Drink beer & lose weight!

I’ve been warning you away from some pretty awful diets lately – eating schemes loaded with everything from Twinkies to jelly beans.

So let me give you the lowdown on one crazy diet that might actually work: The Beer Diet!

Before I tap the keg on this one, let me get to one crucial little detail right up front: This isn’t a license to drink to excess each night, or skip out on the real food your body needs.

But if you want to have a couple of brews each night, go ahead – they won’t interfere with your weight-loss goals, and a new study shows they might even help shrink your belly.

Spanish researchers examined 1,249 men and women aged 57 or older, and found that daily beer drinkers were much less likely to suffer from diabetes or high blood pressure.

So far so good… but it gets even better, because this study also cuts the beer belly myth right open. The researchers say the beer drinkers had lower levels of body fat, were unlikely to gain weight, and some of them even lost it during the study period.

They say the secret isn’t the beer alone… but the things that usually accompany it.
Think chorizos instead of chips.

This study took place in Spain, after all – and the researchers say their volunteers ate a typical Mediterranean diet.

Now, I’m not a big fan of the trendy diet, but I will say this for it – while it’s low in the red meat your body needs, it’s also relatively low in carbs, especially sugar, and that means they’re on the right track.

And a couple of cold ones each night helps take the diet to the next level, because beer is bubbling over with amino acids and loaded with essential minerals including potassium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and copper.

It’s also rich in the dietary silicon that’s great for your bones, and some studies have even linked it to a lower risk of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Beer does contain a few carbs – but with benefits like that, they’re well worth the tradeoff.

Joining the brew crew,

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

Received & published by Henry Sapiecha

Lose 20 kilos and win
THE NO-BELLY PRIZE

“Grape juice cure” for obesity revealed in a
vision to mystic Edgar Cayce… WORKS!

“We have a friend who’s a light eater,” they told me. “As soon as it gets light, she eats! But seriously, Marty, we know how tough it can be to battle food cravings. If you can lick them, you don’t need to diet – and if you can’t, no diet will work!

“So we told our friend about the grape juice remedy recommended over 60 years ago by Edgar Cayce…”

Born in 1877, he was a world-acclaimed mystic. He’d go into a trance and utter all kinds of prophecies and pronouncements. Some of his odd-sounding remedies don’t work, but once in a while he hit one out of the park…

And this one’s a winner. As it was explained, “Since our friend started this grape juice regimen, she’s fitting into clothes she hasn’t worn in years!”

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Understanding Thrombosis

Deep vein thrombosis is a common chronic health condition extensively present amongst adults. The condition is caused by the clotting of blood in the veins causing an obstruction in the blood flowing through the circulatory system. Whenever a vein experiences injury, fibrin and platelets forms a clotting in the blood to prevent further blood loss. But blood clot can also form under certain conditions. An obstruction in the blood passages of more than 25 percent of the artery walls affects the oxygen supply of the tissues resulting to a complication called embolism.

Thrombosis can be highly hereditary. A condition called hypercoagulability is a genetic deficiency wherein the blood has heightened tendencies to clot. The condition can also be caused by the quality of the walls of the blood vessels and the disturbance of blood flow due to an injured vessel causing blood stagnation; this may be brought about by sitting for a long period of time, for example.

Cases of thrombosis can be classified depending on where the condition is located. Deep vein thrombosis happens when the blood clots within the deep veins. This normally happens in the leg’s femoral veins. Superficial symptoms include reddening, swelling and chronic pain on the affected area. A study aimed at finding an effective means of alleviating the symptoms of deep vein thrombosis finds exercise as a potential supplementation to pharmaceutical intervention.

Study on the Benefits of Exercise on Deep Vein Thrombosis

A group of researchers from Canada conducted a study involving a group of thrombosis patients. They evaluated the effects of performing long-term leg exercises to the symptoms of the health condition. The researchers designed a specialized training program lasting for six months dedicated at improving leg flexibility and strength and overall fitness and they found that the program improves symptoms of deep vein thrombosis and its chronic complications. It has also been found to improve the symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome. The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

A professor of medicine from the Division of Internal Medicine and Center for Clinical Epidemiology at McGill University, Dr Susan Kahn, said that given the divergence in treatment plans for managing the symptoms of post-thrombotic syndrome, the pilot study, aimed at determining the effectiveness of exercise training to treat post-thrombosis, establishes a new approach on more effective ways of fighting the condition. The researchers, led by Dr Kahn, gathered a group of 95 thrombosis patients. The authors said that findings of the small trial procedures will need further confirmation and that conducting a larger study is recommended. A variable was that most of the patients were young active and well-educated; results may differ on different demographics. Despite the preliminary quality of their findings, the researchers concluded that exercise training designed at improving leg flexibility and strength can help alleviate the pains of post-thrombotic syndromes.

