Healthy Lifestyle Alternatives

Posts Tagged ‘Loose weight’

By Alisa Robinson

When you find yourself stressed, do you eat a lot or do you go to sleep? People handle stress in different ways, but there is one way some people may not think about and that’s exercise. Depending on the type of exercise you do, you may find taking your stress and frustrations out on it or thinking about it will help tremendously. You may also find exercising when you’re stressed will make you forget about it or you’ll realize it’s not so bad after all.

It doesn’t matter what you stress over, exercising is the best way to handle it. You can do just about any type of program and it will work. You can join a gym and use their exercise equipment or classes to elevate the stress, you can purchase an exercise program on DVD and use it in the comfort of your own home, or you can find a family member or friend to exercise with walks or other programs.

When you do an exercise program like walking or using a treadmill you’ll find you have time to think and that’s a big stress reliever. When you have the ability to think about the situation you’re in you can work through it or figure out a way to prevent it from happening in the future. You can talk through it if you have someone working out with you or you can vent with this person if you have that type of relationship. When you do this you’ll find the stress will go away and you’ll feel a lot better.

Another type of exercise program that’ll help you work through stress would be kick boxing or martial arts. You may find using a boxing bag or other type of equipment will do the same thing. When you do these types of programs, you’ll take your stress out that way and feel better when you’re done. You’ll realize your problem isn’t that bad or you decide how to handle it in the best way possible.

If you find you’re stressed more times than not and you handle stress by eating or sleeping, you need to change your habits right now because more than likely you’re overweight and you’re not very healthy. It’s not too late if you’re in this situation, but you must start now. Join a gym, exercise at home with a family member, or find a buddy to exercise with, but just get it done.

Alisa Robinson is the owner of Art Fitness. She believes every success story starts with a dream; it takes determination to turn it into a vision and passion to make it a reality. Alisa’s main passion and mission is to turn lives around and encourage people to start living longer and healthier. If you are ready to start your journey go to http://www.artfitnesstraining.com TODAY!

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

by Brandon Serna

Let’s face it. Exercising takes a lot of time and in the daily grind of work, school, and taking care of kids, time’s a luxury and some people just can’t afford to do tedious and long-winded exercises. Fortunately enough, there are a bevy of quick, efficient exercises that parents, students, and busy workers can do that won’t take longer than half an hour. You owe it to yourself to take care of your body. With these workouts, being short on time is no longer an excuse to not exercise.

Cardio Cardio exercises aren’t just for people who strive to run a marathon. If you push yourself you can squeeze in a fulfilling cardio workout in just 20 minutes. With fast cardio workouts, the goal is to get your heart rate up ashigh as possible and to sustain that rate for as long as you can. Some cardio exercises you can try in your spare time include running at your preferred pace, brisk walking, cycling, jumping jacks, jumping rope, and kickboxing. As you can see, you don’t need to pigeonhole yourself into a certain type of exercise – pick whichever on you like best or mix and match to keep it interesting.

Strength Training
A proper exercise regimen will combine cardio with strength training. Strength training builds muscle mass. Strength training in 10 to 20 minutes a day can be easy but you have to be vigilant in including all your muscle groups so that you do not risk injury or let some muscles in one group atrophy over time. You don’t have to lift heavy weights and train to the point of pain in your quick strength training stints. You also don’t need fancy equipment to do strength training exercises like squats, lunges, pushups, barbell curls, and ab crunches. For starters, pick eight to 10 exercises and do each one continuously for a minute or when you feel you can’t do any more, whichever comes first.

Why Not Both?

 When you have only a short period of time to exercise, water can be your best friend. You can easily combine some cardio with strength training by swimming. When swimming laps you are forced to use your entire body. For a less extreme workout that can still incorporate both exercises is aquatic therapy. The water not only helps to relax your muscles and soothe your joints, but also provides a great source of resistance much like weights.

