Garcinia Cambogia – Newest, Fastest, Fat Busting Supplement

Garcinia Cambogia – Dr. Mhemet Oz calls it the newest, fastest fat busting supplement.  But what is Garcinia Cambogia?  It is a sub-tropical variation of the Garcinia Tree which is mostly found in Asia, particularly in Indonesia and also in parts of India and Africa. It has quite a number of names depending on where you are from, among them is brindle berry, Malabar tamarind, gambooge, assam fruit, northern tamarind or pot tamarind. Its sour taste has given flavor native cooking in places where they are found.  It is also used for its medicinal qualities.

Garcinia Cambogia is a century old food and medicinal source.  And like most natural food sources, it is nutritious and because it is “medicinal” it holds healing properties.  Aside from these qualities, adding the fruit into a meal makes it more “filling”.  Because of all these qualities, the medical community has conducted studies to see if its fruit extract would be effective in inducing weight loss.  And the good news is that it does. There are those who say that more testing and research is needed but for some the initial positive results are enough. Among the people who endorses the supplement is Dr. Oz. - here is how he (along with Dr. Julie Chen) explained how the G.C. extract is an affective weight loss supplement.

·         Existing and recent G.C. studies show that the extract it increases weight loss by 2 to 3 times more than what people would normally lose with just diet and exercise alone.

·         According to the studies, a month of daily dosages of the supplement will result in a weight loss of about 4 pounds.  And adding   daily exercise and a healthy diet, you lose weight even faster.

·         It increases the serotonin levels so it is great for emotional eaters.   Our sleep and mood get better which then suppresses their appetite (lowers their need to eat). Less appetite, less fat intake.  

·         It also helps manage the stress hormone cortisol.  For this reason, you may expect a decrease in belly fat with the G.C. extract.

·         It prevents fat from being made and instead they are turned into glycogen which is easier to consume as an energy source. Dr. Oz then uses a contraption much like a juice dispenser wherein apparently de-clog the passageway to turn sugar into an energy source instead of storing it as body fat.

·          It is a dual effect fat buster – because it suppresses your appetite and increases the fat burning process in the body by letting the liver do its job and prevents fat storage.

 Garcinia Camborgia is a supplement that help people start their weight loss journey with ease.  The studies shows a lot of promise and since the extract has been available online for quite sometime, the only thing left to do is to try it.

The Newest Diet Fad – Fasting and Feasting

In the book The Fast Diet, Mr. Mosley speaks of dividing your week into feasting days and fasting days and apparently it works!  Well, not everyone is convinced and despite the growing number of total weight lost thanks to the “5:2” diet, the skeptics are not too thrilled.  Intermittent diet is nothing new and people in the health and weight loss community have been doing research to understand it and why it works.

The concept or basic science behind the theory is to teach the body to use its stored fats during the fasting days.  The body derives its energy from glucose and they are found in our blood, glycogen and fat stores (fat cells).  When the body is deprived of the glucose from a meal, it turns to the glucose which is already in the blood.  Once that is depleted, the body turns to the glucose stored in glycogen and finally on to fat cells.   Well, it does make sense and may make even more sense if you read the book.  Endorsers of the 5:2 diet goes on to say that this lifestyle increases lifespan, improves brain function and may help prevent dementia and Alzheimers.  This is because the intermittent fasting changes how the body functions and in a way that prevents glucose related diseases.  Fasting also shrinks the size of the stomach which is why subjects do not “pig-out” during the “feast” days.

On the other side of the fence are doctors and people who say that there is not enough scientific evidence to support the diet’s health claims.  They are concerned about the psychological implications of such a diet.  They consider the Fast Diet an extreme diet and may be abused by certain people.  Some even say it is akin to bulimia.  However, proponents of the book does not endorse going on a fasting diet for more than 24 hours because the body cannot sustain the loss of nutrients.  And on fasting days, you do not completely go without food, just extremely lowered to about 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men. And for feast days, there is no limit to what you want to eat and how much.

Intermittent dieting has proved itself to get positive results but since the diet itself is fairly new, there is no way of telling how it affects the human body in the long term.  There have been studies conducted since 1945, but they are done on mice. 

The diet has worked for a lot of people and whether it is the diet plan that may work for you, it is still considered a health decision you need to make with your doctor. 

