Zed Command

If you’re looking to lose quite a bit of weight, I have a few diet food options for you. Some of these foods may come as a surprise to you. If you are anticipating a very boring list of vegetables and fruits, you can think again.

Just take a few more minutes to finish reading the rest if this short article and I think you’ll like what you see.

Eggs

Eggs were once thought of as unhealthy. Maybe you have noticed that you don’t hear that stuff anymore. And the reason you don’t hear anything bad about eggs is because they are great for you.

Don’t worry about what anybody says about eggs. Eggs are not bad for cholesterol levels.

It’s worth pointing out that people with high and low cholesterol levels suffer heart attacks equally.

Cholesterol is not the culprit.

A build up of plaque in the arteries is the problem.

So, once we get past that point, you should go ahead and eat eggs to your heart’s content.

Personally, I eat 3 scrambled eggs, twice a day.

Black Beans

Black beans have to be just about my all-time favorite. First off, they’re very cheap. You can buy this stuff for less than 60 cents a can. Each contains 25 grams each of protein and fiber. Tell me what food can match that powerful combo?

I try to eat one can of black beans everyday. I’ll eat half a can with one meal, and the other half can with another meal.

Apples

Apples are just about the perfect snack. Each apple contains 5 grams of fiber and is high in water content. The water and fiber both help to control your food cravings between meals.

Those are 3 of the best diet food options that will get you on your way toward losing weight fast.

Copyright (c) 2010 Paul Evans

A healthy diet recommended for a type 2 diabetic is ultimately just the same as the nutritious diet encouraged for anyone. You don’t need to strictly follow a programme that only uses specially made diabetic foods but it is worthwhile to take notice of any diabetic nutritional advice you might find. Although you can simply follow a healthy eating plan, you may find it more helpful if your doctor develops a diabetes weight loss plan especially crafted to tackle your individual needs and help you maintain balanced blood glucose rates.

If you are thinking of starting a diet regime, you should remember that your key goal will be to ensure your blood glucose levels stay within the healthy limit advised. Another objective should be to preserve safe levels of blood fats (lipids) to minimize the chance of vascular illness – a recognized problem for type 2 diabetics.

Diet specifications are variable and can be influenced by the individual’s well being, finances, lifestyle, and location.

They can also be affected by the motivation the person has to educate themselves and work out the changes they need to make in their life.

A healthy diet regime recommended by health specialists for individual’s who have type 2 diabetes include carbohydrates which are high in fibre, reduced fat dairy foods, water, oily fish, an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a low intake of saturated fats.

The benefits of such natural, fresh ingredients see a persons nutrient consumption increase. This, as a result, enhances the diabetic sufferer’s overall healthiness which has been adversely affected by the lack of trace elements found in their body.

Following this guidance will easily transform your eating routine to a healthier and stronger profile. It will also avoid the danger of unintentionally overdosing on a specific source of nourishment and will prevent potentially harmful conflicts being established between medication and dietary supplements.

You can find numerous type 2 diabetes meal plan suggestions on websites, newsletters and magazines related to the disease. You can also choose between regular healthy weight loss plans and specific diabetes diet regimes to follow.

You may have heard many experts saying that type 2 diabetics must adhere to a minimal carbohydrate diet – but that is simply not true. Instead, diabetics just need to ensure that they eat frequently, that they carry appropriate snacks with them at all times, and that they regularly test their blood glucose prior to and after meals.

A good piece of advice to increase your understanding of your condition is to keep a diabetes log book. This means that you should record your blood sugar levels before a meal and after it, and you should also write down any extra information regarding what you eat. This will ultimately help you decide which foodstuffs are best for you and which ones cause adverse reactions. For example, you will soon recognise the food choices that throw your blood sugar levels off the scale and learn to avoid them. By testing regularly and listening to your body you will understand the best and most nutritious foods to consume regularly.

Unless specifically recommended by your doctor, you shouldn’t restrict yourself completely from eating any food type. Instead you should just learn to take things in healthy proportions ensuring you treat yourself occasionally. Good ideas and interesting tips can be found in cookbooks; invite your friends round to enjoy innovative, experimental meals you’ve discovered and the whole party will see that diabetic catering isn’t difficult to do.

