Nutritional Supplements for Weight Loss

Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants a quick and easy way to lose weight. At present, we are a fatter nation than ever before and the average size of everything seems to have increased: the size of our takeout burgers, the size of our cars, and the size of our waistlines. The best course of action in our fight against weight gain is to scale down the size and portions of our meals and snacks, and move our bodies more often. Good old fashioned diet and exercise is still the best defense for our ever-increasing weight problem...




While there really is no ‘quick fix’ for weight loss, there are certain measures people can take that do come in tablet or capsule form. Some weight loss supplements have been shown to effectively supplement a reasonable diet and solid exercise program, and have stood the test of time so that they are not considered ‘just a fad’. Let’s look at some of these supplements and what they can do for you.

CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) is an oil capsule that you take with each meal. This supplement hit the health food stores about a decade ago and they could not keep it on the shelves or re-stock it fast enough. CLA helps metabolize fats in the body and bloodstream, and there is even some anecdotal evidence that it staves off hunger. Clinical tests have shown time and again that people who have supplemented their diet with CLA over a substantial period of time have lost more weight than those taking a placebo. Even though it is no longer the fad pill of the moment, CLA has stood the test of time and is a great additional to a sensible weight loss program.

More recently, hoodia has hit the market as the best supplement for effective weight loss. This is an herb, and comes in capsule form. It works by controlling hunger and decreasing appetite. Because we are so accustomed to eating large portions of food, this type of weight loss supplement is really helpful for a lot of people. Appetite control is crucial for weight loss. Loss of control can really sabotage one’s efforts to lose weight, because the sense of accomplishment you get from watching the pounds slip away diminishes and leaves you frustrated. If you can control your appetite, your chances of sticking with your weight loss program increase and you gain confidence and satisfaction seeing your progress. For people who benefit from this type of control, hoodia is a great supplement for you.

Sugar intake in the United States is at its highest. Even though many new foods are labeled as “fat free” or “low sugar”, our sugar consumption increases with each passing year. Many of the food labels we read are misleading, as they lead consumers to believe that “fat free” or “low sugar” means “low calorie”. This is simply not true, and people end up eating more and more of these foods that are void of nutrition and very easy to overeat.

Some people have an almost uncontrollable craving for sugar, and these people would benefit from supplementing with chromium picolinate. Chromium is a trace mineral that is often difficult to get in sufficient amounts in one’s diet. It can be taken once or twice a day in capsule form, usually in a 200 mg dosage. Chromium functions to control one’s craving for sugar, and works at the cellular level to do so. Along with healthy consumption of fruits and vegetables and a concerted effort to lessen the intake of empty calories such as cakes and cookies, chromium picolinate can help maximize your weight loss efforts.

There are a great number of things you can do to maximize your weight loss efforts. If you find that the hours in your day are limited, you can wake up just a half hour earlier and get your exercise in then. When you eat your dinner, try substituting that side of French fries with an extra helping of the broccoli you prepared instead. Park your car an extra 50 yards from the supermarket entrance, instead of trying to find the closest parking space you can. When you watch TV, do pushups or sit-ups or jumping jacks at the commercials, instead of eating a bag of potato chips mindlessly through your program.

Despite these efforts, some people just have a more difficult time losing the weight. If you are one of those people, the supplements mentioned here can really help and can easily be incorporated into your daily regimen. Try these daily, along with some healthy new habits and you will be well on your way to maintaining your weight loss and getting into the healthy shape you deserve!

by: Megan Hazel

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Fight Cancer With Good Nutrition

Can we eliminate one of the most devastating illnesses known to modern mankind, an illness that has touched all of our lives in one way or another? We all know someone who lives with it, who has survived it or who has died of it. Some of you are currently living with it and some have miraculously survived it. I lost my father to it. I’m sure by now you know what I’m talking about; Cancer...