Natural Methods of Preventing Thrombosis

The body has its natural means of repairing and maintaining itself. When the vascular system experiences damage like a cut or any incision that causes blood to flow out of the blood vessels, structures dedicated at preventing blood loss works to clot the blood. But not all blood clotting is healthy to the body. Serious health problems like stroke are caused by the undesirable clotting of the blood that leads to obstructed blood flow. The condition results to the insufficient oxygen supply to the tissues and, as a result, thrombosis develops. Research has found different reasons for a person to develop thrombosis.

Smoking has never been good to the body. The different toxins and other chemicals in tobacco have been found to cause different diseases. Cancer and pulmonary diseases are on top of the list. Smoking also reduces the body’s natural ability to protect itself against diseases by weakening the immune system. A common condition that results to the development of thrombosis is hypercoagulability. This happens when the blood easily coagulates with minimal or no reason to do so. Smoking results to myocardial infraction which is associated with hypercoagulation. Though primarily genetic, the condition can be developed by unhealthy practices like smoking and prolonged immobility and bed rest.

The common pharmaceutical treatments for thrombosis include aspirin, coumadin, heparin and ticlopidines. These medications are formulated to either prevent the coagulation of blood or to dissolve blood clots that obstruct healthy blood flow. But these medications have side effects. They can slowly impair the body’s natural ability to initiate and maintain blood clots even in situations where it is highly needed to prevent blood loss.

Lowering one’s cholesterol levels is one of the best natural ways of preventing the onset and development of thrombosis. Cholesterol is known to be one of the fatty acids that can form in the wall of the arteries and thwart blood flow. Other common health conditions associated with high cholesterol levels are mostly cardiovascular in nature. In the treatment of specific types of thrombosis, medications that work to lower cholesterol levels and remove any cholesterol plaques from the walls of blood vessels are also used. But it is also important to remember that the use of pharmaceutical agents can bring about unwanted side effects – adverse reactions that may be life-threatening. So when looking for a treatment regimen, it is emphasized that one choose what is healthy, effective, and safe.

The natural food ingredients that have been found to have high potential in preventing thrombosis are aged garlic, gingko biloba, nutrients like niacin, vitamin E, vitamin K, and other anti-inflammatory compounds. Aged garlic has been used to serve as a strong food supplement to promote the health of the cardiovascular system. Garlic increases the synthesis of a chemical messenger called nitric oxide that inhibits the clotting of the blood. A study on the food ingredient found that consuming one clove of fresh garlic in a day for a period of 26 weeks can result to approximately 20 percent reduction of serum cholesterol.

Benefits of Frequent Exercise

There are numerous health benefits of exercise – and this starts with the decision to get up from the couch and resolve to avoid a sedentary lifestyle. It is not necessary to go to the gym or burden over hours of heavy weights in order to achieve a healthy body. A simple walk in the park for a few minutes in most days of the year will give you the effects necessary in order to improve and maintain body functions.

• Exercise exerts its effect on a person’s mood. It can serve as an effective means of alleviating stress and releasing body tension.
• Different reliable studies around the world had also established the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle in order to lower the risk of developing chronic and degenerative diseases.
• Frequent exercising, together with a balanced diet, is the most effective means of reducing and managing body weight.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

New Evidence That

Chili Pepper Ingredient Fights Fat

Science (June 3, 2010) — Scientists are reporting new evidence that capsaicin, the stuff that gives chili peppers their kick, may cause weight loss and fight fat buildup by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body. Their study, which could lead to new treatments for obesity, appears in ACS’ monthly Journal of Proteome Research.

Jong Won Yun and colleagues point out that obesity is a major public health threat worldwide, linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health problems. Laboratory studies have hinted that capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering fat levels in the blood. Nobody, however, knows exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects.

In an effort to find out, the scientists fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to lab rats used to study obesity. The capsaicin-treated rats lost 8 percent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fat. The altered proteins work to break down fats. “These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the antiobesity effects of capsaicin,” the scientists say.

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Keeping Dieting Simple for Greater Weight Loss Success

When you are dieting it is easy to bounce from one good sounding diet to the next in your bid to lose weight fast. Those who enjoy the most success when losing weight are those who are sensible about the process. Here are some tips that will help you to lose weight sensibly without making you crazy in the process.

The best way to start any attempt to lose excess weight is to record everything that you eat, and what you were doing at the time you were eating as well as how you felt during the meal or snack. Your food diary will reveal a lot about your eating habits. Your eating habits are what makes up your eating pattern which typically involves overeating for a variety of reasons including emotional eating (when you are upset, nervous, or even excited), to avoid having to talk at meals, or because you just love food and have no idea how much food you should be eating at each meal or snack. The food diary will tell a lot about what foods you eat, your food temptations, your emotional state while eating and how often you eat.