-This article was provided by Brandon Serna on behalf of HydroWorx

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

by: Abraham Itunnu
One of the greatest mistakes that over weight people make is that of starving themselves by missing meals. What they do not seem to comprehend is that in order to lose weight, it is not necessary to skip meals. On another note, if your system doesn’t get enough nutrition in the form of food, how will it give you the vitality you should perform various physical activities? The best approach would be to eat healthy foods: foods that are highly wholesome but have low calorie content. Such foods will give your body the much needed nutrition without making you fatter. Typically, an adult’s body needs about 2,500 calories in order to survive. If you eat calories on a moderate level then you don’t even have to count calories! In this report I will let you know the basics of a nutritious diet plan.

1. Stop emotional eating: Scores of people have become overweight owing to emotional eating. Often people are gripped by intense feelings like anger, hatred, depression, stress, boredom, loneliness, etc., and this is when they take the assistance of food in order to give themselves relief. You need to understand that food can’t be the reply to each and every problem. Learn to manage how you feel without taking the assistance of food, for if you take the help of food to douse your emotions, you might never anticipate to slim down!

2. Join a competent weight loss program: Your next step is to join an efficient weight loss program. An efficient weight loss program is one which suggest you a nutritious diet and exercise regimen. An inefficient weight loss program is one which recommends a lot of fad diets and prescription drugs to you. By wholesome diet plan, I mean fruits, vegetables, lean chicken meat, fish, reduced fat dairy products, whole grain cereals, along with skinless poultry. Avoid high volumes of fat products like pies, candies and pastries at all costs!

3. Apart from following a healthy diet, regular workouts is also required for lasting weight loss. I would recommend you start with lighter aerobics and then go on to resistance training and cardio when you feel very comfortable with your workout regime. Even though you do only aerobics, you will be in a position to shed weight because aerobic exercises help you burn fat at a high rate by speeding up your metabolic process, and this way gives you a tremendous boost in energy level as well as helps you slim down.

Now you are possibly wondering how to know whether a weight loss program is efficient or not, without burning your pocket. Well, the only way to understand it is to ask for feedback from a customer who has joined the program that you are eying. One other way is to ask your physician or a weight reduction expert; both of whom would be able to give their indifferent opinions.

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

Your bones need constant help to stay healthy; here are 5 nutrients they can’t survive without

By Gloria McVeigh , Gloria McVeigh is the Prevention Nutrition News Editor.

Healthy bones constantly build up and break down, requiring specific nutrients–beyond calcium and vitamin D–to

maintain that balance, says Prevention advisor and Tufts University bone researcher Katherine Tucker, PhD.

• Protein creates the scaffolding around which healthy bones form. Aim for the recommended 46 to 56 g a d

ay: 1% cottage cheese (28 g per cup), ground turkey (22 g per patty), tofu (7 g per 1?4 block).

• Magnesium combine

s with calcium to build bone mass on top of the protein foundation. Get the recommended 400 mg from: oat bran (110 mg per ½ cup), pumpkin seeds (151 mg per 1 ounce), artichokes (50 mg per ½ cup, cooked), brown rice (42 mg per ½ cup, cooked).

• Potassium keeps your body’s acid level within the narrow range needed to keep healthy bones strong; aim for 4,700 mg per day. Good sources include orange juice (1,435 mg in 6 ounces), raisins (1,086 mg per cup), fish (916 mg in ½ fillet), fat-free milk (850 mg per 8 ounces).

• Vitamin K helps make bone’s scaffolding. Just 1 cup of cooked spinach, broccoli, or brussels sprouts provides the required 90 mcg per day.

• Vitamin B12 keeps your levels of homocysteine (an amino acid) from rising and weakening bones. Take a multivitamin that contains 100% of the DV (2.4 mcg).

For other great articles from Prevention visit www.prevention.com

Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

by: Marjorie Geiser, RD

Most consumers have heard of probiotics and know that they are foods containing live, beneficial bacteria. Foods such as yogurt, buttermilk, miso or kefir are the most recognized foods providing ‘good’ bacteria for the gut.