References:

The Fast Diet :  By Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer

http://beforeitsnews.com/health/2013/03/the-fast-diet-get-thin-quick-by-starving-yourself-two-days-a-week-2476050.html

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/people-are-lining-up-to-starve-themselves-52/story-e6frezz0-1226597618586

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3511220/

The Other Break - Up Body

The Other Break up Body – Dealing with Emotional Eating

I wrote an article a while ago about two people who dealt with their break up in a positive way.  However, not everyone has the same level of determination and positivity. Others take the other route and succumb to the pain. They grab a pint of ice cream and hope they’ll find comfort in its frozen, creamy goodness.  Add that to a state of depression that robs them of the will to do anything.

Weight gain does not happen overnight but the tricky part is that you gain weight faster than you lose them.  Emotional or stress eating comes right after a break up and without support, it gets worse and it gets harder to get back on track.  The sad part is, by the time people realize what’s happening; they are 30 pounds heavier and more depressed than ever.

But no matter how bad it gets, it can get better.  The sooner you realize you have a problem, the better. We are all wired differently and for some, the realization is enough to get us on track while others require a little bit more from Mother Nature and science.  Our body is complex machinery that requires hormones and transmitters that make sure everything works properly.  Serotonin is one such hormone and it has everything to do with our mood and appetite.

Serotonin and your mood

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter found in the digestive tract and in blood platelets and is responsible for the regulation of a variety of functions in the body such as mood, appetite, and sleep among others.  What’s interesting is the fact that people suffering from depression or are stressed have very low levels of serotonin. Because of this correlation, doctors prescribe pharmaceutical drugs that raise serotonin levels as treatment for depression and stress prevention.  And as for stress eating, the theory is, the better you feel, the lesser you eat.

Increasing your serotonin

Health experts recommend exercise and consumption of tryptophan rich foods to increase serotonin levels.  Serotonin starts off as tryptophan and is found in protein rich food such as meat, chicken, dairy food and nuts.  However, consuming a protein rich meal somehow results in a drop in serotonin levels.  This is because the tryptophan competes with other amino acids in a race to the brain and only a small amount of tryptophan gets through. This can be counteracted by consuming a carbohydrate rich meal to produce a good amount of insulin that helps process tryptophan into serotonin. A daily dosage of vitamin B-6 also help increase the rate of tryptophan-serotonin conversion.

Weight Gain Issues

For stress eaters, the food treatment is not a good idea since you will need a hefty amount of protein and carbohydrates to help increase serotonin levels.  Exercise is a good idea but of course, if you are in a depressed state to begin with, the prospect of going to the gym may not be appealing. This is why medications and supplements are widely recommended by health professionals.  Depending on which health professional you consult, recommendations range from pharmaceutical drugs such as SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRI (serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) to non-mainstream supplements such as Saffron Extract, African Mango extract and Garcinia Cambogia or brindle berry extract which are available online. 

Taking Control

It may seem that there is a pill for every ill but in the matters of the heart and d a broken one at that, a pill may not be enough.  It takes will power and a sense of self preservation. And in some cases, surrounding yourself with good friends with a cheerful disposition may be just the all the treatment you need.

References:

http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/serotonin

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248.php

http://www.livestrong.com/article/107778-medications-increase-serotonin-levels/

Chlorogenic Acid – The Weight Loss Antioxidant in Coffee

Coffee is more than just the most loved beverage, it is also packed with health benefits that overshadows a lot of health foods out there. This is because coffee is the best and source of antioxidants in any diet.  It is plant based and is even more appealing because it can be taken with a non-dairy creamer and alternative sweetener. There is a huge amount of studies that show the benefits of coffee from lowering the risk for certain cancers, preventing type 2 diabetes and it lowers stress levels –the latter of which is the most obvious benefit and main reason why we drink coffee in the first place.

Recently however, science looked into the coffee bean again to see if it has the potential to help promote weight loss.  Studies conducted have shown promising results and researchers believe it is because of the chemical compound called chlorogenic acid.      

So what is Chlorogenic Acid?

Chlorogenic acid or CGA is a naturally occurring chemical compound in coffee that slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream after each meal.  It is this quality that has the weight loss community taking interest in coffee.  The compound is also found in other food sources such as potatoes, peaches and prunes but coffee has a larger concentration in each bean.

How does chlorogenic acid help in weight loss?

Glucose is stored as body fat when it is not consumed or “burned” by the body.  Glucose is a source of energy and theoretically, your glucose intake should match the amount of energy you need to complete your daily activities.  The problem with modern day diet is that they are usually energy dense – packed with simple carbs.  That is a lot of energy that goes nowhere but into the fat cells.  The introduction of chlorogenic acid in the body lowers glucose absorption so there is less of the glucose to burn. And more importantly, there are no left overs to store.  The rest of the glucose just leaves the body un-processed.

