Seven foods to balance your blood sugar

http://www.naturalnews.com/023650.html

(NaturalNews) We all know that optimum weight is something everyone needs to be striving for if we are going to live healthy and harmonious lives. Research shows that the best foods for enjoying good weight are those that don't cause a sharp rise in blood sugar levels. Balanced blood sugar is associated with physical and emotional health, as well and longevity. In fact, steady blood sugar levels are the one thing that every person who lives over 100 (centurion) has in common.

Foods that cause a spike in blood sugar are generally sugar and refined carbohydrates. They cause the body to produce insulin, which makes you crave food constantly, leading to weight gain and a variety of health conditions including diabetes. Cutting down on carbohydrates and sugar is the first step to bringing your weight and overall health into balance.

But while it's all well and good to talk about cutting down on carbohydrates, it can be excruciatingly painful for those who are addicted to them. And carbohydrate addiction is far more common than you think. Just try cutting them out for a day to find out how difficult it can be.

The key is to have plenty of delicious low carbohydrate foods available. Here are 7 of them that can help you get through the withdrawal of high carb foods.

Almonds: A study published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that people eating a diet rich in almonds lost more weight than those on a high-carb diet with the same number of calories. This goes to show that weight loss is not simply due to calorie counting. Almonds are bulky and filling, so you feel that you are getting some substance without the spike in blood sugar.

Quinoa: (pronounced "keen-wah") Although quinoa looks like a grain, it's actually the seed of a green leafy plant. It is one of the best sources of amino acids, and is a good source of iron, potassium, and B vitamins. The reason why quinoa is an incredible super food for weight loss is that it's packed with protein, but its grain-like texture makes it a fantastic substitute for rice, couscous, and other carbohydrates.

Millet: This is rich both in fiber, which makes your stomach feel full longer, and in protein, which keeps your blood sugar even, although it has the texture of a carbohydrate. And studies have shown a link between millet and weight loss. Some researchers believe that it's the combination of phytonutrients and fiber that's responsible for the lower rate of colon cancer in people who eat millet, rather than fiber alone.

Hummus: Because hummus is packed with protein, it fills you up, but again without any blood sugar spiking. Try to get hummus with olive oil rather than sunflower oil... or better yet, make your own sprouted raw hummus, which will provide you with an incredible amount of nutrients.

Avocado: Avocados offer a range of nutrients, and help you absorb other nutrients more effectively. They are also creamy and bulky at the same time, so they help people feel satisfied.

Lentils: Lentils are nutritious, flavorful, and are easy to prepare. Lentils, like beans, are a good source of protein. Lentils also provide calcium and phosphorus, vitamin B and iron.

Walnuts for Weight loss: Walnuts are a great snack food that will fill you up and help you to feel less hungry. They contain anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats, and a study at Loma Linda University showed that people who ate walnuts regularly had a reduced incidence of heart attacks. The research also asked people to add a quarter cup of walnuts to their diets, or for comparison, to remove all walnuts from their diets. They found that not eating walnuts led to weight gain.

Infomercial: Slim Shots

I've been deliberately waiting to review this product until there seemed to be enough information and individual reviews. To be honest, I've been curious about this product on one hand, and a disbeliever on the other. I learned a long time ago there's no magic pill, and searching for one is nothing but a foolish, desperate, and expensive search...but the lure of having the tiny bikini body is always there. It's always the "something for nothing" mentality that gets us to break out our wallets and try the newest fad product..."just in case".

The skinny on the product is a little hard to log because pricing and doses vary, but on average the product cost runs around $40 for a month's supply. The online consensus: you can buy it a little bit cheaper at Wal-Mart stores (cutting out the shipping charges), however some consumers have noticed although the price is cheaper at a local store, the box contains fewer Slim Shots. The manufacturer recommends a dosage of 2 per day for the first week, and then one shot for all subsequent weeks. Reported consumer feedback seems to dispute the dose; most are reporting 3 doses per day for the first week and then 2 doses for all subsequent weeks. The additional doses obviously means the $40 price point will probably be closer to $80 for a month's supply.

The average personal review I've read is positive in that women are reporting weight loss from this product.

The reason it looks like the product works is its use of palm oil. Now palm oil isn't something I'd eat willingly - in fact I go out of my way to avoid it because it's not a healthy oil to consume. It's often associated with trans fats; if I see it on a product label, I put the product back on the shelf.

