Rapid Fat Loss Diets

Saturday, February 7, 2009

What You Don't Know About Acai

By Frank Gillespie

If you have been keeping up with news that is health related, then you might have heard of the acai berry that has been taking the health market by storm. The acai berry has many celebrities talking about it such as Oprah, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, Summer Redstone and even Rachel Ray. Of course, these celebrities are just reporting the news and it does not mean that they endorse any acai products.

Although it is not hard to hear that the acai berry is healthy, most people have not tried it for themselves and do not know if they are really healthy. There have been many claims that the acai berry can cure diseases and illnesses. There are studies that say that the acai berry has the highest ORAC value. You are likely to find so many claims and some are proven while some are not.

When people mention the acai, they often refer to the berry. An acai fruit is a berry, not a vegetable or other types of fruits. Some people do not even know that the acai is natural. They think that since it is so good, it cannot be natural. Since they usually do not see the acai fruit in the supermarket, they think that it is not a fruit. The acai berry is found deep in the swamp areas of the rain forests hidden away and hard to reach.

Even if they know that the acai is a berry, they might now know that the acai berries grow on tall trees that are in the palm family. The acai palm trees are large and tall with the acai berries hanging down in branches that look like ribbons. There can be about 20kg of acai berries harvested from each acai palm tree each year.

One of the most exciting fact about the acai berry is that it is very high in antioxidants. When compared to other fruits, acai has many more antioxidants, in both types and amounts! In 2005, a study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition stated that the acai antioxidants are great against peroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite but not against hydroxyl radicals.

There are many more benefits of the acai berry such as the anticancer benefits. In 2006, the University of Florida published a research finding that shows that the acai berry may be part of a solution to cure cancer. In the lab, the acai berry extract actually destroyed some cancer cells. This is a great hope for scientists trying to find the cure for cancer.

Even with our little knowledge of the acai berry, the health benefits of it has amazed the world and has made many people want to try some. This is good news of all manufacturers that can produce fruit juices based on the acai berry. - 17273

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Four Tips That Can Assist To Define Or Show Our 6-Pack

By Rob Molloy

There is a phrase that you will see from time to time that says 'six pack abs are made in the kitchen'. If you are like I was the first time I heard that phrase then your head got scratched. The more you think about it though, it makes perfect sense. It doesn't make any difference what kind of work you do to get your stomach rock hard and muscular, if you don't have the fat removed, no one will see the muscles. If you want to have a six pack that everyone can see, you must remove the belly fat.

No matter what some products claim, the only way you're going to get six-pack abs, is through diet and hard work. Another fact you need to be aware of, is that in order to reach a point where your abs actually become visible, your body fat percentage needs to be very low. In fact, men need to reduce their body fat to 10% or lower while woman on the other hand, need to get theirs below 14%. For most people, reducing body fat to such an extent requires urgent changes to their diets.

Calories are essentially responsible for weight gain or weight loss so let's look at calories first. Eating less calories in your diet than what you body needs is by far the most effective way of shedding fat. If we consider that each pound of fat contains approximately 3500 calories, one would need to eat 500 calories less per day, in order to lose one pound of fat over a period of one week. When your calorie intake drops below the amount that is required, your body starts using its reserves. Exercise is of course the best way to increase the demand for energy, thereby causing the body to burn more fat.

We know now that getting that calorie count down is the only way you're ever going to see your six-pack so here are four easy steps to follow.

1. Carbohydrates are a source of fuel for the human body. Likewise, your body will always use the carbs you're providing it with before turning to its fat reserves so the less carbs you provide your body with; the sooner it will start burning fat. The disadvantage of this method though, is that for those trying to build muscle; carbs are a very important and much needed source of energy. However, if your goal is to lose weight, then cutting back on carbs is highly effective.

2. Unfortunately for some, a diet most often results in muscle loss in addition to fat loss. This is a natural response of the body when it's denied an adequate supply of fuel, such as cutting the carbs out of your diet. Therefore, it's absolutely essential for you to eat lots of protein in order to substitute the carbs you're not getting. For the purpose of increasing muscle mass, more or less 20 to 30% of your daily diet should be protein. However, if you're cutting out your carbs then you need to increase this so that at least 40% of your diet is protein. One word or caution though, is that you still need to keep an eye on your calorie intake, always keeping in mind that while you're on diet, you need to eat less than what your body actually requires.

3. Cut back on bad fat and eat more good fat. Of course you need to be cutting the bad fat out as much as possible but you don't need to be cutting out all fats. Bad fats are the saturated and trans fatty kinds which can be used for energy and your body tends to store. The good kinds of fat are monounsaturated fats which aren't stored by your body, aren't used as energy, but are great at increasing your metabolism. Increased metabolism means helps bring about fat loss making it easier for you to see your six pack abs.

4. When one considers that the human body is 70% water, it stands to reason that it requires lots of water in order to remain healthy. Of course, everyone should drink plenty of water as it helps to clean the body and if you're on diet, then you need to also understand that your body will store water for later use if you are not drinking enough in the first place. Of course having water stored is certainly not something you want when you're trying to make that six-pack show through. Another benefit of drinking lots of water when on diet is that it makes you feel full as well. - 17273

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Stackers, the ultimate weight loss products?

