Tips Guides Resources

Take niacin - carefully

Remember as one of the B vitamins, it is proven effective for lowering LDL and raising HDL. It is also one of the cheapest drugs available for lowering cholesterol. But, without medical supervision it may not be totally safe. A dose high enough to lower cholesterol can cause extremely high blood sugar or liver damage.

Take vitamin E

Studies indicate that vitamin E may have a positive impact on lowering cholesterol when taken in fairly large quantities - up to 800 IU per day. This is more than you can get from your diet alone. Larger amounts do not seem to cause any harm. Further studies showed that even amounts of just 25 IU per day helps in preventing LDL from sticking to blood vessel walls. That amount is only slightly higher than the recommended daily amount (RDA) of 12 to 15 IU. It’s interesting to note that even that small amount has an impact on preventing that hardening of the arteries.

Take Calcium

One study indicates that when 56 people took a calcium carbonate supplement, their total cholesterol went down 4 percent and their HDL increased 4 percent. That was taking a dosage of 400 milligrams of calcium three times a day with no harmful effects reported. That does refer to calcium carbonate.

Take a multivitamin - it can’t hurt

While you are building your calcium and vitamin E intake, remember the old standby, vitamin C. It is the number one immune system booster and also drives up HDL. A study of people who took more than 60 milligrams of vitamin C per day (60 milligrams is the RDA) had highest LDL levels.

Fill up on fiber

Remember several years back when oat bran was the latest craze for lowering cholesterol? Later studies arrived at inconsistent results, but the medical community does agree that soluble fiber, the kind found in oat bran, does help lower LDL and raise HDL. As little as three grams per day of fiber from oat bran or oatmeal can be effective. There are 7.2 grams of soluble fiber per 100 grams of dry oat bran and five grams of soluble fiber per 100 grams of dry oatmeal. There are other sources of fiber as well such as barley, beans, peas and many other vegetables. Corn fiber is also good for reducing LDL, lowering it by as much as 5 percent in a recent study. Researchers used 20 grams of corn fiber a day. That would be a bit difficult for the average user when you take into account that one serving of corn has three grams of corn fiber. But, every little bit does make a difference. Pectin, which is found in fruits like apples and prunes, reduces cholesterol even better than oat bran, as does psyllium which is the fiber you find in many breakfast cereals and bulk laxatives.

Reduce sugar intake

Many people don’t realize that sugar affects cholesterol and definitely affects triglycerides. Sugar stimulates insulin production, which in turn increases triglycerides. Men in particular, seem to be sensitive to this effect from sugar. The mineral chromium which helps to stabilize blood sugar, can also raise the level of HDL. 100 mcg of chromium three times daily can help to improve your cholesterol levels.

Eliminate alcohol

The jury is still out and the different schools of thought are still at odds regarding the benefit or lack of benefit to consuming alcohol. This suggestion has nothing to do with our previous discuss on red wine. A moderate amount may be helpful. The problem is that to one person a moderate amount might be a glass of wine with their meal, while to another it might be a half bottle of Scotch! Anything above the arbitrary “moderate” amount elevates serum cholesterol triglycerides and your uric acid levels as well as potentially increasing blood pressure all of which promote heart disease. So, the best bet would be to eliminate it totally.

Exercise regularly

There is positive evidence that exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and boost HDL cholesterol. Both aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling and cross country skiing and strength training like lifting weights or using weight machines all promote the improvement of cholesterol levels. An analysis of 11 studies on weight training showed that this exercise lowered LDL by 13 percent and raised HDL by 5 percent. If you lift weights, use light to moderate weights and do many repetitions.
Eliminate caffeine

We Americans definitely have a love affair with our coffee! People who drink large amounts of caffeine (more than 6 cups a day) are far more prone to elevated cholesterol. That connection does not hold for tea drinkers. Limit your coffee intake to no more than one cup a day and eliminate caffeinated sodas entirely.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For the diet products you need to help you lower cholesterol go to http://www.shop4diets.com

Some Tips To Help You Lose Weight

Dieting can be difficult for some people, here are some tips to help make it easier.

Drink plenty of water. Our body needs a lot of water so give in to water. Water is not just way to flush out toxin but if you have more water in your body you will generally feel healthier and fitter. This it self will discourage any tendency to gorge. The best thing about water is that is has no calories at all.

Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool water. It’s a wonderful way to start you day and you only need a lesser quantity of your breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water. It is good for you.

Drink a glass of water before you start the meal. Water naturally needs some space so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.

Have another glass of water while you are having the meal. Again this is another way of making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.

Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. Hey all those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. So if you must drink sodas, then stick to diet sodas.

Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These things contain 90 to 95% water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.

Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.

If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of these that contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care not to sweeten it with too many calories.

Choose fresh fruit to processed fruits. Processed and canned fruits do not have as much fiber as fresh fruit and processed and canned fruits are nearly always sweetened. Increase your fiber intake. Like I mentioned, the body needs a lot of fiber. So try to include in your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
Go crazy on vegetables. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables are your best bet. Try to include a salad in you diet always.

