Posts Tagged ‘Fad Diets’

The Little Known Dangers of Low Carb Diets

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Up. Down. Up. Down. The world of a perpetual dieter is a never-ending rollercoaster. Gaining and losing weight is just another part of the daily struggle. There’s a reason the dieting industry is raking in billions of dollars a year and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Fad diets have been a huge selling point. We’ve all tried our share of crazy ones! Anyone remember the hot chocolate diet? Not so good. How about the yam diet? Yeah, let’s forget that one ever happened! Some plans haven’t been so easily dismissed. The low carb diet has continually gained momentum and it seems everyone has tried it at some point. However, there are little known dangers when it comes to this eating plan – some that cannot be ignored.

The low carb diet can be very dangerous to your heart. This is true whether or not you’ve ever had issues with this area of your health before. The American Heart Association was so concerned they actually drafted a paper outlining the danger. They know a low carb diet often means a high protein diet. This can lead to an increase in bad cholesterol and cause a fertile breeding ground for cardiovascular disease. This is when a heart attack could sneak in. Scary stuff. Critics of diets like this say any weight loss is temporary, which makes the entire process an exercise in futility that only leaves you with a bad heart.

If you like to use your brain (and don’t most of us?), a low carb diet should be reconsidered. The brain needs carbohydrates, or more specifically glucose, to continue working. In fact, it needs twice as much energy than any other body part. Neurons (which are the cells that communicate with one another) are constantly working and need to be re-energized on an on-going basis. This can’t happen if there isn’t a supply of glucose coming in. If you are using your brain to figure out a problem, the demand is even higher. So, the next time you’re trying to figure out your taxes or maybe even just how much money your children are siphoning out of your life, eat a granola bar!

Eating fewer carbs to lose weight can backfire. A low carb diet has been shown to result in a loss of muscle. Just like glucose fuels the brain, it also fuels your muscles. This means you’ll lose muscle tone and start getting flabby. Less muscle also means your metabolism will slow down and you’ll lose weight even more slowly than to begin with. Doesn’t that seem awfully futile? Thought so.

There’s a reason experts suggest a balanced diet to lose weight. The truth is we need a little bit of everything to keep our bodies functioning at an optimum level. Cutting out certain foods won’t do the trick. Instead of driving yourself crazy by following the latest and greatest fad diet, take a step back and aim to be healthy. You didn’t gain the weight overnight, so don’t expect to lose it overnight! Take a deep breath, eat a piece of bread and go to sleep happy!

Article Source: ADB Article Directory

I’ve reviewed the most effective weight loss strategies on the internet today, to check out the best ways to lose that extra weight then visit www.5minutereviews.com/WeightLoss.html

Follow a Healthy Diet Plan

Friday, August 21st, 2009

If you’re like most dieters, you want to lose weight quickly and keep it off. There are a lot of tempting and sensational sounding fad diets out there, but the best approach is to follow a sensible healthy diet plan.

Although you may be tempted to start a fad diet (or crash diet as they are also known) that promises to help you lose amazing amounts of weight in a few days, you need to think carefully before you make your decision. The fact is that many of these diets fail to produce lasting results.

These diets usually fall into one of two categories: the reduced calorie or restricted food diets (where you must avoid certain foods and only eat from a very restricted group of allowed foods), or the diets that require you to use special supplements, such as diet pills, bars or drinks.

While it’s true that you will lose a few pounds quickly on these fad diets, what you may not know is that is only a temporary result. You are actually losing pounds of water, not fat, which is your body’s reaction to starvation. As soon as you stop the diet, your body will soak these water-pounds up again like a sponge.

Most people who start these crash diets quit after a short while, such as a few weeks, as their body is suffering all the way. They just can’t stand it anymore. Other people with more will power will keep going for months, but they may experience harmful side effects.

Many of these crash diets can cause long term damage, particularly to the heart or kidneys. Also, as these diets don’t properly balance the nutrients you need on a daily basis, you can deplete your body’s supply of vitamins and minerals. This can cause weakness to your bones, and even cause anemia (especially in teenage girls). Also, a lack of proper dietary fibre can cause problems, as dietary fibre helps to prevent disease.

When you are on a diet, it is important that you don’t ignore healthy eating. A diet plan that neglects foods that are good for you in favor of fast weight loss is potentially dangerous. Your body needs a steady supply of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber to ensure it remains healthy.

Over time, your metabolism will suffer and slow down as you lose muscle mass. This makes it even harder for your body to burn calories, making it harder to lose weight as time goes by.

A healthy weight loss diet plan avoids these short sighted crash-diet mistakes and instead focuses on a routine that you can maintain and follow even after you have gained your ideal weight. This means that you will be able to continue a healthy lifestyle after the weigh loss diet is over.