But are you aware of the health benefits of prebiotics? In a nutshell, prebiotics are the food to help the probiotics grow and multiply. They are the food for your ‘good bugs’.

A quick review of probiotics will help in understanding prebiotics. The advantage of beneficial living organisms in food, particularly lactic acid bacteria, has been known for centuries. In fact, the Roman historian, Plinius, in 76 BC, recommended fermented milk for treating gastroenteritis. In the early 1900’s, a Russian zoologist, Elie Metchnikoff, wrote about the health benefits of “friendly bacteria” and hypothesized that consumption of fermented milk products were responsible for the long, healthy lives that Bulgarian peasants enjoyed.

Probiotics means “pro-life”. The digestive tract is home to over 400 species of microorganisms. Some are ‘good bugs’ and are ‘bad bugs’ or unhealthy bacteria. Probiotics are the ‘good bugs’. Two of the most common strains are lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. It is believed that if a positive balance of good bacteria is maintained, the bad bacteria are less able to cause disease and irritation.

Here are some health benefits to taking probiotics:

inhibits growth of ‘bad bugs’, or bacteria that cause disease

synthesizes vitamins, primarily B vitamins

increase availability of nutrients

decrease lactose intolerance

decrease symptoms of GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease)

decrease prevalence of allergies

boosts the immune response

As mentioned earlier, prebiotics are food for probiotics. Consequently, the more you can feed and care for your ‘good bugs’, the healthier you can be!

The Japanese have known the benefits of prebiotics for years. In fact, a commercially prepared prebiotic (“Neosugar”) is currently used in over 500 Japanese food products, from infant formulas to health products. The two most common prebiotics are inulin and oligofructose. As a supplement, it will be listed as either inulin or FOS (fructooligosaccharides). Inulin or oligofructose are present in over 36,000 plant foods as plant storage carbohydrates. Excellent food sources are chicory and Jerusalem artichokes. In fact, most commercially prepared inulin comes from chicory, or else synthesized from sucrose. Other food sources include wheat, barley, rye, onions, garlic and leeks.

Because flatulence, bloating and abdominal cramps can be an undesirable consequence of taking prebiotics (and even probiotics), it is recommended that anyone considering taking these in supplement form contact a healthcare professional familiar with such products for individualized recommendations. Those who could benefit from taking probiotic and prebiotic supplements include:

People taking antibiotics which kill off the ‘good bugs’ in the intestinal tract.

People who suffer from diarrhea, constipation, gastrointestinal distress, and/or irritable bowel syndrome.

Women who suffer from chronic yeast and/or Candida infections.

Probiotic supplements are available as freeze-dried, powdered, capsules, wafers and liquids. Doses of Acidophilus and Bifidobacteria are expressed in billions of live organisms and a typical dose, unless otherwise recommended, is between 3 billion to 5 billion live organisms. Because probiotics are living organisms and are fragile, they should always be refrigerated. Products found on a shelf, therefore, are not going to contain live organisms and not be as effective. The product label should guarantee a certain number of live organisms by the expiration date of the product. There should always be an expiration date.

Prebiotics can be found either with a probiotic product or separately, because FOS and inulin are food for the probiotics. If purchased separately, they can be taken together. Some people, because of the high number of ‘bad bugs’ in their gastrointestinal tract, cannot handle the two products taken together in the beginning. This is where an experienced healthcare professional can be beneficial. The suggested intake of FOS is 2-3 grams per day. Products containing vitamin C, whey protein, or cysteine may improve the effectiveness of probiotics.

This information is not intended to substitute for medical advice or care that you would receive from your healthcare professional, so always check with your provider. If you are taking medications, or have health issues, make sure you start these products under the care of a professional. Some people will notice no harmful effects and these products are generally very safe, but individual sensitivity can alter the effects of such products.

If something as simple as providing and feeding your ‘good bugs’ in the intestinal tract can improve subtle or severe health issues, it’s certainly time to start feeding our ‘good bugs’ today!

