Weight loss naturally

Being overweight and obese accelerate a person to conditions such as heart disease, kidney trouble, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, malnutrition, complications of pregnancy and psychological problems.

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Weight loss, naturally

The battle to "loose the bulge" can be a major preoccupation for a lot of people. Being overweight and suffering with obesity are some of the major nutritional problems in our western society today. Statistics show that people who are able to keep their weight down and maintain an "average weight" for their height and frame size, have a longer lifespan, have more energy and usually feel better than those people who are overweight. Statistics in USA show that 1 in 2 people are overweight. I see this trend following in New Zealand as well and I am sure we will soon hear that this is the case here too.

Before we move on I would like to say that if you have heard of Jon Gabriel's book "The Gabriel Method" I recommend that you buy it. I have seen this new strategy for weight loss work for countless people in my health store. You can visit Jon's website here.

Are there any health risks associated with being overweight?

Yes. Overweight and obesity accelerate a person to conditions, such as:

Heart disease
Kidney trouble
Diabetes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Malnutrition
Complications of pregnancy
Psychological problems

Are there other reasons why someone may be overweight, apart from the usual ones?

There are a number of reasons why people may become overweight. These include:

Glandular malfunctions
Digestive disturbances
Malnutrition
Emotional tension
Boredom
Habit
A love of eating
Simply eating the wrong sorts of food

Malnutrition is an unusual factor to consider for being overweight, however it is very likely that this is one of the main causes of being overweight. So why is this? When there is a lack of all the essential nutrients, fat will not be readily or efficiently burned. Fat is burned only if sufficient energy is produced. This energy production depends upon almost every known nutrient.

Glandular problems are common today and an underactive thyroid gland can slow down your metabolism and affect your weight. Other symptoms of low thyroid function include an intolerance to the cold and fatigue.

Liver damage or an under-functioning liver is common to find in people who are overweight. When the liver is injured, sufficient amounts of energy producing enzymes are unable to be synthesised. As well as this, the liver produces bile, which is stored in the gall bladder. When you eat a meal containing fats, the bile is released to break the fats down. If your liver function is impaired, bile production will be limited - hence, you will not break fats down properly. Because of this, it would be a good idea to take a liver cleanser, such as the herb Dandelion, Burdock or the herbal formulas Red Clover Combination, Livatone, 566 General Tonic or 858 Livernecta.

Some people who experience an uncontrollable hunger may have damaged brain cells in the hypothalamus. This is the area of the brain that regulates the desire to eat. This damage can occur from certain foods, or environmental substances that the person is allergic to.

As well as this, certain medications, such as tranquillisers, as well as viral infections, nutritional deficiencies or other brain injuries can also adversely affect these cells. The supplement 5-HTP may help here. Ask for more information on this.

On the other hand, some people get uncontrollable desires to eat a specific food. This is almost always due to an allergy to that food. If they don't eat this food, they experience typical withdrawal reactions. In both of these situations, a diet high in all essential nutrients and avoidance of the offending substance can gradually result in weight loss.

As you can see, there are many factors that can affect weight loss and weight gain. Of coruse, starting a regular exercise program and doing this at least 3 times a week is an essential part of any weight loss program and vital if you want to lose weight and keep it off. It helps to rid your body of fat and to maintain good muscle tone.

What about diets? You hear about new and wonderful ways to lose weight all the time

We hear about all kinds of new, weird and wonderful weight loss plans and diets each year. Women's magazines always have a new one. I've heard of all kinds - the apple diet, brown rice diet. I had a lady who told me she had been recommended by her GP to eat only steak and tomatoes and take diet pills. These are not balanced, effective long-term ways to lose weight. Usually people find that after they follow this kind of diet, then stop, they put the weight back on again. In fact, a recent study revealed that 1/3 of people studied, who went on crash diets of 500 calories a day or less, developed gallstones.

I have found that even if you do eat what is considered to be a healthy, well balanced diet - containing plenty of fruit, vegetables, grains and cereals and some protein or meats - a large proportion of people still put weight on.

So what can we do?

