Weight Loss Myth Exposed: High Protein And Low Carb Diets Are Healthy!

The reason fad diets never seem to work out is because most of them get people hooked on the idea of losing weight without changing their lifestyle. Taking shortcuts never works when you are trying to lose weight, and people jump from one diet to the next try to avoid the inevitable fact that you can't eat whatever you want and get away with it.

High protein and low carb diets have been around for a while, but only recently became popular. Why the sudden interest? Probably because most people didn't know about them until the fat free craze died down. All of sudden, everyone was running around afraid to eat a carbohydrate without getting the facts first.

High protein and low carb diets will make you lose weight quickly, but in a very unhealthy way. Carbohydrates are converted by the body into glucose, which is the optimal fuel for the body. One of the reasons you lose weight on a high protein and low carb diet is that when the body is deprived of glucose from carbs, it must get fuel from fat, which makes you lose weight.

Since you are no longer supplying the body with a steady source of glucose, the body begins using glycogen in the muscles. When glycogen is taken from muscle tissue, water is also released. The quick weight loss experienced is from the breakdown of muscle to get to the glycogen, and the accompanying water release. The more water you lose, the more weight you lose. The downside is dehydration and loss of muscle.

As muscle is lost, you lose strength. Fat and protein fuel, are not as efficient as carbohydrate fuel. Athletes and people on the go will struggle to find energy on this type of diet. You have to either be a couch potato, or willing to give up all the activities you enjoy in life in order to feel fulfilled on this diet.

That's just the beginning, though. The high animal protein foods recommended for these high protein and low carb diets (red meat, bacon, ham, etc.) contribute to heart disease, immune dysfunction, colon and reproductive cancer, prostate enlargement, arthritis and diabetes to name only a few. Why would anyone want to risk their health in such a way just to lose a few pounds?

And as if all this is not bad enough, animal foods contain substances which are not conducive to good health: growth hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides to name a few. The fact that these programs allow you to eat all you want is not good advice. Never trust a diet that gives you the green light to eat ten pounds of bacon, then says an apple is unhealthy. New diets may be appealing, but you have to use a little common sense too.

On the carbohydrate side of the equation, there are simple carbs (good as in fruits and veggies) and complex”carbs (bad, as in grain products). Good carb foods have soluble fiber that slows the absorption of sugar into the cells, which results in less triglycerides being produced and stored as fat. Fruits and vegetables have high water content foods as compared to animal foods. The more water your food contains, the better.

Despite these concerns, there are healthy and safe ways to lose weight and keep it off without the unbalanced equation of a high protein and low carb diets which affects your health. What you want to do first is forget about the current fads and diets you see on magazine stands and television. They are there to sell you something, and it is not good health.

As an alternative, seek out a credible and proven weight loss program with a focus on cellular nutrition that encourages the importance of eating healthy fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Soy-based protein meal replacement shakes are the best way to get the nutrition your body needs while allowing you to lose weight. Imagine drinking a 180 calorie shake that privides you with 2,000 calories worth of nutrition. You can easily begin to see how effective it is for losing weight.

Two things high protein and low carb diets won't provide you with is a personal coach to make sure you get results, and a money back guarantee if it doesn't work for you. With so many options and fads out there, it is wise to protect yourself in these ways so your efforts do fall to the wayside.

No matter how you chose to lose weight, always remember there are no shortcuts to proper nutrition and keeping your weight off for good. A willingness to lead a healthy lifestyle must be considered and executed. Otherwise you will find yourself jumping from one fad, like the high protein and low carb diets, to the next diet for the rest of your life without seeing successful results.

By: William Winch

Scientists Develop Drugs That Help "Burn Fat, Lose Weight Without Exercising"

Good news, for those who want the benefits of exercise without sweating in gyms! Scientists are working on an exercise pill that will give some of the benefits of exercise without having to move a muscle. The US researchers have developed two drugs called AICAR and GW1516, which seem to be able to build muscle, increase stamina, and even burn fat.

