Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

What is Fenugreek?

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Fenugreek is one of the world’s oldest medicinal herbs.It is the small stony seeds that come from the pod of a bean-like plant. Now I didn’t know this but they say fenugreek is mainly used to help women increase their milk supply. The reason I am writing about this herb is because I think it’s important for people to be aware of the importance of making sure we as human beings start our life out healthy.

What I mean is, as an infant, we should be breast fed with the healthiest and richest of breast milk as is possible. That way, our little infant bones and muscles can grow and mature like they are supposed to. If we are deprived of the vitamin, and minerals needed for healthy muscles and bones we are going to grow up needing to supplement ourselves with different things like glucosamine, chondritin, etc. etc. I think it’s a great idea for pregnant women to look into this amazing herb. I recommend talking to your doctor and seeing if they are ok with you adding this to your diet. It can be found in your local health food store and is pretty inexpensive.

Constipation & Weight Loss

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Glucomannan as a supplement has been used to treat constipation. Other things that have been known to help relieve constipation are prunes. Prunes contain hydroxyphenyl isatin, a chemical that stimulates the bowel muscles and works as a very gentle laxative. Prunes are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which also helps prevent constipation which helps reduce cancer (particularly colon cancer) risk. Prunes have heart-protecting value as well.

Their soluble fiber helps reduce levels of plaque-producing LDL cholesterol, and their high potassium content regulates blood pressure. Prunes are rich in iron and contain good amounts of niacin, beta-carotene, and vitamin B6, along with copper and boron, making them essential for regular as well as irregular times. The causes of constipation can be insufficient dietary fiber intake, dehydration, medications, hypothyroidism, lead poisoning, stopping smoking, tumors, and lactose intolerance.

There are some great fiber supplements that you can get to help get you regular. Some of the treatments include enemas, eating more fruits and vegetables and dietary fiber, a lot of water and periodic colon cleanses would be great as well. Routine use of laxatives is not a good idea because your bowel action can become dependent on their use.

Motivation For Weight Loss

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

It is important to have motivation for your weight loss.  As I’ve found with others around me, I can’t motivate them to lose weight, and even if I could, it wouldn’t last because they wouldn’t keep it up.  You always have to do it for yourself and for your own needs.  Some people hit that moment and it can be related to a few things, and some just do it on their own.  Either way, there are 4 basic causes.

1.       Health-health is a big motivation.  It may be the heart attack, stroke, or the doctor telling you that you have to diet and you have to lose weight or you are going to die.  Or you may not feel as healthy as you used to, you may lack energy, and you may decide upon it before your doctor does.

2.       Self confidence-obesity is often embarrassing, especially with the fact that the airlines are cracking down making people buy two seats, you can’t necessarily do all the things a more fit person could do, and in general people often treat you differently.  So some people do it for reasons of self confidence.

3.       Energy-like I’ve said above, you can’t necessarily do all the things you want to do.  If you are carrying that much weight around, you may be strong, but it’s still a lot of weight to haul around.  So you become winded more easily than you would without it and you just don’t have the right amount of energy that you want.

4.       Better relationships-some do it because they want a romantic relationship.  Others do it because their relationship with their kids and the part they can play in their loved ones’ lives is suffering.  Either way, relationships are a big motivation.

The Obesity Vaccine

Friday, May 8th, 2009

If you are suffering from yo yo dieting syndrome or you just cannot lose that stubborn weight, scientists are now testing an anti-obesity vaccine in mice.  Now, make no mistake.  This vaccine will not help you if you are simply overweight because you eat unhealthy foods by choice and refuse to exercise, it won’t help you.  This vaccine is no free pass to live an unhealthy lifestyle and not suffer the consequences thereof. 

But when tested in mice, this vaccine showed at the Scripps Research Institute that it could slow weight gain and reduce body fat, again in mice.  It has not yet been tested on humans.  It works with the hormone ghrelin, which is known to regulate energy usage. Ghrelin promotes weight gain and storage in the body, decreasing the body’s natural breakdown of fat.  This vaccine tackles it and takes it down. 

When you diet, the body actually produces higher levels of ghrelin in an effort to protect itself.  It thinks that you are starving and therefore slows weight loss, slows metabolism, stores body fat, and increases appetite.  It is a response to the idea of “feast or famine.”  My main question would be, why is it that seemingly only Americans and those of a few other countries seem to seriously suffer from this hormone?

Either way, Kim Janda PhD, co-author of a paper on the vaccine and chemistry professor at Scripps Institute states “We’re not claiming that our study answers the question of obesity treatment once and for all.  What we are saying—and what our study confirms—is that this looks like a serious workable solution to the problem.  And while much more research is needed to understand the full therapeutic potential of immunopharmacotherapy in combating obesity, these initial results are extremely positive.

But while I can say it a million times, researchers can say it a million times, everybody can say it a million times, there are some that will look at this as a free pass when it’s not.  You still have to diet and exercise, you still have to live a healthy lifestyle.  The only difference is this stops your body from panicking and going into self preservation mode, and this is of course assuming that it would work on humans.  So far, it has only been tested on mice.