Eat intelligently. The difference between man and beast is that we are driven by intelligence while beasts are driven by instinct. Don’t just eat something because you feel like eating it. Ask yourself whether your body really needs it.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Get the best diet products at http://www.zefarilhealth.com

Many people are at a loss when trying to put together foods for a proper diet. If you follow these guidelines they will help you get a good start.

50 to 55% of your diet should be carbohydrates. It is a myth that you should try and avoid carbohydrates when you are on a diet. Rather the other way round I should say. Carbohydrates are a ready source of energy and so 50 to 55% of your diet should be carbohydrates.

25 to 30% of your diet should be proteins. Various processes and activities are going on in our bodies. Things are broken down and being built up again.
Resistance has to be built up, recovery from disease too is needed and for all this the body needs plenty of proteins so see to it that 25 to 30 % of your diet consists of proteins. Protein also builds muscle and the higher your muscle content the higher your metabolism. You should aim for about one gram per pound of bodyweight.

Fats should only be 15 to 20 %. You need only this much of fat in your diet so keep it at that.

Try and adopt a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet is undoubtedly better for those of us watching our diet. There are a lot of advantages of keeping to a vegetarian diet but I don’t want to sing an ode to vegetarianism now. What I would suggest is keep to a vegetarian diet as much as you can. Make a non- vegetarian diet a week end event or something if you find it impossible to give up eating all those animals.

Choose white meat rather than red. White meat, which includes fish and fowl, is miles better than red meat, which includes beef and pork for those trying to lose weight.

High Fiber multigrain breads are better than white breads. Remember how I told you to increase the fiber content in your food; well this is the answer to that. It is not only better in terms of the fiber content but also in terms of the protein content as well. Reduce your intake of pork. Pork is not something that can help you to lose weight. So the lesser pork you eat the better chances you have of losing weight. And remember that pork includes the pork products as well, things like bacon, ham and sausages.

Limit your sugar intake. If you can’t have things unsweetened go for sugar substitutes. These things are just as sweetening but are certainly not fattening.

Graze 5 to 6 times a day. Instead of sticking to just three meals a day, try grazing. Grazing means try having 5 or 6 smaller meals instead of three king sized meals. It is an excellent way of having smaller quantities of food.
Go ahead eat cheat food, but only for flavor. There are many things which you have to avoid from your diet but which you may have an undying craving for. Do not avoid them altogether. You could call them cheat foods and indulge in them once in a while. But take care just to tingle your taste buds, don’t hog on them. Instead of that share them with others.

Follow these tips to help you with any diet program.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Get a great selection of diet products from http://www.shop4diets.com

Watch what you eat. Keep a watchful eye on every thing that goes in. Sometimes the garnishes can richer than the food itself. Accompaniments too can be very rich. Remember that it is the easiest thing in the world to eat something without realizing that it was something that you should not have eaten. Selective memory you know…

Control that sweet tooth. Remember that sweet things generally mean more calories. It is natural that we have cravings for sweet things especially chocolates and other confectionary. Go easy on theses things and each time you consume something sweet understand that it is going to add on somewhere.

Fix times to have meals and stick to it. Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.

Eat only when you are hungry. Some of us have the tendency to eat whenever we see food. We use parties as an excuse to stuff our selves. Understand that the effect of a whole week of dieting can be wasted by just one day’s party food. Whenever you are offered something to eat do not decline it completely bit just break of a nibble so that you appear to mind your manners and at the same time can watch your diet.

Quit snacking in between meals. Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French fries…tempting but terribly fattening.

Snack on vegetables if you must. You might get the pangs of hunger in between meals. It is something that you can very well control, or even better, try munching on carrots. They are an excellent way to satisfy those hunger pangs and are good for your eyes and teeth.

Go easy on tea and coffee. Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It’s when you add the cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich chocolate cake?

Try to stick to black tea/coffee. Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.

Count the calories as you eat. It’s a good idea to have an idea of the calories that most food items have. If it is a packed thing then the label is sure to have the calories that the substance has.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For quality diet products go to http://www.zefarilhealth.com

When you are trying to lose weight you need to make sure you are burning more calories than you are taking in. This may sound easy, but sometimes it may not seem to be doing the trick. Here are a couple of ways for you to jumpstart your weight loss efforts.

Weights

Weight lifting is a great way to jumpstart your diet, and a fast way to see results. The reason this works is because the more muscle you have the more calories you burn. Another plus is that you are getting great muscle tone and definition at the same time. It may be wise for you to invest in a set of weights that ranges from 3 lbs. to 10 lbs. A set of dumbbells doesn’t usually cost a whole lot. When weight lifting you need to remember not to strain yourself, but also not to make it too easy, the point is to gain more muscle.

Intensity

As you continue your exercise routine you may get used to the intensity level and need to bump it up a little. When you can carry on a conversation during your exercise you may need to boost the intensity. Try making the movements deeper and bigger so your muscles get a better workout. When you start doing this it will make it harder to carry on a whole conversation, short sentences are better. Once again you need to make sure you don’t increase the intensity too much at one time.