Is it effective?

There are chlorogenic supplements and there are weight loss supplements with chlorogenic acid such as the Green Coffee Bean Extract.   There are existing mice and human studies that verify the weight loss claim using the extract although there are those on the dissent.  Nonetheless, just like in any other scientific theory, the proof is always found in the real world -the actual users.  Even on this level, there are mixed results = there are those who benefit from it and there are still others who do not lose weight at all.

Now, we must understand the theory in order to understand the results. Chlorogenic acid slows down the absorption of glucose so that what goes into your system is small enough that you use it up just by doing simple tasks.  By doing this, you maintain your current weight.  On the other hand, if you start going to the gym or start exercising, your body uses up the energy already stored – then you lose body fat. Supplements are almost always used to only to augment whatever weight loss efforts we already have in place.

References:

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=668690

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/12/2309.full

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_small_cup_of_coffee.JPG

   

Adiponectin and Its Association to Weight Loss and Type 2 Diabetes

Sometimes we tend to shy away from the medical aspect of losing weight.  There are those of us who shy away from the complicated jargon which honestly does not make sense at all.  Unfortunately, we need to understand at least to some decent extent, the science behind the human body – because in this case, what we do not know can really hurt us.

Pharmaceutical drugs and natural or herbal supplements are recommended to patients based on its capacity to help alleviate the anomalies that happen within the body. In terms of obesity, one of the hormones that health experts look into is adiponectin.  Adiponectin is a protein hormone that controls several metabolic processes and this includes glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation.  Now you see why this hormone has the attention of the weight loss community. 

Effects of Adiponectin

There is a direct correlation between the level of adiponectin in obese and type 2 diabetics.  In the studies conducted, it was discovered that lean subjects have high levels of the hormone while the obese subject have significantly lower levels of adiponectin.  And prior to diagnosis of type 2 diabetics, there is a substantial decrease in adiponectin levels in their system. 

The question then is if by increasing adiponectin levels, type 2 diabetes will be prevented?  And even more importantly, will the manipulation of adiponectin levels (in this case, to increase it) result in weight loss? If so, then there is a good chance that any supplement or drug that is able to increase adiponectin levels has the potential to be a breakthrough in weight loss and the fight against diabetes.

Currently, there are a few ways to increase adiponectin hormones in your body and they are:

·         Exercise – increased movement also increase adiponectin levels, of course the more intense the work-out the higher the increase in the hormones.

·         A daily dose of Fish Oil or Omega 3 Supplement for an increase of 14 to 60% in adiponectin levels. Available in health stores.

·         Raspberry Ketone Supplements – highly disputed, nonetheless the study regarding its potency is still noteworthy and therefore included in the list. Available online.

References:

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/497955_3

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15655035

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15682645

http://www.wellnessresources.com/weight/articles/fiber_fish_oil_exercise_boost_adiponectin/

What is the Paleo Diet

 The concept behind the Paleo Diet is to only consume food that a “caveman” would have sustained himself with.  No, not the Freddy Flintstone type of caveman (he had a wife and modern stone-age kitchen and a car), more like Tarzan or George of the Jungle type of ruggedness.  Think spears, a fascination with fire and very low inclination to possess a green thumb. (Although, I believe Tarzan is a vegetarian considering that he talks to animals.)

It may all sound archaic but the Paleo Diet or the Paleolithic Diet is backed up by scientific research and is actually a modern nutritional plan.  It was a concept introduced by gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin, in his book “The Stone Age Diet: Based on in-depth studies of human ecology and the diet of man.”  It has been widely endorsed and adapted by since then. 

Advocates of the nutritional plan argue that the human body is genetically hot-wired to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. And that anything that is farmed or processed is unnatural and therefore should be avoided. The diet is high in saturated fat and provides very little vitamins and minerals.  Nonetheless, despite the concern regarding nutritional deficiencies, those who adapt the lifestyle show no signs of having cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Check these photos out and be inspired.

The Paleo Plate

While Paleolithic diet cannot be mimicked in its truest form,   the modern diet plan consists of the following based on the availability of the food sources.

-          The ideal meal plan for the diet should consist of grass fed meat and free range chicken and eggs as well as fish caught in the wild and other seafood.

-          Two thirds of the plate consists of vegetables and fruits that has low glycemic index.