Another smart tip is to brush your teeth if you feel tempted to eat a sweet or other goodie that would destroy your goal of losing weight. Most people have an aversion to eating food right after brushing. If you must, give in to the temptation to cheat on your diet with a tasty morsel or sweet by giving yourself permission to eat it, but only half of the food item instead of the entire thing. Another way to avoid temptation is to wait ten minutes before letting yourself have the goodie in order to give yourself time to focus on other things instead of eating. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t depending on your ability to be distracted and your willpower to lose weight.

Building up willpower is sometimes easier if you have motivation that is right in front of your face when temptation to stray from your diet rears its ugly head. A motivational reminder can be a picture of the new bathing suit your are hoping to wear when you lose weight, or a photo of a wedding couple as a reminder that you want to lose weight before your wedding. Anything that is a physical reminder of your reason for wanting to lose weight will be a visible reminder when you are being tempted.

Make sure that your weight loss goals are reasonable ones and that they are attainable in the time frame that you have given yourself. Make smaller goals along the way to your ultimate goal. Get adequate amounts of sleep, drink 8 glasses of water a day, exercise daily, avoid sugar and eat smaller more frequent meals are perhaps the most important weight loss tips. Have a buddy to go through your weight loss program with, one who is also trying to lose weight or one who is able to support you and understand your weight loss efforts. Drink a full glass of water as soon as you wake up, and before each meal and snack. A full glass of cold water to start your day also starts your metabolism. A metabolism that has been jumpstarted with a glass of cold water will burn more calories than a person who wakes, and does other activities besides drinking water or eating. When you drink adequate amounts of water, the water acts as a diuretic, which will then cut down on the water retention and give you a full feeling before meals and snacks so you eat less.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

What is Hoodia Gordonii?

Latin Name: Hoodia gordonii
Other Names: hoodia, xhooba, !khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, South African desert cactus

Hoodia (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is a cactus-like plant that grows primarily in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola.

In the last few years, hoodia has been heavily marketed for weight loss and has become immensely popular.

Although there has always been a demand for diet pills, after the ban on the herb ephedra, the market was particularly ripe for the next new diet pill.

Much of hoodia’s popularity stems from claims that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert relied on hoodia for thousands of years to ward off hunger and thirst during long hunting trips. They were said to have cut off the stem and eat the bitter-tasting plant.

Hoodia gordonii grows in clumps of green upright stems. Although it is often called a cactus because it resembles one, hoodia is actually a succulent plant.

It takes about five years before hoodia gordonii’s pale purple flowers appear and the plant can be harvested.

There are over 13 types of hoodia. The only active ingredient identified so far is a steroidal glycoside that has been called “p57″. Currently, only hoodia gordonii is thought to contain p57.

What is the History of Hoodia Gordonii?

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia gordonii to suppress appetite. In 1963, scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia. They claimed that lab animals lost weight after they were given hoodia gordonii.

The South African scientists, working with a British company named Phytopharm, isolated what they believed to be an active ingredient in hoodia gordonii, a steroidal glycoside, which they named p57. After obtaining a patent in 1995, they licensed p57 to Phytopharm. Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million on hoodia research.

Eventually pharmaceutical giant Pfizer learned about hoodia and expressed interest in developing a hoodia drug. In 1998, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for $21 million. Pfizer returned the rights to hoodia to Phytopharm, who is now working with Unilever.

Much of the hype about hoodia started after 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl and crew traveled to Africa to try hoodia. They hired a local Bushman to go with them into the desert and track down some hoodia. Stahl ate it, describing it as “cucumbery in texture, but not bad.” She reported that she lost the desire to eat or drink the entire day. She also said she didn’t experience any immediate side effects, such as indigestion or heart palpitations.

Where is Hoodia Gordonii Found?

Hoodia gordonii is sold in capsule, powder, liquid, or tea form in health food stores and on the Internet. Hoodia is also found in the popular diet pill Trimspa.

Despite its popularity, there are no published randomized controlled trials in humans to show hoodia is safe or effective in pill form.

One study published in the September 2004 issue of Brain Research found that injections of p57 into the appetite center of rat brains resulted in altered levels of ATP, an energy molecule that may affect hunger. The animals receiving the P57 injections also ate less than rats that received placebo injections. However, this was an animal study and injections in the brain are different from oral consumption, so it cannot be used to show that oral hoodia can suppress appetite in humans.

