Weight Loss Metabolism and Hormones - The Key Control to Bumping Metabolism to Skyrocket Weight Loss

By Christina Laslow

Many people today are coming to realize the effects that metabolism has on fat loss. The equation is simple more calories burned the more weight is lost. And it is our metabolism that burns those calories.

Scientifically metabolism is the process whereby food is converted into energy. The product of this process is calories, or heat units. These calories are burned as nutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) are oxidized to be used as energy for your body to function. The total measure of this process is where we get the term calories burns.

So in other words metabolism is what you are looking for, you want to have your food converted to energy and not converted to fat storage. Of course just like any system in your body this process is based on need. If you need to have more calories to burn then your body will metabolize more food into energy to supply the demand. However if you need less then the extra nutrients go to storage in places like your hips, butt and thighs.

Now doctors have know for decades that it is hormones that regulate this need for energy, and so it follows they also regulate the need for an increased metabolism. However until recently the only way to regulate the hormones that in turn regulate our metabolism was to do so through drugs. Either adding synthetic versions of the hormones directly into the blood stream (such as HGH - human growth hormone) by injecting them with a needle. Or by taking oral supplements such as steroids, and thyroid medications that cause the body to react by increasing specific hormone production.

Recently, though, nutritional scientists have also discovered that using foods as stimulants can produce these fat burning hormones. Specifically using foods in particular combinations. This scientific use of foods then causes the same hormonal cascade that was once only possible by taking drugs. The term for these types of diets is called Calorie Shifting. These types of diets regulate the keystone to an increased metabolism, which are hormones.

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Weight Loss and the Mediterranean Diet

By Ray Darken

The Mediterranean Diet is named after the traditional diet of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It traditionally focuses on including a large amount of fruits and vegetables, and healthy, unsaturated fats like olive oil. The diet rounds itself out with small portions of nuts and regular servings of oily fish, such as tuna, salmon and mackerel. It avoids red meat and other sources of saturated fat, such as butter.

Just understand that the menu at your local Italian restaurant is not the true Mediterranean diet. The diet is recommended by nutritionists to lower cholesterol, and it is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which lower "bad cholesterol". In addition, it promotes a healthier lifestyle overall, especially considering that the fresher the produce and fish, the better.

An apparent contradiction in the diet is that it can lower your weight, but the diet itself is high in fat. The reason is that it matters greatly what kind of fat you have. Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol tend to increase your blood's cholesterol, whereas the polyunsaturated vegetable oils and fish oils that constitute much of the Mediterranean Diet tend to lower cholesterol. And finally, extra virgin olive oil is a monounsaturated oil. That makes it "neutral" in terms of cholesterol.

Oppose this with the typical American diet of red meat, starch, and deep-fried fats. Corn oil and corn products are about the most fattening forms of oils we can find on the planet. You need only consider that corn is used as a feed because it fattens livestock. If corn can put 1000 pounds on a cow, imagine what it can do for you! In addition, most of the American meats are beef, pork, and chicken, all of which are also the most saturated fatty meats.

The Mediterranean Diet is winning more converts every day, as more people discover that it's a diet easy to stick to, since it tastes better than any other diet out there!

Copyright 2007 Ray Darken - Ray has included immediate access to a his down-loadable Mediterranean diet guide . If you think you would like more information first, you can visit his site and read about how to lose weight safely with a Mediterranean diet.

Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss

By Al Bullington

Apple cider vinegar has been recommended for improved health for thousands of years. Sometimes traditional health remedies have some basis in fact, even if the facts aren't understood. All kinds of claims are made for vinegar, often by people selling something! Is it possible that vinegar could in some way contribute to weight loss? And how could this be?

What is apple cider vinegar?

Allow apple juice to ferment and you get an alcoholic "hard" cider. This can be accomplished in less than a week simply by leaving fresh apple juice on your kitchen counter to spontaneously ferment. Leave the fermented apple cider on the counter for about two more weeks and just as easily you get apple cider vinegar.

A certain genus of bacteria and certain strains of yeast in some way locate the vinegar and consume the alcohol in the hard cider and transform the alcohol to acetic acid. So just exposure to the air turns fresh squeezed apple juice into vinegar in just a few weeks.

Apple cider vinegar weight loss?

The idea that vinegar can help with weight loss is not new. You can read testimonials in many places about how vinegar has helped someone lose weight. Often the suggestion is to take a spoon full of vinegar or two before each meal. Of course if you don't like the taste of the vinegar, you can probably find a source of pills containing apple cider vinegar! That's the idea, just take a little vinegar before each meal and lose weight.

In this case there is a recent Arizona State University study that suggests that vinegar can help with weight loss and suggests why. Only part of the study involved vinegar. The vinegar was consumed as a diluted drink before meals and did alter the glycemic effect of meals. The glycemic effect relates to how fast insulin rises in response to sugars entering the blood stream. Eat low glycemic foods ( whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, legumes) and you get a feeling of fullness and will take in less energy during a day. Eat high glycemic index foods (processed grains, potato products, white flour and sweets) and excess carbohydrates you eat will be mostly stored as fat. In this study, apple cider vinegar reduced the glycemic effect of certain meals. The effect though was quite small.

So it does seem that apple cider vinegar can help you feel full after a meal and can alter the digestion of what you eat to help with weight loss. But don't expect huge results. The results are small.

Long term weight loss.

Altering your diet and exercising are the way to real weight loss. If you really want to lose pounds and feel better, change your lifestyle to eat more healthy foods and get regular exercise. But there are many small steps you can take on the way to a more healthy way of living. Using apple cider vinegar does appear to help with weight loss, but it's only a small effect.

Ready to finally lose weight and keep it off? Visit our site for quick weight loss ideas. We invite you to visit http://www.LeanNotFat.com for healthy living tips.

Al Bullington
Level: Platinum

Al Bullington is a former cowboy, oil field roustabout, farmer, certified public accountant, college instructor, General Motors engineer and quite a few other things. ...