Tuesday, March 31, 2009

All You Wanted to Know About Hoodia Gordonii

If you're struggling to lose weight, you know it pretty well that you can't win the struggle against obesity unless you know how to control your hunger pangs. Your countless weight loss resolutions would come to nothing since every time you try to reduce your food intake for the aim of weight loss, hunger would force you to break your resolution and consume more of those 'forbidden foods'.

You've in all likelihood used over-the-counter diet pills with the hope of putting an end to this pain in the neck. Diet pills might suppress your appetite to an extent but they come with harmful side effects. Essentially, they would harm you more than help. The best appetite suppressant is one which is entirely herbal and natural. And Hoodia Gordonii is one such weight loss supplement!

Hoodia Gordonii is a plant cultivated along the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Its effectiveness as an appetite suppressant is not a new breakthrough! In fact, the natives of the Kalahari Desert have been using it for 1000s of years in order to suppress their hunger. They did not do it for weight loss though; instead, they used it to keep hungriness at bay when on a hunting expedition, since it would be extremely inconvenient to burden themselves with food supplies at the time of hunting.

It's strange that man discovered its advantageous effects on weight loss as late as 1960's. The logic is that by suppressing your appetite, Hoodia rids you of those intolerable and painful hunger pangs which make weight loss so hard for you! Put differently, Hoodia makes it easier for you to lose weight!

The bad news is that the demand for Hoodia Gordonii far exceeds its short supply. One reason behind its short supply is that since it is native to the climate of Kalahari Desert, it would be hard to cultivate it in any other place. Secondly, the government of Republic of South Africa has imposed numerous limitations on the cultivation of Hoodia, thereby making it virtually impossible for non citizens to cultivate it in their native countries!

Thirdly, as soon as the beneficial effects of Hoodia on weight loss was discovered, a lot of dishonest people began to cut down and steal many Hoodia plants in order to make Hoodia products from them; this successively further dwindled its supply. If you ever thought why Hoodia is so pricey, it's because of its limited supply!

And taking full advantage of this situation is a group of dishonest profiteers who are more concerned in your wallet than your health. These marketers commonly use poor quality or premature Hoodia plants to develop Hoodia supplements, and then scam people by distributing them as 'authentic' Hoodia products! There are other people who would sell supplements made from other assortments of Hoodia; keep in mind that only the supplements made from Hoodia Gordonii can help suppress your appetite!

The best way to protect yourself from these scam artists is by buying Hoodia from reputed vendors, online or offline. I do not buy Hoodia from anyplace else except Amazon.com, and even there, I have to be extremely careful of what I buy since there several vendors selling different versions of Hoodia.

Cost is a good way to determine the genuineness of the supplement. If it's too cheap, you can conclude that is a fake product!


Monday, March 30, 2009

Do You Really Need A Calorie Counter For Fast Weight Loss?

Just like obesity, diabetes is also fast becoming a threatening disease with every passing year. And as strange as it might sound, you could actually get rid of both of them by using the same method! Obesity is caused by an excessive amount of calorie consumption, and the same holds true for diabetes as well!

In fact several recent studies have pointed out that diabetes is closely linked with obesity. Now if you want to lose your belly fat as well as those dreaded insulin injections, monitoring your daily calorie intake is the only way to kill the two birds with one stone!

Since most junk foods are high on calorie and sugar content, they tend to increase your blood sugar level apart from making you overweight! The recommended way to control your calorie intake is by counting your daily calorie consumption level using a calorie counter. So let's see how a calorie counter could offer you fast weight loss!

A calorie counter, as its name suggests, helps you count calories. But in reality, it does more than just that. Most decent calorie counters come in-built with a large database of food items along with stats about their respective calorie contents! This database would help you decide which foods are low on calorie and which aren't.

A calorie counter also acts as a food journal by monitoring your diet and activity level, thereby helping you stay on track! With its help, you would be able to decide whether the diet you are following or the level of your current daily activity is good enough for weight loss. Diabetes patients can too benefit from a calorie counter since it also offers stats about their blood sugar and insulin levels.

With the help of a calorie counter, keeping track of your weight loss progress and staying on track becomes easier. You can use it to set your own weight loss goals as well as check how much progress you have made and how much more is left to be done in order to reach your goal.

A good calorie counter can store up to a year's information in it, and since it is just a small electronic device, you can easily carry it in your pocket anywhere you want, be it to your office or the neighboring fast food restaurant!

Of course, using a calorie counter won't ensure that you would lose weight fast or keep your blood sugar levels under control. In order to derive the maximum benefit from it, you should also use your commonsense while planning your diet.

1. Try to include as many fruits and vegetables as you can in your meals; in fact, you should eat them even at snacking hours! Don't forget to include whole grains and soy too!

2. Try to focus on low-fat foods, since fatty foods are not good for the health of your heart.

3. Try to stay away from artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners. while being low on sugar, come with other side effects, One common side effect you could suffer from is bloating and acidity.

If you wish to live a healthy and long life, it is best to forget about sugar or at least try to keep your sugar cravings under control!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Common Disagreements And Bad Effects Of The Atkins Diet On People

There are many disagreements and bad effects of the Atkins diet that have been created and focused on since its original introduction to the world. Many feel the Atkins diet does not adequately provide the nutrients needed for what the body needs on a daily basis. Others feel that it is downright destructive to the body and will eventually destroy all semblance of good health the person has.

A common disagreement over the Atkins diet is whether it is actually good for someone. Those who believe in the Atkins diet say it is a great way to become healthy and lose weight. They claim they lose around 10lbs. the first week, which in turn slowly increases over time, especially if they take supplements and exercise the right way. Furthermore, they state that they are able to enjoy meat more often and other fatty foods.

Those who disagree with the Atkins diet state the aforementioned individuals are losing weight due to a combination of water, fat, and lean muscle loss. Lean muscle loss in any form is not good for an individual, as they only need to lose fat and not healthy lean muscle. They state the 10lbs. that were claimed was very damaging to the individual and was not the results that they believe. In addition, while the meat does help build lean muscle, it is the supplements and exercising that help the person lose weight, and not the diet itself.

Disagreements and bad effects of the Atkins diet will continue to be a hotly debated topic for as long as the Atkins diet is around. The bad effects continue to be debated for the damage it does to the human body, which goes beyond the loss of lean muscle. It is believed that if a person is unaware of having certain health conditions and begins the Atkins diet; by the end of the week, that person may fall into a coma and possibly even die. While this may be correlated only to extreme cases, almost all interviewed participants of the Atkins diet state that by day three or four they have begun to experience light headedness and dizziness, often followed by collapsing or passing out.

There is a consensus that the Atkins diet does work, but that the bad effects far outweigh any good effects that it can have. Still, there is evidence that the diet does work and there is proof of this. Disagreements will continue about the Atkins diet for as long as it continues to exist, despite new evidence that there may be some true pros to the diet. No matter how good something is, if it causes you harm people are not interested.

In the end, people will have to determine the pros and cons for themselves. If they choose the Atkins diet, there is sure to be more disagreements and bad news of the Atkins diet for many years in the future.