About the Author:

Marjorie Geiser has been teaching health, fitness and nutrition since 1982. She is a nutritionist, registered dietitian, certified personal trainer and life coach. As the owner of MEG Fitness, Marjorie’s goal for her clients is to help them incorporate healthy eating and fitness into their busy lives. You can learn more about Marjorie from her website, www.megfit.com, or contact her via email to margie@megfit.com.

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

As seasons change, so do our workouts.  In some parts of the country there isn’t the drastic difference in temperatures, but there is still a change.  If you are not a gym goer and don’t want to trek out into the snow and cold and like to stay comfortable in your own home, below are some new ideas to try out as the seasons change.

1) Yoga/Pilates

Take one day a week or if you can’t find the time for that, a few times a month to center yourself.  There are all shorts of resources on yoga; check on the internet, go to the bookstore, buy a dvd, whichever your preference is.  Take some time to balance your life, do some yoga and stretching in your own home, in a quiet room.

2) Indoor Spinning

If you already have a stationary bike, or a workout bike then all you need to do is hop on that seat!  If you don’t already have an exercise bike, look into purchasing one, or even turning your mountain bike into one.   Simply purchase an indoor trainer for your bike, mount it on there and you are ready to begin your own spinning class at home.  A workout of 30 minutes is always a good place to start.

3)    Eliiptical/Treadmill

Running on your own elliptical or treadmill is quite simple, you can even multi-task.  While running or walking; read a book or study for a test.  If those activities don’t work for you watch some tv, or your favorite show. As you start to get in more shape run for longer, and increase the resistance or incline.   See if you can challenge yourself to watch a full hour show!

4) Workout DVDS

If you are a busy working mom (or dad I suppose!), pick a night(s) a week to get together with a few friends.  Discuss between the few of you what kind of workout video you would be most interested in.  Go out a buy the DVD and start motivating each other to get a great workout in!  After you’ve gotten a good sweat in don’t forget to eat a healthy meal.  In the winter we tend to snack a lot more, and not eat as healthy.  Remember the key to staying in great shape is to still be eating the right foods.

Start cooking more and finding healthy recipes.  Plus it’s more comfortable to stay home then venture out into the cold weather

5)    Circuit Training

Circuit training has become more popular in the last few years.  If you are real cramped for time and just don’t have time and energy to go to the gym, circuits are a great way to keep your body in shape.  It can help your mobility, flexibility, strength and toning of your overall muscles in as short as 5 mins.  You can pick out different circuits to do each day for however long you feel your body needs and can handle.  An average time for any given circuit is 5 to 10 minutes.  Below are some websites that I believe show a few great circuit routines.

-       Ab Circuit    http://www.circuittrainingexercise.com/abdominal/abs-a-upper-body-workout-on-fitness-ball-training-w-tammy.html

-       Cardio Circuit

http://www.circuittrainingexercise.com/cardio/

-       Exercise Ball Circuit

http://www.circuittrainingexercise.com/exercise-ball/ten-minute-workout-with-fitness-ball.html

-       Resistant Band Circuit

http://www.circuittrainingexercise.com/resistance-bands/

-       Various Circuits

http://www.circuittrainingexercise.com/various/

Megan Gates is an outreach representative for Gym Source (gymsource.com) – a leading retailer of home gyms and various other fitness and exercise equipment.  Megan contributes written work to the blogosphere related to health and fitness.

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

By Dr. Scott

Sugar Brain

You open a can of soda and pour that sugary drink into your mouth. The sugar travels down your throat and into your stomach; the sugar then has a very short trip from your stomach into your blood stream. As that sugar starts to move its way throughout your body, it eventually makes its way to your brain. You brain is happy with this shot of sugar you just gave it, because, while it only makes up only two percent of the body weight, your brain uses one-half of all the sugar energy in the body.1

But, is there such a thing as too much sugar for your brain? And that soda you just drank, it will cause your blood sugar to skyrocket and eventually drop; what happens to your brain then? And what about other sugar-brains questions: doesn’t sugar make you or your kids hyperactive, and doesn’t sugar change your mood?