Just make sure that you balance out your eating with a healthy level of exercise – it’s not a good idea for anyone to be overweight and obese (diabetic or not!) Try to remain positive about being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and remember you’re not alone – there are an increasing number of people discovering they have the disease daily.

Diabetes related depression can sometimes occur but if you eat healthily and reward yourself with a little treat occasionally, you will see that diabetes isn’t the worst thing in the world. On the plus side, if you follow a diabetes diet programme, you’ll find yourself bouncing with new found energy and well being.

A diabetes 2 diet plan can be the same as any other good nutritional guide that non-diabetics follow too. Remember that it’s nothing more than that and don’t feel the need to overcomplicate your regime. This will make it much easier to stick to in the long term.

 

Collagen supplements can be used to strengthen joints and to assist with recovery after injury.  They can also be taken every day to maintain healthy joints and cartilage.  Collagen can also help you to stay looking young and healthy.

Whether your reason for taking collagen is to keep your bones strong or because you want to shave a few years off your actual age, the benefits are clear.

Collagen is the most important building block in your body.  It is the most common protein found in the body making up roughly 1/3 of all proteins.  Collagen is found in your skin – making up 75% of it – and is also present in tendons, tissue, cartilage, bone and ligaments.

The benefits of collagen supplements

Collagen helps to keep hair firm and in good condition without split ends
Cuts and wounds heal quicker
Nails are stronger with collagen supplements
Healthy brain tissue
Happy heart

Collagen supplements will help your body to maintain its collagen levels, which is essential for growth, development and the rebuild of damaged cells.

If you suffer from joint pain, like arthritis or osteoarthritis, then collagen supplements can help to reduce the pain by aiding mobility.  This is especially important to know, considering that a lot of the prescribed drugs used to treat arthritis and osteoarthritis often have negative side effects affecting the blood, liver and kidney.

Something that a lot of women complain about is cellulite.  This presents itself as dimpled skin that looks a lot like ‘orange peel’.  This is when collagen fibres have broken down and fatty tissue pushes up through the gaps.  Collagen supplements will help to rebuild and restore the holes in the fibres from the inside, helping to irradiate cellulite.

Collagen naturally occurs in your body, but that is not to say that you body doesn’t need a helping hand.  The food that we eat these days does not give us the nutrition that we need, so we need to supplement our diets to stay fitter and healthier for longer.

As we get older our bodies also slow down and so does the production of collagen.  If you are over 25, then you should consider taking collagen supplements.

The benefits will become apparent quickly and your body will thank you by glowing with health and vitality.

The researchers who count things and people report the issue of more prescriptions for painkillers and muscle relaxants, and more people complaining of back pain. It’s possible, of course, we’ve become a nation of hypochondriacs, prepared to reach for medication at the first sign of trouble. But, with the cost of prescription drugs being so high and health plans getting more restrictive, it’s probable people really are injuring and damaging their backs more often these days. So what exactly is going wrong? Let’s start with traffic accidents, slips and falls. With your back held together with muscles, tendons and ligaments, it’s quite easy to strain or tear something vital. It may be the impact or twisting awkwardly has stretched or tweaked the vertebrae in an unfamiliar direction. If so, the first step is rest. A little ice will help reduce any swelling and, if you have pain, one of the over-the-counter anti-inflammatories will help. But if the pain is still with you after four days, it’s time to admit the injury may be more serious. The most usual cause is that, because you fear pain, you change the way you stand or move. This puts an extra strain on the other muscles to compensate and can end up giving you more pain. The longer you favor your back in this way, the worse the problem is going to get because you will have unlearn all these unnatural movements. If in doubt, going to see the doctor early is the best decision you can make. Anything else risks longer term pain.

What are the other causes of pain? Damage to the one or more discs supposed to act as a shock absorber between the vertebrae can put pressure on the column of nerves passing through the spine. As in sciatica, this can cause shooting pains in the buttocks and legs. It’s possible the disc will just “pop” back into place with a little manipulation but, if it has herniated, i.e. the outer skin of the disc has broken, then surgery may be required. The same is likely if you have developed spinal stenosis, small spurs of bone that form as we get older. Surgery is the best response. With osteoarthritis, another condition related to age, the cartilage between the discs and the joints starts to break down. This causes swelling, stiffness and pain as inflammation grows more intense. Osteoporosis is a loss of bone density which makes them more likely to fracture. Calcium and vitamins help slow the loss of density. With fibromyalgia causing pain in the soft tissues, muscle relaxants like Carisoprodol in combination with physical therapy and, sometimes, antidepressants are the best responses.