Professor Ronald Evans, lead researcher from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Salk Institute in California, said that in the test, mice given the drugs had greater endurance and were able to run 44% further and also remained lean even when fed a high fat diet.

Researchers reported in the journal Cell that the two drugs are in advanced human testing to see, if it can prevent a complication of heart bypass surgery. Medical experts believe that a drug like this could help treat obesity in people who are unable to exercise due to medical reasons. They also hope the drugs could help reverse muscle frailty associated with aging, as well as diseases such as muscular dystrophy. "Almost no-one gets the recommended 40 minutes to an hour per day of exercise - for these people, if there was a way to mimic exercise, it would make the quality of exercise they do more efficient," said Professor Ronald Evans.

Researchers said the master gene PPAR can control many other genes activity and by adjusting this could in theory have an effect on the way the entire body works. In the genetically altered mice, the enhanced activity of this gene led to the development of muscle that burned fat rather than sugar. They felt the next step was to be able to produce similar effects without genetic alteration and only a drug.

Professor Evans said, "If you like exercise, you like the idea of getting 'more bang for your buck', and if you don't like exercise, you love the idea of getting the benefits from a pill."

Path breaking as this may sound experts are worried that the pills may be misused in sports and pose a new threat to the Beijing Olympics. Readily available and easily synthesized, these drugs have no existing tests to reveal their presence. Colin Palmer, a professor of pharmacogenetics at the University of Dundee, said "It's basically a drug that enhances training. The thing that raises eyebrows is the concept of a drug that improves endurance training for sports professionals." To develop a blood or urine test for the drugs, Professor Ronald Evans, and scientists are working with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Plain Speaking About Hypnotherapy For Weight Loss

hypnosis is something we typically think of as a type of entertainment, but have you ever considered hypnosis for weight loss? It’s easy to be skeptical of trying to use hypnosis to deal with a problem as serious as obesity, but maybe it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds. Hypnosis for weight loss is certainly an appealing idea – it gives people a relatively easy out of their weight problem, by stopping their cravings for food at the source.

One problem with weight loss through hypnosis is the same problem that plagues other weight loss solutions. There are a lot of scams out there, and the people behind them will not think twice about trying to take your money for a product that doesn’t do anything at all. Hypnosis has the same problem. You may be able to trust some claims about hypnosis weight loss therapy, but there are just as many ones that are full of lies.

The old adage usually proves true in these situations: if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. If hypnosis for weight loss treatment claims it can help you lose some crazy number of pounds in a couple weeks or similar exaggerations, it’s pretty safe to bet that it’s a scam. If you find claims that state that hypnosis can completely alter the way the mind works to prevent eating, they’re probably bogus.

However, the fact remains that hypnosis can help you lose weight. It’s just that it won’t cause those love handles to magically melt away overnight. Hypnosis is more science than magic – all it really is when a person enters a state of deep, relaxed concentration in which they are more suggestible. This means that ideas put into a person’s mind during a hypnosis session are much more likely to stick.

A session of hypnosis won’t make you into some sort of robot that’s immune to cravings and programmed not to overeat. What it can do, though, is make a person more likely to adhere to a proper dietary plan. The effects are entirely mental. Hypnosis can’t “convince” your body to speed up weight loss, it can only implant the idea in your brain that maybe you really don’t need to eat that second piece of cake.

People seeking hypnotic solutions to weight loss should be especially careful of group hypnosis sessions. In order to work, hypnosis must be tailored specifically to the person receiving it. Group sessions clearly won’t work, as the hypnotist cannot interact with any single person on his or her own. You should also be warned against hypnosis cassettes or videos, as they share this same issue.

Hypnosis for weight loss is a very tempting thought. If you can train your mind to reduce your cravings and increase your willpower, you’ll be well on your way to losing weight. The important thing to remember is to be careful and study all the options before you buy a product or see a hypnotist, or else you might end with nothing at all.