With all of our knowledge and all of the scientific breakthroughs we still have not found a cure for this debilitating illness. Why do doctors continue to be baffled and why does the treatment have to be so horrific? Cancer is a word no one wants to hear. The treatment alone can kill and can be draining on your system, so much so that many people opt to not have treatment at all. We have not even mentioned the costs associated with cancer treatment which can be astronomical. The “standard of care” consists of body altering surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Chemotherapy infuses poisoning chemicals that destroys the immune system and despite how sick they make you feel the cancer can grow so rapidly that your immune system never gets a chance to repair itself. If we know that ingesting chemically laden foods and breathing chemically laden air can cause cancer why would we want to put additional chemicals into our body in order to cure it? Two to five percent of the 350,000 people a year who undergo in-hospital chemotherapy treatments die as a direct result of the toxicity from the treatment itself. That’s 7000 to 17,500 people too many. Twenty one percent of patients receiving high-dose chemo die as a complication of the treatment. You or a loved one could be part of this statistic.

Don’t become a statistic! We need to get to the root of this evil before it strikes. Cancer can be a merciless adversary. One way that we can inhibit it and even stop it in its tracts is to keep our bodies as clean as possible. Clean by consuming the right foods and keep our bodies as free of toxins as we possibly can. Toxins cause irritation. Free radical damage is what occurs as a result of constant irritation in our body. These free radicals tear at the cell’s membrane, and in some cases, damage the cell’s DNA structure. When the DNA structure is interfered with, mutation can occur, which leads to the formation and growth of cancerous cells.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock “The typical Western diet, high in red meats, bad fats, food additives and carbohydrates is a perfect cancer brew”.

Fighting cancer is a war and it involves life-style choices and changes of old habits. Changing old habits is never easy but it can be simple. This quote from Dr. Khalid Mahmud makes a lot of sense “Eat God-made foods, not man-made foods”. Remember the old adage, KISS (keep it simple, stupid) these words of wisdom can protect you from the ravages of cancer by just making a few simple changes in your everyday diet. According to Dena McDowell, MS, RD, for the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center agrees that eating the right foods actually helps prevent cancer. "There is a strong connection between what you eat and whether you develop cancer in your lifetime," says McDowell. The American Cancer Society Nutrition Guidelines calls for a diet that is as plant-based as possible.

Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters.

Start with eating at a minimum of five but on average seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. As you continue to change you’re eating habits your taste buds will change and good nutritious healthy foods will taste better to you than chemically laden, poor quality foods.

Eating foods that contain ample nutrients have been shown to prevent cancer. The damaging effects of free-radicals are minimized by nutrients known as anti-oxidants. These include Vitamins A, C, and E, calcium and vitamin D, the B vitamins and folic acid, the minerals selenium and zinc and beta carotene. The higher the amount of antioxidants you consume the better. A unit of measurement that defines the antioxidant value of foods is called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

Use healthy fats such as olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and green plant food sources, especially spinach, flaxseeds, mustard greens and algae’s. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to have an anti-carcinogenic effect in the laboratory.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of anti-oxidants that quench free radicals. They contain bioflavonoids (plant chemicals) that have anti-cancer properties, bioflavonoids turn on phase II enzymes that rid our body of cancer-causing toxins. Fruits and vegetables also contain fiber that binds the toxins excreted into the intestines, these toxins are then not absorbed back into the system. Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters. Scientists have learned that various components of plants (phytonutrients) can attack cancer cells at all levels but at the same time have no harmful effect on normal cells. These phytonutrients strengthen normal cells so that toxins or free radicals cannot affect those cells preventing cells from becoming cancerous. This is especially important in preventing secondary cancers that can be created in the wake of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Turmeric is the spice most often used in curry powder. It has an active ingredient called curcumin that has shown resistance to colon, breast, liver, oral, skin, and stomach tumors in laboratory testing on animals.

Yogurt with live probiotic cultures consumed in high quantities has been linked in some population studies to reduced risks of cancer, particularly of the breast and colon.

Green Tea is the best source of catechins in the human diet, containing about three times as many catechins as there are in black tea. The catechins found in tea selectively inhibit specific enzyme activities that lead to cancer and may also repair cellular damage caused by free radicals. Green tea has been shown to inhibit or block cancer development in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. Studies done in Asia show that frequent use of green tea can lower the risk of many common cancers including the recurrence of stage 1 breast cancer.

