishes that contain bananas, pears, or grapes.

If you find yourself running out of recipe ideas and you are determined to stick with a low carb diet plan, there are numerous books, web sites, and other resources that you can avail of in order to plan a daily or weekly menu. This is assuming that you like to cook for yourself or someone else on a low carb menu. On the other hand, if you are not the type who is fastidious about home cooking, then you will be glad to know that many restaurants serve food especially for the low carb consumer. There is also a variety of microwaveable and ready-to-eat meals that are suited for such reducing diets.

Before a person goes all out on a carbohydrate-controlled diet and starts hoarding and following low carb recipes, it is always a wise thing to get a professional medical opinion on whether such a diet is safe for him or her. Persons with certain health issues, such as kidney disease, should not embark on a low carb reducing diet. Barring that, almost any person can enjoy great-tasting – even gourmet – foods and drinks and still lose weight in the process.

About the author:

Carb-club.com provides you with information on all kinds of low carb recipes and diets like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the Zone diet, and more. Come take a look at http://www.carb-club.com/

Written By: Trevor Mulholland

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: Atkins Diet food food industry food items high-protein food products kidney disease large food portions low carb diets low carb food products low-carb diet reducing diet South Beach South Beach Diet substitute products

Carb Blockers – Do They Really Help?

August 11th, 2007

Carb Blockers and a Little Carb Counting – A Winning Combination in that Battle of the Bulge

Have you heard of these almost-too-good-to-be-true supplements called “carb blockers” that supposedly block carbohydrates from turning into refined sugars and entering the blood stream as facilitators of higher blood sugar (which results in subsequent weight gain)? If you have done any research at any time to lose a few pounds and were perhaps looking for a weightloss supplement to help you achieve that, you’ve probably run across at least a few of these products.

I’m sure you wondered, could they work? Or are they just another diet rip off, preying on the hopes and dreams of people who want to lose weight so desperately they’ll try anything? The reason there is so much skepticism about diet products such as this, is that they usually are advertised as the “easy way to lose weight”. This, to me, says I will not have to try as hard. I can eat whatever I want and a magic pill will miraculously melt the pounds off effortlessly.

The diet products that claim you won’t have to exercise are the ones that really irk me. This is a dangerous message to send. Exercise is essential to anyone’s overall health and well being. Products that prey on people’s hopes of achieving weightloss while eating anything they want should simply be avoided. Claims such as this simply are not true. There will always be a level of effort required by the person trying to lose the weight.

That’s not to say that carb blockers don’t work. On the contrary, there is actually one on the market that has a patented ingredient that has been proven to reduce the effects of excessive carb intake, and this supplement has definitely proven to be an asset to many who are trying to lose weight and happen to over indulge once in a while.

While carb blockers should not be used as an excuse to constantly pig out on unhealthy refined carbs like white breads, pastas, and sweets, they certainly have been demonstrated (at least one carb blocker has, in clinical studies) to help to “absorb” the shock caused by excessive carb intake.

Here’s how a carb blocker works:

A good carb blocker is designed to help naturally block carbohydrates from complete utilization and entry into the bloodstream as glycemic sugars, control carb cravings, boost energy levels and block the “bad” fats from complete absorption.

Carb blockers usually are taken at a given time before meals. The idea behind the timing is to help stop the meal from completely being utlized by your body as excess carbs, and to help prevent that excess intake from being converted into fat, or extra pounds. “Phase 2″ is the only clinically studied and proven carb blocker today, so make sure you choose a carb blocking supplement that contains this ingredient.

I do have to say, the best part about carb blockers is that they do not contain stimulants such as ma huang, ephedra or other stimulants.

What’s so Good About Carb Blockers Not Containing Any Stimulants?

First of all, diet products loaded with stimulants only stave off hunger for as long as you use them, then when you taper off, you gain your appetite back – many times twofold – and many times you also gain your weight back twofold.

Second, stimulants in diet supplements many times can make you feel edgy, nervous and irritable. Sure, the over-stimulation may make you temporarily forget about your appetite, but who cares if you gain more weight back when you discontinue the product?

Third, the effects of many dietary stimulants still have not been thoroughly studied and documented. They could have serious health implications if taken for extended periods of time. This is precisely the reason that one common diet stimulant, ephedra was taken off the market.

The Bottom Line on Carb Blockers

If you want to successfully block carbs in your dieting and weight control routine, a good carb blocker can be of great benefit, especially for those times when you are inevitably going to over-do it on the carbohydrate intake. Just be sure you choose one that has been proven through clinical studies, not just double blind placebo studies, which are often not as accurate nor as thorough and documented as clinical studies.

About the author:

Visit Carb Blockers for more information on a clinically proven carb blocking supplement. Danna Schneider is the webmaster of Best Weightloss Supplements

Written By: Danna Schneider

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Posted in Low Carb

Tags: boost energy levels diet products

Carbs: The Good, the Bad, and the Healthy

August 7th, 2007