-          All kinds of grains are to be avoided.

-          Yes to Meat including fat, Fish and Seafood, Vegetables, Nuts, Seeds

-          No to Legumes, Cereal Grains, Starchy Vegetables, Dairy Products

Advocates of the Paleo Diet say that for the diet to work, it is best to ease into it – to eliminate restricted food one at a time.  They say it is not just a form of diet, it is a lifestyle.

The Drawbacks

The problem with the diet is that it is too restrictive and to adhere to the rules would mean extreme deviation from any existing cuisine, including vegetarian cooking.  So in order to sustain the lifestyle, a cookbook and a nutritional book is required. Not to mention the fact that you need to make sure that the meat you are purchasing is free range or grass fed. 

Take for example Calcium, the human body requires higher amounts of this nutrient as we get older.  Milk is on top of the calcium rich food, so the question is, do you take a calcium supplement or do you look for other sources of calcium within the allowed food list?  The next question is how much of that food do you need to get enough calcium your body requires? (This article seem to answer the question)

Is the Paleo Diet for you?

The bottom-line is not whether it works, the real question is if it will work for you?  Do you have the patience and emotional acuity to keep it going?  The diet does not give you many options in terms of variety in food and flavor which is why a cookbook is better than trying to experiment on your own, unless you are a nutritionist who happens to be a cook. And by the way, it is the priciest diet out there.

John and Jane – Break Up Bodies

The psychology of a break up

Ending a romantic relationship, no matter how amicable is still devastating.  It takes a lot of will power to move on and forward. Psychologists say that it is akin to losing a loved one to an untimely death. Such strong emotions however may be channeled towards something productive for the benefit of oneself – a phenomenon that gave rise to what we now call the Break-Up Body.

After the break-up, there is a yearning for change.  Some try a change in scenery and leave town, while others just go to the salon and change hair color.  And there are others who have patience enough for the kind of change that takes months to happen but for the better.  Here’s a look at two people of different backgrounds, gender and break-up profile but had the same decision to make their bodies healthier and better. 

Meet John and Jane – Not their real names of course

John is 26 and is halfway through law school.  He thought he had everything planned out, he’s at the top of his class is already being offered a place at prestigious law firms.  He was also ready to make the commitment after he passes the bar with his girlfriend of two years until it just suddenly ended.  Somehow, he knew it was coming but he was always an optimist and a “let’s cross the bridge when we get there” kind of guy.

Jane is in her early 30’s a wife and mother of two.  She left her careers (yes, she had two) to focus on the family she always dreamed of.  But like most women who had careers, there is a nagging feeling to be independent and be part of something bigger than themselves – something her husband couldn’t quite understand.

Two different worlds, different circumstances but they have the same dilemma.  Those years of complacency and focus on other person(s) has left them out of shape, and quite a lot of pounds away from when they entered the dating arena years ago. But they also have the same kind of determination.

John’s Work-out Plan

 John never liked the outdoors and walking.  He bought himself a stationary exercise machine called Timeworks. While the manual and instructional video promised “great results” with only 4 minutes a day, he was on that machine for 30 minutes to an hour a day. He did not change his diet but he did cut his consumption in half.  After a month, there was no significant change, so he knew he had to step it up.  He chose a regimen that made sense to him and he chose the Paleo Diet along with the rigorous work-outs of Cross Training.  For more information on John, click here.

Jane’s Work-out Plan

 Jane started going to the gym, sporadically at first but started on a vegetable and fruit smoothie diet.  And ever since she became a mom, she had has been experimenting on healthy dishes for her family.  Jane was overweight but she was eating healthy, there was no question about it.  So when she decided to get in shape, she knew she had to increase her workouts and do a little more research on what she should be eating.  Jane decides to go to the gym every day and signed up for Cross Fit training.  Her diet has a little bit of the Px90 and the South Beach Diet.  For more information on Jane, click here.

The Results

 It only has been a month for John and his Paleo Diet and a gym time of about two hours , six days a week but he is very close to the body that he wants.  It’s been 2 months for Jane and her mixed diet while exercising daily and she’s only halfway through.  But hey, 7 inches off the waist is quite an achievement.   

John and Jane are more determined because of their circumstance and they say that every day, their focus gradually changed from feeling angry and inadequate to just feeling accomplished and happy.  The motivation became less and less about the other person and more and more about themselves.

Have you had the same experience? Do you think you think that without the motivation of the break-up, the results would have been less appealing?