So Carisoprodol is useful in all cases of physical injury from accidents and overexercise, and in cases of fibromyalgia. The plan is, first, to rest for a very short period of time and then resume movement. If you give into injury, your back will stiffen and cause more pain. With muscle relaxants to help and, more importantly, to reduce the risk of muscle spasms, guided exercise programs are the fastest route to a long-term cure.

One of the most important considerations in a nutritional protocol is the body’s hydration levels. Our bodies are mainly made up of water with our brain being comprised of 75% water, our blood being 92% water and our muscles being 75% water. Most people are chronically dehydrated and this affects every process in the body including the ability to digest food Research has shown that around 75% of our hunger pangs are signals of thirst with mild dehydration slowing your metabolism by as much as 3%. I highly recommend that you drink at least eight glasses of pure water every day. Drink a glass of water within 30 minutes of waking up, since you become slightly dehydrated through the night. Avoid drinking too much water while eating as this can dilute stomach acid and impair digestion and absorption of foods. Water is also needed to detoxify the body so when you are dehydrated your ability to eliminate toxins will be reduced and as a consequence this can lead to you holding on to excessive body fat.

Another great investment on the nutrition front is to convert to organic foods.

It may seem a little expensive at first but in return for your health and we11 being it is a small price to pay. Not only is organic food free from chemical pesticides, preservatives, hormones and antibiotics it also has a much higher levels of nutrients than commercially farmed foods. The body needs easily accessible high quality nutrients every day to run itself. These nutrients are much more available in organic foods and also in much greater amounts.

It is also very important with regards to nutrients to not only get good quality foods but also to eat a diverse range of foods. This variety of food selection increases your chances of receiving the correct nutrients for your body to operate.

If you only eat a restricted number of foods then your body only receives the nutrients available from those foods. Most people only eat about 15 different foods on a weekly basis and only get a limited amount of nutrients from these foods. By increasing your selection of foods you receive a wider variety of nutrients. Variety in food selection is also important in preventing food intolerances. Food intolerances develop when the body is exposed to the same foods so often that the immune system responds as if there is an invader present such as a bacteria or a virus. When this happens constantly it will deplete your immune system leaving you susceptible to further infections and can also be responsible for symptoms as varied as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and chronic headaches. A common problem among people today is wheat or gluten intolerance. The proteins in wheat and other grain products upset the gut lining and provoke an immune response which can lead to degenerative processes. As wheat products are so prevalent in the Western diet, complete or even temporary abstinence from it can provide promising results. Safe alternatives to these grains include corn, rice, buckwheat and millet.

Processed foods are always best to be avoided. Most of the vital nutrients are lost in the processing and have to be synthetically added back in. Anything that is fortified or has vitamins added in means everything of any use was destroyed in the processing. Processed fats and sugars cause particular problems in the body. Hydrogenated fats found in ready meals, margarines, fat replacement products and many sauces have been artificially altered to preserve their shelf life, a process that makes them harmful to your cells. They resemble healthy fats making it difficult for your cells to distinguish the two apart. They cannot perform the desired function within the cell and open the door to significant health problems. Refined sugars found in most foods tax the body because they convert to glucose very quickly in the blood causing the body to produce insulin. As well as lowering blood sugar, insulin promotes fat storage which is why a diet high in refined sugars and processed foods makes you fat. It is also the main cause of Adult Onset Diabetes where the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, gets so exhausted that it eventually has to make poor quality insulin which is ineffective and leads to diabetes and weight gain. It is vitally important to control blood sugar levels for this reason throughout the day. I strongly suggest you eat before you become hungry and have sensible snacks during the day to stop your blood sugar levels from dropping too much.