The short answer to these all these questions is: we don’t know. Scientific studies on the effects of sugar on the brain are sparse at best and most medical professionals and organizations will say that sugar has nothing to do with mood or hyperactivity. If you are surprised by that stance, you are not alone.

Most parents have witnessed firsthand the effect of sugar on little kid’s brains. Most adults will tell you that they have experienced a sort of mentalfog from eating too much sugar, not to mention the sugar high and the sugar crash. But none of these experiences mean anything to researchers who report that there are no such things as sugar highs or lows or that hyperactivity could be caused by too much sugar.

But just because there isn’t much research on how sugar and foods that act like sugar and how they affect mental function, doesn’t mean there isn’t any. This article will piece together the bits of information out there on sugar and brain function to get a better understanding of what sugar is doing to our brains. As usual, I will be including not only sugar, but foods that act like sugar in the discussion.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

Let’s start with a brain chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is the key to understanding what happens when sugar hits our brain.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is responsible for the development of new brain tissue. If you didn’t have this ch

emical in your brain, your brain wouldn’t develop properly and you would die very soon after birth. The key to BDNF is to understand what it does: it helps to create new neurons (nerve tissue), and, therefore new memories.

You want as much BDNF around as possible if you want to learn, grow, and have normal brain functioning.

Research has shown that high sugar diets (along with high fat diets and lack of essential fatty acids) decrease a BDNF. In fact, the relationship between BDNF and sugar gets even more interesting: low amounts of BDNF actually leads to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and even diabetes. This means that high sugar in the blood leads to low BDNF, and then low BDNF leads to a worsening of blood sugar control, which leads to high blood sugar, which leads to worse blood sugar control… and the cycle continues.

In an interesting study on rats, it was discovered that the animals that had the best ability to learn spatial and memory tasks also had the highest amount of BDNF. It took only two months on a hig

h sugar and high fat diet to significantly reduce BDNF in the brains of the experimental animals and for the reduction to have an effect on the animal’s ability to perform spatial and memory tasks.

Low BDNF is no small thing as it has also been associated with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Huntington’s disease, Rett syndrome, and schizophrenia.

But there is much more to the sugar-brain story than BDNF, let’s take a look.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the best places to start when discussing how sugar affects our brains. There are quite a few clinical studies that link the consumption of grains (foods that act like sugar) with schizophrenia. It has long been thought that people who are schizophrenic may have a problem with the protein found in many grains (gluten) and there is a strong association between schizophrenia and Celiac disease.

Interestingly, there is also a close association with poor blood sugar control (metabolic syndrome) and the severity of schizophrenia:

It appears that the same dietary factors which are associated with the metabolic syndrome, including high saturated fat, high glycemic load, and low omega-3 (PUFA), may also be detrimental to the symptoms of schizophrenia.

These researcher show that once again, a diet low in essential fatty acids (omega-3) and high in fat and sugar will decrease BDNF and it makes me wonder if sugar and foods that act like sugar may be the “smoking gun” in schizophrenia.

Depression and Anxiety

As a hint that how we live and what we eat have some effect on our moods, it has long been known that coronary heart disease and diabetes all are common in people with depression. This means that the same dietary conditions that create heart disease and diabetes also can lead to depression. Interesting…

Sugar consumption in population studies have been shown to have a close link with major depression. Researchers suggest that the sugar and brain association may be due to the oxidative stress that sugar can cause or the change in beta-endorphins (brain chemicals that make us feel good) that comes about because of sugar use.

Anxiety, too, has been closely linked with sugar use in a number of studies.

Children

Perhaps the biggest questions arise when discussing children, mood, behavior and sugar. While any parent would tell you that sugar can dramatically change the behavior of a child, the medical community is silent. There have been a few studies that show an association between high blood sugars and problem behaviors, but these studies have mostly been performed in children who already have blood sugar problems (such as diabetes). More studies need to be done and need to be done in children with normal blood sugar.