What is it about palm oil that would make this product work? Well, I doubt it is the palm oil, but you can achieve the same "full" feelings with...healthy oils like olive oil, omega-3's, and flax oil. Fats have the ability to send the brain a signal telling it, "Hey, I'm full...stop eating", so by adding a little bit in each meal, you will achieve the full feeling longer. In the event there's no olive oil around, munch on nuts, fatty fish (sardines, salmon), and avocadoes. I find the best nuts to eat are almonds and Brazil nuts.

Beyond the price tag, there are two drawbacks, which fall into the "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" category. Some people love the taste of the shot, while others are barely able to swallow it. For others, more than one shot makes their stomach queasy and unsettled, while others can handle three shots a day.

So if you really want to try this product, you can. I'm not of the mindset to give it the "thumbs up" because I think a lot of the women who tried it would've lost weight on a placebo test (they just wanted it to work, so the power of suggestion works for them). Personally I think I've learned the hard way about gimmicky products instead of tried and true principles.

http://www.dailydietblog.com/2008/05/28/what-are-slim-shots/

http://www.dietsinreview.com/diets/Slim_Shots/

http://fittipdaily.com/2008/03/10/slim-shots-review/

http://blog.asseenontvnetwork.com/products/slim-shots-review-do-they-work/

http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_948546_slim_shots_appetite_controller_30_vanilla_reviews

"Full bar" is just full of it

Turns out the newest gimmick is not new, but a few years old and being recycled. "Full bar" claims that it acts just like a non-surgical lap band procedure in that it fills up the lower portion of your stomach (the "I'm full" sensors are in the upper portion), ensuring you cannot overeat.

Basic plan details: you eat 2 Fulll bars a day for 5 days and one full bar per day on the weekend, or you can eat 2 bars for 6 days and have one eat whatever you want day. A one month's supply is $99.93 (including shipping; $10 more for faster shipping). Dr. Michael Synder recommends you give the program 3 months' time in order to start seeing results, which means you'll need to shell out $299.79 to properly evaluate its effectiveness.

An ingredients list is a little hard to get your hands on, however, the website admits right up front it contains partially hydrogenated oils - also known as trans fats. According to his website, the motivation is to make the Full bar taste better. Most of us know trans fats are very bad for us, so the use of them in a product "designed" to make us healthy lacks credibility. It also contains large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which many argue is the real reason behind the explosive growth in obesity since the 1970's. On a personal note, my friend Fred finds any HFCS causes his heart to beat in an irregular fashion, so he has to avoid it like the plague.

There isn't much of anything out there regarding the product, however, I was able to find one woman who had the cash to buy a box. Although she didn't mention if she'd lost any weight, she did agree she was less hungry. An interesting note she blogged about was regarding the one day she forgot to eat a Full bar, and she found herself hungry. Of course my first reaction was, "...of course you are - your blood sugar's used to being spiked by the high processed carbs (30+ grams) that convert straight into sugar." She would've been just as satisfied with a healthier piece of unprocessed fruit.

Generally speaking, most people saw right through this dieting trend, but there's always alot of someones who are desperate enough to try anything they consider to be potential magic bullets.

If your wallet's really that fat, I'd be willing to take those extra pounds off your hands if you want to give your money away!

http://www.weknowdiets.com/FullBar.html?cp=101&KEYWORD=full%20bar&gclid=CIup7pvhv5QCFQObFQodAWWTSg

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128479

http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:xO3QQEs_V1sJ:answers.yahoo.com/question/index%3Fqid%3D20080629152822AAnnbt4+%22full+bar%22+diet&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/a,messageboard/board_id,4856/cat_id,4456/topic_id,3657323/action,replies/

Infomercial: Barry's Boot Camp

This morning I was surfing the channels when a new exercise program caught my eye - "Barry's Boot camp". You can click on the image to be taken to their site to review this program and infomercial for yourself.

General information:
The basic program will set you back $72.80 (including shipping) while the deluxe program $117.65. The site also sells additional workouts, strength bands, their version of the stability ball which looks like a blow up capsule, sweat bands, and trashy vitamins no one should consume.

Barry's infomercial is loaded with encouraging stories of people losing large amounts of weight in short periods of time. How are they doing this? The program claims to be using something called F.I.T ("focused interval training") to achieve these remarkable results. The workouts are 21 minutes long, and you do each exercise for 1 minute each. Sounds like a great program, right? Here's my review of what I see.

First, I don't discredit you can lose weight on this program, however, I sort of doubt you'd lose the kind of weight his success stories claim to have - in the same period of time. One of his "success stories" shows a picture of herself that is nine years old, and then goes on to state how she lost 115 pounds. Two things immediately sent red flags screaming up the pole: 1. didn't state how long it took for her to lose the weight, 2. why didn't they show a "start" picture, rather than a picture that's 9 years old? I'm sure it didn't take her 9 years on his program to lose the weight...or maybe it did, come to think the review I'm writing.

