Showing posts with label dietary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dietary. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

The world of weight loss seems to be full of confusion. The basic concept we are taught about dieting is that a low calorie diet is the key to losing weight. This notion is being challenged more and more these days.

Most people think that simply limiting the amount of food they eat will make them lose weight fast. For many people however, this does not work.

The vital piece of the puzzle that most people are missing is that how they eat is just as important as what they eat. Common eating patterns for the majority of people include eating three large meals every day until they are full. This method of eating can be detrimental to weight loss.


What is Grazing?Grazing is a way of eating that spreads outr your food intake into smaller chunks. So, rather than just eating 3 large meals each day, you have a smaller breakfast, lunch and dinner and then eat small snacks in between. Some people already graze without knowing it, but do it in a very unhealthy way. This means that in between meals they snack on things like chocolate bars and packets of crisps. When grazing is done right and you snack on healthy foods rather than crisps and chocolate, it can be very effectively for helping you to lose weight fast.

Benefits of Grazing
There are several health benefits that you gain from grazing healthily:

  • It keeps your metabolism moving fast
  • It prevents hunger and overindulgent eating
  • Stabilizes your blood sugar
  • Reduces cravings for comfort foods
  • Fills you with energy all day long
  • Speeds up weight loss

How Grazing Makes You Lose Weight

Grazing has a completely different effect on your body than if you were to eat large meals. Usually when people eat large meals, they eat until they are full and can’t eat any more.

Doing this is almost like expanding your stomach. At every meal time, you need larger amount of food to compensate for what you haven’t eaten since your last meal. Being as your stomach expects lots of food every time you eat, it needs more room to store it all. Thus, you put on weight.


Grazing has a different effect. Eating smaller amounts of foods more frequently makes it easier for your body to digest and it puts your metabolism into constant action. This is necessary if you want to lose weight.

Every time you eat a meal, it is important not to eat so much food that you feel full. If you eat until you are full it is like putting a speed bump in front of your metabolism. To keep your metabolism moving fast, you need to keep your meals small.

What to Eat

Your between-meal snacks should contain as many natural foods as possible.When food is eaten it gets converted into glucose (blood sugar) so the body can use it as energy. Natural unprocessed foods release energy slowly, while unhealthy foods like crisps and chips release energy quickly.

When foods get converted into glucose quickly, the body reacts and releases a lot of insulin. Insulin converts sugars into fat and thus prevents the body from burning it.
Eating natural foods helps to maintain your blood sugar levels and gives you stable insulin levels. This means your body won’t burn fat so quickly and you will be able to lose weight fast.

Grazing Tips

Ideally, your between-meal snacks will contain lots of vegetables. Vegetables contain an abundance of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. If you have the chance, you can prepare various salads to snack on throughout the day.

You could prepare a different fresh salad each day and carry it in a lunch box when you go to work. You can make things fun and create a new original salad every day.

If you are really not used to eating vegetables you should try to bring them into your diet gradually. For instance, start by eating just two or three new salads a week, and then start eating more. Chances are you will gradually begin to enjoy various kinds of vegetables.

You could also carry a snack pack with you to work including quick and easy healthy snacks to eat if you don’t much time at hand.

If you really don’t want to eat veggies all day then stick to natural healthy alternatives. Always choose healthy pieces of fruit, cereal bars, dried fruit or nuts over things like chocolate bars and crisps.

A Balanced Diet

While you will receive an abundance of goodness from vegetables, your diet also needs other good food sources to provide a healthy balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Include things like salmon, chicken breast, lean pork, tofu and boiled eggs in your diet for a good source of protein.

Complex carbohydrates are contained in foods like brown pasta, brown rice, rice crackers and wholemeal bread. Carbs can help supply your body with sustained energy.


Allow yourself to have your favourite treats every now and then. Treats shouldn’t be eliminated from you diet all together because you may lose the will power to stick to your eating plan. Consider treats as a reward for the times when you have stuck to your diet well.