By Rossane B.

Some of the first stacker fat burners available on the market were the Original Stacker 2 and Stacker 2 Lite. These products contain ephedra, which is the key ingredient in the stacker fat burner. An additional name for stacker fat burners is ECA stacks because they contain ephedra, caffeine and aspirin.

There are ephedra free products but the replacement product works like ephedra. The combination of ingredients is what makes the stacker fat burners so effective at weight loss. The components of the stacker fat burner are all derived from herbs and herbal products. However if you take the herbal supplements separately you will not have the same effective as stacker fat burners are specially designed to burn fat.

The stacker fat burner is thermogenic by raising your body temperature, which boosts your metabolism. This causes your body to use its fat storage for energy. Ephedra is usually taken from the plant Ma Huang, caffeine comes from the Kola nut and aspirin comes from willow bark. These products are all natural and derived from herbs as many drugs are.

Stackers fat burners increase your metabolism by slightly raising your body temperature. This causes your stored fat to be converted into usable energy. By using the fat in your body you will feel less hungry and quickly lose weight.

Stackers also carry more compounds that help cut some fat like Chitosin. As with a lot of diet aids there are a few side effects, especially with supplements that contain ephedra. You should remember that not everybody undergoes fallouts, as everybody is a different. If you're hypersensitised to shellfish so you should not take any supplements with chitosin as chitosin comes from shellfish.

Stackers will also allow you with additional vitality to come through the day. A few fallouts relate with stacker fat burners are expanded blood pressure level, increased pulse rate, headaches, dizziness, feeling of no hunger, impatience, hyper-activity, jitteriness and excitement, and insomnia. Whenever you're incertain about how tstackers have a impact on you then you should visit your doc and discuss your alternatives.

To effectively keep the weight off you need to make some life style changes. You will need to change your eating habits to low fat and high fiber foods and start to exercise regularly. It is important to understand how to eat healthy and cut out fatty foods. If you aren't willing to make the life style changes then taking a stacker fat burner will not help you weight problems. Body builders were the first to use stacker fat burners but they have been found to be so effective that their use has spread around the globe.

Because of the effects of ephedra more stacker fat burners that do not contain ephedra have been developed. Some ephedra free products are Stacker 2, Hydroxycut, Xenadrine Trimspa, Ripped fuel, Metabolife and more. Some ephedra-free products work by increasing your thyroid gland hormone products, which triggers weight loss. These ephedra free products to work but do not have the effectiveness of ephedra products. You will still lose weight, just not quite as quickly as with an ephedra product. You may be able to make life style changes first and then see if you should take a stacker fat burner. - 17273

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Who is Vince Delmonte? Can You Trust Him?

By Caitlin Ryan

Vince Delmonte is a fitness trainer and the co-author (along with Shannon Clark) of the No Nonsense Muscle Building program. There are plenty of reviews on this muscle-building program, some for and some against. If you have been working like a dog in the gym and are still sporting flabby arms and a soft stomach, you may want to read this review on Vince Delmonte to see if he will be a help or hindrance in your muscle building efforts.

What if I told you Vince Delmonte was a scrawny looking fellow with a potbelly? You probably would not trust his muscle building advice, right? Well, no worries there. Vince is trim, toned and very muscular! He has a 10% body fat and is in tiptop shape. He is also a natural body builder meaning he does not use steroid or other chemical enhancements to achieve is stellar physique. As far as I know, he does not even use supplements.

Moreover, he denounces the body building supplement industry by pointing out how so many bodybuilding magazines are owned by supplement companies. They promote their own supplements in the magazines and then fill in the blanks with workouts that are sub par, full of myths and will not do a thing to create six-pack abs or sexy defined muscles on your back.

No Nonsense Muscle Building exposes the myths of muscle building and toning. If you thought circuit training was a fabulous way to tone and build your muscles in a short time, you would be wrong. Circuit training does not allow for any recovery time in between sets and therefore, you will never develop your muscles this way.

Many women, like me, do NOT want to build huge muscles unless of course they are professional, competitive body builders. For this reason, I have always done high reps with low weights so I did not build mass. This is another myth exposed in the muscle-building program. You need progressive overload in order to develop toned muscles. This means that you have to continually increase your weight, but this does not mean that you will develop large muscles IF you follow No Nonsense Muscle Building.

Like I said, I do not want bulging muscles, but I do want noticeable muscles which is what toning and firming is all about. High reps and low weights were creating endurance muscles, which are long and skinny. You have to use progressive overload if you want your arm muscles to look like Sarah Jessica Parker's sexy, toned arm muscles.

Then there is the advice given on recovery time and how most of us are killing ourselves in the gym for no good reason. Not only do we need recovery time in between sets, but we also need plenty of recovery time in between workouts if we are going to see muscle-building results. Vince lets us know how we can speed up this muscle recovery process.

Clever nutritional advice and highly motivational tips are abundant in Vinces book. Interesting thoughts on clean eating and utilizing your own hormones to maximize results are also part of the program. No Nonsense Muscle Building comes with 8-10 bonuses or more. - 17273

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Do You Know The 6 Meals A Day Myth?

