Diet

Dietary Cleanse – Do Detox Diets Work?

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Vernon

The clear truth on dietary cleanses

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Each day you consume all sorts of unwanted things, from pesticides in your foods to toxins in the air. So obviously, it sounds like a good idea to purge your body of the toxins and harmful chemicals you are exposed to each day. In steps detox.

Detoxification diets, or detox diets for short, are advertised as a way to do rid your body of impurities while losing weight at the same time. But do detox diets really work, and do the possible health benefits of these diets outweigh the likely risks?

How Detox Diets Work

Detox diets have recently gained in popularity, and many celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon, revealing their own personal detox plans that give them rapid weight loss before a big event. Detox regimes are based on the idea that once your body is free of poisonous, unwanted toxins, it will function more efficiently. In the process, your metabolism will increase, which enables you to shed pounds quickly.

The majority of cleansing diets require consumption of very few calories, small portions of raw vegetables and/or fruits, fruit juices or water to drink, and a variety of supplements. Some detox diets promote the use of pills, herbs, potions, or fasting to purge the body of impurities. Often, enemas or other methods of emptying and cleansing the intestines are used. And yes, that part is just as unpleasant as it sounds.

Are Detox Diets Proven?

Even though detox diets are popular, experts claim these diets aren’t proven, nor are they necessary for health or weight loss. In fact, there is no documented evidence that the core purpose of detox diets – cleansing your body of toxins – occurs through the diet. Instead, the benefits of detox diets are based solely on testimonials.

Thankfully, the immune system, liver, kidneys, and colon can effectively filter and remove the majority of toxins your body ingests or is exposed to. So if you’re detoxing to get rid of chemicals, you’re free to cease and desist.

The Good and the Bad

Though there is no proof that detox diets actually detox your body, they do promote weight loss. How does it do that? By drastically cutting the amount of calories you consume. Any time you do this, you’ll lose weight – even if only temporarily. Unfortunately, as these diets rarely recommend a well-balanced diet, detox diets aren’t recommended by most registered dieticians. Since your initial weight loss is primarily water weight, you’ll likely regain your lost pounds as soon as you return to your normal diet.

But it’s not all bad! Besides rapid weight loss, other reported benefits of a detox diet include increased energy and improved mental focus. These benefits are likely the result of avoiding processed foods, added sugar, and solid fats.

Dangers of Detox

Before attempting a detox diet, get approval from your physician. There are possible negative side effects that may need to be monitored. To start with, any diet that requires fasting or severely restricts protein will result in fatigue. Fasting for a long period of time can also lead to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, headaches, low blood sugar, nausea, feelings of lightheadedness, dehydration, low energy, muscle loss, and a reduced rate of calorie burning.

If colon cleansing is a part of the detox process, bloating, cramping, vomiting, and nausea may occur. In addition, colon cleanses may change your body’s natural fluid and electrolyte balance.

While detox diets may sound like a scientific approach to cleanse your body and lose weight, these diets lack essential components necessary for long-term health and weight loss.

Keep Your Goal.

If your goal is to cleanse your body of harmful substances, stay healthy, and lose weight, that’s wonderful! Just do it wisely: strive to eat more natural, less processed foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein.

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Does organic food turn people into jerks?

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Vernon

Interesting article from Diane Mapes at Today Health

I’ve only ever experienced this in reverse ! Not a feeling of superiority over others about my whole food non processed choices, but market stall holders not wanting me to touch their produce. I was living in East london and went to the local market and started to pick out a selection of fresh oranges. The guy who ran the stall immediately came over and said in his best cockney accent (sorry Vern – reminds me of you x) “If you wanna pick your own, better go to sainsburys love”

Not sure if it was the quality of his produce or a health and safety issue. Anywasy – I went to the supermarket and he lost my business.

On to the article – enjoy. Noreen.

Renate Raymond has encountered her fair share of organic food snobs, but a recent trip to a Seattle market left her feeling like she’d stumbled onto the set of “Portlandia.“

“I stopped at a market to get a fruit platter for a movie night with friends but I couldn’t find one so I asked the produce guy,” says the 40-year-old arts administrator from Seattle. “And he was like, ‘If you want fruit platters, go to Safeway. We’re organic.’ I finally bought a small cake and some strawberries and then at the check stand, the guy was like ‘You didn’t bring your own bag? I need to charge you if you didn’t bring your own bag.’ It was like a ‘Portlandia skit.’ They were so snotty and arrogant.”