Fun

Even though it is called a routine, you need to make sure you keep yourself interested and having fun. By switching it up a little bit you will keep your mind and body more concentrated on the task at hand. Try working different muscles, remember more muscle means more calorie burn. When you have fun working out it is easier to sick with your program.

Healthy Choices

You may find it difficult to make healthier food choices when trying to lose weight. When you go to get a snack and can only find junk food it is easy to just take it and eat it instead of a healthy snack. When you go to the store buy healthy snacks that you can take with you in the car or to work so that when you do need a snack you have one that wont require extra exercise.

Competition

If you know of someone you work with that is also on a diet or trying to lose weight this may work in both of your favors. Challenge each other to see who can walk more throughout the day at work. A pedometer will help you keep track of your steps. Make an effort to walk more anytime you can, such as when you go to the restroom choose one that is further away, or walk to ask someone a question instead of calling or using e-mail. By challenging a coworker you will both increase your efforts and it will benefit both of you.

Food Journal

A food journal is a way for you to keep track of what you are taking in on a daily basis. You need to write down what you eat, when you eat it, and how much of it you ate. You may want to add more information to your journal based on your individual needs. The journal may help you see where you are making mistakes in your food choices. Once you find the problem it will be easier to fix.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Natural Weight Loss Supplements at http://www.naturalweightlossplus.com

Obesity has been actively argued as being derived from poor diet and then others state it is mostly caused by genetics and a persons DNA will make them more likely to have obesity. Regardless which school of thought you choose to believe in, obesity causes undue stress on the body from the circulatory system to the skeletal system. If left unchecked, obesity will cause weakness, breakdown, cardiac arrest and death.

Obesity is an unhealthy increase in body weight. This body weight places added stress to the heart and circulatory system as it must not only work to feed and fuel more cells, but it must also work harder as the body is pushed harder to carry this additional weight. Depending on how obese one is can really multiply this cardiovascular stress.

On a recent show on TLC they showed the short life of an 750 pound man John Keitz. The episode chronicled the last few years of his life and the toll that morbid obesity can take on ones body. He lived to be 39 years old and died from an infection. His body had basically given up. He did, however embark on a rehabilitation program after having been bed ridden for 7 years. Its just the stress and damage caused by being obese for so long had already weakened his body. How can this happen? How does one become obese or morbidly obese?

Is it their fault or is it genetics. It is probably a combination of the two as there are some people that are naturally obese and there are those that are naturally skinny or even anorexic. Regardless, diet does play a role. John Dietz loved fried chicken, potato chips and junk food. Its hard to say that if he had replaced that with health food that he would not have been obese, but he probably would have been less obese and even mobile.

His extreme weight caused his legs to literally unbuckle or give out. People with lesser cases of obesity may not have their legs giving out, but they will have similar problems developing from the extra weight. Skeletal problems like bad hips, deformed and malformed bones, bad joints, necessary hip and knee replacements, and other injuries associated with obesity.

There are several things that work for treating obesity, but it is basically a change of lifestyle that is needed to make a permanent change to a healthier body. Yes, diet does play a major role. A healthy diet consisting of the major food groups and high in protein and low in carbohydrates like the South Beach Diet is very helpful in weight loss. The South Beach Diet is a realistic diet and can be achieved.

Do not pay attention to unrealistic diet ads like lose 20 pounds in one week. This is impossible and if it were it would be a crash diet and very unhealthy or even risky. For a good idea of what it takes to lose weight for all kinds of people and all kinds of body shapes and ages watch the TV show The Greatest Loser. It shows two groups of B rated stars trying to see which can lose more weight and features a workout guru, psychologist and renowned doctor. You can learn a lot about dieting, fitness, and even trials, tribulations and hardships they go through.

Along with a diet like the South Beach Diet, proper exercise is the key. Lack of exercise is not only a constituent of obesity, but just plain unhealthy. Exercise helps everything from weight loss to mental health. It is key to remember that a physician should be seen prior to starting any new diet or physical activity.

For one that does not ordinarily exercise it is best to start slow with walks and other low impact exercise like slow jogging, These are aerobic exercises and will build up the bodies cardiovascular system, increase metabolism, and add to the effectiveness of any weight loss diet.

After ones fitness has been built up gradually, running is a great weight loss activity and there is not anything better. There are all kinds of infomercials on TV about everything from cardio boxing to dance aerobics, etc. These do work and can have great results, but require a lot of motivation to do it every day in front of a TV. Most people that purchase these programs have good intentions, but these intentions become like New Years resolutions and are quickly put off or forgotten.

Running is better as you can constantly change your scenery and explore new roads, parks, terrain, etc. It is even better if you can find some running buddies. Join a local running club. There are thousands of running groups and they are in almost every city. One of the biggest helps to losing weight is to have some friends in the same boat as you. What better way than to run it off than with a local running club?

David Maillie is a chemist with over 12 years experience in biochemical research and clynical analysis. For more information on weight loss, dieting, anti aging skin care and the TCA peel for in home use please visit Health, weight loss, Anti Aging Skin Care And TCA PEEL.