Autism is an interesting exception to the lack of research. A review by the prestigious Cochrane review admitted that many of the studies linking foods that act like sugar (grains) and gluten to autism have been of poor quality, but they do point to one study that does show a relationship between a gluten-free diet and improvement in the symptoms of autism. While far from conclusive, these studies open the possibility of a solution for the growing epidemic of autism.

Brain Plan

Okay, let’s say you actually want to take care of your brain. What is the best way to go?

Avoid grains and sugars: Read my book Sugarettes or take the 30 Sugar Free Days Challenge, and get yourself off sugar and foods that act like sugar.

Exercise: It has been shown that exercise is great for your brain, and it increases BDNF.

Supplement: Your brain thrives on vitamins, especially the B vitamins and make sure you are taking some form of omega 3 oils (fish oils).

We can take care of our brains much better than we do and knowing that the foods that we put into our mouths can dramatically how we think, how we feel and act, and which diseases we get means that your brain and how well it functions is in your hands. You have a choice and what you eat and drink can make dramatic differences in how you think, feel and behave.

A Healthy Lifestyle is only a few steps away.

By Chris Loughrey
see more articles by Chris here.

There’s a lot of myths and hearsay when it comes to looking after your health and fitness. Some of them are silly, some of them are just innocent mistakes that are born out of simple assumptions.

But there are others which are genuinely detrimental and can do lasting damage to you and your long-term health & fitness ambitions. Lets highlight 3 of the biggest culprits!

1) The less you eat, the more weight you’ll lose.

This is one of the oldest myths around, born from calorie controlled diets. The critical thing here is to a certain extent, it’s true. If you take in less energy than you expend, you’ll make up the shortfall by using bodyfat. However the problem is that it can be taken to extremes.

Say you are an average woman looking to lose some extra pounds, your daily calorie intake should be around 2000 in order to maintain your weight. So you decide to cut down to around 1600-1700 cals per day in order to make a calorie deficit and lose weight. The first week you lose some weight, great! Surely if I take in even fewer calories, my weight loss will be even bigger? WRONG! This will confuse your metabolism and cause it to slow so that the calories you do take in will be stored because your body thinks you are starving. Coupled with this is an increase in the stress hormone cortisol which also encourages weight gain. Pretty soon your weight loss will stall and you’ll lose faith, the classic “yo-yo” diet. It can then take months for your metabolism to recover, during this time you’ll probably gain back all the weight you lost, plus a few pounds extra.

There is a “sweet-spot” for calorie intake when you are trying to lose weight. You need to cut out enough to encourage your body to lose fat, but also enough so that your metabolism is happy to go along with you. It’s a delicate balance and one which needs to be constantly monitored. So be careful the next time you see “lose 15lbs in 7 days!”, it’s a trap that can lead to more harm than good.

2) Carbs are bad for you

Atkins, the most ridiculous of all fad diets has a lot to answer for. This “revolution” started a new cult of people who believed that carbohydrates, in all their forms, were the work of the devil.

The truth? Carbs, be they derived from breads, cereals, rice, pasta, vegetables or fruits, are essential to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. They are the human body’s primary source of energy because your body finds them very easy to assimilate and turn into glycogen (your body’s energy “currency”). They are the major component of a normal diet and are used to build lean muscle tissue (protein only maintains muscle, its doesn’t build it), what gets lost in translation is that good quality carbs are what is needed. So avoid white bread and eat wholegrain, have smaller amounts of pasta, avoid processed cereals and have rolled oats instead.

A balanced mix of good carbs, proteins and fats ensures your diet is functioning properly, eliminating a food group is madness. Oh and by the way, the Atkins diet has been proved to be a simply a fancy calorie control diet, you think you’re eating more because it’s all meat and eggs but this same protein diminishes your appetite and overall daily intake. Good? Maybe, but it got all the same problems I mentioned in point 1. It’s basically the low-fat diet fad from the 1980′s. Proof that there really is money in old rope!