With regard to the correct balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates at each meal every single person is different. While one ratio may be correct for one person, it may have no effect on another and be downright dangerous for a third. We are all as different internally as we are externally and this needs to be reflected in our food weightings. Each meal should contain a balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates at every sitting with the exact ratios being individually specific. Listening to your body is an easy way to see if you have the balance right. If after an hour of eating a meal you feel energetic, bright and mentally alert chances are that you are close to your individual ratio. If, however, you feel hungry, lethargic and mentally tired then the food balance was inappropriate for you. Most people live on a diet that is high in refined sugars (or carbohydrates), high in processed fats, which are of no use anyway, and low in good quality proteins. By reducing carbohydrate intake through cutting down on refined sugars and processed foods and eating good quality proteins and fats most people will feel significantly better. Sensible sources of fats and proteins include oily fish, lean meats, nuts, seed and organic dairy produce. Great sources of non refined carbohydrates are fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. By experimenting to find your personal fuel mix you will feel nutritional fulfilment, sustained energy and glowing health.

It is vitally important, particularly if you are trying to lose weight, to not cut calorie consumption. When you do the body thinks it is starving and stores fat as a self protective mechanism. This is backed up by the statistics that show that around 90% of all people who go on a calorie restricted diet gain all the weight back within a year and most gain more. This is because as humans we are self protecting organisms and during famine, which is what calorie restriction is, we produce fat storing enzymes. On these protocols initial weight loss comes through loss of body t1uid and muscle mass. Eventually the body breaks down its own tissue to survive and you sacrifice your health in that you become malnourished or you return to your normal eating habits with an increased number of fat storing enzymes and gain even more weight. It is important when trying to lose weight to eat enough calories so your body doesn’t produce these fat storing enzymes. With regular exercise you will create a negative calorific balance and weight loss will begin. Your exact number of calories will depend on your size, your metabolic rate and your activity levels. Without overeating, again experiment to find the right amount of food for your body to run it’s everyday processes. If you feel hungry, lethargic or irritable then chances are you’re starving yourself so up your calorie intake until you feel it is correct.

By taking all these points on board you will work towards losing any excess weight in the form of body fat, promote lean muscle tissue development and dramatically improve your health status. You will enjoy increased physical energy and mental clarity and greatly increase your chances of avoiding disease and degeneration.

Chris Hines CSCS
Fat Loss Specialist

Drinking plenty of water is important enough for humans under normal circumstances; it’s doubly important during pregnancy. Drinking enough water can help a pregnant woman retain less water and keep her complexion clear during hormonal shifts. More importantly, however, it can keep amniotic fluid at a healthy level, prevent hypertension, and help prevent premature labor.

It is not just a matter of drinking any water, of course. It is crucial that a pregnant woman drink the right water— and the right water can only be the healthiest and most contaminant-free water possible.

There are several contaminants in unfiltered tap water that can cause serious complications for a pregnancy. Recent studies have even linked drinking tap water during the first trimester to miscarriages.

Being informed about the dangers of tap water to a pregnancy is of vital importance.

The following is a look at some of the environmental contaminants that can be present in drinking water and create risks during pregnancy.

Lead – Lead can be found in extremely high and dangerous levels in water systems containing lead pipes, brass fixtures, or lead solder.  The EPA recommends running the tap for at least 30 seconds to run out any sedentary environmental pollutants… but is that really enough of a precaution when it comes to the health during pregnancy?

Arsenic & Nitrates – If you live in an agricultural region and are surrounded by farms, your water may contain trace amounts of arsenic and nitrates from fertilizers that are used on crops. (Fertilizers with arsenic are now banned, but contaminants like this don’t go away overnight.)

Chlorine- Although it can be innocuous enough on its own, recent research has discovered that chlorine can combine with other elements in tap water to create chloroform and other more destructive chemicals. A few studies have begun to link these pollutants to higher risks of stunted fetal growth and miscarriage.

Prescription Medications – A variety of studies recently have revealed that our public water has become a soup of everything from Xanax to hormone-related prescriptions like birth control. The studies are still few and far between, but it seems pretty obvious that avoiding the risk of contaminants like these in tap water should be a high priority during pregnancy.

Whether you live in what you think is a high-risk area or in what you think is a safe zone, you should get your water tested. Your local water company may provide testing, but there are also water testing kits that you can purchase online.

Think seriously about investing in a water filtration system for your home. Even if you drink bottled water for the duration of your pregnancy, you will still be using the tap for everything from cooking to brushing your teeth and ingesting tap water. It’s always better to be safe than sorry with stakes as high as the health and well-being of you and your child.