As it turns out, new research has determined that a judgmental attitude may just go hand in hand with exposure to organic foods. In fact, a new study published this week in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science, has found that organic food may just make people act a bit like jerks.

“There’s a line of research showing that when people can pat themselves on the back for their moral behavior, they can become self-righteous,” says author Kendall Eskine, assistant professor of the department of psychological sciences at Loyola University in New Orleans. “I’ve noticed a lot of organic foods are marketed with moral terminology, like Honest Tea, and wondered if you exposed people to organic food, if it would make them pat themselves on the back for their moral and environmental choices. I wondered if they would be more altruistic or not.”

To find out, Eskine and his team divided 60 people into three groups. One group was shown pictures of clearly labeled organic food, like apples and spinach. Another group was shown comfort foods such as brownies and cookies. And a third group — the controls — were shown non-organic, non-comfort foods like rice, mustard and oatmeal. After viewing the pictures, each person was then asked to read a series of vignettes describing moral transgressions.

“One vignette was about second cousins having sex,” says Eskine. “Another was about a lawyer on the prowl in an ER trying to get people to sue for their injuries. Then the groups made moral judgments on a scale from one to seven.”

In another phase of the study, the three groups were asked to volunteer for a (fictitious) study, with each person writing down the amount of time — from zero to 30 minutes — that they would be willing to volunteer.

The results did not bode well for the organic folks.

“We found that the organic people judged much harder compared to the control or comfort food groups,” says Eskine. “On a scale of 1 to 7, the organic people were like 5.5 while the controls were about a 5 and the comfort food people were like a 4.89.”

When it came to helping out a needy stranger, the organic people also proved to be more selfish, volunteering only 13 minutes as compared to 19 minutes (for controls) and 24 minutes (for comfort food folks).

“There’s something about being exposed to organic food that made them feel better about themselves,” says Eskine. “And that made them kind of jerks a little bit, I guess.”

Why does eating better make us act worse? Eskine says it probably has to do with what he calls “moral licensing.”

“People may feel like they’ve done their good deed,” he says. “That they have permission, or license, to act unethically later on. It’s like when you go to the gym and run a few miles and you feel good about yourself, so you eat a candy bar.”

Eskine says he was surprised by the findings (“You’d think eating organic would make you feel elevated and want to pay it forward,” he says) and hopes to do additional studies that look at conditions that might prompt people to act differently.

Until then, organic eaters may want to rein in those self-righteous stink-eyes.

“At my local grocery, I sometimes catch organic eyes gazing into my grocery cart and scowling,” says Sue Frause, a 61-year-old freelance writer/photographer from Whidbey Island. “So I’ll often toss in really bad foods just to get them even more riled up.”

Original Article Here at Today Health

Related:

To speed weight loss, try this yummy protein breakfast

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The Atkins Diet

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Vernon

It’s still around. Should it be part of your life?

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Want to lose weight? Can’t seem to get rid of that belly, hips, or thighs? How do eggs and bacon sound for breakfast? How about a cream-based soup for lunch and a steak for dinner? If this sounds like your kind of diet, maybe you should try the Atkins diet.

How It Works

This popular diet is based on the idea that many people are overweight because they eat too many carbohydrates. For energy, your body burns carbs and fat. But your burns up the carbs first. When you eat carbs, your body converts them to sugar. To maintain your blood sugar level, you body makes insulin and stores the extra sugar in the muscles or liver. When the stores are filled, the extra sugar is converted to body fat. The idea behind the Atkins diet is that if the body constantly has to make so much insulin to handle the excess sugar, the body may become less sensitive to insulin and develop diabetes.

Drastically lower the amount of carbs you normally eat – including grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables – and replace them with protein and fat, and Atkins says your body will burn stored body fat faster and you’ll lose weight quicker without being constantly hungry. Love carbs, fruits, and veggies? This diet will be tough to swallow.

I was gaining weight very rapidly and read about the idea of restricting carbohydrates as an alternative to going hungry. I had a big appetite, so that was the only thing I would even consider. -
Dr. Robert Atkins

What to Eat

The Atkins diet lets you eat about as much as you want, but does restrict what you can eat. No milk, white rice, refined sugar, or white flour is allowed. But you can eat all you want of meat, poultry, bacon, cheese, eggs, butter, olive oil, and even mayonnaise. During this phase of the diet, it is important to take vitamin and mineral supplements to ensure your body gets everything it needs to maintain good health.