Following a healthy daily diet plan allows you to get your body used to a routine it will be able to follow and this means that you will be able to keep the calories off after you have lost the weight.

A healthy diet plan can help you to reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure by eliminating the foods that put you at risk, such as high salt content foods and cholesterol. You will also be eating foods that improve your health, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and low fat dairy foods.

One of the main benefits of following a sensible plan is that you will be looking after your heart. A healthy diet plan eliminates many of the factors which can cause heart disease. So you will be reducing the risk of suffering heart disease while also improving your general health.

Reducing your fat and salt intakes and avoiding additives and stimulants in your food and drink is important. Caffeine (as found in coffee, tea and flavored sodas) puts strain on the heart and can make it beat too fast.

Speak to your dietitian or doctor when you are planning a diet. A healthy meal plan can be worked out which will take your normal routines and lifestyle into consideration. You will feel a lot happier about your diet if it allows you to keep your same lifestyle and eat some of the foods you love!

When you speak to your dietitian, he will be able to help you work out a tailor made plan based on your reasons for losing weight. Also it will help you to work out what your ideal weight is, based on your height and some other factors. Your healthy diet meal plan will give you the best of both worlds – you will get to enjoy your favorite foods while you improve your health and lose weight at the same time!

Also, it’s important for you to stay active while you are dieting, as it will keep your metabolism high and help you burn the calories.

If you look on the Internet, you will be able to find many resources (such as government or educational web sites) that offer a free healthy diet plan. These resources are guaranteed to be hype free and are usually based on good common sense.

Article Source: ADB Article Directory

Malcolm Blake writes articles about health and fitness for the Wellness InfoWeb web site. Read his Diet Information article and Nutrition Information article at www.wellnessinfoweb.com/.

Is A Fast Weight Loss Diet A Healthy Choice?

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

With the countless fad diets on the market pushing misleading and deceptive claims it’s no surprise that nearly everyone who wants to lose weight is looking for a fast weight loss diet plan or program. An example of fast weight loss diets include low carb diets which instruct you to limit how many carbohydrate foods you eat.

In fact, fast weight loss diets, such as the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, often have phases instructing you to put your body in a a state called “ketosis” where it switches from using carbohydrate for energy to using fat by eliminating carbohydrate from your diet. Not only will you lack many vital nutrients by doing this, it is very extreme and unnecessary, and very difficult to follow through.

What no-one tells you is that it’s only realistic for your body to lose two pounds a week of fat and anything else you lose on a fast weight loss diet will be either muscle or water loss. Not only is this very bad for your health but your body uses up fewer calories as you lose muscle. Water loss also causes you to become dehydrated, since your body is 75% water.

Another side effect of fast weight loss diets is that sudden changes in your diet where you eat a lot less than normal could trigger your body’s natural starvation response. Your body will then conserve its energy and won’t let go of your body fat, which is why often dieters find their fat loss stalling despite how low their calories are.

Something else to consider is that it is very likely that you will re-gain any weight you lost on a fast weight loss diet when you complete your diet. This is due to the extremely restrictive nature of low-carb diets which can result in cravings and subsequent binges as you fall back into your old way of eating, and is also due to the muscle loss which slows down your metabolism.

On top of all this you also have fast weight loss diet programs which tell you to pay for monthly supplies of “necessary” shakes, bars and other supplements while making huge weight loss claims in return. Since 9 out of 10 dieters return to dieting after putting the weight they lost back on imagine how many customers are sucked into the hype, invested hundreds of dollars on fast weight loss diets, only to find that despite all that money they invested they’re back where they started!

The key to successfully and permanently losing the fat is not to drastically lower calories, nor to label carbs as evil and avoid them like the plague, as many fast weight loss diets advocate. Instead, you will get more effective results by changing your eating habits and eating smaller, but more frequent meals and cutting way back on processed, fatty and high-sugar foods.

Fast weight loss diet plans and programs should be avoided if you want to lose the fat safely. The only solution to permanent weight loss is to make healthy eating part of your lifestyle by replacing your negative habits, and incorporate regular exercise into your routine. This should include both aerobic exercise which helps melt the fat off and strength/resistance training which will build muscle to speed up your metabolism and avoid muscle loss, something many fast weight loss diets are guilty of.

Why do 95% of dieters fail within one year? Why are fat burning pills a complete rip-off? Joseph Cole answers these questions and more in his revealing industry report “Weight Loss Scams, Myths and Cons Exposed”. Get your FREE copy today at: www.theantidietplan.com/1

Article Source: http://www.thecontentcorner.com

Simple Diet Tips For Healthy Weight Loss

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Almost everyone who goes on drastic diets ends up going off the diet sooner rather than later. And even if you do lose some weight with crash and fad diets, you quickly regain that weight back again the moment you get off the diet. The key to losing weight lies in healthy weight loss, where the weight you lose stays off for good, and where your weight loss tactics are not severe enough for you to chuck them at the first given opportunity. Healthy weight loss involves simple diet and lifestyle changes.