Grapes, especially red and purple varieties, contain high levels of resveratrol, which belongs to a classification of plant chemicals called polyphenols. Resveratrol has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells and inhibit the formation of tumors in lymph, liver, stomach and breast.

Variety is certainly the spice of life. Pay attention to the colors of the fruits and vegetables you choose—green, red, yellow, orange, purple, blue, and white—as nature has imbued each with unique nutrients and phytochemicals that deliver a more complete nutritional benefit when consumed together. Think of assembling a rainbow of colors on your plate; it’s more pleasing to the eye and will give you a good balance of phytonutrients at each meal. I created NV so that we all could have a rainbow of essential fruits, vegetables, fiber, probiotics, turmeric, phytochemicals, carotenoids, ellagic acid, resveratrol, and antioxidants. NV has an ORAC value of 6880 per serving, that’s huge! NV has all the essential nutrients needed to prevent the onset of cancer.

Dr. Steve Nelson of the Synergy Wellness Clinic states that “If people don’t supplement, consume a nutritious diet, apply homeopathic therapies and pay attention to their bodies they are going to continue to get sick”. No one knows for sure if cancers are ever eradicated in your body. Sticking to a nutritious diet and supplementing with NV is so important since a dormant cancer can be reactivated by a bad diet. If we start right now we can improve our chances of having a healthy future.

Wouldn’t it be nice if future generations could say “once upon a time people got cancer” like we think of the black plague? The time is now to make that a reality.

by: Denise McKinley R.N.

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Effective Functioning of Brain and Nutrition

Fighting ADD/ADHD disorder is not a tough job if you have a will to do. Precautionary steps in keeping yourself aloof from foods attracting your attention are best solution. This would keep your body and brain well balanced.

This week’s article exclusively focuses on extractive description of those issues which we had tackled over the period while we learnt about brain and its functioning besides other interesting points. This article will have detailed and elaborative description of this crucial aspect. I will remain confined to the descriptive part of...





this issue rather than going into the technical one. I have used this technique to present information in the form of “Top 8 Nutrition Tips for Optimum Brain Function” without making any complexity.

1. Maintain Balance: The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. To think therefore that it can operate successfully on just one kind of ‘miracle substance’ is a fallacy! Your brain needs a huge variety of nutrients and vitamins and minerals to function properly. Do your best not to deprive it of that by concentrating too heavily on just one type of food or supplement.

2. Take protein sufficiently to keep yourself healthy: Your negligence or following the latest food trends land you at the loggerheads and you land in a situation where your health turns pale. It must be noted that neither your body nor your brain can perform basic works perfectly without appropriate energy level. This energy you attain only when your food has sufficient amount of protein intake. It becomes mandatory to look for alternative options to have protein intake particularly when you are strict vegetarian. Choose some special diet which have best components of protein.

3. Look for regular energy supply mechanism: Brain is the control room of our body as its most energy consuming section. It uses approximately 20% of consumed energy of a particular body. Our focus should confine in supply of new energy in brain. Choose better options and develop mechanisms through which regular and constant supply of energy is made possible. Such practice gives enduring results. Including Low-GI diets in your food is important for releasing energy for longer periods. They are good brain powering solution.

4. Eat the right kinds of fats: Fats perform key functions in terms of protection and membrane formation in the brain. These roles are best fulfilled by fats that are optimally suited for this role and that are therefore needed by the brain in sufficient quantities. The most important ‘brain fatty acids’ are: Omega 3, Omega 6 and ‘pure’ DHA. Including sources of these fats in your diet is one of the most important things that you can do to improve brain power.

5. Give priority to vitamins and minerals: As a key player of human activities, brain keeps itself engaged in many ways. It should be kept charged through all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Doing this help it performs duties effectively. Vitamin E, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Magnesium are important vitamin categories. I5. Always go for vitamins and minerals: Brain is influential part of human body. It works to control entire body system. It must be fed with all types of vitamins and minerals to keep it energetic. Most important categories of vitamins include Vitamin E, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Magnesium.