By: Isabelle Boulay

Eat breakfast, lose weight

Find out why a morning meal helps you to maintain a healthy weight and get a nutritionist's five best breakfast suggestions.

By Dr. Joey Shulman

Do you remember when Mom told you breakfast was the most important meal of the day? She was right, of course! Medical research shows that skipping meals promotes -- rather than prevents -- weight gain.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology concludes that skipping meals and eating less frequently may result in packing on extra pounds.

The study's findings showed that:
- People who ate four or more times a day were 45 per cent less likely to be obese than those who ate three times a day or less.
- Skipping breakfast links to a greater chance of obesity. People who skipped breakfast were more than four times more likely to be obese than those who ate breakfast daily.

How your metabolism works
Picture your metabolic rate shaped as an ice cream cone or an inverted pyramid. Starting at the top, it's at its highest in the morning and starts to decline on a gradual level as the day progresses.

Unfortunately, many of us have a backwards approach to eating when it comes to weight loss and meals. We skip breakfast for a variety of reasons such as lack of hunger, a busy schedule or to save on calories. While this seems to make sense with a "calories in, calories out" theory, research consistently demonstrates that skipping breakfast typically results in weight gain.

Another research study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that skipping meals and irregular meal patterns could decrease insulin sensitivity, thereby promoting weight gain and increasing cardiovascular risk factors. In a nutshell, eating erratically signals the body to burn calories slower and conserve fat.

Eat light, within 90 minutes of waking
To lose weight, you need to start your day off with a reasonable amount of food. At first, this suggestion may scare breakfast skippers who are not hungry in the morning or don't think they have time to eat. You don't have to eat immediately after rising out of bed, but you should try to eat your first meal within an hour to an hour and a half after waking for best weight loss results.

You also don't have to eat a huge meal at this time of day. A healthy and balanced breakfast of approximately 300 calories is all you need to spark your metabolic engine.

Healthy breakfast foods
Avoid refined flours and sugars in the early morning. These foods rank high on the glycemic index and make your blood sugar and insulin levels bounce around. Examples of high glycemic index breakfast items include white bagels, instant oatmeal, breakfast bars and muffins.

As a general rule, try to incorporate some protein and healthy fat into your breakfast to keep yourself satiated and blood sugar levels stable. Examples of healthy breakfast choices include:

- Protein smoothie
- Scrambled eggs (or egg substitute) with cheese
- A poached egg on whole grain bread
- Yogurt with fruit and nuts
- Protein powder mixed into slow-cooking oatmeal
- Toast with natural peanut butter

Healthy breakfast recipes
Below, you'll find my top five quick and easy breakfast choices to fill you up and trim your waistline. Bon appetite!

1. Blueberry yogurt crunch Calories = 290
• 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup of mixed berries
• 2 tsp of walnuts sprinkled over top for extra crunch and omega 3 fats

2. Frozen strawberry banana smoothie Calories = 300
• 5 ounces of soy milk or 1% cow's milk
• 1/2 frozen banana and 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp of flaxseed oil (to be kept in fridge)

3. Cottage cheese and fruit crunch Calories = 280
• 1/2 cup of 1% cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup of blueberries + 1 small banana sliced over top
• 1/2 cup of bran cereal

4. Cheesy eggs Calories = 290
• 1/2 cup of egg whites
• 1 large omega 3 egg
• 2 ounces of grated low-fat cheddar or Swiss cheese
• 1 slice of whole grain bread

5. Open-faced peanut butter & banana sandwich Calories = 249
• 1 slice of omega 3 whole grain bread
• 2 tsp. of natural peanut, almond or cashew butter
• Slices of bananas over top

Dr. Joey Shulman, DC, and registered nutritionist, is author of the national best seller The Last 15 -- A Weight Loss Breakthrough and president of Shulman Weight Loss Clinic. For more information or to book a free weight-loss assessment, visit www.drjoey.com.

Looking for more morning meal ideas? Check out 10 breakfast recipes to get your day off to a great start