3) Eating late at night makes you gain weight

I love this one because it’s based on zero scientific evidence and it’s managed to become a sort of dietary boogie-man. “Ooohhh, as soon as 6pm arrives I can’t eat or terrible changes will occur!”, when I hear this I feel like I’m watching the movie Gremlins (“The most important rule of all, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never, never feed him after midnight.”)?!

The truth: Calorie intake is measured over a 24 hour period, not “when you are awake”, you also burn a lot of cals when you are asleep as this is when your body repairs itself from your day’s exertions. Your weight loss or gain is determined by factors far more important than what the time is, total calories consumed and activity levels being the two main ones. Plus, going to bed hungry every night is soul-destroying and means you are far less likely to maintain good nutritional habits. So if you are hungry at 9pm, EAT! Just make a sensible, healthy choice.

So there you have it, ignore these myths and you’ll give yourself a much better chance of achieving your goals.

The real truth is that a balanced, healthy diet coupled with a good exercise program is all you need. No controversy, no gimmicks, no fuss.

Enjoy your health

Chris

Chris Loughrey is a personal trainer specializing in weight control, diabetes management & online personal training. Fully qualified and accredited by the European Health & Fitness Association (EHFA) he also deals with sports injury rehab and is a qualified Neuromuscular Therapist (NMT). You can find him on the web at http://www.my-personaltrainer.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Loughrey

Creating a healthy lifestyle is a way of living. Making changes that you know are good for you. Changes that can help achieve you healthy lifestyle goals.

By Dr. Steven Zodkoy

This the number one question heard in my office and in physicians’ offices throughout America. There is a strong relationship between weight gain, difficulty in loosing weight and feeling sick. Candida Albicans, an opportunistic fungus, is often the link between weight gain, feeling ill and the difficulties people have with loosing weight. Focusing on removing Candida Albicans from the body rewards the dieter with a feeling of well being and weight loss that is steady, sustainable and healthy. 
Americans are embracing the low carbohydrate diet for its ability to reduce their waist size and weight even when other diets have failed. The more important benefits of a low carbohydrate diet are usually lost in our obsession with weight. Low Carbohydrate diets have been used by nutritionists and holistic physicians for decades to control Candida Albicans. The weight loss and feeling of well being that accompanies a low carbohydrate diet is mostly associated with controlling this serious, but often over looked health condition.

I often see patients in my office who want to lose weight and have tried every diet and pill on the market with little success. During their history they often reveal a list of symptoms and complaints that they feel have no relationship to their weight problem. These patients do not realize that their weight problem and their other complaints are symptomatic of a more serious health condition known as systemic Candida Albicans. By concentrating on treating the underlying Candida Albicans my patients are able to loose weight and improve their overall health.

Betty F. . . was consulting with me for continued weight gain. She was finding it difficult to stick to a diet and exercise, partly since she saw such limited results. During her consult she admitted to gas, indigestion and fatigue. Her history included birth control pills, antibiotic use and several yeast infections. Her treatment plan included a low carbohydrate diet, nutritional supplements, and anti fungal herbals. She returned is 4 weeks, she had been able to stick to the diet with much greater ease, she felt more energetic and had no more gas. She was even happier that she had been able to loose 9 lbs. She reached her goal of a total weight loss of 22 lbs over the course of 3 months and has been able to keep it off. She now sticks to a sound diet and only takes a multi nutrient with herbals.

Candida Albicans is opportunistic yeast that often over whelms the body after antibiotic, may be passed from person to person with the exchange of body fluids, and from direct contact. It may be found in the reproductive tract, the mouth, the GI tract and in the blood. There are several common signs of Candida Albicans including vaginal yeast infections, thrush, jock itch and athlete’s foot. Candida Albicans has been linked to a number of health conditions including; asthma, depression, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, hypoglycemia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), learning disabilities, menstrual problems, Migraines, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome (MCSS), Prostatitis, sinus problems, and Urinary Tract Infections (UTI).