All too often the women have huge weight loss results in very short periods of time, and that usually signals a combination of a few things.

1. Although neither package eludes to a diet plan being included, both come with website access, which often means the diet's online. Having spent time on dieting boards, I'm often horrified at what passes as a "diet". People will try any fad ("cabbage soup diet") and starve rather than exercise. There's also a basic problem in terms of peoples' expectations of how much time they need to allow for weight loss.
2. If the women are losing a lot of weight fast and they're not exercising at the kind of intensity that would explain such rapid weight loss, they are using diet pills and other dangerous ways to drop weight fast for the filming of the commercial. Since the dieting boards are overflowing with diet pill and fat burning stack recommendations, I always shy away from such bad advice. Who wants to be skinny and in a hospital bed where no one can see you?

The F.I.T. concept Barry describes is nothing more than a repackaged H.I.I.T. setup that you can find on almost every website. You certainly don't need to spend $70+ for a odd shaped stability ball and a program you can design yourself. You don't need equipment to create a H.I.I.T. routine at all, which makes this program laughable.

Another problem I have with it is the intensity factor, or lack of one. For a H.I.I.T. to be successful, one has to push their target heart rate between 85%-95% of its maximum. Judging by the exercises and the speed at which they're being performed, there is no way a person is getting out of a medium paced fat burning zone (120-145 beats per minute maximum). This intensity might be great if you're in your late 60's, but for the average person it's not going to get you far.

A better comparison to illustrate my point would be my own experience. At 38 years old, my H.I.I.T. zone is between 155-170 beats per minute. While that seems low, my heart rate monitor goes off at 154, and it tells me I'm working around 80%-83% of my maximum heart rate.

If an overweight person tries using the H.I.I.T. workouts, I think they'd lose weight, but two thoughts weigh on my mind. Can an out of shape, overweight person maintain a H.I.I.T. heart rate for 21 minutes, and is this the best approach for a beginner in the first place? If people who are out of shape are so lame the next week or so from a workout they couldn't keep up with either physically or in a cardiovascular sense, how fast are they going to quit and shelf the workouts? Most give up way too soon, so to start someone off with a workout claiming to use the H.I.I.T. structure...doesn't strike me as wise at all.

Another thought just coming to mind is that a lot of overweight people never seek a physician's advice or have a physical before starting a workout program. Having been guilty of this, I can say it's because the doctor says the same thing you already know: "You need to lose weight". It's the embarrassment factor we're afraid of more so than being told, "You're five minutes away from a heart attack if you try and run a marathon on your first exercise session!" This is the reason I suspect all personal trainers are required to have up to date C.P.R. training in order to obtain their PT licenses.

I'm sure there are people out there who aren't physically healthy enough to engage in such exercise to begin with, but instead of "slow and steady wins the race!", they take the path of the hare and cause injury to themselves. I've talked about heart attacks, but let me take it into injuries. If you haven't been exercising, the muscles will be exceptionally sore as they experience micro tears. Imagine the tearing plus trying to keep up with "high speed" intervals, plus poor form mixed in...you have a recipe for injury. You're sidelined before you begin...and what happens? You give up while you're recovering!

Considering the overall program, I think it's a bit too pricey for what you get. I think you can create a cheaper alternative yourself. If on the other hand you're not that disciplined and you need a personal trainer, the program looks OK.

There's one aspect I'd watch out for - the bands and handles. The idea you can change out the resistance bands with stronger ones sounds like a great idea on the surface, however, if they slip out and snap you....OUCH!! I'm not sure I'd use his bands for that reason alone. You can do the same thing with a stability ball, and if you want to create the banding effect, a few hooks you can screw into the wall studs (high, med, and floor height) can give you full a full range of motion for the price of a few bucks. Just look a hook that has a closing mechanism on the clasp so the band doesn't slip out and snap you while working out.

How to save 500 calories a day in your diet

On a whim while grocery shopping, I picked up the current issue of Prevention Magazine and found this handy two page chart of easy ways to save 500 calories from your diet without starving.

I haven't looked at their cite to see if this goodie is there, but I scanned and loaded it here. If you don't have a subscription to Prevention, it's one of the few I recommend. I must confess I loathe all the worthless ads for "health" products, but the articles are quite enlightening.

Right click, choose "open link in new tab", and you can read the list for yourself. You can also download it by right clicking and choosing "save picture as".