Some tips that will help you lose weight for good, whether you are on a weight loss plan or not are:

Set Attainable Goals: The first thing that you need to do when you plan to lose weight is to set attainable goals. Very fast weight loss will not only take its toll on your health, but is generally temporary. So instead of planning to lose 30 pounds, plan to lose 6 pounds a month. This way, you will keep getting an incentive to lose weight with every pound that you shed instead of getting discouraged by the fact that you still have 29 pounds more to go.

Eat Slowly And Patiently: Most diets involve some kind of portion control, but if you are used to eating more, you will keep on feeling empty even after having your meals. Your brain gets to know that your stomach is full only after 20 minutes of eating. So in order to avoid over eating, eat slowly. Chew each bite at least 20 to 30 times and do not eat in front of the television. By following this simple diet tip, you will start feeling satisfied even with smaller portions.

Don’t Get All Emotional With Food: A large number of over weight people cannot control their eating because they use it as a means of emoting. If you are one of those people who pick up a chocolate, dessert or a pack of wafers every time you feel angry, lonely, sad, happy or just plain bored, then you need to control this consciously. When you feel hungry out of turn, drink a glass of water and indulge in an activity that has nothing to do with eating. Go for a walk, chat with your neighbour, call up your friends, watch television or clean up your room. By the time you finish, you will have forgotten about your hunger pangs.

Do Not Starve Yourself: Most popular diet programs nowadays will advise you to have at least 5 to 8 meals a day, which is a good thing not just because it boosts your metabolism, but because it also keeps you feeling full and energetic. Most self help dieters still believe that starving will help them lose weight, when all it does is exactly the opposite the moment you get back to regular life. Each and every sensible diet guide will advise you to eat more meals for weight loss, as this is the new secret to fast, healthy weight loss.

Nick has been involved in the weight loss business for several years and has personal experiences on how difficult losing weight can be. This is why Ii felt responsible for starting a family run online business helping people achieve weight loss results the Healthy Way. For Fast Weight Loss try The Simple Diet Guide

Article Source: http://www.thecontentcorner.com

The Little Known Dangers of Low Carb Diets

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Up. Down. Up. Down. The world of a perpetual dieter is a never-ending rollercoaster. Gaining and losing weight is just another part of the daily struggle. There’s a reason the dieting industry is raking in billions of dollars a year and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Fad diets have been a huge selling point. We’ve all tried our share of crazy ones! Anyone remember the hot chocolate diet? Not so good. How about the yam diet? Yeah, let’s forget that one ever happened! Some plans haven’t been so easily dismissed. The low carb diet has continually gained momentum and it seems everyone has tried it at some point. However, there are little known dangers when it comes to this eating plan – some that cannot be ignored.

The low carb diet can be very dangerous to your heart. This is true whether or not you’ve ever had issues with this area of your health before. The American Heart Association was so concerned they actually drafted a paper outlining the danger. They know a low carb diet often means a high protein diet. This can lead to an increase in bad cholesterol and cause a fertile breeding ground for cardiovascular disease. This is when a heart attack could sneak in. Scary stuff. Critics of diets like this say any weight loss is temporary, which makes the entire process an exercise in futility that only leaves you with a bad heart.

If you like to use your brain (and don’t most of us?), a low carb diet should be reconsidered. The brain needs carbohydrates, or more specifically glucose, to continue working. In fact, it needs twice as much energy than any other body part. Neurons (which are the cells that communicate with one another) are constantly working and need to be re-energized on an on-going basis. This can’t happen if there isn’t a supply of glucose coming in. If you are using your brain to figure out a problem, the demand is even higher. So, the next time you’re trying to figure out your taxes or maybe even just how much money your children are siphoning out of your life, eat a granola bar!

Eating fewer carbs to lose weight can backfire. A low carb diet has been shown to result in a loss of muscle. Just like glucose fuels the brain, it also fuels your muscles. This means you’ll lose muscle tone and start getting flabby. Less muscle also means your metabolism will slow down and you’ll lose weight even more slowly than to begin with. Doesn’t that seem awfully futile? Thought so.

There’s a reason experts suggest a balanced diet to lose weight. The truth is we need a little bit of everything to keep our bodies functioning at an optimum level. Cutting out certain foods won’t do the trick. Instead of driving yourself crazy by following the latest and greatest fad diet, take a step back and aim to be healthy. You didn’t gain the weight overnight, so don’t expect to lose it overnight! Take a deep breath, eat a piece of bread and go to sleep happy!

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I’ve reviewed the most effective weight loss strategies on the internet today, to check out the best ways to lose that extra weight then visit www.5minutereviews.com/WeightLoss.html