By Caleb Lee

Do you really need to eat 6-8 small meals to keep your metabolism revved up so you burn fat all day and keep a steady stream of nutrients flowing to build lean muscle?

If you've been around the fitness scene for any amount of time, or have read any diet books or articles, you would think the answer to this one is an easy yes " but the truth is

The 6-8 meals a day Advice Is A Myth!

The advice is based on studies done around the thermic effect of food (TEF). You see, whenever you eat, your body uses about 10% of those calories (total) to provide energy just to digest the food

When this was found out, people misinterpreted the research by saying the more you eat (frequency) the more calories you'll burn all day but this was a mistake because the math doesn't work out.

* Six small meals of 300 calories (6-300) = 1800 calories total.

* Each meal you burn 10% of calories = 30 calories burned with each 300 cal meal

* Total cals burned due to TEF = 180

Thus differentiate that to a normal diet of 3 large meals:

* 3 Heavy Meals of 600 calories (3-600) = 1800 calories total.

* Every meal you burn 10% of calories = 60 calories burned with each 600 cal meal

* Total cals burned due to TEF = 180

So you see, if the calories are alike, it doesn't matter how you divide them up " you're still burning the same amount of calories and altering your metabolism the exact same way no matter how you eat regularly.

Will Eating More On A Regular Basis Result In More Lean Muscle Gain?

The brief answer is certainly not. Eating protein continually in point of fact initiates your body not to make it as much. Eating more total calories WILL bring about building additional muscle but the meal frequency has barely to do with it.

More crucial for lean muscle gain is the timing of your meals, particularly the post workout meal needs to be excellent to make a big thing that you're getting superior nutrients into your body when it needs them the most.

Will Eating Fewer Meals Lead To Muscle Loss?

A lot of guys who lift weights consider (and I used to) that not eating 6-8 meals per day will put your body into a catabolic state. Which means because you're not eating loads of food and keeping the levels of amino acids in your blood elevated your body will utilize your muscle tissue as fat.

This is not true either nonetheless not as far as you've heard. Because although you just eat one large meal each day, it can take up to 12 hours to digest" gradually releasing amino acids into your bloodstream the whole time.

When Should You Eat 6-8 Meals

In order to gain a LOT of weight " you need to increase your calorie consumption to gain weight and put on muscle, so if you're a big guy and you have to eat 5,000 calories a day to put on mass it might be easier on your stomach and digestive system to consume 5,000 calories broken up into a bunch of smaller meals.

If youre utilizing a lot of energy " If you're an advanced athlete who burns a ton of energy like Michael Phelps who eats up to 12,000 calories per DAY and eats like an elephant. Similarly guys in the military in boot camp regularly eat as much as possible when they get the chance but still result in losing weight

If you have a thing about it - Several people may feel extra full 6-8 eating reduced meals per day grazing for their food consumption. I'm not one of those people but more power to you if you are.

I believe being aware of this will surely help you feel improved in your search for better fitness, I know I believed this cock-and-bull story for a LONG time because nearly each and every one suggests it.

What Do I Do For Myself?

I put into practice occasional fasting. And I HAVE A THING ABOUT it. I vary between a warrior diet style eating schedule (when I'm sustaining my weight) and the lean gains eating style when I'm focusing on increasing muscle mass. - 17273

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Goji Berries, the King of Antioxidants

By Anne-Marie Pannu

A study from Tufts University in Boston ranks the antioxidant value of commonly eaten fruits and vegetables using an analysis called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). This is a test tube analysis that measures the total antioxidant power of foods and other chemical substances

Cellular damage and oxidation is caused by free radicals. SO what do these and antioxidants have in common? Well antioxidants help fight off these free radicals, which in return keep you young, and feeling fresh. They have been proven effective in some diseases like macular degeneration. Some more popular antioxidants are Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Beta Carotene, just to name a couple. Even those these have some antioxidants there are much more powerful choices available for you to choose from. Goji berries for example may be the highest antioxidant you can get.

Top scoring fruits for units ORAC per 100 grams (about 3" ounces) Fruits: Goji Berry- Up to 25,000 ORAC levels, only certain companies look for the best, Prunes -- 5570, Raisins -- 2830, Blueberries -- 2400, Blackberries -- 2036, Strawberries -- 1540, Raspberries -- 1220, Plums -- 949, Oranges -- 750, Red grapes -- 739, Cherries -- 670, Kiwi fruit -- 602, Grapefruit, pink -- 483

Goji Berries hey are thought to protect from premature aging and extend the life of a person through their powerful antioxidant action. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Goji Berries are believed to improve circulation, enhance immune system function, improve eyesight, and protect the liver, among other effects.

Much attention has been given to the goji berry recently in the West and the traditional health-giving properties of the berry are being confirmed in modern scientific studies. Potential benefits include blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar stabilization, an increase in energy and strength, disease resistance, including cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and improved memory, fertility, and general overall health. Goji berries are thought to be neuroprotective and anti-cancer, and can be used to reduce the toxic side effects of conventional cancer treatments. - 17273

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