One of the major secondary problems associated with Candida Albicans is weight gain. A number of the problems associated with loosing weight and staying with a diet are doing to Candida Albicans. A person with systemic Candida Albicans will often crave sugar and simple carbohydrates because this is the main source of nutrients for yeast. Mood swings and depression are often associated with the rapid change in blood sugar levels caused by the yeast. Patients often complain of gas and bloating caused by the fermentation of foods in their intestines by the yeast which naturally release gas, just like in Champaign and beer. The fermentation of foods in the intestine may also lead to alcohol production that is absorbed through the gut and may lead to symptoms of confusion, altered behavior, and difficulty concentrating. Determining whether you have a Candida Albicans can make a big difference on how easy you will be able to lose weight and keep your weight loss off. 
Questions to determine if you may have Candida Albicans:

1. Have you used antibiotics in the last 2 years?

2. Do you have gas or bloating?

3. Do you have sugar cravings?

4. Do you have low blood sugar?

5. Do you have history of yeast infections, vaginal, oral, athletes foot, or jock itch?

6. Does your partner have a history of yeast infections, vaginal, oral, athletes foot, or jock itch?

7. Are you sensitive to smells?

8. Are you sensitive to alcohol?

9. Do you suffer from symptoms that your doctor cannot explain like; headaches, migraines, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, IBS, menstrual or sinus problems?

10. Do you feel fatigued all the time?

11. Do you have a hard time concentrating?

12. Do you just not feel right?

Candia Albicans can be diagnosed by a blood analysis by your physician, though many traditional physicians do not regularly order this test. A major problem with treating Candida Albicans is the low regard most physicians place on controlling it spread. A recent study showed that 27% of nurses and 33% of doctors have Candida Albicans on their hands in a hospital. You can get a reasonable idea if you have problems with Candida Albicans by answering the questions in the box above. A yes answers to 6 or more questions above, associated with any of the signs or symptoms listed above, is a good indicator that you may have a Candida Albicans problem. Dr. Mark Leder, a chiropractor and nutritionist in NYC, states ” I have treated thousands of women for weight loss and I find that over 75% of them are suffering from Candida Albicans. I tell them, you want to loose weight,? You want to be healthy? Deal with the Candida problem and everything else will follow.” A low carbohydrate diet is the first step to dealing with Candida Albicans, but an herbal anti fungal is just as important.

When Candida Albicans presents itself as a vaginal yeast infection or athletes foot will often be treated with medication. Medications may be oral or topical and can be in prescription or over the counter strength. The problems with medications is that they are often short term and or do not get to the root of the problem. To properly reduce the amount of Candida Albicans in the body a low carbohydrate diet is the first step. Nutritional and herbal supplements are also key components. Regular intake of natural anti fungal supplements gives the body a chance to gentle and slowly reduce the amount of Candida Albicans in the body. There are a number of natural anti fungal herbals and products available on the market, but quality and effectiveness vary greatly. One of the best products available, through physicians offices only, is called RxBotanicals Diet Enhancer which contains powerful anti fungal and natural herbal relaxants. The combination of anti fungal and natural herbal relaxants found in RxBotanicals Diet Enhancer gentle lowers the amount of Candida Albicans in the body while making the dieting experience easier and more successful.

America will continue to focus on the weight loss associated with low carbohydrate diets. Nutritionists and physicians will continue to embrace the multitude of health benefits associated with a low carbohydrate diets with herbal remedies and its relationship to reducing Candida Albicans in the body.
Questions or comments can be addressed to Dr. Steven Zodkoy at 732-308-0099 or szo9935741@aol.com

Dr. Steven Zodkoy is the director of Monmouth Advance Medicine in Freehold, NJ. Dr. Zodkoy is a Chiropractor, a Certified Nutritional Specialists, a Certified Clinical Nutritionist and a Diplomat American Board of Clinical Nutritionists. He is frequent expert for news broadcasts, contributing author for magazines and consultant to nutritional companies.

Creating a healthy lifestyle is a way of living. Making changes that you know are good for you. Changes that can help achieve you healthy lifestyle goals.