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13 Health Benefits of Green Tea
Copyright 2005 Arina Nikitina Green tea has been enjoyed by people in China and Japan for thousands of years. Over the time it has become widely known in the West. A lot of people nowadays have heard that green tea benefits the overall health,...
7 Reasons To Start Up With an Exercise Program
Most of us need to follow an exercise program. This is due to the fact that just a minority of Americans exercise in a significant way. Below follows 7 good reasons to start exercising now.
1. Contributes to fat loss.
It is well documented...
Diabetes: The $132 Billion Dollar Pandemic
You know, it’s not everyday a fellow like me gets to announce a major paradigm shift, much less concerning diabetes …or any other medical condition.
You don’t know what a paradigm shift is? Well, if I mentioned events and names like: Gutenberg,...
Health News as Source for Laughs
Google News can be entertaining (http://news.google.com/). Late August 2004 headlines show that at least some USA government experts understand the difference between "good" and "bad" sugars. However, they stopped short of telling us to limit...
Immunity and the Immune System
Since the 1930's the western diet has dramatically changed. This
change is due to the change in farming from the natural farming
process which has developed over 1000's of years to a modern
scientific farming which has changed farming into an...
Qigong For Cancer: Self-Healing Practice
Qigong (pronounced Chee Gung) has been said to be 1 of the most powerful healing traditions ever highly-developed in human history. It is Chinaware's 3000-4000 year-old system of ego-healing, which integrates simple focused movements or Qigong...
Treatments of Diabetes
Before the discovery of insulin in 1921, everyone with type 1 diabetes died within a few years after diagnosis. Although insulin is not considered a cure, its discovery was the first major breakthrough in diabetes treatment. Today, healthy eating,...
What is Syndrome X – and have you got it?
Syndrome X or the X factor as it is sometimes known was first described in 1988 by Professor Gerald Reaven , an endocrinologist at California’s Stanford University after twenty years of study. Since this first identification the understanding of...
Why Choose Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic medicine is a system and philosophy of medicine that has been around for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Before the advent of ‘conventional’ medicine, which uses a wide variety of drugs and surgical procedures, almost every...
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The Low-Down On Diet Comparison
Low carbs and high protein is the way to lose weight, or so you'll hear from one diet guru, and he has the testimonials to back it up. Low fat, lots of carbs and fresh fruits and veggies, says another - and he's got the back up from satisfied users, too. A third swears that you need to count the amount of sugar; another tells you the enemy is white flour - if you want to lose real weight and keep it off, who do you listen to?
Take a look at the brief summaries below for a quick overview of the pros and cons of each of the popular types of diet plans.
Low Carb-Hi Protein Diets
Diets like the Atkins, the South Beach and the Zone Diet all recommend restricted carbohydrates and allow liberal amounts of protein, including protein derived from animal sources. Generally, they limit the overall amount of carbohydrates, or teach you to differentiate between "good" and "bad" carbohydrates. Bad carbohydrates, which are forbidden, include white flour, white bread, and white sugar.
Pros: The diets all encourage learning healthy eating as part of losing weight. Deriving most of your daily calories from high fiber sources of carbs like leafy green vegetables and grains is generally considered the best diet for nutrition by the established medical community. The popularity of the diets makes it easy to find low-carb foods.
Cons: The allowance of eating all the protein and fats you like flies in the face of conventional medical wisdom. A diet high in saturated fats could lead to heart disease, diabetes, gout and other chronic health conditions. Following the diets' cautions and advice to keep portions reasonable should mitigate that concern, though.
Weight Loss "Programs"
Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, SlimFast and a number of other weight loss programs rely heavily on pre-packaged 'diet' foods. They incorporate professional coaching, social structure and reinforcement.
Pros: The professional coaching and nutritional benefits are
a big plus, as are the reinforcement and support aspect of the diets. Meals and supplements are prepackaged in the right proportions, and if you stick to the diets and exercise as directed you will lose weight.
Cons: The weekly fees and cost of meals can be expensive. In addition, if you rely completely on the packaged foods, you miss out on the re-education of your eating habits, which is important to maintaining any weight lost.
The Real Mayo Clinic Diet
This is not the diet that has circulated for the past thirty or more years and purported to have originated at the Mayo Clinic! The true Mayo Clinic's nutrition and diet center recommends a healthy eating weight loss plan based on limiting fats, proteins and carbohydrates, counting calories and deriving most of the daily nutrition from vegetables, grains and fruit.
Pros: There's no 'diet'. Instead, you're encouraged to take control of your eating. Portion control and sensible balance of nutrients are the cornerstones of a weight loss plan that takes weight off gradually, and helps you keep it off permanently.
Cons: It may be difficult to stay on the diet. Counting calories and portions can be difficult if you're eating out or on the run.
There are many diets that promise to take weight off quickly and painlessly, without exercise or changing your eating habits. The three major variations of diets above all will result in 1-2 pounds of loss per week, which most doctors believe is the optimum way to lose weight for long lasting results.
About the Author: Kirsten Hawkins is a nutrition and health expert from Nashville, TN. Visit .popular-diets.com/" target="_blank">http://www.popular-diets.com/ for more great nutrition, well-being, and vitamin tips as well as reviews and comments on popular diets.
Source: .isnare.com">www.isnare.com
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