After the first two weeks of this strict diet, you can slowly add in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. As you lose weight and begin to focus on weight management, you can slowly add more carbs.

Good For You?

Yes, you will lose pounds on the Atkins diet, but is it healthy? The long-term safety of this diet is controversial. You may wonder how a diet with so much fat could be good for your heart. And with good reason. The fat is likely to raise your cholesterol levels. But advocates of Atkins say the cholesterol increase only lasts until the weight loss begins. At this point, cholesterol and triglyceride levels are said to lower and even out again.

Additionally, there is valid concern over potential bone loss and liver and kidney problems from the high levels of protein. In addition, the brain uses glucose to function. As glucose is made more easily from carbohydrates than protein and fat, reducing your body’s access to glucose potentially puts it in harm’s way. Besides, limiting your consumption of grains, fruits, and vegetables deprives your body of essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

But wait – there’s more! A sudden drastic reduction in the amount of carbs you eat can cause these temporary side effects. These include dizziness, weakness, headache, fatigue, constipation, nausea, and bad breath. On top of these issues, research has shown an increase in certain types of cancer and heart disease for those who consume high amounts of animal fats and protein.

Now that you’ve heard the pros and cons of the Atkins diet, you can decide for yourself if it’s a diet you’d like to try. Most likely, it will not cause damage to your body as long as you don’t make it a long-term solution. Use it to jumpstart a healthier life and it may pay dividends. Just make sure that healthier life includes plenty of Atkins-unfriendly fruits and vegetables.

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Surviving Lunch Meetings

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Vernon

A how-to guide for getting out of business lunches without putting on extra pounds.

A new client is coming to town, and it’s up to you to make him or her feel at home. That means a break from your daily routine that includes a lunch out at a local restaurant. Exciting as it may sound, you know the temptations that surround you whenever you eat out. Because there in the wide world of restaurants, you’ll encounter all sorts of tasty-looking foods that are as fattening as they are delicious. And when sitting across from your client, it’s hard to say no to a server.

How do you walk away from a lunch meeting with your good health in hand? By following these steps.

Step #1: You Choose

If it’s your responsibility to take a client to lunch, you should have the opportunity to choose where to eat. Instead of picking the closest or most expensive place around, go with a local eatery that has healthy options that are truly healthy. Even better, go with a restaurant that doesn’t offer many unhealthy options. This way, you don’t have to worry about being tempted with fatty foods, as there aren’t many available on the menu.

Step #2: Feel No Guilt

Don’t get to pick the restaurant? You should still be able to choose what food you want and how it will be cooked. Instead of getting your meat fried, ask for it to be grilled or baked. Have an option of French fries or a baked potato? Go with the potato. And don’t ever worry about inconveniencing the restaurant staff when you ask about an alternate cooking method. It’s what they get paid to do.

Step #3: Eat First

If you know about your lunch date well in advance, you can plan. Eat a healthy breakfast to start the day, and an hour or so before going out with your client, grab a sandwich, a salad, or another healthy and small pre-lunch snack. This will keep you from going to your client lunch feeling so hungry you can’t control your choices. It’ll also help you get a smaller lunch and a smaller ticket for your lunch.

Step #4: Talk, Talk, Talk

With your food sitting front and center, it can be easy to forget why you’re there in the first place: to get to know your client a little bit better. Spend your time wisely and avoid eating too much by using your lunch to talk more with your client. When he or she is talking, listen well and chew quietly. These small steps will keep you so engaged that you won’t have time to gorge yourself. Instead, you’ll wind up eating just enough to give your body what it needs to go strong for the rest of the day.

Step #5: Avoid Alcohol

You may think you can have a drink here or there and maintain your composure, but drinking with a client could open you up to all sorts of issues. Granted, if your client orders a glass of wine, there is nothing wrong with doing the same. Just be sure to stick to one glass of wine, and drink more water than you do wine to dilute its effects. After all, you don’t want your first business luncheon with a new client to be the last one, and you definitely don’t want to down a bunch of extra calories from your drinks.

The Outdoor Factor

If you’re participating in a business luncheon to celebrate a coworker’s birthday or raise, look for a restaurant that offers outdoor dining. This gives you ample opportunity to soak up some vitamin D, get some much needed fresh air, do some people watching, and relax before going back to your indoor office.

For a more exciting option, cook all the food needed for the special lunch and bring it to an outdoor area for a lunchtime picnic!

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