Also, be sure to drink lots of water and exercise regularly. Water flushes toxins out of the body and keeps energy levels high, while exercise can provide that extra boost you need to lose weight faster.

Grazing is being recognised more and more these days as a vital component to successful weight loss. For many people, learning the proper way to eat throughout a day is the missing piece of the puzzle they were looking for. Whilst eating healthy meals is obviously very important for losing weight, the frequency and size of your meals is just as vital. One of clear winners when it comes to grazing diets is the Lunch Box Diet which has been called ‘the best diet ever’ 5/5 by Elle Magazine. Even Cameron Diaz is said to be a fan of this healthy plan that becomes a ‘way of life’. Click here to find out more.

All the best

Daryl

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Top Seven Most Popular Antioxidant Fruits

Aside from veggies and herbs, fruits are known to be naturally healthy. Fresh fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals and most importantly fiber and enzymes. Enzymes and fibers help our body to function properly in the process of absorption of nutrients. Enzymes help decrease the ill effects of free radicals in the body while fiber aids in proper elimination of body waste. So basically, what makes fresh fruits the best antioxidant is the presence of fiber and enzymes.

Then again, the amount of enzymes and fibers present varies in each fruit. Some fruits contain more of one particular enzyme yet lack dietary fibers while another is the opposite. Nevertheless, we need to eat a variety of fresh fruits regularly in order to get the most benefits of what they can provide. Listed in this article are few of the most popular fruits that are rich in antioxidant properties.

Prunes – This fruit is rich in potassium and iron. Other natural chemicals and fibers present in prunes aids in digestion and keep a regular bowel movement.
 
Pomegranate – An exotic fruit that originated in Middle East and Asia, pomegranate is has become popular nowadays because it is found to be rich in antioxidants that keep bad LDL cholesterol from oxidizing. It is also beneficial in keeping the blood from unwanted clotting. Other researchers also claim that it improves the amount of oxygen entering into the heart muscles thus can be beneficial to people suffering from coronary heart disease.

Blueberries - It helps prevent aging. Aside from high dietary fibers, vitamins and minerals, it contains anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols, and tannins that inhibits cancer cell development.

Grapes/Raisins – Raisins are often processed through sun drying or oven cooking. Despite the process of drying, raisin still contains flavonols but less phenols compared to fresh grapes. It is rich in boron, a mineral that provides protection from osteoporosis especially among women of advancing age. Like other fruits, grape or raisin is rich in vitamins as well as dietary fibers.
 
Cranberries – Cranberry juice is popularly known to prevent urinary tract infection (UTI). It is also rich in phytochemicals which act as antioxidants by neutralizing the harmful free radicals in the body, thus protects the cells that help fight against heart disease, cancer and metabolic syndrome. Regular consumption of cranberry juice can also prevent stomach cancer and ulcer by killing H.pylori bacteria. A regular consumption of 6 ounce per day will provide optimum health benefits, yet fresh, naturally processed cranberry juice is always highly recommended.

Mangosteen – Rich in xanthones, a class of phytonutrients that help boost the immune system. Mangosteen has been known to prevent Alzheimer disease, heart disease, lowers blood sugar, helps prevent the loss of bone mass, and other host of health benefits not found in other fruits. The benefits of mangosteen are available in specially processed fruit juice or through consumption of fresh fruit.

Apple – This is the most famous among all antioxidant fruits. From cancer to heart ailments, to a simple indigestion and weight management, nothing beats the old proverb, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”

Not only do fruits provide essential nutrients and help strengthen the immune system, but they also stimulate other bodily functions to keep us well nourished. Nevertheless, aside from regular consumption of a variety of fruits, a healthy lifestyle is as important in order to maintain good health.

Vemma juice was developed by a physician with a background in both eastern and western medicine. Be on top of your of your health and get yourself vemma juice today.