One of the first things to do is to cut down on the amount of carbohydrate foods (grains, cereals, pasta, bread, potato, kumara etc) you are eating. It's a problem a lot of us make - cutting down on proteins (such as meats, dairy products, nuts and seeds) & eating a lot more carbohydrates.

Too high a carbohydrate intake produces too much insulin. Insulin is the hormone that is produced by the pancreas, when we eat sugar or foods that release sugar upon digestion, like carbohydrates. Insulin enables our cells to absorb glucose from the blood. The cells process the glucose to make the energy they need to function. If you eat too much sugar or too many carbohydrates in proportion to your protein intake, your pancreas will pump out too much insulin. This can have many harmful effects:

* The pancreas may over time become fatigued and no longer able to produce insulin, leading to diabetes.

* The high level of insulin causes insulin resistance. This means that there is so much insulin in the blood that the cell receptors may become exhausted or may not be produced in as great a number. The cell then becomes unreceptive or resistant to the effects of insulin.

* The problem is that when cells become resistant to insulin, they lose energy and messages are sent out, which make the pancreas produce more insulin. This increases the levels of insulin in the blood, or hyperinsulinaemia, which of course leads to more resistance.

* Insulin causes the body to store carbohydrates as fat and stops fat being used as a source of energy production. So these high levels of insulin will not only make you fat, but also keep you fat.

So the insulin resistance caused by too many carbohydrates (or the wrong type of carbs) in your diet, may be a major reason that you are not able to reduce your body fat, despite exercise and lifestyle modifications.

But do not despair - there is hope

The Ketogenic Fat Loss System (KFLS) helps to reduce high insulin levels by limiting the carbohydrate intake. When the high insulin levels of an overweight individual are lowered, the fat stores can be used as energy & the amount of carbohydrates that will be stored as fat will be reduced.

The KFLS is scientifically designed to safely reduce body fat. This system also preserves valuable muscle tissue. This is essential for maintaining long-term weight loss, because it is where the fat is burnt to make energy.

Low calorie weight loss programs using low protein and high carbohydrate diets can cause significant loss of muscular tissue. Muscle wastage causes a reduction in metabolic rate with decreased burning of calories. This causes the common rebound weight gain most people experience after dieting. Their reduced metabolism causes them to be worse than before the diet, making it harder to lose fat than ever before.

We have booklets that you can purchase for $9.90 each that explain the Ketogenic System.

How to increase metabolism and thermogenesis

As well as this, we stock supplements that can help to increase your metabolism & produce thermogenesis. The main thermogenic products we stock are Thermoslim and Slender Start. We have been getting good results with people using these.

Thermogenesis is the heating and burning of fat in the body. Both of these products contain the herb Bitter Orange and CitriMax. These natural ingredients help to speed up the metabolism to burn fat faster. As well as this, these ingredients help divert calories away from the production of fat.

The importance of carnitine

As well as this, the amino acid Carnitine can help with weight loss. Body fat is stored in fat cells, but is burned for energy in the mitochondria or furnaces of muscle cells. To get from these fat cells to the muscle cells, fat is carried by carnitine. The higher the level of carnitine in the muscle, the more body fat is transported and burned. Studies show that supplements of carnitine raise muscle carnitine levels. Therefore, they also help you to lose body fat.

Your body usually makes carnitine, but if you are overweight and yet don't eat a lot, it probably doesn't make enough for optimum use of fat for fuel. To promote fat loss, it is recommended to use 1-2 grams of carnitine a day, in conjunction with exercise. Users of carnitine report performance enhancement, reduced lactic acid build-up and a general sense of increased energy.

Fat Blocker for weight loss

Another product we have for weight loss is called Fat Blocker. This product contains a natural fibre, sourced from crab and shrimp shells. This has the ability to bind fat in the stomach and intestine before they can be absorbed through the digestive system into the bloodstream. This process is made possible, as positively charged Chitosan attracts negatively charged fat, carrying them unabsorbed through the intestinal tract for elimination. This is more for occasional use - say when you eat a fatty meal, rather than at every meal.

These are just some of the factors involved with weight loss. If you would like to know more or to purchase any of these products, contact us at Ideal Health. We also offer appointments, where a fat loss program can be prepared specifically for you. Phone today on 0800 HEALTH.