The manufacturer Phytopharm cites a clinical trial involving 18 human volunteers that found hoodia consumption reduced food intake by about 1000 calories per day compared to a placebo group. Although intriguing, the study wasn’t published or subjected to a peer-review process, so the quality of the study cannot be evaluated.

What are the Side Effects of Hoodia?

There are some potential side effects of hoodia that you should be aware of. What are Hoodia’s Side Effects and Safety Concerns?

How do I Know if it’s Pure Hoodia?

There are widespread reports of counterfeit hoodia products. Mike Adams of News Target, estimates that 80% of hoodia products are contaminated or counterfeit. It’s impossible to know if a hoodia product contains pure hoodia and the active ingredient, unless it has been tested by an independent laboratory.

After looking at hoodia buyer’s guides, hoodia ratings, and hoodia comparisons on the Internet, my advice is that you be very cautious. Most of these sites have been secretly created by companies selling hoodia. They explain why the hoodia in other products is inferior, even though there are no published reports showing that one is more effective. Q&A: How Do I Know if it’s Pure Hoodia or a Fake?

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Weight Loss Weapon

Carb-cutting Enzyme Stopped

By Bean Extract, Endocrinologists Say

April 1, 2007 — UCLA researchers have found an extract in white kidney beans may help the body stop carbs from breaking down into sugars. A digestive enzyme in the body normally acts like scissors, literally cutting starches into little sugars. Phase 2 stops the enzyme from cutting, so the starches stay in the body as long fibers and are burned off quicker. Patients in the clinical studies who took Phase 2 lost body fat, not lean muscle.

Americans are getting fatter. In fact, more than 60 percent are overweight and 18 million have type 2 diabetes. It’s an epidemic that’s becoming more of a problem with each passing year. Now, a new discovery could help you shed those dangerous pounds and live a healthier life.

Pastas … breads … cereals … We know them well. And doctors say it’s carbs like these that are making us fat.

“The problem is that starches are broken down immediately into sugars. When starch breaks down into sugar, it stays in the bloodstream, but is eventually stored as fat,” Steven Rosenblatt, a family practice doctor in Los Angeles, tells DBIS.

But if you can’t bear to give up your favorite foods, there’s a new option. UCLA researchers have found an extract in white kidney beans may help the body stop carbs from breaking down into sugars.

“By lowering the amount of starches in our diet and the amount of carbohydrates in our diet, we allow the body to slowly start to burn off that stored energy,” says Rosenblatt. He with the bean extract, known as Phase 2, which is sold in pill form and is now even added to certain foods. Here’s how Phase 2 works: A digestive enzyme in the body normally acts like scissors, literally cutting starches into little sugars. Phase 2 stops the enzyme from cutting, so the starches stay in the body as long fibers and are burned off quicker — making losing weight and keeping a normal blood sugar much easier.

Doctors say patients in the clinical studies who took Phase 2 lost body fat, not lean muscle. The extract is not recommended for pregnant women or type one diabetics because their blood sugar could get too low. Mild nausea is the only known side effect. Nora Cosgrove’s struggled with her weight all her life. She admits to probably having been on every diet, but nothing worked. But when her doctor said she was on the fast-track to developing type 2 diabetes, she tried Phase 2.

After three months, she lost 30 pounds and six dress sizes! “I’m not tired anymore,” Cosgrove says. “That’s the main thing.”

The FDA recognizes Phase 2, but doctors say it isn’t a miracle pill. Patients still need to watch what they eat and exercise. But at least they don’t have to give up carbs for good. It is available over the counter at health food stores for about $25 a bottle.

The Four Moves That Change Your Health
By Michael Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

Want health reform? Don’t wait for consensus in government (it might take a while). Start your own personal health reform by doing just four things. The result: You can dramatically change your health by cutting your stroke risk in half. Yes, half. Considering that someone dies from a stroke every three to four minutes, that’s a blockbuster-size change.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Don’t smoke. And if you do, quit (check out RealAge.com for a “breathe free” program that really works).

2. Stay active. In the study, desk sitters who did 30 minutes of physical activity a day, or people whose jobs kept them active (and didn’t work out in their off hours), saw this reduced risk of stroke. Note the key words: “Every day!”

3. Drink one or more alcoholic drinks a week (but less than 14). What’s a drink? A small glass of wine, a single shot of spirits or a half pint of beer. Fine to keep up this habit if you already do it, but don’t take it up just for your health.

4. Eat nine or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day (the study found that five was effective; we say you shouldn’t stop there). The researchers didn’t just go on hearsay, asking participants to recall what they ate; they checked vitamin levels to be sure.

That’s beyond easy. It’s tasty, smart and makes you feel great. What happens in government is still important ,

but change starts with YOU.

Published by Henry Sapiecha 25th August 2009