6. Avoid toxins and other harmful substances: It goes without saying that foods that are laced with pesticides should be avoided at all costs. There are however other kinds of chemicals that are less obviously harmful but that can nonetheless wreak havoc if their intake is not controlled. They include the chemicals used in creating certain artificial colors and flavors as well as the trans-fatty acids that are byproducts of heating fats to very high temperatures (e.g. when deep frying food).

7. Supplement where necessary: It is quite difficult to achieve the right ‘mix’ in terms of getting all the right nutrients, vitamins and mineral required for optimum brain function from your diet. It may therefore sometimes be necessary to increase the levels of some of them through supplements. This is often necessary in the case of certain vitamins and also with trans-fatty acids.

8. Do regular exercise: Although exercise is not a ‘nutrition tip’ but it is highly beneficial in keeping you healthy and fit. Whenever you do some sort of exercise your blood circulation starts increasing and this ultimately benefits your body as well as brain which gets an opportunity to consume power while controlling the entire body. Another benefit of exercise is it reduces fat levels from your body. The researchers have proved that storing of fat, particularly in the mid portion of the body affects bodies and ultimately brains.

The above mentioned discussion opens many layers of realities which are but part of our lifecycle. They are indeed part of our common sense. Interestingly people know them but don’t follow them. Resultantly they remain ‘fuzzy’ and aimless. If you battle with ADD/ADHD symptoms, be cautious to keep your brain strengthened through best nutritious elements.
by: Yih Ted Jee

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Fight Cancer With Good Nutrition

Can we eliminate one of the most devastating illnesses known to modern mankind, an illness that has touched all of our lives in one way or another? We all know someone who lives with it, who has survived it or who has died of it. Some of you are currently living with it and some have miraculously survived it. I lost my father...

to it. I’m sure by now you know what I’m talking about; Cancer.

With all of our knowledge and all of the scientific breakthroughs we still have not found a cure for this debilitating illness. Why do doctors continue to be baffled and why does the treatment have to be so horrific? Cancer is a word no one wants to hear. The treatment alone can kill and can be draining on your system, so much so that many people opt to not have treatment at all. We have not even mentioned the costs associated with cancer treatment which can be astronomical. The “standard of care” consists of body altering surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Chemotherapy infuses poisoning chemicals that destroys the immune system and despite how sick they make you feel the cancer can grow so rapidly that your immune system never gets a chance to repair itself. If we know that ingesting chemically laden foods and breathing chemically laden air can cause cancer why would we want to put additional chemicals into our body in order to cure it? Two to five percent of the 350,000 people a year who undergo in-hospital chemotherapy treatments die as a direct result of the toxicity from the treatment itself. That’s 7000 to 17,500 people too many. Twenty one percent of patients receiving high-dose chemo die as a complication of the treatment. You or a loved one could be part of this statistic.

Don’t become a statistic! We need to get to the root of this evil before it strikes. Cancer can be a merciless adversary. One way that we can inhibit it and even stop it in its tracts is to keep our bodies as clean as possible. Clean by consuming the right foods and keep our bodies as free of toxins as we possibly can. Toxins cause irritation. Free radical damage is what occurs as a result of constant irritation in our body. These free radicals tear at the cell’s membrane, and in some cases, damage the cell’s DNA structure. When the DNA structure is interfered with, mutation can occur, which leads to the formation and growth of cancerous cells.

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock “The typical Western diet, high in red meats, bad fats, food additives and carbohydrates is a perfect cancer brew”.

Fighting cancer is a war and it involves life-style choices and changes of old habits. Changing old habits is never easy but it can be simple. This quote from Dr. Khalid Mahmud makes a lot of sense “Eat God-made foods, not man-made foods”. Remember the old adage, KISS (keep it simple, stupid) these words of wisdom can protect you from the ravages of cancer by just making a few simple changes in your everyday diet. According to Dena McDowell, MS, RD, for the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center agrees that eating the right foods actually helps prevent cancer. "There is a strong connection between what you eat and whether you develop cancer in your lifetime," says McDowell. The American Cancer Society Nutrition Guidelines calls for a diet that is as plant-based as possible.

Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters.

Start with eating at a minimum of five but on average seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. As you continue to change you’re eating habits your taste buds will change and good nutritious healthy foods will taste better to you than chemically laden, poor quality foods.

Eating foods that contain ample nutrients have been shown to prevent cancer. The damaging effects of free-radicals are minimized by nutrients known as anti-oxidants. These include Vitamins A, C, and E, calcium and vitamin D, the B vitamins and folic acid, the minerals selenium and zinc and beta carotene. The higher the amount of antioxidants you consume the better. A unit of measurement that defines the antioxidant value of foods is called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity).

Use healthy fats such as olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and green plant food sources, especially spinach, flaxseeds, mustard greens and algae’s. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to have an anti-carcinogenic effect in the laboratory.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of anti-oxidants that quench free radicals. They contain bioflavonoids (plant chemicals) that have anti-cancer properties, bioflavonoids turn on phase II enzymes that rid our body of cancer-causing toxins. Fruits and vegetables also contain fiber that binds the toxins excreted into the intestines, these toxins are then not absorbed back into the system. Studies indicate that people who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables have much lower cancer rates than those who eat few or none. Vegetarian’s have the highest cancer immunity and have about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters. Scientists have learned that various components of plants (phytonutrients) can attack cancer cells at all levels but at the same time have no harmful effect on normal cells. These phytonutrients strengthen normal cells so that toxins or free radicals cannot affect those cells preventing cells from becoming cancerous. This is especially important in preventing secondary cancers that can be created in the wake of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Turmeric is the spice most often used in curry powder. It has an active ingredient called curcumin that has shown resistance to colon, breast, liver, oral, skin, and stomach tumors in laboratory testing on animals.

Yogurt with live probiotic cultures consumed in high quantities has been linked in some population studies to reduced risks of cancer, particularly of the breast and colon.

Green Tea is the best source of catechins in the human diet, containing about three times as many catechins as there are in black tea. The catechins found in tea selectively inhibit specific enzyme activities that lead to cancer and may also repair cellular damage caused by free radicals. Green tea has been shown to inhibit or block cancer development in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. Studies done in Asia show that frequent use of green tea can lower the risk of many common cancers including the recurrence of stage 1 breast cancer.

Grapes, especially red and purple varieties, contain high levels of resveratrol, which belongs to a classification of plant chemicals called polyphenols. Resveratrol has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells and inhibit the formation of tumors in lymph, liver, stomach and breast.

Variety is certainly the spice of life. Pay attention to the colors of the fruits and vegetables you choose—green, red, yellow, orange, purple, blue, and white—as nature has imbued each with unique nutrients and phytochemicals that deliver a more complete nutritional benefit when consumed together. Think of assembling a rainbow of colors on your plate; it’s more pleasing to the eye and will give you a good balance of phytonutrients at each meal. I created NV so that we all could have a rainbow of essential fruits, vegetables, fiber, probiotics, turmeric, phytochemicals, carotenoids, ellagic acid, resveratrol, and antioxidants. NV has an ORAC value of 6880 per serving, that’s huge! NV has all the essential nutrients needed to prevent the onset of cancer.

Dr. Steve Nelson of the Synergy Wellness Clinic states that “If people don’t supplement, consume a nutritious diet, apply homeopathic therapies and pay attention to their bodies they are going to continue to get sick”. No one knows for sure if cancers are ever eradicated in your body. Sticking to a nutritious diet and supplementing with NV is so important since a dormant cancer can be reactivated by a bad diet. If we start right now we can improve our chances of having a healthy future.

Wouldn’t it be nice if future generations could say “once upon a time people got cancer” like we think of the black plague? The time is now to make that a reality.
by: Denise McKinley R.N.

Read Full Article...>>>